The Kennewick courier-reporter and the White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1938-1939, 1938-08-04
Significant Decision

WASHINGTON. = There was a
press statement sent around To
newspaper offices the other day that
failed to attract any attention. II
failed to gain any publicity at all
and yet. 1t seems to me, 1t was one
Of the most significant announce
ments to come from any government
department In months. The state
ment, issued by the Agricultural Ad-
justment administration, said sim
ply that q decision had been reach
ed against making effective a pota-
to marketing agreement and order
program covering interstate ship
ment Of potatoes grown in Is early
and intermediate states.
The AAA announcement explain
ed that the overall vote" was suffi-
GENTLY large to make the marketing
agreement operative under the law,
but it was the conviction of officials
that it was mot feasible" to place
the program in effect in the light of
the character of the vote taken. In
some areas of the Is states and, in
deed, in some of the states as q
whole, there was actually a major
ty of the producers of potatoes who
voted against the agreement.
Thus, for the first time, a market
ing agreement sponsored by the Az
ricultural Adjustment administra-
ton is rejected. Perhaps, t. be
technically correct, I ought to say
that, for the first time, there was
such lack Of public support that q
marketing agreement has beer
abandoned before It was started
Certainly, II the folks charged with
official responsibility deem plan
unlikely to succeed, there must be
quite evident lack Of enthusiasm
for 1t. The tendency heretofore ha,
been to cram rules and regulation,
and marketing agreements and con.
tracts and what have you right down
the farmers Threats as means Of
educating" them to the benefit.
eventually accruing. Recognition Of
this lack Of support. therefore, con.
stitutes something Of q change II
the attitude Of the AAA, but the sig.
nificant thing as far as am con.
cerned continues to be the fact tina,
the farmers again are assertinf
their independence. It amounts to 6
sign that agriculture has begun K
desire less Of Washington meddlin(
In management Of farms.
There are obviously two, schools
Of thought about governments rela.
tons with agriculture in this coun.
try. There is the philosophy repre-.
sented by Secretary Wallace and hi,
followers. who favor crop control
It was they who argued for the pro.
gram Of scarcity Of supplies as 9
means to the more abundant life fo1
the farmer, and 1t IS the same Mr.
Wallace who now is promoting wha,
he is pleased to call the "ever nor.
NAL granary" idea. The other grouT
Of friends Of agriculture take thu
position fundamentally that thu
farmer should have some form o!
government assistance, but they oh.
tect strenuously to any program
that contemplates augmentation
washington control over how the
farmer operates his farm and what
he produces.
I suppose that the marketing
agreement idea is q proper one to be
carried out II the crop curtailment
idea is to be paramount as a nation
al policy. It is an historical fact, OF
course. that adoption of one type OF
regulation begets other regulations
No man ever lived who could con-
ceive, at one time, all Of the neces-
sary rules to control q set Of cir