Evening star., 1943-02-14
Incentive Payments

In his address Tuesday night, Eco
nonic Stabilizer James F. Byrnes
said that the farmer must expand
output in the face of inadequate
supplies of fertilizer. inadequate re-
placements of equipment and made
quate manpower."
How is the farmer going to do this?
Two methods were proposed by Mr..
Byrnes. The first consists of incen-
tive payments in the sum Of $780,
O00,000-the plan worked up by
Secretary of Agriculture Wickard and
which has now been passed on to
Congress by the President, with a
request that the money be made
available.
In theory, up to a point, this is all
very well. If the expenditure Of
s1oO,000,0O0 would assure an ade-
quate food supply for the people of
this country, for our armed forces,
and for the people abroad whom the
Government proposes to feed, no one
could seriously object to the appro-
priation because of the expenditure
involved. Nor, in those circum-
stances, would the objection that it is
a subsidy-which it is-be a valid
one. But how can the distribution Of
subsidies, of themselves, help the
farmer? Money cannot be used as
fertilizer, nor to cultivate crops, nor
to engage a non-eXiStent labor force.
And, it is these things-fertilizer
farm machinery and manpower-
that will be inadequate. What is the
purpose, then. In giving the farmer
more money?
AS a second step, Mr.. Byrnes pro-
posed that labor which left the farms
to work in war plants would have to
be sent back. These men, he said,
were spledid farm workers; many
are indifferent mechanics. AS we
have urged men to volunteer for
military service, we should urge these
men to return to the farms where
they are needed, even if the COM
pensation is less. If they refuse to
go, their draft deferments should be
cancelled"
Mr. Byrnes did not say so, but these
workers were induced to leave the
farms by the attraction of high wages
being paid in war factories-wages
which were boosted with the encour-
agement and support of the Govern
ment. That was mistake, and Mr..
Byrnes' implicit acknowledgement of
the mistake is first step in the right
direction. But it will take something
more to get these men back to the
farms. Mr.. Byrnes has threatened
to cancel their draft deferments
unless they go back, and that is not
a pleasant thing to contemplate. In
effect, it is equivalent to saying that
the Government, having made mis-
take in the first instance, now pro-
poses to correct that mistake by
using the Selective Service Act as an
instrument to coerce men into &C
cepting a particular employment The
Selective Service Act was never in
tended for any such use. and the
wisdom of such threat is question
able. The fortnight, efficient and
sensible thing would be to seek pas
sage of compulsory service law,
which would obviate any need for
these devious and dubious methods.
But perhaps it is too late for that
this year. 1t may be that there is
no alternative now except some such
course as that proposed by Mr..
Byrnes. If SO. it should be remem-
bered that the planting season is
close at hand. These men, if they
are to be Of any use to the farmers
this year, must be sent back to the
farms soon, and it is difficult to see
how $10O,000,OO0 for subsidies or in
centive payments is going to help
accomplish this transfer.