Evening star., 1935-12-31
AGRICULTURAL AID
HELD PERMANENT
Nations Responsibility to
Farmers too important to
Be Ignored.
BY Cambridge Associates.


the farmer" It should be noted,
however. that criticism in almost
every instance attacks the method
and not the purpose.
Only the hardest conservatives
still believe that agriculture can,
with safety to all of us. be left alone
to work out its destiny. Speaking in
Chicago a few weeks ago, President
Roosevelt referred to the American
economy as a seamless web" 1t Is
a conception which has become more
commonplace lately than could have
been imagined in the individualistic
20s. 1t is not a universal concep-
ton. of course. but it is sufficiently
widespread so that there is no doubt
whatever but that the farm problem
Is now permanently matter of Fed
eral concern, whether the A. A. A. is
invalidated or not and regardless Of
whether (R) or Cd follows the
name of the occupant Of the White
House.
1t is hardly necessary to rehearse
the reasons why this is so. Summar-
lied briefly they are: The loss of for
eign markets because of depression,
towering debts, tariffs and the rise
of nationalism which intensified the
urge toward elf-sufficiency; of the
same piece is the fall in prices Of
on-competitive crops which turned
foreign production into competitive
channels. Thus, for several years pre-
ceding the drought and the A. A. A,
heavy surpluseS hung over commodity
markets depressing prices far below
average cost levels. And with each
succeeding price drop many farmers
felt compelled to increase crop acreage
in order to make in quantity what
they would be lost in returns per unit.
Government Steps In.
It was and it is patent that the
movement could be resumed a most
vicious cycle. 1t is only with tre-
mendous suffering and wholesale dis
turbance that the problem can be
adjusted by the exercise of economic
forces and, even if this were at
tempted no lasting, socially beneficial
adjustment would be achieved.
Largely, because each farmer in his
efforts to work out his own salvation
is most likely to destroy the good of
all just as surely as, without discipline,
panic stricken passengers might wreck
the lifeboat on which their lives de-
pended.
For better or for worse, therefore,
the state has stepped into the picture
and is there to stay in spite of the
persistence of critics. Consequently,
it is worth while to examine the agri-
cultural measures that have been sug-
gested. The actual plan, or combina-
tions of plans, that might be used If
the A. A. A. is nullified by the Supreme
Court depend naturally on how much
congressional authority over agrlcul-
ture that august body leaves standing
Production Control, Problem.
Broadly, legislative proposals de-
signed to aid the farmer can be classi-
4led into two groups, those based upon
production control (such as the
A. A. A.. and those which aren't. In
his list of possible substitutes for the
A. A. A, if this act should be in
validated Secretary of Agriculture
Wallace listed four possibilities. and
since each have at least the basic idea
OF most of the plans either tried or
proposed, they can be taken as typical
OF the schemes so far developed.
The first two plans envision con-
tinuance of the voluntary acreage con-
troll features of A. A. A. but financed
by either a general sales tax or high
income taxes. The third plans con-
troll of production by compulsion
through giving each farmer quota
and taxing if he markets more than
that quota. This is akin to the present
Bankhead cotton control act and the
potato control act. The Bankhead
act is now before the Supreme Court
and the feasibility of this scheme must
await the constitutionality test. The
fourth plan includes sterilization pur-
chaSeS and commodity loans to farm
ers in years of large crops and low
prices. 1t would offer loans to farmers
above market prices on the condition
that borrowers agree to reduce acre
age by specified amount the follow
ing year and that enough loans were
accepted TO be effective on production.
"Pro-Rate Two-Price" System.
The fifth plan suggests that each
falmer be accorded a prorated share
OF the domestic market at a fixed do
mestic price. The surplus would be
placed on world markets at the world
price.
The sixth and seventh of Secretary
Wallace's A. A. A. substitutes are de-
signed to raise foreign purchasing
power either by the systematic lend
ing of half billion a year or by low
erlng tariffs sufficiently so that i'm
ports will exceed exports by at least
That amount annually. 1t is hardly
necessary to point out that these sug-
gestionS are hardly feasible politically
even though they were proved desir-
able economically.
The eighth plan merely suggests
that combination of one or more of
the preceding seven may be used and
this is the most likely outcome if the
a. A. A. should fall. 1t is probable,
too, that some method of production
control will be included, if any founda-
ton for it is left by the Supreme
Court, Since the experience Of the
United States and of other nations
has shown the disadvantage of dump
ing" goods abroad and the financing
of a large carryover, no matter in
whose hands it is held.
Many other plans have and will be
brought forth, but the essential ele-
ments of those so far developed are
included in the above outline. The de-
tails of the program that will finally
prevail are unpredictable. But it is
a safe prediction that some form of
agricultural aid will continue until
now unforeseen events prove them un-
necessary to the maintenance Of a
reasonably healthy agriculture.
AHnRMmARIN