Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-02
BY WILLIAM HARD.

Working less and loafing more Is an
idea that seems to have made great
strides at Washington during this last
week as a contribution to the solution
| Of our economic woes.
Great favorable interest has been
/ aroused in Washington. by the efforts
of the Legislature and Governor Of
Texas to assemble an interstate con-
ference for growing less cotton and for
| spending more time doing something
| else or nothing.
Jubilation is expressed that lot Of
Western farmers are reported to be
refusing to plough their fields for more
| Winter wheat and to be taking life
| c Sier.
It is announced that the voluntary
Committee on Petroleum Economics"
of the Federal Oil Conservation Board
is now preparing an estimate OF the
prospective demand for gasoline" and
Of the prospective supply Of gasoline"
for the last quarter Of this year in order
that producers may be encouraged to
stop overworking themselves at pump
| ing up so much superfiuous petroleum
out Of the ground.
The Lumber Survey Committee" of
the Federal Timber Conservation Board
| has reported and recommended that
| during the last six months of this year
the producers of timber should lie back
and let the trees grow and cut down
| only minimum number of them.
Z The Secretary of Labor has an
nounced that nobody should work more
| than five days a week in an ideal
United States and that ii would be we'll
If on each of those five days he should
| carefully confine himself to working
only six hours.
1t becomes apparent that "the siren
uous life" Is what has been ailing this
country ever since the days of Roose-
welt and that after keeping cool with
Coolidge the idea now is to calm down
with Hoover.
It Is thought appropriate that Texas
should take the lead in calling for
concerted action to do less work on
cotton-and on some other things.
Texas seems to have been one of the
busiest bad boys in our Union for
long time.
The Department of Agriculture re-
ports that in the last 10 years the ultra
workers of Texas have added some six
million acres to their cotton labors.
It also reports that in the last five
years they have AIDED more than MIL
| lion acres to their wheat labors. The
American Petroleum Institute reports
that in the last year they have added
two hundred thousand barrels day
to their oil labors.
In all Of these instances these superA
energetic Texans have caused great
losses In prices and in incomes to
! themselves and to their fellow
countrymen. One OF the Nauons
greatest instant problems Is seemingly
| to diminish the working zeal of Texans
This may be attempted emphatically in
washington in the next House OF
Representatives If 1t is organized by
the Democrats, whereupon Mr.. Garner
of Texas will become Speaker and the
chairmanships Of most of the most ac-
! tive committees will be held by vigilant
and vivacious Texas statesmen. 1t Is
hoped here that in those circumstances
House Of Representatives 1nvigorated
by Texans will be able to tame Texas:
Texas now has q commissioner OF
agriculture. Mr.; ]. z. McDonalo' VINO
has reported to the Federal Farm
Board that it Is hopeless to try to
| educate" Texans into working less at
cotton growing. He says that you
have to lick them into it by law. He says
that YOU have to have a law that VIII
lust simply make them grow less. He
saws that almost all the Texas farmers
! who have given any thought to the
matter believe that the only way to DO
it is by mandatory legislation.
~ +
This notion Is not really quite such
a novelty as it might seem to be. There
is no doubt whatsoever that the DRIFT
of national thought today Is toward
| putting compulsory checks upon pro-
ducers either directly by the Govern,
ment or indirectly through supervisor
organizations of their own.
The Hoover administration mas
checked producers of petroleum ana
producers of timber by strong restric-
| tions upon new petroleum operations
and upon new timber operations on
Government lands. It has aided the
restrictive ambitions and activities OF
| the roetroleurn producing States through
! Granting to them the solemn ofhcial
blessinr of the Federal Oil Conserva-
ton Board. It now begins to sprinkle
| a similar blessing upon the timber
| producers through the rapidly emery,
ing endeavors OF the new Federal
| Timber Conservation Board, chair
| maneQ py OcCAcV0AJ VA
Lamont.
lust as a committee of the Federal
Oil Conservation Board has several
times made estimates Of demand and
supply in order that oil producers
might try to keep themselves within
profitable limits of effort, so now q
committee of the Federal Timber Con-
| servation -oard is beginning to make
! similar estimates of demand and sup
| ply for a similar purpose Of output
| restriction and of ultimate reasonable
price seCurement.
The advantage Of these developments
| is plain.
If private Texans, or Oklahomans
or South Carolinians should agree
among themselves to give US less cot
ton till they got q decenter living out
of it, their behavior would be--fron1 the
strictly legal point of view-a conspiracy