Evening star., 1935-07-11
WILLIAMS VOICES
A.A.A. GRIEVANCE.
Tobacco Official, Who Was
on Recovery Board,
Charges 'CraftineSS.'
Ely DAVID LAWRENCE.


been on the inside OF an administra-
tion feels compelled to come out into
the open and tell the truth about
what he has observed behind the
scenes. But when the provocation is
ecute. such incidents happen. That
IS why the statement issued by S.
CLAY Williams, vice chairman OF the
toard OF the Reynolds Tobacco Co.
who for many months was chairman
of the National Industrial Recovery
Ecard here. takes on especial Signi-
flcance
Mr.. Williams has had the conf
dence of President Roosevelt. He is
h popular personality, business man
who from the start has tried to see
the good rather than the bad in the
New Deal. and one who has put his
effort behind N. r. A. in order to
make it effective as an emergency
Instrument.
So when Mr. Williams has his say
about the Department of Agriculture
and the Agricultural Adjustment Ad-
ministration and does so in state
ment that charges some Of the ad-
ministration experts with "crattiness
ard "unfrankness" and 'subtletly of
method here is evidence from
witness who must have been deeply
moved to use such expressions.
Tobacco Representative.
Mr.. Williams is a tobacco man. His
company puts out Camel cigarettes.
but in his statement he is represent
irg all the tobacco companies. His
grievance is that the consumer runs
the risk of having to pay more fo'
his cigarettes and the tobacco farmer
runs the risk of getting less for his
p,oduct and everybody in between
runs the risk of being injured by the
CRITICAL control set up by the A. A. A
The objection which Mr.. Williams
raises, however, applies to vegetables
and fruits as well as to tobacco, and
concerns a point which has been very
difficult to explain because 1t arises
out of the most adroitly phrased piece
of legislation that has come out OF
Capitol Hill thus far this session.
Originally the A. A. A. plan re-
uuired that processing tax be levied
on tobacco and other products, and
that this tax be figured so that the
tobacco grower would get price
which was equivalent to a certain
average for preceding years. This was
called parity" Once parity has been
achieved, it has always been UNDER
stood that the processing taxes would
be reduced. if not repealed. But now
it appears that the processing taxes
are to be retained even when parity is
reached.
First glance at the language of the
A. A. A. amendments now pending
would lead one to believe that, when
parity is reached the Secretary of
Agriculture would not use his proc
essing tax power any longer. Indeed
the language is that the Secretary is
authorized to take no action to
maintain parity. But it develops that
this merely means that he is not re-
sponSible for what happens after parity
is reached and that, if the processing
taxes are in operation. he is not au-
thorized to take any action to remove
them.
No Reflection.
There's no reflection whatever here" :"
saws Mr.. Williams. "on any member
of the committee or of the Congress
or any of their methods. They were
relying on administrative officers OF
the A. A. A. working with the COM
mittee, and presumably explaining to
the committee just what they were
proposing and why. They were not
to be expected to be on guard against
craftiness of such a deep-laid charac
ter. Nor was it to be expected that
before a Congress which is rightly
ready to do anything it can properly
do to help the farm situation there
would be an attempt to leave false
impressions as to the effect of pro-
posals.
If the proposals were all right
generally and were in the interest of
the farmers, there could be no legiti-
mate need for subtlety and secretive
ness and craftineSs of method on the
part of the A. A. A. in any of its work
with the committee or with the Con-
gress.
But A. A. A. is out in the open
now. The amendments made in the
Senate Committee at last make the
plain admission that, where products
are above parity but not more than
20 per cent above it, the tax is to be
90 per cent of parity. Already one
fifth above parity, but another fifth is
to be added. And even where the
product is more than 20 per cent
above parity-it makes no difference
how much more-there is no termina-
ton of the tax affected thereby.
No wonder A. A. A. hesitated to
tell consumers. who are to use these
tax-burdened products about that
proposal. No wonder it didn't even
tell it to the farmers, whose product
has to carry that burden to and
through its market and suffer what
ever restriction of consumption and
whatever other damage is caused
thereby"
Opposed Public Hearings.
Mr.. Williams charges that the A. A.
A. has insistently opposed public
hearings, and adds that it is notorious
that its own representatives have
been sitting continuously with the
committees behind closed doors which
excluded all other interested parties. +"
The foregoing picture of how legis-
lation is drafted and what happens
when opposition appears is not un-
usual under the New Deal. But what
is truly unusual is that a friend of
the Presidents and a man who has
been working for the administration
until just a few weeks ago, when he
resigned his post. should feel i'm
PEELED to make such sweeping charges
Mr.. Williams now joins the ranks of
those disillusioned business men who
were originally asked to bring con-
structive criticism or to cooperate"
or to put their shoulder to the wheel
in great national crisis. The list of
self-exiled friends of the administra-
tion is growing. and, if the truth be