Evening star., 1938-12-12
Wallace Sees Failure
OF Efforts 10 SQap
Crop Control
Vote on Cotton Held
Victory for Present
Farm Program

VIII s1OS)tNuI
BACKGROUND
The cotton, rice and tobacco
reterenda Saturday had been
matched as a test of the attitude
OF farmers to,Dard the NeD Deals
theory that agricultural pros
pertty could best be attained By
governmental regulation OF pro-
duction and sales. They afforded
the first such test since the ad-
ninistratton suffered losses in
the Mtdwestern corn and ,Dheat
belts at the November elections.
By the Associated Press.
Administration leaders expressed
confidence today that any congress
sional attempt to remove all crop
restrictions would fail as a result of
referenda approving cotton Market
ing controls but rejecting quotas for
rice and f1ue-cured tobacco.
Secretary Wallace, obviously
pleased, declared the cotton victory
greatly overshadowed the reflections
and assured permanence for the
New Deals control policies.
The national farm program as a
whole, open to producers of all crops,
will go on" he said.
Chairman Jones, Democrat, of
Texas, Of the House Agriculture
Committee, a White House visitor
today, said he had discussed the ref
erenda with President Roosevelt.
Mr.. Jones said he regarded the
results of the voting as proving that
the present farm program is Demo-
cratic"
Administration officials interpreted
the cotton referendum results as
grower preference for the present
farm program over substitute do
mestic allotment" and "two-price"
plans which had been advanced by
some farm leaders in a vigorous
campaign.
Cotton Vote Interpreted.
They also expressed belief the
cotton vote indicated that farmers
approved Secretary Wallaces rec
ommendation for new processing
taxes to increase benefit payments.
The Secretary, in speeches urging
approval of quotas, told farmers
the present law would be strength
ened by sucn levies.
The substitute plans, which several
Democratic as we'll as Republican
congressman have declared they
intend to support, would abandon
production control. They would al
low farmers to produce freely, selling
domestically consumed portions of
their crops at prices guaranteed by
the Government and disposing of
surpluses abroad at whatever prices
they would bring.
Virtually complete returns from
Saturdays referenda were:
Cotton quotas-For, 948,798;
against, 180,156; per cent for, $40.
Flue-cured tobacco quotas
For. l30,370: against, 1858; per
cent for, $50.
Rice quotas-For, $500; against,
1874; per cent for, 47.4.
First Ballot on Rice.
The Affirmative ballots of 6625 per
cent Of the growers voting we're re-
quired to put each quota into effect.
Quotas for this years cotton and
fiue-cured tobacco crops, approved
last March, won by percentages Of
80 and 86, respectively. This was
the first rice referendum.
The sentiment of growers of
hurley and dark types of tobacco
toward marketing quotas in 1899
will be tested at similar referenda
next Saturday.
Secretary Wallace declared the rice
and tobacco votes indicated a belief of
many farmers that these crops
did not face sufficiently serious
price and surplus situations to war
rent use of marketing controls next
year. Cotton farmers realized, he
said, there was no prospect that
markets would take enough Of the
crop to bring record supplies down
to manageable proportions without
continuation of sales restrictions.
Under the 1899 cotton program,
growers will be limited to the sale
of the amount produced on ma
tional allotment of 27,500000 acres.
Individual acreage will be appor-
toned later. Sales from excess
acreages would be subject to a
penalty tax of cents pound.
Producers of flue-cured tobacco
and rice will be free to plant all
they desire. Only those who COM
ply with acreage allotments to be
apportioned later, however, will be
eligible for benefit payments, set
tentatively at 08 cents a pound on
tobacco and % cents a hundred
pounds on rice.
Similar benefits, between SO and
3.8 cents pound, will be paid cot
ton growers complying with quotas