Show Bruckart s Washington Digest I Find J Joker oler in III Department o of I Agriculture Appropriation Bill BillIts BillIt's the to Soon-to-Be-Famous Food and Heres Here's i Its It's Stamps How Advanced Thinkers Th Think It Will WilI Work Billion Dollars Is All The They Want By Br WILLIAM BRUCKART Service National Press Washington D. D C. C It WASHINGTON It was not so long ago six ago six or eight years perhaps per per- haps that haps that the annual cost of ol the department of agriculture to the taxpayers of ol the country amounted to something like There was some talk even In those days about the drain upon the federal treasury resulting from department of agriculture operations The totals totals totals to to- were questioned many persons wondered whether the politicians I were justified in voting that much money to the department because there was little to show in the way of results That is congressmen could show very little except the packages of seeds sent out to their districts It was in those days however that the Uie department of agriculture was seeking to operate effectively Farming was not regarded by the folks who used to run the department department department depart depart- ment as a subject for politics The departmental officials were going about their business rendering assistance assistance assistance as as- in the form of advice and promoting better fanning when farming when the Ule farmers asked for it I was reminded of those da days s 's recently recently recently re re- re- re when the house appropriations ti ns committee brought out for consider consideration the appropriations bill for the department of agriculture for the fiscal year that begins next July 1 A Rip Van Winkle who could have slept through the last 10 years would have believed belie truly that he was in another world The new money bill for the department contains contains contains con con- a total of more than 1000 The measure indeed ranks lanks as the third largest appropriations bill of this year when altogether there ther is likely to be almost appropriated What Is Planned to Do With a Billion Dollars It is extremely difficult to realize what a billion dollars is That is it is difficult for me to understand what it is I can write the llie figures glibly enough But to comprehend comprehend that sum of money or a billion of anything is something almost outside outside out out- side the pale of human knowledge Yet that is what the department of agriculture seeks this year and here is how that money is supposed to tobe tobe tobe be divided for soil conservation payments for parity payments for road building for soil and moisture conservation and operations for the farm tenancy program for eradicating tuberculosis tuberculosis tuberculosis losis and Bangs Bang's disease for the weather bureau and its services for retiring lands for soil and moisture in in- tion for wild life restoration for operative co-operative farm for for- estry for the water facilities program There were some other odds and I ends embracing items of ol 20 or 40 or 90 thousand dollars amounts so small that men almost smirk because because be be- cause they have forgotten how to speak in such limited numbers Then and here is the llie joker which is hidden away I really should not say hidden because no reference is made in the agriculture bill lan lan- guage The joker is that there are almost countless millions of other dollars with which the department can play around including approximately approximately approximately of money for lor use usein usein usein in getting rid of ol farm surpluses That is the money from which Secretary Secret Secretary Sec Sec- ret ry Wallace and his advanced thinkers will draw funds for the to soon food stamps The country got its belly full of blue eagles before the was I plowed under But the undistinguished undistinguished undistinguished yet befitting end that came to the blue eagle has not deterred the advanced thinkers from attempting something else that thatis is blue blue blue-a a blue stamp for relief food Yes relief workers will have the same wages as before but they will rec receive ive free blue stamps with willi which to buy surplus products for foods How Wallaces Wallace's Men Think Blue Food Stamp Will Work I 1 must write a little bit about that blue food stamp about how the advanced advanced advanced ad ad- thinkers think it will work before I report on the main department department depart depart- ment of agriculture appropriation bill It seems to be Secretary Wallaces Wallace's idea of a more abundant life to designate designate designate des des- ignate certain farm products each week as being surplus and Ind to help get them off orr of the glutted market by making them available for relief workers' workers kitchens The first trial of ol the scheme will be limited to six cities In those areas the relief supervisors will be supplied with books of blue stamps They are rather pretty stamps too Each WP A worker will get a book of st stamps of a specified value He can take those stamps to his grocery grow grOt I cery store and use them just like they were quarters or hall half dollars or dollars The will take them and he will be paid hon hon- I goodness est United States money money money mon mon- ey for them Thus will th the surplus stocks of food products be reduced I and the remainder will bring better prices Or so S say lY the adv advanced thinkers hikers th rs When I read the explanation tion of the program that was sent me by byone byone I Ione one of Mr Wallaces Wallace's publicity staff starr the first thing that struck me was the extreme discrimination that will I result It is easy to see Take any my man who is trying to hold down a I private job It may be paying him Cal only 50 a month or about the same as lS the relief worker gets Naturally Natural Natural- llly ll- ll ly he would like to be making more mone money Who wouldn't But he sticks on his job and stays off of relief Then when he gets paid he goes to the he grocery store to buy some food He pays cash and gets his food About the same moment a relief I worker walks in orders the same list of groceries perhaps and pays for them out of a stamp book bok It appears appears ap ap- ap- ap pears to me that the hard bitten private worker is going to find little solace in remaining on his job It strikes me he and he-and and millions of others oth oth- ers ers are are going to be resentful of such tactics See Possibility of Creating A Lot of Bootleggers There is another phase of the thc picture picture pic picture pic- pic ture which was mentioned to me by Representative Hope of Kansas one of the ranking members of the house committee on agriculture He suggested suggested sug sug- that the blue stamps are arc going going gong go go- ing ng to create a lot of bootleggers For example the relief workers are not permitted to buy liquor with the stamps They wont won't be redeemed if they are used to buy anything but jut food However Mr Hope could see no reason why a relief worker couldn't use the stamps to buy liquor liquor liquor from a liquor store and the liquor liquor liquor store owner might possibly be bea a crook It is possible you know He fie might own a food store too or he might have an understanding with wiLh a food toad store owner who would take the stamps at a few pennies discount What Wha t is to stop such procedure procedure procedure pro pro- Its It's your our guess The whole thing strikes me as being being beng be- be ing ng so silly as to defy ones one's powers powers of imagination It is dealt with here at such length only because I regard regard regard re re- re- re gard it as typical of a great many things that are going on within the department of agriculture for which I Imore more than is soon to tobe tobe be appropriated for or a years year's operations opera opera- The blue stamp scheme is destined to fail even cven as IS the plowing plowing plow- plow ing ng under of at crops and the slaughtering slaughtering slaughtering I of pigs was doomed a and as the limitation of crop production W was lS cert certain lin to flare back on those who were sucked into the maelstrom of f nit wit plans Now lest I be misunderstood let me restate with emphasis that there is good work that the department can do and has been doing Road building appropriations for in in- stance Where would this country be ae had there been no attempt to build usable roads Who can say that eradication of ol tuberculosis and Bangs Bang's disease among live stock is not a valuable aid lid to farmers Learn Beautiful Phrases But at Rather High Cost CostI I am not prepared to say that the wild life restoration program is wholly bad It seems probable that the country ought to rebuild the wild life stocks that have been wantonly wantonly wantonly wan wan- tonly destroyed in in the days when people could go out and shoot ducks or deer or what have you without thought of the morrow It is a program program program pro pro- gram for which considerable justification justification justification justi justi- can be advanced But it is to be noted that most of these items are small Neither the department of agriculture administration administration administration adminis adminis- nor the members of ol the house and the senate have seen fit to do more than maintain them I have seen the inmates of ol the capitol capitol capitol capi- capi tol squirm and fuss and scowl about some of ol them while swallowing the items reaching into hundreds of ol millions mil lions with the greatest of ol glee As I said it was not so long ago that department of agriculture ap up appropriations were reg regarded as huge if the they totalled 40 millions As far faras faras faras as I can see agriculture is no better bet ter of off today than it was in those years Of course a very great t number of farmers have learned that the beautiful phrases like the themore themore themore more abundant life and such are meaningless But I venture the assertion assertion assertion as as- that the education has been rather expensive From all of ol these things it ft is surely made to to appear that there are some large Ethiopian gentlemen in the wood pile When the politicians politicians and the advanced thinkers joined hands to manage agriculture just then federal expenses for lor the department of ol agriculture began zooming upward Western Union |