The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-08-16
NEWSPAPERS OPINION
A NATIONAL TRAGEDY

Hailed as a humanitarian act to aid drouth
stricken farmers, the governments contract for
the purchase of cattle ties the farmer hand and
foot to the chariot wheel of q dictator.
Is this too strong statemene? If you think so,
them read what the farmer must contract to do If
he accepts the pitifully small payments made to
him bv his government under conditions set by
the young men Of; the AAA. We quote, verbatim,
the following provision contained In section TWO
Of Performance by Producer" in which the pro-
Queer agrees:
"To cooperate with further general programs
pertaining to the adjustment or reduction OF pro-
duction and-or for the support and balance OF
the market for cattle and-or dairy products which
may be proffered by the Secretary, pursuant TO
the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as amended 10
execute the agreements necessary to participate In
such programs and necessary to share IN the pay
ments that may be paid by the Secretary for per-
Torrance thereof and the producer agrees that
the total or any part thereof of the benefit pay
ment' for the cattle described in Table A hereof
may be applied to and deducted from any pay
ments he may become entitled to under any such
agreement; or agreements. d" 81"
In other words, every farmer who signs one OF
these contracts agrees to sign and comply WIN
any contract for production control that the Sec
rotary of Agriculture may submit to him at any
time. This applies not only to present production
control agreements for wheat, corn, hogs, etc., but
also any agreement that rnaythereaftes be pro-
posed by the AAA for cattle, dairy products, etc.
The farmer is left no choice, he must do as the
Secretary of Agriculture directs. And, it is done
in the guise of relief 1t seems uncomfortable in
our American democracy It is a tragic betrayal
of liberty and freedom by eoterie of willful men
obsessed with theory and recognizing NO moral
OF legal limitation to their dictatoria authority.
Until we saw the contract itself, we refused to
believe any American government would OF could
exact such a deplorasle and inexcusable require
ment in return for aid extended to those in dire
distress. 1t is as though "a man saw another drown
ing and demanded that, to be saved the drowning
man must first agree to turn over to him full con-
troll of all his property and future acts. Even
those who consider production control desirable,
can scarcely approve method such as this.
We refused to support the dairy control pro-
gram that was proposed by the Agricultural Ad-
justment Administration. We believed it to be
unsound, impractical, and unavoidable. That pro-
gram has been abandoned, but it is only tenn
porary abandonment as this drouth relief contract
is evidence. Its proponents, apparently, would
force it down our throats because some of US are
in distress and cannot help ourselves.
We believe in the integrity and good sense OF
the dairy farmer. We believe he should be free
to choose and free to act, or we must abandon
our heritage of American democracy. He has the
right and the privilege to disagree or agree with
a governmental proposal without compulsion from
any source Denial of this right by the provisions
of this drouth relief contract is evidence of the
extent to which bureaucratic officials would go to
gain their ends.
The only protection the sgners of this agree
ment have is the possibility that the Secretary OF
Agriculture may not be able to legally secure its
enforcement. We are not lawyers but we seem to
recall that contracts signed under duress are not
enforceable At least we still have faith that our
American courts would so construe this drouth
relief contract.-Hoard's Dairymen.