Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-23
FARM BOARD BUILT
ASBUS|NESS GROUP
Famous "UncIe Reuben
Would Be Lost Amid 0rgani-
zation of Industry Leaders.

A glimpse Of the Federal Farm Board
in action goes q long way toward dis
sipating any impression of the farmer
as an Uncle Reuben" on the business
end of a pillow.
The men whom President Hoover has
called to solve one of the Nations most
perpleXing problems are at work with
the enthusiasm of the most active school
in high-presSure craftsmanship. Their
rooms give of that atmosphere Of earn
est. deliberative procedure that Is the
hallmark of corporate business and does
not In the least suggest the stored ex-
perience of men who till the soil.
"Uncle Reuben" Would Be Lost.
"Uncle Reuben" would be lost there.
He would sink to his instep in plush
CARPETS get the backache from sitting
in high, gold finished chairs. and If he
talked with any one of a dozen earnest,
buSiness-like young women who act as
buffers for their superiorS-aS well he
would-he would wonder what 1t Is all
about. The chances are not one OF
these aids knows farming, but they are
verSed in the art of keeping the wheels
of business organization turning. And
that is what the Federal Farm Board
is, a business organization to the nth
degree.
Washington for years has been &C
Quainted with farm organizations and
the more prominent of their repre-
sentatives. But the activity going for
ward under mandate Of the farm re-
lief act Is giving every department OF
the Government outside the Depart
ment Of Agriculture picture Of agri-
culture as an industry that Is surpris-
ingly different from any heretofore
generally held.
Farm leaders long have suffered from
an inability to hunanize the problems
Of agriculture. Those who have made
contact with the Federal Farm Board
during the few days Of its organization
have noted, along with Government Of
flcials who appreciate the ramifications
Of the boards study, that for the first
time agriculture Is on the way to being
humaniZed.
Papers Are Treated Fairly.
In the matter Of the boards pro-
nouncements, for example. At noon
and again at 4 o'clock daily the board
makes known any happenings of the
day esteemed to be of news value. The
White House practice of timing news
releases so as to give afternoon and
morning papers an even break" on the
news obtains, as it does in virtually all
the Government departments.
While members of the board pillow
through testimony about co-operatives,
the Mediterranean fruit ny, the price
Of wheat, the state Of the cotton farm
er. clerks and stenographers and err
rand boys compile memoranda, tran
scribe dictation and chase vagrant tele-
phone calls. The boil weevils" already
have put In their appearance. Persons
who sit for hours In reception rooms
taking up the time Of the ONCE help
In the hope that they might speak
to Mr.. So-and-So are evidences in any
department that the work Of that de-
partment Is getting humanized.
Outlines Of policy have not been slow
in coming from the board. Outstanding
was the announcement yesterday that
the board expects cooperative market
ing organizations to unity with closely
allied interests in order to promote more
efficient and economic marketing.
The announcement was made in q
proposal by the board to officials OF
two Florida citrus fruit cooperative
associations, In which the associations
were urged to consolidate and unity
their programs before seeking q loan
from the board to aid their marketing
facilities.
The announcement specifically af-
fected the Florida citrus situation, but
officials of the board declared the
policy was of far-reaching scope and
would be applied in connection with
the loan requests of other co-opera-
tives and commodity groups.
There are approximately 10000 CO.
operatives In the United States and
only 400 or 500 are large organizations.
The board set forth as an aim the elm
ination of duplication of effort and
waste In the agricultural marketing
system, and general application OF
its suggestion to the citrus organiza-
lions would be to greatly reduce the
number of co-operatives.