Evening star., 1935-08-18
POTATO |SPLACED
UNDER RA.A.A. RULE
Spud Output to Be CurtaiIed
in Move for Higher
Prices.
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

III oA1AAAS DOA<ANA$o'
The humble potato, staple food OF
rich and poor and one OF the most
abundant crops of the United States,
eaten at least once a day by practi-
cally all Americans except reducing
dieters, will be thrown this week to
the mercy Of the A. A. A.
The output of the spud will be
severely curtailed. the price will be
increased to please 100000 potato
farmers and the tuber may join the
now costly pork chop in a rise from
pauper to prince.
The potato became a basic COM
modify and therefore suitable for A.
A A. control last week after a spirited
House floor fight resulted in the in
clusion of the Warren potato bill in
the adjustment act amendments
Lyonnaise, rissole, French fried,
julienne, O'Brien, baked boiled au
gratin, mashed, hashed brown,
creamed-they are all potatoes and all
subject to the production restriction
first proposed by Representative Lind
say Warren of North Carolina, and
urged by Senator Borah, who finds
little good in most New Deal expert
mentS.
Bill Squeezed Through.
The potato bill just squeezed through
the House by a vote of TIA to 165. 1t
was denounced by Democrats and up
held by few Republicans, such as
Brewster Of Maine, who called adjust
ment of the potao crop "a simple act
of justice"
The potato output failure, which
In Ireland almost hundred years ago
caused the first large-scale Irish emf
grafton to the United States, lis ex-
pected to be above average this year"
according to the Department of Agri-
culture Bureau of Economics. but there
is little market for much of what has
already been grown.
The total potato crop figured for
August was 377,000,000 bushels, a
3 per cent increase over the July eSti-
mate and per cent above the aver
age for 1928-1932 There are millions
too many, according to Representative
Boileau, Progressive, of Wisconsin, a
leader in the potato-protection fight,
who says:
1.-The trouble with the potato in
duStry has been that the farmers have
produced such a tremendously large
surplus of potatoes that they have
been forced to sell the potatoes for the
cost of sacking and the cost of trans
portation. There has not been a
profit in it for the farmers, and be-
lieve the potato producers are en-
titled to just as much consideration
as the producers of tobacco, cotton,
wheat, corn, or anything else
Secretary to Set Quota.
The legislation. to be signed this
week by the President, authorizes the
Secretary of Agriculture to set a po-
tato quota for the country and then
figure individual quotas for each
grower. Any potatoes marketed in
excess of the quota are to be sub
jected to a tax which will be high
enough to discourage overproduction
In this way. as has been done in
cotton and tobacco, it is hoped sup
ply will more closely approximate de-
mand and the price will go up.
The first five bushels marketed by
any grower are exempt from the tax.
The bill is in effect for the coming
crop year. Affirmative votes of two
thirds of the potato growers are nee
essary to continue the control for an
other year.
That the price of potatoes is on
the SkidS is attested by the report
of the Department of Agriculture,
which states:
"The United States average price
to producers Of potatoes advanced
slightly to So cents by July Is, but was
still IS cents less than the average
returns of the same date last year
and about 80 cents below the July
average for 1910-1914."
The average Nationwide retail
price for potatoes on July was 81
cents a pound, almost half of what
1t was in 1929.
Warren, the father of potato pro-
lection. calls the plight of the grower
lone of tragedy and bankruptcy" and
said:
Five million bushels of potatoes
were dumped on the ground in the
State of Maine last month Potatoes
were selling up there for 10 cents a
barrel when it cost 35 cents to buy
the barrel to put them in. Every
where they are selling far below the
cost Of production"