Evening star., 1933-03-28

aster that has occurred. This is Title
I of the bill.
Title II Of the bill is complex This
title was prepared by the Department
of Agriculture and was introduced as
prepared, for consideration by the
House of Representatives and the Sem
ate I will here read the declaration Of
policy as appears in the bill:
"Declaration of Policy"
Section 2 1t is hereby declared to
be the policy of Congress:
"D To establish and maintain such
balance between the production and
consumption of agricultural commodl-
ties, and such marketing conditions
therefor, as will re-establish prices to
farmers at level that will give agri-
cultural commodities purchasing
power with respect to articles that
farmers buy. equivalent to the purchas-
ing power Of agricultural commodities
in the pre-war period, August, 1909
July, 1914; and
"t2) To approach such equality Of
purchasing power by gradual correction
of the present inequalities therein at
as rapid a rate as is deemed feasible in
view OF the current conSumptlve Ce-
mand in domestic and foreign markets.
"t3) To protect the consumers in
tereSt by readjusting farm production
at such levels as will not increase the
percentage of the consumers retail eX-
penditureS for agricultural commodities.
or products derived therefrom. which
Is returned to the farmer. above the
percentage which was returned to the
farmer in the pre-war period, August,
1909-July, 1914"
There are two principles involved In
Title H. namely. the leasing OF land
by the Government to reduce produc-
ton, and the other. the so-called allot-
ment plan, to increase prices by taxing
the professor, which means, of course.
the manufacturer of raw material. I
shall attempt to outline as clearly as
may be these two principles. l per-
sonally feel that the bill would be
more effective and meet with more uni
versal approval If of the two principles
in Title II, that the allotment and
licensing feature were eliminated and
the leasing principle applied. However:
I shall analyze the two as fairly as I
may for the benefit Of the listening
public. One is reduction OF acreage
or production by leasing OF lands by the
Government, the farmer to be paid Tor
the acreage leased to the Government.
1t is not clearly defined in the bill what
shall be the character Of the land thus
leased, I mean by the character OF the
land, the so-called marginal land or
lands that are relatively highly produc-
tive. 1t is to be assumed that the Sec
retary Of Agriculture in leasing these
lands would see to it that only SUCH
land should be leased as would by their
erly the production of the commodity
sought to be reduced In order to OBJ
tain funds to pay the farmer for lands
thus leased it is proposed under the
leasing provision of this title to levy
and collect what is known as process
ing tax. that is, that every professor or
manufacturer of farm products shall
paw q tax, which tax shall be regulated
by the Secretary Of Agriculture under
his estimate of how much money in
the aggregate shall be needed to pay for
the lands thus leased. Agents are then
supposed to survey the different landS
used in the production OF different crops
and enter into contracts with the land
owners for the leasing Of these lands.
The owner Of the land Is to be allowed
to plant on these leased lands such
crops as do not enter into market COM
petition with other staple agricultural
crops. He can, however, plant such
crops If they are for his individual or
farm use The amount OF land estl-
mated to be under cultivation in Amer
lea is $50 million acres. 1t has been
suggested that the amount necessary
to be leased or taken out Of cultivation
would be SO or go million acres. There
fore, the aggregate amount Of taxes to
be levied and collected from the pro-
cessor would be an amount sufficient to
pay rent on this amount Of land.
Just what amount would be the
rental per acre Is not specified in the
bill. This, of course, would be at the
discretion of the Secretary of Agrl-
culture. This plan is based on the idea
that it is necessary to reduce produc-
ten to the point where the law Of sup
ply and demand may the more fully OPP
crate. 1t seems to be the universal
opinion that reduction in production
is essential to the recovery OF farm
prices.
The Allotment Plan.
The second principle is what is
known as the Allotment Plan. This
plan provides that there shall be tax
levied on the professor or manufacturer
sufficient ultimately to bring the price
of farm products domestically consumed
I'D to parity that existed between farm
prices and the price for commodities
that the farmer has to buy that existed
between 1909 and 1914. This tax levied
and collected from the producer shall be
added to the price that the farmer Is
now receiving for his products, thus
giving him for that part of his products
domestically consumed a price repre-
senting the parity that existed between
what he sold and what he bought be-
tween 1909 and 1914. To illustrate. II
cotton during the pcriod selected Tor
parity was bringing 12l2 cents. tax
would be laid upon the professor which,
when levied and collected, added to the
present current price OF cotton, would
bring that portion Of cotton domes-
tically consumed up to 1919 cents. The
exportable surplus, of course. to be dis
posed Of, If disposed Of, at the worlds
price Of cotton. The present price OF
cotton Is around 6 cents per pound,
therefore. the ultimate tax upon the
professor would be around 6 cents
per pound or $50 per bale for such cot
ton as is domestically consumed.
This is the purpose of this proposed
legislation. The bill, however, provides
that in levying and collecting this tax
to attain the ultimate object, due re-
gard must be given to the effect that
such a tax and such rise in the price
will have upon the consumption OF the
product. In other words, it proposes
to take care of, as well as may be under
the circumstances. the consumer. Also,
due consideration must be given in fix
ing these allotments to wage scales.
employment and unemployment in the
cities Also changes in the consump-
tion of the agricultural commodity it
self and other commodities. Third, as
indicated above, evidence derived from
statistical studies of supply and demand
for previous periods. which indicate the