Evening star., 1943-03-01
Steps 10 Guarantee
Fair Price for Crops
Proposed by George
Senator Declares Plan
Con Be Carried Out
Without Legislation
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
A move to guarantee farmers
fixed prices for their crops gath
cred momentum in Congress to-
day as legislators struggled to
cope with the farm labor short
age without denying the Army
any needed men.
Senator George. Democrat. of
Georgia, proposed that the Agricul-
ture Department take immediate
steps. which he said could be done
without legislation. to guarantee a
fair price, on food and fiber pro-
ducts for 1943 and 1914 as a means
of stimulating production.
Il think we ought to fix a floor
under crops that would guarantee a
fair price for the food and fiber we
need and abandon all thought of
incentive payments which confuse
the farmer and aren't what he
wants." Senator George told re-
porters.
La Toilette Favors Action.
Some action along this line was
favored by Senator La Toilette. Pro-
gressive. of Wisconsin. who said hog
production had reached a peak as a
result of Government action fixing
hog prices al relatively high level.
Senator La Toilette said he
thought the inclusion of farm labor
costs in the calcula ton of price
ceilings, as proposed in a measure
now awaiting action by the House
Rules Committee. would help spur
production, but Senator Butler Re-
publican, OF Nebraska, said he
thought it was time to forget ceiling
formulas and let agricultural prices
themselves go up.
Determined to force more immed-.
late action than any which might
result from price increases, Senator
Bankhead, Democrat. of Alabama,
sought showdown in the Senate
Military Affairs Committee on his
bill to halt the induction of farm
workers into the armed forces, a
measure on which he has obtained
the signatures of 40 Senators as
co-authors.
Chairman Reynolds announced
postponement of a vote on the
Bankhead bill until tomorrow, COM
nittee attaches explaining that
some Of the members could not at
tend today. Senator Bankhead said
he will insist the measure be brought
to the floor by Thursday.
Goal Too High, Bankhead Sees.
Senator Bankhead, chairman of
an Appropriations subcommittee
which has investigated the man
power shortage, contends that the
Army set its sights too high in
attempting to get 100000 men into
uniform by the end of this year.
At the same time he emphasizes
that he does not want to do any,
thing that would hamper the war
effort, although he believes that the
fight could be carried on success
fully with fewer men in the ranks
and more in the fields.
Senator Green, Democrat Of
Rhode Island, a member of the Ap-
preparations group, asserted in a
minority report released yesterday,
however, that those who move to
whittle the projected size of the
Army might be inviting military
defeat.
1t is ridiculous to suppose, Sena-
tor Green said, that the United
States cannot mobilize 1000, 900
men for all of it's armed forces and
still keep home front production
going at full blast.
William Green, president of the
AFL, giving his views on the ques-
ton of limiting the size of the
Army, issued statement yester-
Gay opposing ANY unreasonable
plan to strip industry of skilled
workers to build up an excessively
large Army"
THE size of the Army of the
United States should not be meas
ured by the size of the Army in
Germany, Russia or Great Britain"
he declared. Our job is greatly
different from any of these. We
are not only fighting, but produc-
ing. What tragedy it would be
If. at the end of 1943, we find,
ourselves with millions of unused
men in uniform
Senator Green. reporting a man
power investigation by an Appro-
prlations Subcommittee which heard
Herbert Hoover recently, said that
the former President was one of
those who would jeopardize the
winning of the war by substituting
their military judgment for that of
the joint chiefs of staff" The Sena-
tor reported "a great deal of evi-
dence" that the Nation can produce
essential food and munitions while
maintaining an Army of 3,208 900.
In New York City, Mr.. Hoover, re-
ferring to Senator Green's remark,
said:
IF I think it worthwhile in the
interests of securing help to the
American farmer and the supply of
food to win the war, I will reply to
the Senator'S misinformatlon tomor-
row" Mr.. Hoover said that ne
would be in Chicago tomorrow.