The Daily Alaska empire., 1938-12-29
Mir. Wallace Reports
tNew York Times)

tNew York Times)
 We have come to look forward to Secretary Wal lace's annual reports models of what such docu- ments should be The report now published maintains his previous standard 60 pages discuss both the general farm problem and the wider problems Of demo- cratic government in manner at once lively and thoughtful For the successful working of democracy is particularly necessary that such clear and inform ing official reports unfortunately so rare, should be made available that the citizen may understand fully what his Government is doing.
 This is not to say that all the contentious made by MT Wallace likely to meet with general agree ment He continues defend the present agricultural program in virtually every aspect, but this involves him in what many will regard contradictions. He supports the principle of acreage restrictions, but argues that this is really policy of abundance" He defends Government crop oans but admits that such loans highly speculative and risky particularly for the export crops Tt is impossible he points out for single country to fix the world price Of a con- modity produced and sold extensively throughout the world Therefore what the operation amounts to is simply a refusal to sell below certain figure. It is speculative storage undertaken in the hope of rise in prices later Should the hope not be fulfilled the Government loses money and agriculture loses part of its foreign market All this is highly signifi- cant in view of the fact that the Government now holds virtually an entire years growth of American cotton in storage under such loans and that in the last crop year the world consumption of American cotton fell than four million bales, compared With lS29 while the WOflQ consumption OI IOTelgn- grown cotton increased five million bales.
 MT Wallace calls attention to the great dangers of export dumping both through possible increased tariff barriers by importing countries and through competitive driving down of world prices by other exporting countries. Yet he nevertheless favors temporary and limited" export subsidy for wheat
 He continues to favor the plan he recently put forward for some two-price arrangement by which lowincome groups of consumers could buy surpuses low prices while the rest of the population paid the regular ket price, but he says nothing regarding the in- administrative problem this would involve, does he discuss the implication of putting a great section of people into an officially recognized pauper class to be treated as wards Of the state.
 MT Wallace points successively to the weaknesses of such concepts parity price" parity income" and cost production standards for judging the of economic balance of granting farmers flair share of the national income fully vague the concepts he criticizes And in the face of the very depressed farm prices of the last year and the many directions in which his program has met with i'll luck he declares in the end that economic planning substitutes order for chaos."
 But let us not forget that some of the real or apparent contradictions in this report would not exist but for MT Wallaces own remarkable candor he does, from many sides. From this report emerges the picture of a thoughtful conscientious but har- assed official grappling with problem immense and difficult that none of be certain that we know the full answer to it.