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Show Washington News For U. S. Farmers AAA AKTEKMATK OI'IMOV DIVIDED MAN MEAN' XE WEIGHT COTTON' CRISIS I5IG ( KOr EXPECTED I'l-om The Xews 'WaslLinftton Unr'au The Supreme Court's decision, invalidating the AAA, is not expected ex-pected to have an immediate harmful harm-ful effect on farm prices and incomes, in-comes, inasmuch as some experts believe that removal of the processing pro-cessing taxes will cause prices to rise sufficiently to offset the loss of benefit payments. However, the long-time effect of the decision, unless it is remedied reme-died by new legislation, causes, considerable alarm. This is based on the belief that absence of control con-trol measures will mean substantially substan-tially increased production to be followed inevitably by price declines. de-clines. The decision of the Court was called a 'stunning blow to national economic recovery" by Edward A. O'Neal, head of the American Farm Bureau Federation, who predicted a fight with all gloves off. Mr. O'Neal has been an ardent ar-dent advocate of the present program, pro-gram, which, he considers, a child of organized agriculture. He insists in-sists that farmers will not stand idly by and watch the fight for economic equality and parity swept into the discard. He looks to Congress to provide legislation to meet the situation and insists that if this is possible under the Constitution, "steps will be taken immediately to amend the Constitution." Consti-tution." He attacked the enemies Of the program as enemies of the Republic who have left no stone unturned to keep the farmer impoverished im-poverished and to reduce him to a state of peasantry. On the other hand, Charles A. Ewing, president of the National Livestock Marketing association, hailed the Court as "our greatest safeguard of Democratic Government" Govern-ment" and declared that "we must now develop (a program legally and economically sound." He believes be-lieves it possible "without regimentation regi-mentation and without resort to a policy of scarcity" to establish more stable and better markets for livestock. Walter M. Singler, head of the Wisconsin cooperative Milk Pool, and H. C. Kenney of the Nebraska Farmers' Union, said the decision was what they expected and the latter expressed the belief that a majority of the farmers "were against the AAA and hoping they could get away from it." Stanley F. Morse, of the Farmers Farm-ers Independence Council, said, "The farmers can thank the Supreme Sup-reme Court." He denounced bureaucrats bu-reaucrats masquerading as benefactors bene-factors of the farmer and said that the decision leads to the conclusion conclu-sion that the real object of the AAA must have been to catch the farmers' vote and to regiment far-mens far-mens into collectivism. Earl Smith, president of the Illinois Agricultural association, who helped draft the AAA said that national recovery is in large part due to the AAA. He believes that a vast majority of .farmers and of the members of Congress hold to the same convictions and that steps to cure defects in the act will be taken immediately. The first crop crisis, resulting from the Supreme Court's decision, decis-ion, threatens cotton because officials of-ficials will be unable to handle the problem even if a new approach to farm relief is devised. Unrestricted production throughout the South is expected and private observers fear that next season's crop might easily reach 15,500,000 bales as a maxi-' mum and 13,500,000 bales as a minimum. Already information has been received that large planters plant-ers are preparing to throw huge acreages into cultivation. Operations Opera-tions in Texas should begin bS the end o.f the month and move eastward without restriction. Because controlled production has been the basic fundamental of AAA program, it is interesting to call attention to the yield of cotton in former years. Beginning Begin-ning with 1929, the cotton crop was 14,800,000 bales; 1930, 13,-900,000 13,-900,000 bales; 1931, 17,100,000 bales; 1932, 13,100,000 bales; 1933, 13,000,000 bales, after 10,-500,000 10,-500,000 acres had been arbitrarily taken out of cultivation otherwise, other-wise, a crop of 17,000,000 bales would have resulted; 1913. 9,600,-000 9,600,-000 bales; and, 1935, 10,700,000 bales. |