Evening star., 1933-11-03
HUGE MARKETING
PLAN IS PROPOSED
At FARM PAR[EY
Provides Fixed Price for
Products to Be Based on
"Parity" Levels.
PRE.WAR PURCHASING
POWER AIM OF PROGRAM
Proposal Calls for Agreement to
Reduce Crops in Future to Fit
Supply and Demand.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A gigantic marketing agreement un-
der the farm act, covering the major
farm commodities of the Middle West,
was proposed today at the conference
between the administration and the
Governors of five States as they sought
agreement on an immediate farm price
lifting program.
This trend in the discussion was
reached after Secretary of Agriculture
Wallace had reported to the White
House that difficulties had arisen in
the effort to work out a pricelifting
program.
He said no report could be made to
the President before tomorrow.
Under the new suggestion before
the conference an agreement would be
drawn up, under which farmers who
signed would be guaranteed a fixed
price for their products, to be based
on parity" levels.
Quotas Would Be Assigned.
1t would be designed to give the
prOOuCCS Ine eQuIVdltllt VI lAiei PiC-
war purchasing power.
The farmer would agree to curtall
production in future years as found
necessary by the Department of Agr1-
culture to fit the supply and demand
situation for each commodity.
Individual farmers would then be
assigned quotas of products which they
would be entitled to sell at the fixed
price level. These quotas would be
based on statistics of their production
in prior years.
Professors and distributors would be
licensed to force payment OF the prices
and to prevent circumvention OF the
agreement.
The administrations reaction to this
proposal, advanced principally by Gov.
Olson of Minnesota, Farmer-Laborite,
and given general approval by Cows.
Herring of Iowa, Berry of South Da-
kota, LANCER of North Dakota and
Schmedeman of Wisconsin, remained
uncertain.
Obstacles to First Plan
1t was reported that while Secretary
Wallace and his aides had first listed
price fixing as impossible" that they
offered numerous suggestions with a
view toward making the proposed
agreement effective.
The Governors turned to the agree
ment plan after encountering numerous
legal and other obstacles to their original
program, adopted at the Des Moines
Conference of Governors.
1t called for an N. r. A. code for
agriculture, under which individual
farmers would be licensed and provided
that prices be fixed to cover cost plus
TheV sought =
rect imitation also.
After the conference the Governors
began a redraft of their program, hav-
ing encountered both legal obstacles and
practical difficulties in the way of their
original proposal.
May Approve Price Fixing.
Shortly before noon, on returning
from the White House, Wallace said
nothing definite has been agreed
upon.
He said price fixing was still under
consideration and that the admins
tration would be willing to approve a
progam of this type providing there was
adequate production control"
He Indicated however, that "ade-
uuate control" was not yet in sight, with
the farm adjustment program still IN
its formative stages for some of the
major products of Midwest farms.
one of the proposals of the Gov
ernors was that an N. R. A. code for
farmers be drafted, under which mini
mum prices would be fixed. Farmers
would be licensed and sales quotas fixed
for each.
Wallace said the attention OF the
Governors had been called to the Long
amendment to the N. r. A. act. which
specifically exempts farmers from 1tS
licensing provisions.
The farm act also contains bars
against the licensing of farmers
New Angle Is Studied.
Encountering this legal obstacle, the
Governors then turned to consideration
of the possibility of licensing professors
who buy farm products as means OF
supporting a price fixing program.
Again, Wallace said, they learned OF
serious practical obstacles.
been informed that in the case OF
wheat, as an example, more than hall
of this years short crop of about $780,
600 900 bushels and up to 250,000, 900
bushels from other years was believed
to be already in the hands of traders
and millers and out of the control OF
farmers.
This quantity of wheat would be more
than sufficient to supply mills for one
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