Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-31
HALF-BILLION FUND SEEN
AS FARM RELIEF BASIS
Board With Broad Powers Expected to
Be Created at Special Session for
Action on Problems.

relief will be questioned during the
| extra session OF Congress. Both party
platforms declare strongly for It. The
practical question of what to do about
it. however, is involved In the greatest
difficulty.
The difficulty Of the solution is writ
ten in the last eight years of congress
sional debates. in the struggles over
the McNary -Haugen bill, in the conten-
tons Of the last campaign and other
campaigns regarding the farm issue, In
the widely diverging views OF leaders OF
farm organizations and agricultural
members OF Congress.
Some Economists Pessimistic.
There are, indeed, many able stu
dents Of the subject who are pessimiStic
over the entire situation. who do not
believe there Is any solution for the ag-
ricultural difficulties, who maintain
agriculture is a declining activity who
are convinced the cid, healthful farm
life Of the Republic will never be re-
stored, and who insist that 1t Is an eco
nomic impoSSibility to increase the farm
income to such an extent as to make
the average farm unit paying busl-
ness.
DR.. Edward Sherwood Mead. profess
sor Of finance at the University Of
Pennsylvania, and DR.. Bernhard Ostro-
| lenk, long director of the National Farm
School, Doylestown, Pa. III their publi-
cation, "A Study of the Agricultural
Revolution" say that effective farm re-
lief, that sort of relief which will keep
| the farmers on the farm and give them
| living wages and reasonable return
on the investment, means an addition
| to the cost of living Of about $6,000,-
OOO, 600. 1t is held that this sum must
be added to the net income Of the farm
erS to put agriculture on level with
other industries.
A striking point made by these au-
thorities is that the savings to the farm
er effected by co-operatives, concerning
which so much is said, have been great
| ~ overrated.
It goes almost without saying that
If there must be $4,000 .000. 900 added to
the cost of living to give effective farm
relief, then such relief will not be given,
at least not in the near future.
| But it does not follow that the farm
| income cannot be increased without
serious hardship to the consuming pub
! lic And there Is not much doubt that
/ the processes Of marketing and distri-
button can be so reorganized as to
| bring about increased income to the
( farm without any marked increase in
people as a whole.
The men who have given most
thought to agriculture have come fully
| to realize that farm relief is not one
| problem, but a ser1ks Of problems.
These cannot be solved by one piece
of legislation. Nor can they be solved
| in a hurry. Senator Smith Of South
Carolina, o student of agriculture and
economics, said recently that it would
| take 20 years to work out the farm
| question.
No Sudden Cure Expected.
What Congress is going to do in the
extra session, with the cooperation Of
President HooverS administration, Is to
make what it Is hoped will be sound
| beginning in the great task of bring
| ing agriculture up to level with the
country's strongest industries. 1t can
only lay the foundation. The leaders
| in Congress realize this. President
Hoover fully understands 1t. The i'm
mediate results are quite likely TO be
disappointing to those who are looking
for a quick cure-all.
Although President Hoover has taken
the position that he will not dictate
to Congress on farm relief and believes
that body should work out the legisla-
| tlOTl, he Has QcIullIe views vi IIic SuD"
ject. Moreover, he expressed them
freely in the campaign, so his attitude
is well known.
| To some extent 1t became well known
prior to his nomination In the course
of the controversy over the McNary-
Haugen bill. He was opposed to the
| equalization fee principle Of that bill
just as President Calvin Coolidge OPP
posed it and w. M. Jardine. as Secre-
tary of Agriculture under Mr.. Coolidge,
opposed 1t.
Mr.. Hoover's St. Louis speech on last
November is frequently pointed to,
and with Justification, as indicating
his views on important aspects Of the
agricultural problem. In that speech
he strongly emphasized the need for
inland waterway improvement. or, as
he expressed it. "a new vision Of in
terror waterway development" He
held this would mean "a vital contri-
button to the stability Of both industry
and agriculture"
Transportation Important Factor.
"By cheapening transportation" he
said, lit will increase the price the
farmer receives for his products. This
increase constitutes most important
element of his profits. He would OBJ
tain this increase not alone upon the
actual products that may be trans
ported by these waterways, but upon
his whole crop. The reason is that the
price the farmer receives for certain
of hts products is the world marke;
orice, less the cost of transportation, and
when parts Of his crops can be ex-
ported at a reduced cost it compels
buyers to enhance the price paid to
him for his entire production even
though most of it be for domestic con-
sumption"
In discussing agriculture specifically
in his st. Louis speech, Mr.. Hoover said
the agricultural problem was "unsolved
as whole" although the Republican
party in the preceding seven years and
a half had undertaken a number Of
measures of assistance. He stressed
the difficulty of finding complete So
luton and pointed out that the solution
could not be provided by "a single
formula"
"The depression in different branches
Of farming" he said, comes from
widely different sources and has q
wide variety of causes. The industry
is not single industry, but is dozen
specialized industries absolutely differ
ent in their whole economic relation
ships"
And then he added: "If we would
have sound and permanent relief it
can be only through complete deter
mination of the causes which bring
about the difficulties of each part. By
thus going to the root Of the trouble
We will find that the methods of solu-
| ton are not through one line Of action,
but through many lines Of action"
Among the many factors entering
| into solution of the farm problem he
mentioned the tariff and cheaper trans
| portation; the need for greater sta
bility in prices, which are now unduly
affected both by seasonal surplus and
by the periodical surplus over one
year to another" and the main
tenance of stability and high pur-