The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1936-03-05
The New Farm Relief
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S statement

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S statement on the
launching of the new soil conservation law which
takes the place of the AAA reflects confidence
which will go far to reassure and encourage the
farming population. There has been change of
means but not change of the end to be accom-
plished The principle of equality for agriculture
remains one of the fundamental policies of the ad-
ministratiOn.
The government will make conditional grants
to farmers for realization of national policy OF
soil conservation This is an expenditure which
would seem to fall well within the broad inter
probation of general welfare adopted by the SUI
preme court in the AAA decision. The amount of
these grants will be based on farm population by
states and the acreage and production of farm,
lands Individual production control is abandoned
There are to be no contracts. But in general the
object is to encourage a voluntary shifting of
land from soil depicting crops, like wheat, cotton
corn and tobacco, into the soil building crops
like the grasses and legumes For the time being
these grants will be made directly by the Federal
government. Later they will be made through
the states.
The administration does not share the fear OF
the dairy industry that this shifting of land to
grasses and legumes will create a surplus OF
dairy and livestock production. Having rejected
proposals for safeguarding provisions in this re-
spect, the government has assumed responsibility
to the dairy industry. The AAA administrator
Chester Davis, has shown awareness of that
responsibility by promising market sterilization
operations for butter other supplementary
action which may become necessary.
The price of butterfat has been improving
Over the short-run at least, one test of the new
act will be maintenance of these gains. The Min
nesota and Wisconsin dairy industries, which
hams aIv the
victims of the Canadian trade agreement,
can hardly be blamed for looking with sus-
picion the possible future developments OF
land under this legislation.
It is mistake to assume that this change of
direction is entirely the result of the AAA decision.
1t is probable that sooner later the adoption of
soil conservation basis for farm relief would have
taken place even had there been no invalidation of
what and indirect approach,
but the fundamentals of this new program We're
announced by President Roosevelt last fall before
the court threw out the AAA and without any
reference to the possibility of such event Con-
troll individual farm production was device
adopted to meet emergency price situation
which ultimately would have been adapted to a
new basis of soil conservation and farm manage
ment policies in the interest of preserving this
national resource.
This parity price formula has therefore given
away to probably better concept, parity of farm
income, it would have done even without the
AAA decision. The principle is that the farmer
is entitled to an income which will give him a
standard of living in line with that of other groups
income that will reflect the 25 per cent i'm
provement of national living standard after the
war.-St. Paul Dispatch.