Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-04

| operate as successfully as their ardent
advocates hoped. When In addition
| their operations have necessarily Gre
ated hostile feeling among any con-
| siderable group, either in numbers or
in influence, both their purpose is mis-
/ represented and their achievement min
inized or Slandered. We are TODAY
passing through this experience with
the Federal farm marketing act This
act was the outcome Of prolonged pub
| lie discussion and represented the con-
| Sidered Judgment Of a ajority in both
| houses Of Congress. In the first section
OF the bill the purpose and intent of
this act Is defined in the following
words: That 1t is hereby declared to
be the policy Of Congress to promote
| the effective merchandising of agricul-
tural commodities in interstate and
| foreign commerce, so that the industry
| OF agriculture will be placed on a basis
| Of economic equality with other indus
| tries, and to- that end to protect, con-
| troll and stabilize the currents Of inter-
state and foreign commerce in the mar
keting of agricultural commodities and
| other food products" Never before in
! the history of this or any other nation
has government given group of
| people bill OF rights with such far
reaching possibilities AS is given the
American farmer in this legislation. If
/ it had been put Into effect when times
were normal, think 1t will be generally
conceded that by this time 1t would
have been recognized as one of the
most beneficent pieces of legislation for
| the promotion of agriculture ever de-
vised by any parliamentary body. But
before the Farm Board. appointed to
operate the law. was really fully or
! ganiZed the crash of Wall Streets
"a hNt
| it all other speculative markets. in
Guiding those in wheat and cotton fu-
| lures. At the same time there swept
over the whole world a business cata-
! clysm which dcmoraliZed all the usual
: and ordinary operations Of world COM
merce. Into this world chaos OF in
| oustrial, financial and agricultural ce-
moralizaticn the Farm Board was sud-
denly projected. The most important
demand made upon 1t was that it
| stabilize the wheat and cotton markets.
Those who criticize the work OF the
board in this connection should bear
in mind that the policy It adopted was
urged upon it with the greatest vehe-
| mence by every national farm organ
ization, backed up by the Senators and
! Representatives Of the States particu-
| larly concerned. Yielding to this
pressure, the Farm Board entered the
| market for both wheat and cotton. At
that time there was no one bold enough
| to predict that the price OF wheat and
cotton would go to the lowest levels
ever known. It was universally be-
| lieved that il the Farm Board would
| hold quantity Of wheat and cotton
of the market during the time when
the new crop was being sold Satisfac-
! tory prices would return and be main
| tanned. Owing to world conditions, this
| hope was not realized, and 1t is i'm
possible even yet to forecast the ulti-
mate outcome of the policy. This much
We know now, however, and. that is
| that the purchase Of wheat at the time
1t was done seemed imperative in order
TO avert widespread disaster. Banks
west of the Mississippi were carrying
over lo0,o00,000 bushels Of wheat and
probably as much more east of the
river when the prices in Winnipeg and
London began to break. In a single
day 50 banks closed in one State alone
and panic was everywhere possible.
Many Banks Saved.
II the wheat loans had been called
i generally. as they inevitably would
have been but for the action Of the
Farm Board the price would have
broken far below the figures it did
reach and businesses. big and little;
| banks, large and small, would have
been forced into liquidation In like
| me- nner the purchase of cotton by the
| Farm Board saved scores of banks in
the South from closing and hundreds,
If not thousands. Of planters from
bankruptcy. Net only was this f1nan-
cial disaster averted, but by the oper-
alton of the Farm Board it is esti-
mated that the 1929 and 1880 cotton
crops were sold for approximately $780,
100000 more than they would have
! been if thrown on the market and
that the whest crop of 1880 brought
the farmers $340,000,0o0 more tran
they would have realized but for the
operations Of the Farm Board. Those
! who denounce the Farm Board for fail
! ure to prevent a heavy slump in the
prices Of wheat and cotton might we'll
consider what has happened to oil and
| copper. When wheat was 80 cents a
bushel, oil was $l.82 a barrel Oil has
sold since at 10 cents barrel When
cotton was 1513c. copper was 17lac
The lowest price for cotton is about &c
Copper is TIC. And yet oil and copper
are practically our two most highly or
ganized industries, with vast capital and
the ablest arrangements the world can
find. If the oil companies with their
vast aggregations OF capital and their
highly trained arrangements were I'M
able to maintain the price of oil. and
if the great copper companies, similarly
financed and managed, we're unable TO
sustain the prices Of copper, is it rea-
sonable to denounce the Farm Board,
with its comparatively meager fund of
500 million dollars because it has failed
to maintain normal prices in the face
Of abnormal crops and abnormal condi-
tons?
But it should be remembered that the
| wheat and cotton sterilization opera
tions of the Farm Board have been but
one Of its activities. The board has
been quietly and powerfully building up
cooperative organizations throughout