Evening star., 1937-12-09
Farm Bill Dividends
BillionDollar Gift Without Restricting Crops Would
Permit Cheap Food.

what many OF them call new con-
cept of private ownership" They
want to bring it about that farmer
shall not own his farm absolutely,
that the farmer shall only own his
farm subject to the right Of the
Government to tell him what and
how much he may raise.
Once they get this limitation on
private ownership established, they
think, they can go on to the other
limitations which constitute authori-
tartan government. With limitation
of private ownership of farms as a
beginning, they can proceed toward
limitation of the other privileges
guaranteed in the Bill of Rights of
the nstitution-limitation of free
speech, limitation of the press, Iimita-
ton of rights before the courts, limi-
tation of the right of courts to
protect the individual-all the limita-
tions that constitute authoritarian
government.
Regimenters Fight for Jobs.
That is the reason why some insist
that the gift of billion dollars to
farmers shall be accompanied by
RECOMMENDATION. Support for this
method comes from another group,
having different motive This
group consists of much of the army
Of $4,000 employees scattered through
out the country, who administer the
Department of Agriculture and i'm
pose its infinite regulations upon the
farmers. These employees know that
RECOMMENDATION means jobs, that with
RECOMMENDATION gone, many Of their
jobs would be gone. They know that
II the billion dollars were given to the
farmers without strings, upon some
simple basis of distribution, the 5000
jobs would be greatly reduced
1t is the Department Of Agriculture
jobholders throughout the country
who are responsible for most of the
pressure behind the bills now before
| Congress. This has been brought out
in the Senate debate. The jobholders
have made it appear that the farmers
themselves are for the bills. The
charge has been made that when the
Senate committee held hearings
| throughout the country the persons
| who appeared and advocated the
| present Senate bill were hand picked
| farmers and others who had been
herded to the hearings by local Off
cials of the Department of Agriculture.
Senator Frazier of North Dakota
said: In a large number of the meet
| ings majority of the witnesses, and
think in many instances as high as
| IS per cent or more, were representa-
tives of the soil conservation, extension
departments, county agents and mem
| bers of the farm bureau group I
have had number of letters objecting
to the number of pay rollers as they
are called, who came to the hearings" F."
Charges Meeting Packed.
Senator Copeland of New York read
a letter written by Kansas farmer:
The meeting had not proceeded very
| far until it was evident to the close
observer that it was packed meeting
The county agent and the County
Committee for Soil Conservation fixed
up their resolutions favoring the
Pope -McGill bill and some of their
own committee represented the county
at the meeting. Most of them were on
the pay roll of some of the agricultural
acts and naturally wanted TO be con-
tinued on the pay roll. They were
not representative of the wishes OF
the mass of the farmers"
The mass of the farmers have got
their information about the pending
bills from the agents of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, who are in direct
and constant contact with them
Probably not one farmer in thousand
knows that there is about to be i'm
posed on him law which will fix
not only the quantity of wheat OF
corn or other major crop he may raise
but event quote Senator Borah-
"cabbages, artichokes or potatoes. ;