Imperial Valley press., 1941-03-16


bad some OF the good dirt farmers
in the galleries and hanging from
the temporary steel girderS now
supporting the weakened Capitol
roof while the S1,420977,559 agri-
cultural appropriation bill for 1912
is being considered in Congress.
To the individual farmer, the lit
tie fellow, this Bill is simple,
whether he grows wheat or cotton,
and it thrashes or gins out to how
big check he gets from the govern
ment in the form OF a crop loan,
mortgage loan, subsidy to bring his
sale price up to parity or pay
ment for soil conservation work.
The farmer either gets this check
or he doesn't, and if he gets it, he
doesn't have to worry where the
money comes from or why. All the
farmer knows is that market prices
being what they are, he would long
since have lost his shirt if his
Uncle Sam hadn't contributed the
difference between going broke and
breaking even.
"HUMANLY
IMPOSSIBLE-"
If a farmer should take sufficient
interest in this bill to come to
Washington when its consideration
first begins and see it through. he'd
have to give up his winter fence
mending and let someone else do
ha IL 10
would be in for a three months
stay in the capital, and it would
take more than a government sub
sidy to keep him stabbed and bed
ed down. the prices of wild oats and
liquid rye being what they are.
For the House Appropriations
Committee of 40 members began
to consider this bill last Jan. 7.
They held hearings for seven long
weeks, almost every day, and in
that time took testimony from
Secretary of Agricultural Wickard
and everyone else on down. This
testimony fills 1000 pages of the
solidest reading any farmer ever
strained his eyes on while park
ing his socked feet on base burn
er rail. And much of it would
be unintelligible to man who
might know all the answers about
corn borers and boil Weevils, but
couldn't write law about them to
save his crop.
1t even staggered some of the
congressman. When the testimony
was all in. the committee took all
this sap ana tried to boil down
to pay sugar. The result was the
bill itself. 100 pages in length, with
an index at the back to show
where to find the work Of each of
the 10 or 30 Department of Agri-
culture bureaus which functions
under the act. And in the words of
Congressman Charles H. Leahy of
Spokane, Wash, member of the
committee, 1T is humanity impos-
sible for any member of Congress,
Or any other person, to say that
they have a complete and full un-
of all the phases of
this bill"
SO 900 EMPLOYEES
IN % ACRES
During the four days the bill
vas debated on the floor of the
House, most of the debating being
done by the members of the com
nittee who did the drafting, the
whole gloomy picture of the farm
situation Of the country was spread
IN the record. Congressman EV-
5rett M. DirkSen of Pekin, Ill.
wen dug back TO President Roose-
,elts statement of March, 1888:
We are on the way TO bank
'uptcy because governments are
wrecked up on the rocks Of loose
iscal policy
And earlier statements of thel932
ampaign:
We must repeal the law that
the government to go into
ne market to purchase, to sell, or
o speculate in farm products in
futile attempt to reduce farm
urpluses. We must insist that
We get more service for the farmer
or less money
Well, in November, 1910, the
had surpluses Of l54
million bushels of corn, million
bushels of wheat, six million bales
# cotton. and its fiscal policy in
lded $3.50 million, in loans to
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