Evening star., 1940-10-12

| tul c llCduCu Wy
William H. Set G. Gould Lincoln.
tie of Indiana-cracked down on
township soil conservation commit
teemen, urging that a quota Of SAC
for each township committee be con-
tributed to aid the cause OF the
Roosevelt Wallace ticket.
This COMMITTEE on Agriculture
is functioning in Kansas as well
as Missouri and in the other agri-
cultural States. How far this effort
! to make use of the great organiZa- =
ton of farmers set up to admin
lister the soil conservation program
under the A. A. A. will go is still to
be ascertained Judging from the up
roar among the farmers themselves
in Missouri, the going is tough.
From time to time in past months
rumors have come to the fore that
| the A. A. A. was to be used for
political campaign purposes, not
withstanding the passage Of the
Hatch Act. It is not difficult to
understand what a potent political
organization could be fashioned out
of the A. A. A. setup if the poll
/ ticians determine to make use of it
| Including all the A. A. A. agents
county and township committeeman
an army of approximately 10000
workers in the vineyard would be
| available.
Chance for a Probe.
Whether the publication Of the
efforts to organize the A. A. A. and
the participating farmers in Mis-
souri, will put a crimp in this plan
of campaign remains to be seen. It
is at least something that the SEN
ate Campaign Investigating Com
/ mittee, headed by Senator Gillette
/ of Iowa, could well take look at.
! II is within the bounds of possibility
/ that as famous a case may grow
out of political activity among the
! farmers receiving benefit checks
| from the Government as that which
grew out of the senatorial lnvestl-
CATION of the use of the w. P. A
the relief workers-for political pur-
poses in 1888.
In Maryville, Mo, on october 3,
an effort was made by representa-
| tives of the so-called National Com
mittee on Agriculture to fix quota
of $40 per township Soil Conserva-
| ton Committee. The soil conserva-
ton committeeman were called TO
a meeting by Ed Hamilton. chair
man of the NodaWay County Soil
| Conservation Committee. AT that
meeting z. R. Alexander of Elmo
| Mo, referred to as chairman of the
Sd Congressional Committee dis
/ trict Committee on Agriculture" is
said to have assigned the quotas.
In fact. an affidavit was made by
Earl Bever, chairman of the Atchi-
son Township Soil Conservation
Committee, setting forth what hap
pened at the meeting.
Mr.. Bever said in part in this
document:
Il further state that the meeting
was called to order at about $50 to
8:45 by Mr.. Ed Hamilton. There
were some 60 or 10 members of the
Soil Conservation Committee and
several non members present
Among others were Henry More
house, vice chairman, and Len
Daise, the third member Of the
Nodaway County Conservation Com.
mittee
Willkie Danger" Cited.
"As above stated, Mr.. Hamilton
called the meeting to order anc
told about the good that had beer
accomplished to those who had anc
were cooperating with the soil con-
servation program and then told o.
the dangers that might result tc
agriculture If Mr.. Willkie was elected
President of the United States. He
then introduced Mr.. z. r. Alexander
a banker of Elmo, Mo, who talked
of the advantages of the program
and the benefits that had been re.
ceived by the farmers who hac
been cooperating, and further stat.
ing that each township committee
would be expected to contribute SAC
as a minimum and as much more as
possible.
"Mr. Alexander further stated
that, if possible, the committee leave
the $40 with them before leaving
the meeting. but under any circum-
stances they must have the money
in by the following night, which
would be Friday, October 4. At this
point Mr.. Alexander was asked the
question by Mr.. Villas Riser, a men,
ber Of the committee from Jackson
Township, as to what this money wa:
to be used for. Mr.. Alexander tried
to dodge, and after two or three
questions had been asked by Mr.
Riser, he stated it was to be used
for the purpose Of electing Roose
velt and Wallace He then stated
that each committee could then re-
imburse themselves by soliciting in
their respective townships from
those who favored the A. A. A. pro-
gram and from those who had been
receiving benefits"
Activity of the Missouri commit
tee to raise the campaign funds fol-
lowed visit to the State by Mr.
Wallace late in September. While
at Jefferson City, Mr.. Wallace met
farm leaders and members of the
committee. At that time, however
he was reported to have recon-
mended the State group conduct its
own drive for contributions to the
campaign. G. L. Carlton, secretary
treasurer of the Missouri commit
tee, said later that if any sugges-
tions as to how money was to be
raised were made, he did not hear