Evening star., 1949-10-20
The Political Mill i
Way Opened to Free Food
By Compromise Farm Bill
Measure Settles Nothing Except the
Farmers Get 90% Price Supports
Bv Gould Lincoln

By Gould Lincoln
The compromise farm bill, agreed to In
the closing hours of the first session Of the
8lst Congress, settles nothing. except that
the farmers are to get 80 per cent of parity
price supports during the coming year
the year in which all members of the House
must stand for reelection, and one-third
OF the Senate's membership. The compro-
mise, it is true, undertakes to start system
OF nexlble farm price supports thereafter.
But the probabilities are the fight to cling
to the highest possible price supports will
be begun all over again in the next session
Of Congress.
The administration may or may not seek
to put through the so-called Brannan farm
plan, which it is said will give the farmers
nigh prices and at the same time. low prices
to the consumers, when Congress meets next
year. Much may depend on the reaction of
the public to continued high prices for food
If the prices remain at present levels.
Truman Had His Way.
President Truman had his way in this
matter OF high-price supports for the farm
erS during the coming year. It would have
been bad business for the Chief Executive
and the Democrats had anything else hap.
pened. AS this column pointed out earlier,
Mr. Truman could be expected to play a
major part when it came to the final draft
OF law to supersede the Aiken Farm Act
which calls for flexible price supports-from
80 to so per cent of parity. He did.
Mr.. Truman and the Democrats made no
bones about the need of high-price supports
to hold the same farm vote which helped
Mr.. Truman win the 1948 election. In fact.
Mr.. Truman is reported to have argued with
the Democratic leaders of the Senate that
nothing must be done to upset the applicant.
1t made no difference that the Government
has already put billions Of dollars into buy
ing up or loaning to farmers on surplus
crops-and that it might be involved to the
tune Of $5,000,0 100000 or more by next year
II the present program is continued.
There are couple Of things about the
new farm compromise measure which may
cause trouble The first is provision which
authorizes the Government to give away
surplus foodstuffs which it has acquired to
the needy. This opens a way to free food
in this country-free food in big way If
politics enters into the administration of
these handouts We had the WPA in tho
193OS, with Its Government handouts and
political maneuvering. It is easy to see what
may be accomplished with food to be given
away. especially when the quantities are
mammoth.
The second thing, which may irk the farm
ers II the administration enforces it, Is the
controls, the limits on production and mar
keting, which may be imposed under the
new law. These will depend on whether
the Agriculture Department has more con.
s1deration for saving the taxpayers money
or more consideration for farm votes, II
the former, then the farmers are likely to
come up fighting mad because of the controls
which will be placed on them. If the latter.
the farmers may remain complacent, but .
lot of other people will start shouting.
Some Republicans Happy.
Some Republicans will breathe a sigh Of
relief because the Aiken law goes of the
statute books and is supplanted by the Gore
Anderson law Democratic law. These are
Republicans who feared to trust to tho
flexible price support system-who feared
that the farmers would resent it, and that
they would express their resentment at the
polls. So these Republicans were willing to
60 along with the 80 per cent parity price
supports for basic crops, instead Of fighting
hard to keep the Aiken law on the books and
give 1t a chance to bring some stability to
the agricultural situation.
Government handouts for the farmers to
the tune Of billions of dollars. in the face Of
atomic bomb, can only make 1t more difficult
for Americans to provide the necessary funds
for adequate national defense.
Kansas former Republican Governor,
ALI Landon. COP nominee for President in
1886, recently declared: I'VE cannot support
both the welfare state and the military
strength we need to survive. In today's
crisis we must make the choice between
national security (defense) and national
handouts"
It looks as II the choice Is being made