Evening star., 1937-08-29
By Lucy Salamanca.

Secretary OF Agriculture
Wallace in an exclusive in
- terview. that the farmers
are now as prosperous as they should
be, but In view of their per canita
snare IN the national income before
the war, 1t would seem that as long AS
tney comprise % per cent Of the popu-
4ation OF this country, they should be
getting about 13 per cent of he ma
ttonal income.
Il am glad that during the past
Tour and one-half years the gross in
come OF the American farmer has
been doubled and his net income
treoled. This increase Of farm in
come has improved the stability of the
Nation.
In 1882, when farmers represented
23 per cent of the population they
were receiving only per cent of the
national income, and the lack of farm
purchasing power was disastrous to
both laboring men and business men
In the cities. Today the national
income has been increased by about
60 per cent and the farm share has
been increased from about per cent
IN 1882 to about II per cent. But. I
repeat, they should be getting about
Is per cent, if they are to contribute
most effectively to a balanced national
budget.
In 1888 1t was necessary in order to
restore purchasing power to the
farmer, to control unwieldy surpluses
OF wheat and cotton, which were three
times normal size. At the very begin
ming Of 1884, however, the admins
tration began to talk about an ever
normal granary' designed to prevent
years OF unusual drought causing un-
duly high prices and hardship to the
consumers, while at the same time
farmers might be protected from the
price-depressing effect of several years
OF good crops.
Farmers, continued the Secretary.
''believe in balanced abundance. Thev
do not believe in practicing scarcity
economics and do not like to see anv
one else practice or follow 4 program
OF scarcity. But they know there must
be equivalent controls in the different
segments Of our economy and thev
refuse to be made the goat of fluctu-
ating weather, fluctuating markets
and policy Of controlled scarcity
practiced by the other segments Of
society.
Balanced abundance is a totally
different thing from waste. Since the
World War 1t has been waste to put
some 80 or 40 millions of acres of
land into crops. the market for which
abroad had disappeared, unless we
were willing to loan foreign nations
money 1t would not, Of course, be
waste to keep this land producing
crops for foreign nations If we were
willing to accept goods from foreign
nations Under the reciprocal trade
agreements we are accepting some
what more goods than in 1892, but
there is no likelihood that we will ac-
cept enough goods to restore the mar
ket for the land plowed up during the
World War and the early '20s.
THE 500 million to q billion dollars
that We loaned annually to foreign
nations during the '20s deceived the
American farmer as to the nature Of
= his market. His eyes were opened
when his market was destroyed by the
stoppage Of American loans abroad
and the stoppage Of foreign trade by
the Smoot-Hawley tariff in 1890. Since
that time it has been obvious that it
Is . foolish thing to send American
farm products abroad for nothing more
substantial than foreign names on q
piece OF paper. It has been the policy
OF this administration, therefore, to
kill two birds with one stone. The
two birds are Cd maintaining our soil
fertility and CD adjusting our acreage
Of export crops to the fact that there
is no longer an effective market for
as much cotton, wheat, lard and to-
bacoo IS we used to export. The
triple A soil conservation work will
bs supplemented by an 'ever-normal
granary.' which will be the first order
Of business when Congress next con-
venes"
Brisk and businesslike, friendly and
interested in this frank discussion Of
the American farmers needs, secre-
tary Wallace then outlined his especial
interest In plant and animal genettcs
and the utilization Of soil fertility.