New Britain herald., 1929-04-16
Full Text of Presidents Message
 Delivered Before Congress Today

sress.
 TO the congress of the United States:
 T have called this special session of congress 10 redeem tWo pledges given in the last election-farm re- lief and limited changes IF the tralff,
 The difficulties of the asrlcultur- al industry arise out of multitude Of causes. \ neavy indebtedness Was inherited by the industry from the deflation processes Of 19eo. DlSor- derly and wasteful methods of mar ketins have developed. The growing specialization in the industry has for years been increasing the proportion of products that now leave the farm and. in Conseq uenCo, prices have been undulS depressed by Congcst- cd marketing at the harvest or by the occasional climatic surpluses Railway rates have necessarily ln creased. There has been d growth of competition in the world markets from countries that enjoy cheaper labor or more nearly virgin soils. There was a great expansion Of pro- auction from our marginal lands during the war, and upon these prof itable enterprise under normal con- ditions can not be maintained. Meanwhile their continued output tends to aggravate the situation. Lo- cal taxes have doubled and in some cases trebled. Work animals have been steadily replaced by meChani- cal appliances, thereby decreasing the consumption Of farm products. There are many other contributing causes.
 The general result has been that our agricultural industry has not kept pace in prosperity or standards of living with other lines of industry.
 There being no disa greement as to the need of farm relief, the prob lem before us becomes one Of meth cd by which relief may be most sue cessfully brought about. Because Of the multitude of causes and because agriculture is not one industry but a score of industries, We are confront ed not with single problem alone but a great number Of problems. Therefore, there Is no single plan or principle that can be generally ap- piled. Some Of the forces working 10 the detriment Of agriculture can be greatly mitigated by improving our waterway transportation: some Of them by readjustment of the tariff; some by better understand ing and adjustment of production needs; and some by improvement in the methods of marketing.
 An effective tariff upon agriCul- tural products, that will compensate the farmers higher costs and higher standards of living, has dual pur- pose.
 Such a tariff not only protects the farmer in our domestic market but it also stimulates him 10 diver sify his crops and 10 grow products that he could not otherwise produce. and thus lessens his dependence upon exports to foreign markets The great expansion of production abroad under the conditions l have mentioned renders foreign competi- ton in our export markets increas-
 
 therefore, that the American farmer having been greatly handicapped in his foreign market by such Compe- tition from the younger expanding countries. should ask that foreign access to our domestic market should be regulated by taking into account the differences in our costs of pro duction.
 The government has a special mandate from the recent election. not only to further develop-our waterways and revise the agriCultur- al tariff but also to extend system atic relief in other directions.
 T have long held that the multi plicity Of causes of agricultural de- pression could only be met by the creation Of q great insrrumentality clothed with sufficient authority and resources to assist our farmers to meet these problems. each upon it's own merits. The creation Of such an agency would at once transfer the agricultural question from the field of politics into the realm of econoIn- ics and would results in constructive action. The administration is pledg- ed to create an instrumentalit that will investigate the causes. find sound remedies. and have the au- thority and resources to apply those remedies.
 The pledged purpose of such d federal farm board is the reorgani- Za'ion Of the marketing system on sourSrr and more stable and more ecoroGic lines. To do this the board will require funds to assist in creating and sustaining farmer owned and farmer-Controlled agen- cies for a variety Of purposes. such as the acquisition Of adequate ware housing and other facilities for marketing; adequate working capi- tai 10 be advanced against commo- dities lodged for storage: necessary. and prudent advances to corpora lions created and owned by farm CTS marketing organizations for the purchase and orderly marketing of surpluses occasloned by climatic variations CT by harvest congestion to authorize the creation and sup port Of clearing houses. especially for perishable products, through which, under producers approval cooperation can be esta blished wit h distributors and processors 10 more orderly marketing Of commodities and for the elimination of many was es in distribution: and to pro- vide for licensing Of handlers Of some perishable products so as to eliminate unfair practices. Every penny of waste between farmer and consumer that we can eliminate whether it arises from methods Of distribution or from hazard or spec ulation. will be q gain to both farm CT and consumer
 Tn addition to these special pro yi9ioDS in tho 5ir,o.ior, pF