The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-07-07
The World
Today

~ NeS'S2S>A ~
I WASHINGTON Up This coun
try's mountainous farm surplus
ranging from wheat to cotton. i,
bullying in bins and warehouses
The government has had to take
1t over from farmers. It's worth
Sc, 1S7, 100000.
Congress last week passed a bill
to let the government get rid o.
the billion dollars of it: 700 mil
lions through sale to foreign coun
tries; and 300 millions as a give
away to countries in need. For in
stance, where there's famine.
That will leave Uncle Sam with
five billion dollars worth of the
stuff still on his hands. Some OF
it, like cotton, can keep for years
1t would come in handy in an
emergency, like war. What can't
keep will have to be disposed Of
somehow.
The government can't sell it on
the open market in this country,
That would ruin farm prices. The
very reason for buying it from
farmers and storing it is to keen
prices up and save farmers from
the ruin of their overproduction.
If this seems like a crazy pro-
gram, it's at least long-established
and repeatedly has been approved
by Congress. It's based on the
theory that, when necessary the
government should step in to avert
a farm depression which might
soon hit the rest of the country
This is an example of how the
new sell-and-giveaway law, to get
rid OF some of the surplus, would
work:
Some foreign country. saw
France, wants wheat but doesn't
have enough dollars to pay for it.
This country will sell France the
wheat it needs - not at the high
American price but at a lower
foreign price - and accept French
money in payment. With this
french money the United States
buys goods from France, perhaps
war materials, or pays the cost of
an American air base in France
Or, some other country has a
famine, needs wheat, but can't paw
Tor 1t. In that case the government
can give away up to 300 million
dollars worth of its surplus wheat
This will give an idea of the
enormous surplus the government
now has on its hands:
Wheat - 889 million bushels:
corn - 80 million bushels; cotton
= 1885, 100000 bales; tobacco -
61S million pounds; rice - l mill
lion bags; peanuts - 255 million
pounds; butter - 364 million
pounds; cheese - 361 million
pounds; dried milk - CSC million
pounds. That's not all.
The government acquired this
vast surplus from the farmers be-
cause of price support laws.
These laws say a farmer should
get a certain percentage - some
times a high percentage, some
times a low one - of parity. Parity
is price Congress has fixed as
that which farmer should get tc
stay on par with nonfarmers ir
his ability to buy things he needs
The parity price on wheat is
now $2.4S, but to simplify the il
lustration 81 will be used.
The government says the farm
er should get 81 a bushel for hi.
wheat. So it guarantees him he will
get at least 80 per cent of parity
in this case 80 cents a bushel--i
the government itself has to buy
it and never use it.
But so much wheat has beer
produced the price on sthe opel
market goes down and wheat sell!
for less than 80 cents a bushel
In that case the farmer can d.
better dealing with the govern
ment.
He gets a government loan o
80 cents a bushel for his wheat
If the price of wheat on the opel
market goes up above 80 cents, h
sells his wheat end repays tn,