The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1935-10-03
Efforts of Administration to Dis
avow Responsibility For Pc
tatO Control Act Belied by the
Clear Record of How the Law
Was Enacted.

President Roosevelt is directly re-
sponsible for the potato control act.
Had it not been for his personal inter
vention at a critical time in the life of
the bill, it would never have passed
either branch of Congress.
But for his powerful influence, three
million American farmers and count
less millions of American housewives,
just now beginning to comprehend the
real meaning of this legislation, would
noe be facing fines and Jail sentences
in event they do not obey the petty
tyranny of this law, enacted in the
name of farm relief"
1t is essential, in the interest of
truth, that the record be placed be-
fore the American people. This is true
because the Administration, now that
the act is becoming intensely unpop-
ular, is trying to disavow responsible
ity for its being upon the statute
books.
Through public statements by vari-
Gus officials of the AAA and the Ag-
ricultural Department.; through the
official publicity of the Democratic
National Committee, and through the
unofficial publicity of the New Deal,
carried in the syndicated features of
two or three columnists, every effort
is being made to convey the impress
placed upon the statute books in some
mysterious way-against the desire of
the Administration. The propaganda
in some instances has reached the point
of downright lying, in that it is being
represented that the enemies of the
Administration, the wicked Republi
cans, put the potato control act
through when the New Dealers were
off their guard.
Although it was not part of Pres
ident Roosevelt's original must" pro-
gram, the potato control bill was
adopted by the President as his own
and forced through Congress as a rider
on the AAA amendments act, wholly
because of the White House pressure
back of it.
Lets look at the record"
The pedigree of the potato bill runs
back legitimately to the New Deal phi
losophy that government regulation
is the remedy for surpluses, market
gluts and low farm prices 1t is the in
evitable and legitimate offspring of
the AAA There is not the slightest
difference between the philosophy, and
the Justice, and the economics of the
potato control act and the original
Agricultural Adjustment Act. If the
potato control act is wrong, the Agri-
cultural Adjustment Act is wrong. If
the Agricultural Adjustment Act is
defensible, so is the potato control
act.
The history of potatoes is that
small crops bring good prices. When
potatoes bring good prices everybody
rushes to plant potatoes. A bumper
crop follows and prices fall. Next year,
smaller crops and better prices. AAA
knew this. Having seen small crop
in 1888, and envisioning bumper
crop the next season, AAA issued a
press release on January 80, 1884,
saying:
"Unless some acreage and market
ing agreements are adopted, producers
(of potatoes) are headed right into
another downward cycle. With suita-
BILE marketing as reement we believe
it possible to attain fair prices for
producers"
Representative Lindsay c. Warren
(Dem.), of North Carolina, was first
in Congress to launch potato control
campaign. He cared nothing for mar
keting agreements; he wanted a man.
datoy control law.
North Carolina, like other Southern
States, had it's cotton acreage cur
tailed by the AAA. When cotton far
mers turned to tobacco and peanuts,
those crops, in order, were curtailed
by the AAA. Then North Carolina
farmers, in common with others in the
Southland, planted their idle acres to
potatoes. The increase in Southern
potato production was concurrent with
the curtailing of cotton, tobacco and
peanut acreage, under the AAA pro-
gram.
In June, 1884, the first regional po-
tato conference was called at Norfolk,
Va. Some agreed to curtail, but they
realized that as they reduced potato
planting, farmers in other states i'm
creased their potato acreage. By De-
cember the voluntary regional plan
had proved a "fop." The farmers of
the Southeast appealed to AAA to
help them draft a mandatory, nation
wide potato control bill.
June arrived. The House committee
had not acted. Apparently the bill was
doomed. After many conferences, War
rem and his friends decided their only
hope was in having the Senate attach