Evening star., 1937-10-13
Property More Secure.

they want government to help them
in connection with the production
OF crops. They want government
help in two ways-first, in the con-
troll of sufpluses, and, second, in the
proper use of land.
The other day reporter told me
he had never been able to UNDER.
stand why the Government seeks to
curtail crop production and, at the
same time, to open up new irrigated
acres.
He was confusing two totally
separate objectives.
Aim to Provide
Farmer With Best Land.
Crop surplus control relates to
the total amount of any major crop
grown in the whole Nation on all
cultivated land, good or bad-con-
troll by the co-opera ton of the crop
growers and with the help of the.
Government. Land use, on the
other hand, is policy of provid-
ing each farmer with the best
quality and type of land we have,
or can make available, for his part
IN that total production. Adding
good new land for diversified crops
is offset by abandoning poor land
now uneconomically farmed.
The total amount of production
largely determines the price of the
crop, and, therefore, the difference
between comfort and misery for
the farmer.
II we were foolish enough to run
every shoe factory "a hours a dav.
days week, we would soon have
more shoes than the Nation could
possibly buy-a surplus of shoes
that would have to be DESTROYED, or
given away, or sold at prices far
below the cost of production. That
simple law of supply and demand
equally affects the price of all our
major crops.
You and I have heard big man
ufacturerS talk about control of
production by the farmer as an in
oefenSlble economy of scarcity.'
And yet these same manufacturers
never hesitate to shut down their
own huge plants, throw men out of
work, and cut down the purchasing
power OF whole communities when
ever they think they must adjust
their production to an oversupply
OF the goods they make. When it is
their baby who has the measles.
tney call it not IAN economy of
scarcity" but sound business judg-
ment."
OF course, speaking seriously.
what you and want is such gov
ernmental rules of the game that
labor, agriculture and industry will
produce a balanced abundance
without waste.
Intend to Prevent
Disastrous Farm Prices,
We intend this Winter to find a
way to prevent Az 2-cent cotton, g.
cent corn and 30-cent wheat-with
all the disaster those prices mean
Tor all of us-from ever coming
back again. To do that the farm
ers themselves want to cooperate
to build an all-wea ther farm pro-
gram so that in the long run prices
will be more stable. They believe
this can be done and the national
budget kept out of the red.
And when we have found that
way to protect the farmers prices
from the effects of alternating crop
surpluses and crop scarcities, we
shall also have found the way to
protect the Nations food supply
from the effects of the same fluc-
tuation. We ought always to have
enough food at prices within the
reach OF the consuming public. For
the consumers in the cities of
America, We must find way to
help the farmers to store up in
years of plenty enough to avoid
hardship in the years Of scarcity.
Our land use policy is a differ
ent thing. have just visited much
Of the work that the National Gov
ernment is doing to stop soil ero-
sion, to save our forests, to prevent
floods, to produce electric power
for more general use, and to give
people chance to move from poor
land on to better land by irrigat-
ing thousands Of acres that need
only water to provide an oppor-
tunity to make good living.
I saw bare and burned hillsides
where only a few years ago great
forests were growing. They are now
being planted to young trees, not
only to stop erosion, but to provide
a lumber supply for the future.
saw C. C. c. boys and w. P. A.
workers building check-dams and
small ponds and terraces to raise
the water table and make it pos
sible for farms and villages to re-
main in safety where they now are.
I saw the harnessing of the tur-
bulent Missouri, muddy with the
topsoil Of many States. And I saw
barges on new channels carrying
produce and freight athwart the
Nation.
Simple Illustrations
Show National Importance.
Let me give you two simple illus
trations Of why Government prof.
ects Of this type have a national
Importance for the whole country.
In the Boise Valley in Idaho I
saw a district which had been re-
Gently irrigated to enormous fer
tility SO that a family can now
make pretty good living from
40 acres of its land. Many of
the families, who are making good
in that valley today, moved there
from thousand miles away. They
came from the dust strip that runs
through the middle of the Nation
all the way from the Canadian
border to Mexico-a strip which in
cludes large portions OF 10 States.
That valley in Western Idaho,
therefore, assumes at once a ma
tional Importance as second
chance for willing farmers. And,
year by year, we propose to add
more valleys to take care Of thou