Evening star., 1942-02-26

Veto Predicted
For Farm Price Bill
Passed by Senate
Restriction on Sole Of
SurpIuses Below Purity
Approved, so to q
(Tert Of Presidents letter,
Page B-6.)
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
The prediction OF a presiden-
tial veto today tempered the
smashing victory of the Senate
farm bloc in the dispute. over
prices for Government-held sur
plus stocks of corn, wheat and
cotton.
Senator Brown, Democrat. Of
Michigan, leader of the group which
sought to sustain President Roose-
welt, forecast that If the House ap-
proved the Senate restrictions on
sales Of Government surpluses below
full parity prices "it would run into
q certain veto"
whats more" Senator Brown
said, "I think the Senate would sus-
tain It,"
Secretary of Agriculture Wickard.
meanwhile, declared that desired
increases in production of milk and
dairy products were being retarded
by growing labor shortages and by
increases in the price of feed grains.
Agriculture officials said congress
sional pressure for the price-block-
ing legislation had tended 70 raise
feed costs.
Browns Proposal Rejected.
With q strongly-worded warning
against impeding the war effort,
selfish interests" and "grasping for
few extra dollars" President
Roosevelt appealed to the Senate
against voting any restrictions on
sales of the Government surpluses.
The Presidents words of caution,
contained in a letter to Vice Presi-
dent Wallace, presiding officer of
the Senate, led to several hours de-
bate yesterday before the chamber
rejected a compromise offered by
Senator Brown and adopted, so to
%, the prohibition against sales of
Government-held surpluses below
full parity levels.
Warnings that the measure might
add an extra $1,000. .000, 900 to as
cending living costs were denied by
the farm-minded Senate majority.
The farm bloc leaders also struck
out at the suggestion of the Presi-
dent and administration supporters
that farmers were assured parity
income" through benefit payments
from the Federal Treasury.
The agricultural spokesman con-
tended it would be much better to
eliminate those benefit payments,
averaging about s700, 0,000 900 in re-
cent years, and let farmers get their
entire income at the market place.
Evasion Charged.
One after another, Senators from
from States said they were con-
vinced that the huge Government
stocks would be used to beat down
market prices paid farmers. They
charged that Secretary Wickard
and Price Administrator Hender-
son had eyaded the congressional
intent expressed in the recent price
control bill-that ceilings should not
apply until farm prices had risen.
The Agriculture Department has
asked farmers to increase milk pro-
duction 8 per cent this year to meet
q sharply expanding demand for
dairy products at home and abroad.
: So far, production has been in
creased only 4 per cent. Grain and
other livestock feed prices have
been advancing in recent weeks, and
Agriculture Department feed ex-
perts said that If the Senate bill
became law, feed prices would rise
still higher.
Unless there was corresponding
advance in prices of milk and othel
dairy products, the output Of mill
could be expected to 90 down, they
said, because many farmers woulo