Montana labor news., 1936-03-19

Adl 4CPNatSNlyl uuAlu5 luC campaign,
promised to bring about the necessary
changes to better the situation, he ad-
dressed himself to the problem Of
Strengthening out the banks first and
agriculture next.
An analysis OF the whole agricultural
problem disclosed the fact that during
the war and for a short time after
wards, the farmers OF the nation were
encouraged TO grow the largest pos
sible crops, because the surplus, what
ever it was, was being purchased by
foreign countries to whom we were
loaning the money to make the purch-
asses. This continued as long as we
continued to loan the money but
when We stopped the loans, they stop
ped the purchases, and the surplus be-
gan to pile up. AS wheat is the prin-
cipal crop which is most affected and
which affects the most people, it will
be used as an illustration OF what the
problem was, and how it was solved.
Il was demonstrated that there were
some 50 million acres too much wheat
being grown in the United States, and
that this surplus acreage was piling up
the surplus wheat and lowering the
price. 1t was pointed out that unless
something was done, this condition
would continue indefinitely and until
the surplus acreage was eliminated.
There were two ways to do it 4 either
it had to be done by some sort OF con-
certed action carried out on a national
scale, or it could be done through the
slower and more painful process Of al
lowing a sufficient number OF farmers
to starve to death to bring about the
desired reduction in acreage and sur
plus. 1t was shown that if all the wheat
acreage in the United States were re-
duced some IS per cent, it would eli
inmate the 50-million surplus acres, cut
down the wheat surplus, and that it
ought to raise the price to what it had
been prior to the war, when it was suf-
f~iciently high to make the growing OF
wheat a profitable business.
The wheat farmers were equipped to
grow wheat, and practically nothing
else; they had no organization Of their
own which would have enabled them
to have taken the course ro' by manu-
facturers, namely; close down until the
surplus was eliminated. The only pos
sible way a general reduction in whtat
acreage could be brought about throu-
ghout the entire nation wa to induce
the farmer, as far as possible to agree
voluntarily to a IS per cent reduction in
acreage in consideration for his being
paid in cash for so doing. Hence the
so-called Processing Tax, which in the
Of wheat amounted to 30-cents a
bushel collected from the professor -
who in this instance was the miller Fl
the collections to be made by the Bur
Of Internal Revenue, the proceeds
TO be turned over to the Agricultural
Adjustment Administration to be paid
to the farmer in cash in proportion to
his wheat acreage in recent years.
This in brief was the Processing tax
which was designated to have two pri-
mary beneficial effects one, to put
some immediate cash into the farmers
pockets to enable him to survive - to
hold onto his farm 49, to pay his press
ng bills - and to put in another crop;
md, second, the hoped-for effect Of
the price Of wheat from an ave-
age price OF about 80 cents a bushel
n Montana to the pre-war level of a
or more.
This law was quickly put on the
BOOKS and quickly put into effect. Dur
ng the entire time it was in opera
ion in Montana there wa paid to the
.armers in cash from processing taxes
IN all commodities affected by the tax,
something in excess of Twelve Millions
If Dollars. So efficiently was the mat
handled that the flow Of money to
he farmers was effected quickly. No
me got a great deal out of it, but be-
all farmers grow some wheat,
hey all got something; it enabled them
o pay bills to country storekeepers,
in turn enabled them to pay their
ills the money went into circulation
rom the bottom up; it went into gen
raj circulation with the effect that
here was an immediate emergence
rom the universal dependency and
verywhere there was a feeling Of opti-
nism and hope.
The distribution of the wheat allot-
was in tho 'a~~est amounts tc ;
hose counties in northern and north !,