Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1940-01-18

cent blend will require Is million
acres of corn or its equivalent; a 10
percent blend would require 80 mil
lion acres (Which is the acreage de-
clared surplus by the Agricultural
Department., and 20 percent blend,
which can be used without changing
the carburetOr or the engine of any
of the cars now made, would require
60 million acres Sixty million acres
devoted to the production of alcohol
would probably compel us to go on
an importing basis for our foodstuffs.
The chemist witnesses were rather
frank in saying that we have been
bungling with the farm problem long
enough and that the solution lies in
raising plenty rather than in killing
pigs, and paying the farmer to not
produce. That is the gospel that
Henry Ford has been preaching for
years. All wealth comes from creative
labor
My readers will recall that l have
urged that gasoline be blended with
commercial alcohol AS a matter of
fact, have had bill in the past two
Congresses that would do that very
thing but have not been able to get
hearings on it. There is strong oppo-
Sition to the proposal from some of
the big oil companies but our wit
neSSeS assured us that 10 percent
blend would increase rather than low
er the consumption of gasoline. l
agree with that contention.
When Secretary Wallace appeared
before the Ways and Means COM
mittee on Friday l asked him what
he thought of the proposition. I was
glad to hear him say that the Bureau
of Chemistry, Department of Agri-
culture, is now working on it.
Give Farmers Good Market.
There is hardly a product grown
on the farms in any part of the coun-
try that cannot be utilized in the
manufacture of industrial alcohol A
10 percent blend would require the
establishment of 5000 distilleries,
scattered all over the country. which
would take up considerable part
of our unemployment slack. Why
don't we do it? 1 hope that both
political parties come out for this
proposition in their platforms There
can be no recovery in this country
until the farmer has been put back on
his feet. All he needs, and all that
is necessary to accomplish that it to
give him a market with good prices.
Alcohol can now be manufactured
from soc corn for about 22c per gall
lon The chemists testified that as
production increases production costs
will come down and that five or seven
cent alcohol is within the range of
possibility. Practically every coun-
try in Europe uses an alcohol blend.
We were told that Poland had made
greater strides in production of in
dustrial alcohol than any other coun-
try. When Germany marched into
that unhappy country last fall they
were very careful not to destroy or
injure any of the alcohol plants. We
were told that an alcohol blend of
10 percent would increase mileage
per gallon by II percent, produce
greater power, quicker combustion
and absolutely do away with knock
and carbon.
The Other Side.
On Thursday, the Ways and
Means committee began holding hear
ings on the proposal to extend the
Reciprocal Tariff law for another
three years. My readers will recall
that this law was passed in 1884 for
period of three years. 1t was eX-
tended for another three years in
1897 and the administration is ask
ing for a further extension
To date we have heard Secretary
of State Hull and Secretary of Agri-
culture Wallace in its support. Sec
rotary Hull is an out and out free
trader who believes that the more
we buy from other countries the more
friendly they will feel toward us
and the less the chances will be for
war; 1 challenged that statement
and called to his attention the fact
that we have had more wars in the
last six years than in almost any like
period in the history of civilization.
Secretary Wallace even went so
far as to say that the Fordney-Mc-
Cumber tariff law, passed by the Re-
publicans back in 1922, was in a
large measure responsible for the
present wars. Students of history
contend that the seeds for these wars
were sown in the Treaty of Versailles.
1t is the first time have ever heard
the tariff blamed.
Those who oppose the administra-
tons trade program are not against
the principle of reciprocity but they
stand with President Mckinley, a
great exponent of reciprocity. He
held that the purpose of Reciprocal
Trade treaties should be ''the OPEN
ing of new markets for the products
of our country, by granting conces-
sions to the products of other lands
that we need and cannot produce our
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