The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-07-28
REMEDIES
EXIST HE
SAYS
Curtail Crops and Make Use of
Established Agencies, Is
His Advice.
BY WILLIAM HARD.

The farmers who want a gov
ernmental subsidy for their
wheat are today getting their
chances for it rapidly killed
here, not by business interests,
but by other farmers.
Gray Silver, legislative rep
resentative here of the Farm
Bureau Federation, is busily en-
gagged in undermining and up
per-cutting all governmental
agricultural price-fixing schemes
whatsoever; and the opinion be-
gins here to be expressed that
Mr.. Silver in this matter is going
to be victorious over Magnus
johnson, of Minnesota, unless
Mr.. Johnson hurries down here
with more and better arguments
Has Two Remedies.
Mr.. Silver, who long has been one
of Washington most influential
agricultural lobbyists, is telling SEN
ators and Congressman that Gov
ernmental price-fixing is the exact
reverse Of a remedy. Mr.. Silver
claims that the two things which
the wheat farmer needs to do IN
order to re-established himself on
footing of permanent prosperity are
as follows:
l. He must learn how to 1void
growing more wheat than the mar
ket can take.
z. He must learn how to manage
the selling of his products in s11ch
O way as to get a larger propor
ton Of the price which is paid for
those products by the ultimate con-
sumner.
Agencies Exist, He Says.
Both these things can be done by
the use of existing governmental
agencies and by the DEVELOPMENT of
cooperative methods among farm
ers. Governmental price fixing. ac-
cording to Silver, will check and
stop that development.
The fixed price will turn the
farmer away from reducing his
wheat acreage and will inspire him
In fact to increase it; and the fixed
price Will also turn him away from
charging and improving his CO.
operative marketing societies and he
will let them anguish to his own
great permanent harm, while he
opens his mouth to be fed tempo
rarily out of a Government spoon.
Advancing these arguments, Sill
yer is pushing the Senate and
House of Representatives back from
doing anything, while at the same
time. however, he is actively main
tanning that much could and should
he done by existing governmental
boards and bureaus under existing
legislation.
Offers to Demonstrate.
Mr.. Silver claims to be prepared to
demonstrate that if the Department
of Agriculture and if the Federal
Farm Loan Board and if all the other
numerous governmental admins
trative bodies row concerned with
agriculture would just simply do
their full possible duty under the
law there would be no need and there
would be no clamor for any price
fixing legislation, because under
present law and by cooperative
methods the whole present trouble
some wheat surplus Of this year can
be adequately stored and adequately
financed and then gradually and eff
tectively sold at an improved price.
Mr.. Silver accordingly presents
the strange spectacle of a man who
claims to be able to rescue the
farmers with .he help of the gov
ernmental machinery which the
farmers representatives in Congress
nave already enacted and erected.
he claims in effect that the farm
fCCr icIo
years has not been a lot of
big. hollow bluff and fake. but that
on the contrary, # can actually ac-
complish what The farm bloc" said
1t could accomplish.
In consequence If such thoughts
IL IS now proposed In certain con.
reTVatiVe quarters 10 summon :,
SPECIAL session, rot OF Congress but
OF the farm bloc" and to say to
the Senators who compos. it:
Would Make EN- Work.
See here! We passed your leg
lslation- We legalized your CO.
operative societies. We conferred
power upon Federal Reserve Banks
and upon the Federal Farm Loan
Board and upon the Federal De-
partment Of Agriculture to extend
perfectly adequate help to farmers
az "oieHouslHS ana holding and
financing Of their products indi-
vidually or comparatively through
any period of excessively low prices
on into the next period of stimu.
iated and improved prices. This
ieglslatlon in fact was designed to
be able TO make that next period
come. You said it could do it. Now
get busy in all these departments
and boards and bureaus which are
handling your legislation and make
them make your legislation do what
you claimed it would do. Or else
confess to the country that Won
were always a lot of takers and
that your legislation is no good
Mr.. Silver apparently would
gladly accept that challenge. He
claims that If the friends Of the
farmer would get busy and get