Milford chronicle., 1955-09-16
PRODUCTION FOR CONSUMPTION

PRODUCTION FOR CONSUMPTION
The hardy old political perennial, agri-
cultural policy, will make its appearance In
the next Congress as it has in all the past
ones for generation or so. The battle BE-
tween the patrisans of high, rigid supports
and the advocates of some more flexible and
less costly system will be Joined again.
Without arguing the merits of any par
ticular program, it is simply fact that the
subsidy system has become an enormous bur-
den on the taxpayers. Billions upon billions
of dollars are tied up in governmental-bought
stocks. Storage costs alone run to hundreds
of millions year. And, perhaps more i'm
portant in the long run, subsidy policy has
undoubtedly caused a vast amount of produc-
ton for storage instead of for consumption
Yet some of the most important agricul-
tural Industries have operated without sup
ports or subsides-and with distinguished
success. Meat (Which represents the farm
er's largest single source of cash income) is
one. Vegetable production is another. Pro-
ducers of both these basic foods have sought
and found solutions to their problems on their
own initiative, without succumbing to the
"let government do it" philosophy.
Last fall, for example, highly successful
partnership promotion of beef and vegetables
was carried on. 1t will be repeated this year,
in campaign with the attractive title "Har
vest Festival" The American Meat Institute
and the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Association are the prime movers. and allied
groups and industries will help. The idea is
to move great quantities of beef and vege-
tables through proven merchandising tech
niqlies-and by Offering consumers top value
for their money.
The more producers of any commodity
can do for themselves, working in the free
market, the better off the whole country will
be-
NOT A RAILROAD REPORT"
The major proposal in the report of the
Presidential Advisory Committee on Trans
port Policy and Organization is that there
should be less rigid government regulation
and more reliance on free and open price
competition among the various commercial
carriers.
Fortune clearly described the reasoning
behind the proposal when it said: This con-
cluson flows naturally from the fact that
the country has travelled considerable way
since the time when the 'rObber barOns rode
the rails and in the process dominated the
shipper. To-Day competition between the
rails, trucks, barge lines, and pipelines is IN
fact intense and it makes little sense to go
on regulating them in terms of an antiquated
monopoly theory. Rather, the Administra-
tons report suggests, each carrier should be
Tree 10 pass on ltS inherent cost advantage 10
the public by bidding for business on its own
terms. Instead of fixing rates. the Interstate
Commerce Commission should limit itself to
defining maximums and minimurIls within
which the contestant carriers can operate"
The Committee has been accused of pro-
ducing railroad report" is, one that
is highly prejudiced in the railroads favor.
But reading of it dissipates that idea The
Committee shows neither bias nor favoritism
4 IL
pa6iper or handicap any carrier 1t simply
wants the kind of transportation policy that
will give this country the best possible serv-
ice at the most reasonable cost.
NgoNg
WANDERING FREIGHT CARS
Any American male who sees a train pass
and does not watch it till it has gone by, is