Show I i G Dangers in to Agriculture Need Careful Attention Ceiling on Farm Prices at of Parity May Be Answer to Economic Problems Of Lend lease Spending By National Farm and Home Hour flour Commentator JU 7 Service 1313 1343 II Street N. N W W. Washington D. D C. C Defend me from from my friends I Ican IC ene cne- can C defend myself from my mies mes That lt is what the farmer is be bl beginning beginning ginning to say these days as he h casts a wary eye toward tow some of c chis his friends in congress who are lre ar shouting let her rip when other others urge some kind of a ceiling on oo o farm prices The people who really re have hive the th interest of American agriculture at a aheart heart talk this way The farmer has been on the th downside of parity for a long time He ought to be allowed to ride on of the upside awhile But inflation deflation hits hitt means me mems ms deflation and the farmer hardest as he knows from iron his bitter experience In 1921 ant and 22 So these more conservative tollare folk toll are arc urging a ceiling placed at Ili per par p r cent of ot parity And from the way things look now in spite of 01 the farmers' farmers professional friends friend who are shouting let her rip that figure fi re will probably be established in the pending price control bill plus Pius a good set of teeth to enforce farm price such a limit on runaway Well says the farmer how about a ceiling on wages too It would be a courageous prophet who would predict that wages will willbe willbe willbe be limited by law now although the administration would like to see that happen if happen if congress made it happen There is just one argument that the worker puts up against a wage ceiling and while it is hardly based on 01 sound economic principles it has hasin hasin hasin in it a certain amount of the quality of justice that cannot be denied The workman says There is no limit on supply Nature Na Nature ture can em go on producing and the producer can reap the benefit as long as there is a demand But the amount of labor a man can dois do dois dois is limited no matter what the de de- demand demand mand is There are just so many hours hO s I-s in the day I And that is is' is what the government faces when it sits down and tries trie to figure out a price control bill that will be fair to everybody Prediction Impossible Nobody can sit here in Washing Washing- ton ten and predict just what is is going to happen to farm prices wages pace peace war love or silk stockings in inte inte te t net few years The officials krow is ow as the farmer knows what happened to agriculture in and aft after er the last war war chills chills and fever the feverish days of high prices and land speculation followed by the chilly days when the banker owned most of the farms and there were more absentee landlords than there wore were W ticks in a grandfathers grandfather's clock That is history and the job the department of agriculture has done with with the help of the farm organizations organizations organizations and congress congress is is to try to keep history from repeating itself This is the way one official summed the situation up for me A billion dollars is going to be I spent for food for tor Britain in the next year Wages are up all aU over the country Pretty soon when de de- defense defense production pushes a lot of gadgets off oft the market folks will spend more on o food because they wont won't have a lot of other things to spend it on It will be a case of going down to the corner and get get- getting getting ting another dish of ice cream in in- instead instead stead of going riding in the new car you cant can't buy because there arent aren't enough nough cars to go around So far so good for the farmer But what about the time when lend lease spending ends when there may not be so many dollars in so many pay envelopes Will the farm farm- farmer er be faced with more surpluses on his hands Lets Let's listen to my friend again on that subject Weve got a law you know know- knowe be he e said a law that says that this extra production the government is urging has a price guarantee of 85 per cent of parity parity parity-a a promise an obligation on the part of the gov gov- government government government to support prices for milk and eggs and pork and chickens at 85 per cent of parity And we also have a law part law part of the same one that one that says the secre secre- secretary secretary secretary tary of ot agriculture has to give due notice in advance when it is time timeto to stop extra production of these products So this time the farmer will have a chance to get out from under to under to shift his production while there is yet time to cut his cloth according to his suit Will it work Well if we can prevent the fever now there certainly is a chance of avoiding the chills afterward when we beat our tanks into tractors again Can a War Be Won Without Fighting Whither are we drifting That is the favorite question posed by all the good old fashioned old old-f ora ora- tors What is the answer today Is it into war Sitting here in my office looking down over a busy street in the capi capi- capital capital capital tal I wonder I see the slim tip lip of the Washington monument in the distance I see the gentle hills of Virginia beyond Between the hills hillsand hillsand and a filmy fringe of trees the peace peace- peaceful ful ful Potomac is flowing I agine when I close my eyes equal equal- equally I Ily ly peaceful scenes cenes across the na na- nat naI nation nation nation t I tion Busy corners In midwest towns the hurrying hurring crowds in Den Denver ver ver-a ver a mile up with Pikes Pike's Peak Den I and sister mountains rimming the horizon the horizon the soft bay at San Diego the wide sweep of Lake Michigan palmetto-fringed palmetto squares of the South steep streets of ot Seattle the neat white houses of the Southwest still bearing the gentle mark of their Spanish heritage Are these quiet places to send their sons to die in some far coun coun- country country country try I think not Perhaps this is a wishful thought But let me repeat repent to you a conversation that took place as I walked home from a recent news conference at the thc White House Three of us came down the wind winding ing drive and out onto historic Penn Penn- Pennsylvania Pennsylvania sylvania avenue Another owned American-owned ship had been b en sunk The President had spoken spoken spoken ken kenery very ery earnestly very cally He had spoken about new measures of defense about resisting attempts of a group who were try try- trying trying trying ing to gain a foothold to dominate the Western hemisphere It It looks said one of the men like a declaration of war I glanced up quickly to see what the other member of our threesome would say Like me me he had fought in one war and covered two No he said I believe that Franklin Roosevelt wants to go down downin in history as the President who won wona a war without having to fight it I smiled because I agreed That mans man's comment is not pon pon- But it is typical of at least one group of observers here in the capital Perhaps they are right I hope so I still believe so This is a topsy world Legions Legion's Attitude Take for example the more belligerent bel bel- belligerent belligerent attitude of the American Le- Le Le Le- gion The Legion has always been strong for or defense You would be too if you have ever been in a fight fight- fighting fighting ing unit But heretofore it has always al al- always always fight I ways been against foreign entangle entangle- ments It has always been against foreign wars At its convention in I September however the Legion vot vot- voted voted voted ed to support the Presidents President's shoot I sight on on sight naval policy with all it im im- plies Why the change As a former soldier and legion legion- legionnaire legionnaire I had my ideas But I heard them best expressed by a man who knows the Legion better than I do He said with the e philosophy of an anold anold anold old soldier We have started shooting You cant can't shoot and argue at the same time without spoiling your aim But this does not mean to me that we are arc going to war tomorrow It simply means that the President has more backing in carrying g out his policy of beating Hitler without fighting a war Of course there will be naval engagements but the President puts these in the cate cate- category category category gory of the early battles in our his his- history history history tory between the navy and pirates and privateers There are persons persons- nearly one-fourth one of the nation nation nation-en- en enrolled rolled in Americas America's army of education education education tion this year from the elementary schools to the universities and night schools the th United States office of ot education reports |