Evening star., 1933-10-26
AID TO CORN BELT
PLEDGED BY PEEK
Loans Similar to Those to
Cotton Farmers Promised
in Radio Talk.


MtutHe West, George N. Peek, agricul-
tura1 adjustment administrator, last
night revealed to them a new policy of
the Government to extend to them corn
loans similar to cotton loans already
made to farmers in the South.
The announcement was made In
Peeks address in the National Radio
Forum, arranged by The Washington
Star, and broadcast over a Nationwide
hook-up Of the National Broadcast
I'VE are announcing tonight another
substantial lift for the corn belt" Peek
said. "As the result Of conference
today between President Roosevelt and
Secretary wallace 1t has been decided
to make loans on corn properly ware
housed and sealed on the farm in the
States where there is farm ware
house act.
Loans will be made in these States
on the basis Of As cents per bushel for
No. December corn, Chicago, to farm
with the corn-hog reduction program. u
Speaks to Farm Strikers.
Peek said the States directly affected
will be Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South
Dakota and Kansas. Further details
he said, will be announced when they
are completed.
After tracing the many efforts OF the
present administration to bring back
prosperity and to speed recovery, Peek
again spoke directly to the farm strikers
THE present administration has
promised no miracles" he said. "The
present depression was more than II
years In the making. We have no apol-
ogies for not having lifted the depres-
sion all at once. We know that in the
push Of events we have made some mis-
takes. Under pressure we named goals
and headlines to close up. Once or
twice We have undertaken more than
We could accomplish within the time
named.
"The great difficulties Of agriculture
are not due to any lack Of courage nor
to any want of effort. The real prob
lem is economic.
This problem we are attacking all
along the line. First it was cotton. next
wheat, then tobacco. and now we are
moving with the greatest program Of all
for corn and hogs"
Text Of Peek's Address.
The text Of Mr.. Peek's address fol-
lows:
In opening my talk tonight I want
to discuss first the situation with my
friends and neighbors of the corn
belt. The discomfort out there is of
long standing, for the very good reason
that grain and live stock prices have
been more depressed in the past II
years than those of any Of the other
major commodities Drought, coupled
with shamefully low prices, has made
the situation in the middle Of our
country extremely critical. The 1898
corn crop is the third smallest in the
past 35 years. Hog prices are way
down. For the four-year period. 1910
1914, the average September hog price
was $7.61 hundredweight. This time
last year the price was S3.78. This
year 1t Is S373 The corn belt Is the
economic sore spot of the Nation.
All crops have been in distress. The
disaster in the corn and hog section
OF the country is one important phase
of the Nationwide farm maladjust-
ment
When the farm act was signed on
May IL all agriculture was PROSTATE.
We have had to move, creating ma
chinery as we went along, and to at
tack on the most critical fronts. We
have tried to tackle the different prob
lens one after another in the order in
which crops were maturing.
Cotton Plan q Success.
Cotton picking had started in the
southern end Of the belt before we had
Our program started. We put on a
campaign and took 10,500,000 acres
out of cotton, more than a quarter of
the entire planting. And now we have
moved to plan for the coming year not
100000 but 25000,000, acres Of
cotton.
Wheat was ripening in the Winter
wheat belt by June. Faced with large
world carry-over and with more than
half Of 1t piled up in this country, we
plunged into that situation, and at
tempted to square it with the fact that
world markets are, for the time at least,
very largely closed against our wheat.
We have signed up the growers Of about
four-flfths of the acreage sown to
wheat In this whole country to reduce
their paintings for the 1884 harvest by
Is per cent The large wheat-produc-
ing States have signed up at least 95
per cent.
At the same time we had to take
hold of the tobacco situation, with
Governors of Southeastern States clos
ing markets just when farmers tobacco
began coming to market. We secured
. voluntary agreement with the big
tobacco companies giving farmers
nearly q parity price on the domestic
part Of their crop. Another voluntary
agreement was made between the rice
growers, millers and the Secretary of
Agriculture, which assures growers OF
the parity price this current year.
Butter Price Sustained.
In the 2O-minute report of our prob
lens and program that I am making to
you now I cannot even mention the
multitude of special crop problems that
we have had to take hold of as best
we could. Milk is the most important.
It supplies about fourth of our en-
tire farm income. We have real
fight ON there It is an effort in which,
because of widely different local con-
ditions, strife within different sheds
and groups, and even racketeering, in
some cities, we are only just beginning
to make some progress. In co-opera-
ton with the farmers own organiza-
tions, the price of butter has been
sustained
This week we are sending toward the
last Of $110,000,000 in cotton ADJUST
ment checks. The crisis in the South
has eased. We expect wheat checks
will begin moving heavily in Novern-
Der. These payments to farmers are
based on the domestically consumed
share of farmers average production.
The payments, therefore, are not de-
creased by this years abnormally low
yield The $4,000, 900 or so of wheat
South Dakota this Fan and Spring will
amount to almost twice the market
value of the States drought-stricken
wheat yield this year.
In Nebraska, North Dakota and other
Western States, these payments also
will be big help because they are
based on averages instead OF current
production. Adjustment payments IN
the six main Midwest wheat producing
states will amount to more than $780,
600 900 this Fall and next Spring. The
total to all farmers will be S102, 900 GOO.
Wheat and cotton are the big head.