The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1943-11-12

Roosevelt, in fighting message to a
rebellious Congress, stoutly defended
the use of food subsidies and left little
doubt that he would veto any bill
which sought to prevent use of them.
The President apparently aimed
much of his 10,000-word message at
the pending bill to extend the life of
the Commodity Credit Corporation
beyond Dec. 81 This bill, as it was
reported from the House Banking
and Currency Committee, would pro-
hibit after Dec. 81 the paying of sub
sides to hold down food costs The
last summer and the House upheld
him.
Mr.. Roosevelt said the support
price program for farmers, coupled
with subsidy programs ito meet spe-
cial farming costs without raising
prices to consumers, is an essential
part of winning the war"
"The susidies that are used," he
said Cannot properly be called pro-
ducer subsidies or consumer subsi-
dies. They are war subsidies. The
costs which they cover are war costs.
Food subsidies in 1943, the message
said, would cost about $800,000,000,
but their use "has saved the Govern
ment and consumers billions of dol
lars"
The American Federation of Labor
stalwartly supports the Presidents
subsidy program and, in fact, goes
much further than he has to date in
demanding a comprehensive subsidy
program to reduce living costs. Sew
eral months ago AFL President Will
liam Green told Senate Committee
that two billion dollar subsidy pro-
gram would have the Government six
billion dollars and consumers a like
amount in purchases of items that
make up the essential diet of the
American people.
In his message to Congress, the
President declared that food produc-
tion is steadily increasing in America,
an increase in live stock production
this year more than making up for
reduction in crops.
All restrictions on agricultural pro-
duction, with the exception of those
on tobacco, have been removed the
President said, and he denied that
acreage restrictions were in any way
responsible for existing shortages.
He said that preliminary plans for
1914 called for 38O,000,00O acres in
crops as compared with 1854, 100000 in
1943
Farmers, said Mr. Roosevelt, were
better off than for any comparable
recorded period, including 1904,
the so-cailed golden age of agricul-
ture which is used as a yardstick to
measure parity prices for most agri-
cultural commodities. Net incomes of
farmers in 1889 was $4,430, 100000;
in 1912 it was $9,500,OO0, and the
estimate for 1943 is $12,475 100000
The increase in the average income
per farmer over the parity base 1910
ID, Mr.. Roosevelt said, was 38 per
cent greater in 1912 than the increase
in the average income of the other
people in the country and in 1943
would be SO per cent greater.
The President dwelt upon increases
in the cost of living, attributing
three-fourths of the 62 per cent rise
from Sept. Is, 1912, to May Is, 1943,
to increases in the costs of food. He
then described the measures, includ-
ing several controversial programs,
which resulted in bringing down the
increase by August, 1943, to As per
cent, and praised the support which
responsible organized labor" gave to
the hold-the-line policy.
The Presidents figures on cost of
living increases were taken from re-
ports of the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics. These figures are challenged by
the AFL as inaccurate and far below
actual prices paid by workers.
The message foreshadowed Govern
ment purchase and sale for some per-
ishable foods in order ito insure dis
tribution that is fair to all parts of
the country" and indicated that no
further concentration of food author