Evening star., 1934-07-01
Chester C.. Davis, A.A.A. Administrator,
the Man Who Makes Wheels Go Around

measure Of security. He wants to
work out the changes that are needed
SO that farm families can keep their
farms and return to normal ways Of
living.
He is neither a reformer nor a cru
sader. but rather a very practical ad-
ministrator. RECOMMENDATION" and
"collectivism," much used by oppo-
nents Of the new deal, are Just a couple
of SIS words to Davis. In fact, if the
present methods Of dealing with the
farm problem should break down, the
A. A. A. administrator would not hesi-
tate to admit 1t and turn to some
other method.
Like most Of his associates In the
A. A. A., he already has turned from
one type Of relief to another. He and
Peek and Wallace and most of the
group who have had a hand in the
present farm program waged a long
fight for the old McNary- Haueen
plan. This plan involved a tax on
farmers to be used to finance the
dumping Of surplus farm products
abroad. It came into disfavor when
Frank o. Lowden went down to de-
feat before Herbert Hoover in the
Kansas City convention of the Re-
publican party in 1923 and when AL
Smith, as the Democratic nominee,
accepted the plan and was defeated
by Hoover. It's doom was sealed when
nations Of the world started to fight
tariff wars and closed markets to
many products.
Now Davis and Wallace and the
others who fought for the McNary-
Haugen scheme have taken the idea
of M. L. Wilson and are using a pro-
cessing tax, levied on consumers, to
help balance up the supply and de-
mand of farm products on a domes-
tic basis. This involves some restric-
tion on farm output. And Senator
Borah. along with many others, thinks
that restriction Of farm production
will be fatal to the Nation. He is one
of those who will go out this Fall on
a speaking campaign to attack the
program of Chester Davis.
But, asks the A. A. A. administra-
tor, what would Mr. Borah do? What,
In fact, has industry in this country
always done when it found that it
could not sell its products except at
ruinously low prices? The answer is
that they shut up their plants or re-
duced the rate of output, seeking to
balance up supply and demand. In
the past agriculture has been defense
less, because 5000, 900 individual farm
ers were competing with one another
and had no machinery to use in deal
ing with their production problem. If
prices fell they were compelled to pro-
duce more to obtain enough dollars
to meet expenses. But the more they
produced, the lower dropped prices.
This was the vicious circle that con-
fronted the A. A. A. when it was Gre
ated by Congress to remake agricul-
ture.
Chester Davis likes to think Of the
A. A. A as the machinery built to
break the vicious circle that has con-
fronted agriculture during most of the
time since 1920. He sees it as a CO.
operative enterprise and as one that
will succeed only If the farmers make
it succeed. So far as the A. A. A.
administrator Is concerned, there is
no desire or intention to impose some
thing on the farmers from above that
they do not want.
But now a new line Of attack on the
farm program has been launched. The
opponents of the Adjustment Admin
istration are beginning a series of
court tests of the law. There is under
way battle with big professors of
food products, such as meat packers,
milk companies and millers. In that
fight the A. A. A. this past week
started for the first time to name
names and to give details of the fight
that is being waged.
4 \ 4 4
II there is to be struggle between
the Government and the distributors
Of food products, Davis will be direct
ing it. He will be found reasonable
and level-headed, according to all in
dications. There will be few verbal
outbursts Of the picturesque character
that sometimes emanate from the Of
fee of Gen. Hugh johnson. The
A. A. A. administrator is a great be-
lever in negotiation and In reasonable
settlements. He once Gained down
Gen. johnson when the N. r. A. ad-
ministrator came up to A. A. A. with
q chip on his shoulder.
It Is notable that In his own Or
ganization the executives look in
stinctively to Davis for leadership.
When Peek stepped out as admins
traitor no one but Davis was sug-
gested for his job. In his organiza-
ton now there are none Of the squab-
bles and internal dissensions such as
are found in the National Recovery
Administration.
The man who Is running the farm
show was born and reared on an Iowa
farm. He edited Q paper in small
South Dakota city for q time and
later was editor Of the Montana
Farmer. He served as the first COM
missioner of agriculture In Montana
and later went to Illinois to work with
Peek in the Illinois Agricultural Asso-
citation. Henry Wallace and he long
had been friends and when Wallace
was named Secretary Of Agriculture
and Peek became first head Of the
A. A. A.. Davis gravitated naturally to
Washington.