Evening star., 1940-02-03

O00,OO0.- AT Hyde PdTE yesterday,
President repeated his 1DtShes for
larger sum.
By the Associated Press.
That nightmare Of many Con-
gressmen. the fear of having to vote
in this election year for new taxes
or an increase in the national debt
limit, helped economy advocates win
House approval last night for a
drastic reduction in Federal farm
outlays.
Without a record vote, the cham
ber passed an agriculture supply
bill which would provide $66,928, ,435
less than President Roosevelt pro-
posed for activities in behalf of the
farmer during the fiscal year start
ing July l..
The House held the measure to
a total of $722,0 ,084, which is
$579 ,339 ,231 under the total available
for the current fiscal year. 1t re-
tanned many of the reductions made
by its Appropriations Committee,
despite the fact that the President
had called the committee cuts per-
fectly terrible and Representative
Jones, Democrat, of Texas had
pleaded with tears in his eyes for
restoration of a S25, 900, 900 loan fund
to help tenants become farm owners.
Bill Goes to Senate.
Now the bill goes to the Senate.
where farm State members will try
to restore it to the size asked by
Mr.. Roosevelt and undertake also
to add at least $2O0000,OOO for
parity payments. These would be
designed to give farmers the same
purchasing power, in terms of nom
farm goods, that they had in 1909
1914.
Last year Congress appropriated
S1,30l ,340,3l5 for farm expenditures.
In his budget message this year.
telling Congress how it could keep
within the $45 900 100000 debt limit
with only $460, 100000 of new taxes.
Mr. Roosevelt asked farm appro-
priation of s788 ,929,519 and congress
slonal permission for the Rural Elec-
tr1f1cation Administration to borrow
$40,00000 from the Reconstruction
Finance Corp.
The s722,0O1 ,Os4 House bill in
cludes the S4O,00O,00O as an outright
appropriation, however. 1t was put
in In that form after Representative
Taber, Republican, of New York
raised a legal point against the pro-
cedure suggested by the Chief Exec
utive.
In four days of debate, during
which farm bloc members charged
that agriculture was being forced to
bear the brunt of the economy drive,
the House added only 87626,82 to
the amount recommended by its Ap-
preparations Committee.
Additions Listed.
Sugar benefit payments totaling
$47,500, 900 were restored after it was
contended that sugar processing
taxes already had poured more than
that sum into the Treasury and that
to deprive the farmers of the benefit
OF the taxes would be unjust.
R. E. A., $4O,OOO,OOO.
Dry land farming experiment sta
tions, $126,828.
Twenty-three amendments to the
bill were offered on the floor, but all
except four were beaten. Two of
these were mare clerical corrections
in the text of the bill, and the other
two concerned sugar payments and
the experiment station item.
In the closing hours of the House
debate the farm bloc tried in vain
to restore to the bill $72,678,212 for
the disposal of surplus farm COM
modities and s25 100000 for loans to
convert farm tenants into land own
ers. The surplus disposal fund had
ben proposed to supplement an au-
tomato appropriation of approx
mately $l00,000,OO0 for the same
purpose.
The major item left in the bill,
which as in previous years met no
opposition, was $500,O0O, 900 for pay
i1ents to farmers cooperating in
crop-control programs.
In addition to whatever total the
bill eventually provides, still another
sum will be available for farm ex-
penditures. This is $4,000 900 of
permanent appropriations and trust
funds,
Senate in Recess.
The Senate, where the contest over
the measure now shifts, adjourned
yesterday until Tuesday so that some
members might attend the Demo-
cratic National Committee meeting
Monday.
Senator La Toilette, Progressive,
of Wisconsin said today:
II believe in an appropriation
for parity payments and an addi-
tional sum for the purchase of sur
plus commodities. So long as the
A. A. A. is on the statute books, Con-
gress should in good faith make an
appropriation for parity payments" I"
Senate Minority Leader McNary
said, however, that he doubted that
parity payments would be provided
by the Senate. He said Republicans
would hold a conference next week,
probably Wednesday, principally to
discuss committee vacancies, but
that the House farm bill also would
be discussed informally.
Senator Norris, Independent, of
Nebraska said he wanted all cuts in
the Agriculture appropriation re-
stored and some provision made for
parity navnentS