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Show FARM AID ASKED RY ROOSEVELT MT. VERNON, Va.. Nov. IT UP) President Roosevelt today called for enactment of a nationally integrated inte-grated farm program, to give farmers farm-ers parity with industry and labor in meeting modern economfc conditions. con-ditions. Mr. Roosevelt's sddress was pre- the 75th anniversary of the establishment estab-lishment of the department of agriculture ag-riculture and Institution of JhiJand grant college program. It was read by Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace. Mr. Roosevelt is confined con-fined to the White House With an infected tooth. The president drew on the views of George Washington in support of his thesis thai modern conditions condi-tions demand a national approach to farm problems. "George Washington's awn words." said Mr. Roosevelt, "show that he considered agricultural production, pro-duction, even in his time, to be much more than a local matter. Yet many changes were destined to come that he could not possibly foresee." The president declared that the protective tariff policy had placed agriculture in America at a permanent per-manent disadvantage. He cited the Intricate financial system' whereby farm mortgages were linked through life insurance investments in-vestments to millions of urban resi- dents. Washington, said Mr. Roosevelt, "could not foresee that fixed charges, such ss taxes, interest and freight rates, would push thousands thou-sands of farmers Into bsnkruptcy wherever the prices of fsrm commodities com-modities collspsed. "He could not foresee that abundant abun-dant production, instesd of lifting the farmer's standard of living, buying power would be essential to keep city factories running. He could not foresee the intricate web of economic ties that, extending across state boundaries, would almost al-most completely submerge the local lo-cal phases of agricultural production produc-tion and make it more than ever a matter of vital national concern." con-cern." The president declared that If Washington had lived today "he would have acted boldly to keep agriculture from going down to ruin." , "We can be sure," said the president presi-dent "that he would not have denied de-nied to agriculture advantages which government has so freely granted to industry. All his actions indicate that he would have supported sup-ported farmers in programs of the type they hsve adopted. "Just aa he himself shifted from one crop tobacco production to a balanced type of faaming in order to save his soil, it seems almost certain that he would have favored government action to aid farmers aa a group to bring their farming operations into balance." WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 JP Secretary Wallace advised senators today to adopt a "middle course" between extreme compulsory control and voluntary control over farm production and marketing under the new farm program. Wallace's views were reported by Chairman Smith of the senate agriculture agri-culture committee after a two-hour closed session. |