Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-12-23
THE NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT
BY PAUL JOHN KVALE, M. c.

Any faint hope that remained for
passing the Presidents legislative pro-
gram as outlined in his message to
the special session of Congress dis
appeared this week.
True, the Senate Friday followed
the lead of the House and rushed
through a farm bill, but while it
was doing this the House, at the
other end of the building "killed the
wage-hours bill by the device of
recommitting it to the Labor COM
mittee by majority of 18 votes.
The Senate passed its farm bill by
vote of SO to 20 after three weeks
of bitter debate and three exciting
night sessions, but it is so different
from the measure passed by the
House previously, that not even the
most optimistic administration lead
ers hope that the conferees will be
able to reach an agreement before adj
journment sine die, which is sched-
uled to begin Wednesday.
The burying of the wage-hours bill
was achieved when southern Demo-
Gratis joined forces with their Re-
publican colleagues from the north
Final vote to recommit was ZIG to
198 The writer regrets the failure
of the House to reach a vote on this
measure. After all, while it was
not in our opinion a perfect bill, it
seemed to be a step in the right
direction and had it been passed there
always remains the opportunity to
amend it and improve it in the fu-
ture with view to improving con-
ditions of the workers of this country.
HighlightS of the Senate crop con-
troll and ever-normal granary bill
include: A combined voluntary and
compulsory program, without limit as
to cost, to ward off SURPRISES and boil
ster the prices of wheat, cotton, tobac-
CO, corn and rice; continuance of the
soil conservation program; crop loans
and assurances of parity price pay
ments to farmers within limits of ap-
preparations available Farmers who
hold any of the five crops within the
Agricultural department allotment,
would receive benefit payments and
loans on stored supplies. AS last
resort to control surpluses market
ing quotas would be invoked and rig
idly enforced by penalties on sales
exceeding the quotas.
The rigid crop control bill carries
production restriction and price
guarantees much more sweeping than
the administration had requested, and
was passed at a night session with
the following alignment of votes:
81 Democrats voted with three Re-
publicans, one Progressive and one
Independent, while ID Democrats, Is
Republicans and two Farmer-Labor-
by vote of SO to 81 to send the
bill back to the committee for re-
vision.
The Senate bill provides for ma
tional acreage allotment of wheat
to be proclaimed by the Secretary of
Agriculture in advance of the plant
ing season, and broken down by state
agencies into county and individual
aIlotments. At the same time con-
tracts are to be offered to producers
by which they are to hold their wheat
acreage within their allotment in
return for benefit payments designed
to offset in part the difference be-
tween available farm prices and the
arbitrary parity price figure.
The wheat program continues to
operate on a voluntary basis with
producers free to cooperate or re-
main outside the plan but with bene-
fit payments confined to those abid-
ing by soil conservation regulations
of the AAA. However, when the