Evening star., 1925-02-04
FARM BILL HOPES
THIS SESSION DIM
President Not to Prod Con-
greSS and Committee
Action Is Slow.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE,

IL there's any agricultural legisla-
ton passed at this session of Con-
gress, most everybody, including the
agriculturists themselves, will be sur
prised, for President Coolidge has
taken the position that he will not
drive Congress to act. And the steer
ing committees have not placed the
agricultural bills recommended by the
Presidents commission on their
must" program for this session.
Mr.. Coolidge is not exactly indiffer-
ent to the situation, but he feels that
the responsibility for inaction will
not be his. The President let 1t be
known significantly that he Will
watch Congress-, and If no agricul-
tural legislation is urged by the men
on the agricultural committees Of
the House and Senate, it will be an
indication that no emergency exists
requiring the summoning of an extra
session.
Benefits Far on.
Another way of stating it, of
course, is that the Executive doesn
come up for election until four years
hence, but members of Congress will
be fighting to hold their seats in an
other IL months. Delay until the De
cember session means that the farm
ers cannot possibly feel the benefits
of the proposed legislation until 1925,
and If in the meantime the agri-
cultural situation has taken a turn
for the worse opponents of present
members will make the most of it in
the primary contests as well as the
final elections.
But all the agriculturists are not
agreed as to the need of legislation.
The national council of the coop
erative movement met here last
month and adopted strongly worded
resolutions opposing the very legisla-
tion that now is recommended. They
regarded the various bills pending
which would regulate cooperative
marketing as superfiuous and likely
to lead to interference that would
retard the cooperative movement.
Sufficient laws now are on the
statute books, in the opinion of the
leading Co-operatives who were here,
SO that what is required now is bet
ter administration of existing laws
rather than new statutes.
Thirty-five States Improve Marketing.
Thirty-five States have adopted
standard cooperative marketing acts
since 1921. The proposed Fedora
legislation is said to be in conflict
with the scope of State laws. In any
event the word from the National
will oppose granting the Federal
Marketing Board to give charters at
terminal points to cooperative as
sociations, wholesalers, dealers and
others.
1t is safe to assume that unless the
pending bills are amended to suit the
co-operatives they will not get
through Congress, at least not at this
session. 1t will take some time for
the measures to be framed by the
committees and then they must have
a special rule in order to get priority
| over some of the major pieces of
| Legislation to which Congress feels
| committed. 1t is always compara-
| lively easy to block legislation at Il
short session of Congress and unless
the agriculturistS can be brought
into harmony-something which has
been impossible for the last three
years-the chances of getting any
| bill reported will be slight. Virtually
the same set of circumstance
namely, difference of opinion inside
Congress = prevented action in the
session of Congress which adjourned
| last June and there was plenty of
| time in which to reach an agreement
and also an acute problem to cure.
| The agricultural legislation proposed
| is surely drifting to stagnant waters.
| Copyright, 1921