Evening star., 1933-03-17
The Farm Bill.
President Roosevelt's farm ]

program, SeQC 10 tUe OOIlSTcSS ycStcl-
day, seeks, like other proposals in the
past, to increase the prices Of farm
crops. Whereas the equalization fee"
plan, the "debenture plan" and others
advanced for consideration during the
past decade originated in Congress, the
new plan comes from the White House.
The late President Calvin Coolidge and
former President Herbert Hoover took
little stock in the farm remedies put
forward by the Congress during their
administrations. Indeed, both turned
their backs on the equalization fee plan
and Mr.. Hoover would have none Of
the debenture plan. In the end, Mr..
Hoover accepted the farm marketing
act, which created the Federal Farm
Board, with its powers to set up stabili-
zation corporations, etc. Whether o.
not this act might have operated to
benefit the farmers in normal times
probably will never be determined. In
the collapse of industry in this country
and abroad which happened almost i'm
mediately after the Farm Board was
created there was no chance at all for
agricultural recuperation. And If the
farmers are to have better prices and
better conditions now it will be because
of a general and gradual recovery in
this country from the economic chaos
that has existed for more than three
years rather than because Of any arti-
fetal aid set up by legislation.
The Roosevelt farm program is a
combination of ideas. It includes the
so-called domestic allotment plan, which
was put in legislative form by the House
in the last session, but which was
pigeonholed in the Senate. 1t contains
also the newer marginal lands" plan,
whereby the Government IS to lease
from the farmers some of their lands
at a moderate annual rental with the
understanding that the farmers will
curtail particular crops they would have
planted. 1t carries the Smith plan for
awarding options to cotton planters on
the 100000 bales of cotton now owned
by the Farm Board. with the under
standing that the planters will cut down
their acreage this year. It requires
professors and distributing agencies,
dealing in farm products and food
stufIs, to obtain licenses from the Fed
eral Government when they engage In
interstate and foreign commerce. 1t
proposes to safeguard the farmers from
unfair practices and charges of the
middlemen. 1t provides for taxes levied
on the processing Of the basic crops to
aid in increasing farm prices.
The President frankly told the Con"
gress that the legislation proposed is an
experiment. He did not guarantee that
it would be successful. He went so far
as to say that If the plan did not prove
a success it would be promptly aban-
doned. He did say, however, that the
present emergency required unusual
measures to help pull the farmers out
of financial morass and to bring back
farm produce to the footing it occupied
in comparison to industrial products
before the World War.
The Secretary of Agriculture, under
the proposed legislation, will have broad
powers to adopt any of the measures
of relief carried in the bill. The Presi-
dent is authorized to call a halt to
the operation of the law at any time
he sees fit by declaring that the agri-
cultural emergency has passed.
The farm relief bill Is based on a
theory Of synthetic economics. It un-
dertakes to improve upon the old eco
nomic law of supply and demand.
Whether it can help the farmer, and,
if 1t helps the farmer, whether it will
be q terrible drag on the consuming
public, time alone will show. As Presi-
dent Roosevelt has declared, the pro-
gram is, after all, an experiment. His
idea, however, is that it is better to
try something than to let the farm
problem slide.