Evening star., 1944-09-17
More Strict Control
OfU. S. Forms Comino
BIZ O1Den L. Scott.

1iduulcIS n Illc 1UVcIAllcut dIc Bcge
ting ready to welcome backtshe prewar
farm problem. This problem of surpluses
and declining prices Is all set to reap
pear once war ends. Congress has it
all flxed up 80 that taxpayers generally
will move in to deal with the problem
soon after 1t shows up.
In the present year, American farmers
are reveling in their greatest prosperity.
They will have cash income from mar
ketings, from Government payments and
from part-time work of the farm that
will total about $25,000, 900, 900. After
paying all expenses Of farm operation
they will have left over more than
$4,000, 900 900. That will make the third
straight year of record net farm income.
Troubles begin, however, when war
ends in Europe. Those troubles grad
ually will pile up as lease-lend ship
ments Of foodstuffs stop and as military
buying begins to drop of. They will
begin to cost taxpayers money soon after
that time.
BasicaQy, the situation Is this:
American farmers during this war
have increased production about one
third. About IL per cent Of this total
production has been shipped abroad
under lease-lend Another big slice has
been taken by the Army. City people
with record incomes have bought more
food than ever before. The Army, too,
has bought heavily of food, which it has
stored for use in feeding people of
Europe
One day soon, however, most lease
lend buying will stop. 1t is reported
that enough food for European relief
already is acquired. Great Britain,
which once was the biggest customer for
surplus American farm products, now
has long term contracts to fill most Of
her needs in Canada, in Australia and
in Argentina Brazil, during war, has
cut into some markets for American
| cotton. Japan, which once was a big
customer for cotton, is unlikely to be
one again. At home, once war Jobs are
lost and incomes start to contract, there
| will be reduced demand for many kinds
| Of food.
All Of this adds up to the prospect
| for reduced demand for farm products,
| starting in l945. The experts already
| are prepared to ask farmers to reduce
| production next year. They predict a
drop of about $4,000 600, 900 in 1e45 farm
income and drop of about 13 per cent
in farm prices on the average.
1t Is at this point that the promise
made by Congress to farmers comes
| forcibly into the picture
A law of the land now guarantees that
for two full calendar years following the
first January after hostilities cease, the
price OF almost all big farm crops will
be held by the Government at a mini
mum of 80 per cent of parity" Parity
Is the price that will guarantee to the
farmer the same purchasing power per
unit OF his product that he had back In
the 1904 period. To assure the farmer
that he gets his money, the Government
Is bound to make cash loans to farmers
for the full promised amount, with the
loan to be repaid only if the price later
is higher than the guarantee.
An official estimate is that fulfllment
OF this guarantee will cost the taxpayers
at least $4,000, 900, 900 a year for two or
three years. The first year in which this
guarantee will not exist, at the earliest,
Will be the year l948. Farmer pressure
could cause Congress to extend price
supports beyond that date. inasmuch as
both the Republican and Democratic
parties promise those supports.
The catches in this situation are sew
eral. One Is that In most big crops
there Is no machinery for and no present
| intent to create controls over farm pro-
duction. This means that fulfllment of
the price guarantee can become pro-
gresslvely more costly. Another catch
is that, in order to fulfill it's guarantee,
the Government almost inevitably will
come into ownership of great quantities
| OF farm products. 1t might even become
the single purchaser of many commod-
| ltles, with resale later to commercial
outlets. One more catch is that. as
costs OF fulfilling the guarantee 20 up,
| taxpayers might demand q subsidized
price for food for themselves either by
squeezing margins In distribution or by
direct subsidy.
Officials are pointing out to Congress
that there are only four methods of
disposing of the surplus farm products
that now looms.
The first of these methods Is to aiye
| away the products or to distribute them
on very low cost basis Plans already
are being laid to revive the food stamp
plan for giving food away to low-income
families to supplement their diets. The
second method is to dump foodstuffs In
markets abroad at subsidized prices.
Congress is providing authority for for
eign dumping, which can create all
kinds of complications in foreign trade.
There is third method of destruction
for surplus farm products. People still
| remember the plowed-under cotton and
the little pig slaughter of 1888 and this
method Is unlikely to be popular polit-
ically A fourth method is to find an
outlet for farm products in commercial
channels. But outlets of this kind are
| quite inadequate to the size of the
| problem.
AS result, the prospect now is that
before more than a very few postwar
years have passed bigger and better
Agricultural Adjustment Administration
will be back in business again for the
purpose of controlling, regulating and