Evening star., 1933-01-01
BY WILLIAM HARD.


, in the domestic allotment plan" bill
| for farm relief. This is the bill upon
which the Democratic congressional
advisers Of President-elect Roosevelt
are now centering their immediate
farm relief efforts.
The change made has broadened the
bill into embracing outrightly a funda-
mental principle Of the most vital i'm
portance and interest to all American
basic industries, whether agricultural
] or non-agricultural.
In most Of its original tentative
forms the bill was merely a "tariff
| equivalence" bill. On each bushel OF
| wheat. for instance, destined to domes-
tic consumption the farmer was to re-
ceive an adjustment certificate" of the
precise value Of the existing tariff duty
on bushel of wheat. The duty hap
pens to be AZ cents. The adjustment
certificate" per bushel would therefore
be also exactly AZ cents.
Now, however, the idea In the bill
has been definitely reconstructed. The
| adjustment certificate per bushel of
! wheat or per pound of cotton becomes
a variable sum. 1t becomes variable
for a reason which has awakened the
lively attention and concern OF the
producers of all other basic commodi-
ties whatsoever in the whole country.
4 %.*x
The reason is this: Under the bill as
1t now finally appears in the commit
tee print" of the Committee on Agri-
culture of the House of Representatives,
the Federal authorities are directed to
calculate fair exchange value" for
each of the commodities included with
in the bills operations. The formula
for calculating that value" is specified.
The fair exchange value" for wheat
will be price per bushel which will bring
to the farmer today as large a guam
tity of non-agricultural commodities as
he was able to purchase with bushel
of wheat in the period of years from
1909 to 1914.
Let us assume, then, that the Federal
authorities in 1893 find that the fair
exchange value" of wheat per bushel
is 80 cents. Let us assume further that
the actual market price of wheat per
bushel is 80 cents. The adjustment
certificate" per bushel of wheat will
thereupcn be go cents.
1t will be 60 cents as long as the
market price Is 80 cents. If, however,
the market price should rise to 40 cents.
the adjustment certificate" per bushel
of wheat would drop to so cents. II,
contrariwise, and unhappily, the market
price OF wheat should drop to 20 cents,
the adjustment certificate" per bushel
would rise to 10 cents. In every con-
tingency and at all times the adjust
ment certificate" would have to be for
sum which would enable the farmer
to realize for each bushel of domestical-
ly consumed wheat its full fair ex-
change value" OF 80 cents.
X
The change thus accomplished in the
bill takes IT. far beyond its original in
tention OF simply making the tariff
effective" The bill is no LONGER a
tariff equivalence" bill at all. It is a
price restoration" bill. 1t is price
maintenance" bill. 1t announces the
principle that the Federal Government
will undertake to maintain fair ex-
change values" for commodities.
That is, 1t will maintain them for
such commodities as the bill chooses to
| name. Instantly in Washington there
| are commodities, not now in the bill,
| which offer themselves as willing can
oidates for its hospitality.
The first Of such commodities Is milk.
The bill row mentions only wheat, cot
ton, tobacco and hogs. Those are Tex
port surplus" commodities. They were
! inserted into this sort of legislation
when the principle of it was grounded
| on the tariff. The controlling and lin
iting idea then was that the bill was
| for the benefit of agricultural commod-
tiles which, precisely because of having
| export surpluses," coulo not otherwise
| secure the equivalent OF tariff protec-
ton. Under that idea it was manifest
that milk was not eligible TO the bill.
Milk, broadly speaking. has no export
surplus" 1t is on domestic basis"
X X
! Now, however, when the principle of
| the bill has been shifted from tariff
/ equivalence" to price maintenance, I"
the National Cooperative Milk Pro-
ducers' Federation, with its Offices in
the Temple of Agriculture" in WASH
ington. bsgins to want to know why
milk should not have, along with wheat
! and cotton and tobacco and hogs, a
governmentally maintained fair ex-
change value"
| Charles w. Holman secretary of the
National Cooperative Milk Producers
Federation, has asked the House Com
mittee on Agriculture to amend its
domestic allotment plan" farm relief
bill in two particulars. First, he wants
the bill amended so that lands from
which excessive wheat and cotton and
tobacco and hogs have been eliminated
will pot be utilized for the producing of
excessive milk. Second, on behalf of
numerous organizations Of milk-selling
| farmers. he states:
| I'VE will then accept the principle OF
an adjustment tax based upon achiev-
ing. as nearly as possible, pre-war
paritv purchasing power for the benefit
! of milk and its products"
The committee must now, accordingly
either accept Mr.. Holman's acceptance
Of the present principle Of the bill OF
else explain to vast multitude OF
dairymen that q pre-war parity pur-
! chasing power Is intended by the Gov
eminent for wheat farmers and for