The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-03-20
In Washington
BY PETER EDISON


charge against government agencies organ
lied to perpetuate the present administration
has since 1884 been the trple-A, or Agricul-
tural Adjustment Agency.
Triple-A, now heading into the third national
election of its young life, is in curious
position. Its finances and the program for
which it was originally created have both
cen cut approximately in half. But at a
local administrative cost Of $50, 0O0, 900 this
fiscal year, $51, 100000 last.
Its soul and it's 5000 state and county, 81, 900
community committeeman go marching on at
an average Of $3.50 per day plus 3 cents a
mile transportation in some western areas
for every day they work for the government.
Pay varies from So to Sc day.
Whatever the rate, most of the committee
men feel they lose money at it, and they say
they're not POLITICAL They are apt to be
Democrats in the South Republicans in the
North
''For 10 years this organization of farmer
committeeman has heen the handspring of
agricultures action program says Norris
E. Dodd, present triple-A chief. Elected by
farmers themselves, the country and COM
munity commtteemen's standing job has been
to help their neighbors work together on prob
lens that could not be handled by Individual
farmers"
When there were unmarketable SURPRISES,
the job was to reduce acreage by allotment.
Now, when there isn't enough of anything,
the job is to increase production But it is of
course impossible to build up government
organization of this kind without someone
accusing it of playing politics with public
money.
Back in the depression, triple-A at its peak
had an appropriation 'of 700 million dollars.
This fiscal year it is only 200 million. For
next year. the Bureau of the Budget has ap-
proved an appropriation of 292 million, on
which Congress has not yet acted. But that
gives an idea of how the work has been cut
down.
There are no parity payments to make be-
cause all prices are above parity Calculating
acreage allotments on wheat, cotton, corn,
rice and tobacco which used to take most of
the time, is no longer DONE Marketing quotas
are removed for all crops except flue cured
and Burley tobacco.
All that's left of the old program is the
handling of soil conservation payments, which
amounted to so per cent of this years budget;
the making of Commodity Credit Corporation
crop loans to producers; crop purchases for
Gee, crop insurance, the sugar and winter
cover-crop seed programs in some areas
The necessity for soil conservation is stressed
now because more acreage is under cultiva-
ton and soil is more fintensively used.
Even so, the critics of triple-A want to
know why it is necessary to keep this organi-
cation of nearly 100000 farmers on the fed
eral payroll part time when the work is
halved.
The Triple-A answer is twofold-its war and
postwar jobs. Committeeman have been given
the war jobs of increasing acreage under
cultivation and increasing production of the
essential war crops-hemp, castor beans, soy
beans, peanuts, and so on. In addition, the
War Food Administration last November piled
onto triple-A lot of the tricky-track originally
assigned to the unpaid county war boards
farm machinery rationing, off-highway tire
and gas rationing, issuance of farm slaughter
permits, distribution of oil-seed meal, grant
ing Of farm construction permits, certification
of Gamers who contract to pay support prices,
checking dairy feed subsidies paid direct to
farmers.
1t can be argued that all these things can
be done by the county agents in their spare
time, but still the triple-A people say it will
be necessary to keep this organization to-
gather for postwar use, wher the agricultural
products which the United States used to i'm
port get back in competition, and the order
of the day will be reduce supply to the then
current demand.