New Britain herald., 1930-04-30
FARM BOARD HEAD
 REBUKES ATTITUDE
leSge'S Attack UpsetS Serene
 (, Of (. Convention

Washington, April 30 Pt-Mem- bers of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States today heard Chairman Legge of the federal farm board sharply rebuke the chamber for failure ito take any constructive action to imphove the farm situa- lion after voting overwhelmingly in 1928 in favor of the principle of CO., operative marketing"
 Legge's address threw into con- troversy the hitherto serene sessions of the 18th annual meeting of the chamber. An entirely different view had been prepared by Daniel A. Mil lett, Denver banker and stockman, for presentation to the delegates. In addition, western grain deal CTS attending the meeting had an- nounced an intention of replying to the defense of the farm board by its chairman.
 In his address Lcgge assailed "bankers and business men who met the crisis in the stock market last fall with more than half billion dollars but failed to volunteer any aid when the commodities market faced a like crisis, although by do- ing so they would have performed as important if not more valuable service to the country than saving the stock market.
 Instead, he continued, there was ritiriS1o1 0f hn f1, rI <ri,, ing necessary assistance that could not be had from any other source"
 Pledges Aid
 LegSc declared congress had deli- nitely committed the country to the principle of cooperative marketing of farm products. The agricultural marketing act, he said, supplies the means necessary to help the farmer help himself out of his major eco- nomical difficulties and the farm board is going to give him every as- sistance permitted by the law"
 q am sure that most of you will agree that you know more about the agricultural situation and how to meet it than l do,' he said. "A con- erable percentage of your member ship have made that quite clear and perhaps the best answer l can make IS the statement that, if this be true and you really do know so much about 1t, the situation presents q very severe indictment of the or ganization, which having full infor- mation of the facts has made so little effort to remedy the situation.
 Certainly, none of you has seen any evidence of constructive action on the part of the Chamber of Commerce or any of it's affiliated organizations, with the doubtful ex- ccption of taking referendum two years ago, looking to remedy for and permanent improvement in the situation which your own investi- gators had warned required sub stantlal assistance, if not from you, then from the government"
 LegSc cited the report made in 1927 by the Nagel commission ap- pointed by the chamber and the National Industrial Conference board which recommended agri- cultural stabilizing through cor porations financed jointly by farm CTS cooperatives, private business interests and the Federal govern- ment.' Legge said that the cham Der in 1928 went on record in favor of cooperative principles by a vote of member associations of 2,S16, to 117.
 IndorSed Principles
 Perhaps I should mention the fact that while your national organ lzation did adopt a policy of silence when congress was framing the agricultural marketing act, spokes- men of some of your member or Sanlzations appeared before the house committee on agriculture and indorscd the principles of that hgiss- lation," he said.
 "Onc might find much iustifica- 1lon Tn the statement that your at titudc generally has been one of in difference if indeed not of antago- nlsm; that you regarded the farm problem like The poor as something we have with us always and that you who are more fortunate dis cussed it along much the same lines a s the ladies who arc apt to refe~ to the household help question something that had to be endured if one was to avoid having to do the work oneself.
 Tt is true that there have been many public expressions of sym pathy and feeling for the farn.e, but let us be certain that in giving expression to this feeling, our hand reaches for the dollar in our own pocket and not the penny in his.'