The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1962-08-31
Montana Republican Platform for 1862

In order to preserve our heritage of freedol
and our undisputed record as the most produ,
tive people in history we assert that we mus
maintain the greatest freedom of choice an
the fullest latitude of action for the individual
We deplore the continued pressure and CT
ercion for national control of our agricultur
/ We insist that the use of our tax money to pre-
mote the passage of federal meddling in TIL
form of production controls and subsidie
have so far dislocated the normal channels @
trade that an immediate cutoff of all farr
programs would lead to a chaotic conditio
in the country.
We recommend the following measures t
insure greater freedom for the individual an
the future stability of agriculture:
1. A planned program gradually to reduc
the support prices on farm commodities wit
the goal of removing support prices and quo
tas within period of to 10 years. Whateve
controls are necessary in the interim SHOULD
be on a commodity basis so that Montana
particular problems can be considered indi
vidually. The primary purpose must be t.
restore the farmers freedom in the marke
place and at home.
2. Expanded research programs In utiliza
tion of farm commodities and in worldwide
marketing for the more efficient utilization
of our farm products.
The explosive increase in world population
and demand, the rapidly increasing Withdrawal
of our lands for .non-agricultural purposes
plus the evident need for stockpile of food
and livestock feeds sufficient for periods OF
emergency will eliminate unmanageable sur
pluses within the foreseeable future. Intelli-
gent disposal of our SURPRISES both at home
and abroad can eliminate the present coercve
threat of dumping surplus grains into our
channels of trade with it's consequent disrup-
ton of our markets and our economy
This program will provide basis for re-
turn to constitutional form of government
and to our traditional individual freedom
STATE LANDS
We insist that the state should get the maxi.
mum income from the lease and rental of state
lands consistent with the best accepted con-
servation and management practices. We rec
ommend that the Legislature devise formula
to collect grazing fees on sliding basis
so that lessees of more productive tracts would
pay at higher rate than lessees of marginal
tracts. We feel that blanket raise of mini
mum rates is unfair, impractical and could
WATER RESOURCES
The waters arising in Montana constitute
the greatest single asset of the State. The
stability of our economy and future develop
ment of the State depend primarily on con-
tinued availability of sufficient water within
the state.
At the present time actions of various fed
eral agencies are definite threat to the
sanctity of our state water laws and the rights
of our citizens to use our waters for future
development.
We firmly believe that any federal claims
on our water should comply in fact as we'll as
in theory with our state water laws. We OPP
pose the outrageous claims of the Bureau of
Reclamation to all surplus water above Can
yon Ferry DAM Such claims destroy individual
enterprise and drastically limit area develop
ment
We recommend that water development
should be working partnership rather than a
federal monopoly. We oppose Knowles Dam
ON the Flathead River on the grounds that it
would destroy the tax base of several counties
and would not guarantee any specific benefits
to Montana Montana must not become mere
storage area for the benefit of downstream
states.
We recommend that our water potential be
,atalogued with the purpose of developing
md protecting our potential for future growth
md development.
Section IV-Expanding Our
Educational Opportunity
The Republican Party is convinced that