The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1924-09-04
REPUBLICAN FARM LEGISLATION.

II
If the farmers of the country are in any
doubt as to the political party that is really
their friend, they should look back over the
record of legislation. While the Republican
party has never asserted and does not now con-
tend that all the ills of agriculture or of other
lines of enterprise can be healed by legislation,
that party has stood ready to enact any laws
not unsound economically and that seem likely
to promote the welfare of agriculture or any
other industry
When the Republican party came into power
in 1921 President Harding called special ses-
sion of Congress to enact an emergency tariff
law for the special benefit of agricultural tariff
ducers, who were at that time suffering an I'M
usual depression. The emergency tariff was
not expected to meet the situation entirely, but
it was expected to help and it did. It shut out
a considerable amount of threatening agricul-
tural imports.
During the war, Congress created the War
Finance Corporation to help finance exports
and, after the close of the war, there was wide
spread desire that the work of the Corporation
be continued until something like normal con-
ditions had been restored. But the Democratic
administration did not take kindly to this idea.
On May 10, 1920, Secretary of the Treasury
Houston issued formal statement in which
nance Corporation has suspended the market
i of further advances in aid of exports, except
pursuant to commitments heretofore made"
That action was taken while the corporation
was still authorized to act.
Near the close of the Democratic Admlnlstra-
ton, with Republican majority in Congress,
the War Finance Corporation was about to ex-
pire by limitation of law and Congress passed
an act extending it's life. This was vetoed by
President Wilson, but was passed over his veto.
BY subsequent acts the War Finance Corpora
ton has been continued and is still in exlstance,
though it's activities are diminishing because
there is less need for it's aid The act which
revived the corporation, despite Wilson's veto,
authorized loans up to billion dollars, and IN
the first year of it's renewed work it approved
loans aggregating $347, 100000, chiefly in aid
of agricultural exports 1t should be noted that
the great value of the corporation was not in
the actual amount of money it advanced but in
the fact that it stood ready to advance money
if funds could not be obtained at reasonable
rates from private sources. The very existence
of the corporation acted as regulator OF priv
ate interest rates and caused private money
lenders to adopt more liberal policy
In addition to the legislation mentioned
above, the Republican Congress enlarged the
powers and increased the funds of the Federal
Farm Loan Banks, enacted Rural Credits legls-
lation, enacted the Federal Warehouse Act, the
Cooperative Marketing Association Act, the
Packers and Stockya~ds Act, the Grain Flu
lures Act, the Grain Standards Act, and laws
for the protection of the dairy industry against
unfair competition.
When the Republican Congress took up the
consideration general tariff law, representa-
tives of agricultural organizations were given
extended hearings and practically everything
they asked for was written into the law. All
agricultural machinery and implements fer
tiizers, binding Irvine, barbed wire, harness,
saddles, lumber, shingles, insect poisons and
other articles largely purchased by farmers,
were put on the free list, and increased protec-
tive duties were placed on butter, eggs, wheat,
meats, corn, vegetable oils; peanuts, fruits,
nuts, etc, which the farmer produces. Agri-
cultural organizations Joined in signed state
ment that from the standpoint of the farmer
this was the best teriff law ever enacted.