Evening star., 1927-12-08
PERSHING HAILED
At FARM MEETING
Given Ovation as Possible
Candidate for Presidency
by Federation.
BY the Associated Press.

by the Associated Press.
CHICAGO. December S.-A sponta-
neous outburst of enthusiasm for Gen.
John J. Pershing. who was hailed as a
candidate for President of the United
states, and adoption of a legislative
policy for the coming year marked the
close of the American Farm Bureau
Federation meeting here.
Gen. PerShing addressed the farm
ers on the place of agriculture in a
national defense program. recommend
Ing development of the merchant ma
rine, a larger Navy and an uplift in
the level of prices on basic products.
At the conclusion of his speech a
farmer jumped up on his chair and
called for three cheers for Gen. Per
shing, "a candidate for President of
tremendous, and as Gen. Pershing left
the hall he was surrounded by enthu
siastic farmers.
Pleased at Ovation.
As they grasped his hand they as
sured the general he was presidential
timber" but the only response was
smile of appreciation. Gen. Pershlng
later refused to express himself re-
garding the ovation. :,
What can / say? I do not talk
however was obvious. a.
Verification of the report that the.
federation would be united in a fight
for the McNary- -Haugen farm relief
bill. passed by Congress at its last Sesi
sion and vetoed by President Coolidge,
was had in the resolutions adopted.
Although no mention was made of the
Presidents message to Congress and
MS reiteration of his stand on the farm
question, the resolutions left no doubt
of the federation's stand on points
mentioned by Coolidge.
1t will insist on passage at TINS ses'
sion of Congress of measure similar
to the A4cNary -Haugen bill. Federal
aid in flood prevention, national debt
reduction rather than tax reduction,
equalization of foreign and domestic
costs of production, lowering of freight
rates and appropriation of funds for
agricultural extension work will be
sought.
Message Officially Ignored.
Many individual expressions of opin-
ion on President Coolidges congress
sional message were received, al
though the federation officially took no
notice of it.
F. NJ. Higgins, LaSalle County, ILL.,,
Farm Bureau organizer, said he be-
lieved the Presidents rejection of the
farm relief bill spelled defeat for the
Republican party. Henry w. j. Rott,
head of the St. Louis Farm Bureau,
said the message was continuation
of Coolidges "nearsighted policy re-
garding the farmer" while J. D.
Yager, president of the Nevada State
Farm Bureau, believed the Presidents
stand on the farm question was one
reason why he didn't choose to rum
In making a plea for national ag
ricultural program, the resolutions
adopted by the federation said: ''We
appreciate the action of the Sixty
ninth Congress, which in a non-parti-
san manner passed the surplus control
bill. If put into operation, this meas
ure would have marked the beginning
of a sound economic agricultural pol
icy in our Nation" The bill provides
for an equalization fee that each COM
modify may share in the cost of its
own stabilization and protection. The
plan proposed by President Coolidge
was for a fund to build up co-opera-
tive marketing and dispose of farm
surpluses.
Fight Over immigration.
The resolutions as presented by the
committee were adopted with few
changes. The strongest fight was over
immigration. The resolution asked
congressional investigation be made
before further restrictions were made
on the nations of the Western Hemi-
sphere.
The Southwestern States were ac-
tive in it's support and received the
backing of Montana and the Western
States in that region. Their argument
was that they could not get American
labor to do the work in sugar beet and
vegetable fields that immigrants would.
Opposition came from the New Eng.