Show Bruc Bru karts charts washington Washing fon digest whole farm program for foi 1940 to be broadened AAA announces soil conservation to be stressed increased opportunities given for participation by small farmers folks are awakening to fact waste must be paid for by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D C washington A press release has just come to my desk from the agricultural adjustment administration it outlines the farm arm program for 1040 1940 that Is next year the statement from the AAA press bureau announced that the 1940 farm program was evolved at a three day conference of approximately AAA farmer committeemen coan and others othera interested acting for all of the millions of farmers it explained that the whole farm program Is to be broadened but I 1 will quote the opening paragraph which Is of course official increased emphasis on soil conservation increased opportunities lor for participation by small farmers and greater responsibility of administration by the farmer committees are included I 1 have watched the AAA officials operate for five or six years they are still struggling for that more abundant life and therefore I 1 have observed the changes with some curiosity also there has been a certain amount of humor in what they have done not humorous for the farmers but for an onlooker whose life savings and hopes were not directly at stake there never has been a dull moment some times the antics have resembled the movements of whirling dervishes of the desert in their most fervent moments of prayer other times have produced attitudes on the part of the officials ind end their underlings that strangely resembled a mouse colored and very stubborn mule that my father once owned and then again there would be forthcoming schemes so fantastic that only a person wearing the degree of doctor of philosophy could have read the words without turning to mr websters unabridged edition of the dictionary they have gone from the doctrine of scarcity cIty to the doctrine of some soma other extreme and most things in between always requiring however that the farmer must sign up a contract with a lot of dos and bonts don ts just a word of 4 praise for AAA administrators that I 1 may not be accused of being n common scold let me give the AAA administrators in a word of praise just here the soil building and soil conservation phases of the program likely are going to be valuable although F P tall fall to understand why anybody thinks inks it Is necessary to pay a farmer to keep his own land in good shape but skipping my own thoughts on that there is justification tor for governmental interest in helping to restore soil on a national scale because our nation nations nat ionis is going on tor for a number of years we hope then too there Is argument in favorable to a policy of government encouragement in the planting of trees a program of reforestation there Is of course that famous parity business there Is 13 a fund of which a bunch of vote getting congressmen put into law from it the AAA officials can pay farmers producing wheat cotton corn tobacco and rice certain sums if the price of thess these commodities Is less than 75 per cent of parity we have had that one before and after many trials there are still many hundreds of versions of parity 11 it has put the money out there Is no doubt about that the AAA men made sure that all of it went out but some of the methods of calculations of appraisals of discriminations crimi nations among farmers armors of dos and bonts and just plain bureaucratic regimentation make a fellow dizzy I 1 cannot help wondering what those who live a hundred years from now will say when they read the current AAA records they may find some new words that will properly describe the mess mesa now comes the payoff on the 1940 farm program next comes commercial vegetables there is to be designation as this year of commercial vegetable counties the designation of course to be done by AAA officials commercial vegetable farmers after they sign up and do as they are told will get payments too and I 1 hope the arrangement will make the green onions that my wife buys from the commercial vegetable man who calls at our door somewhat less spongy and now we give you the payoff on the 1910 19 to program next year any farmer who grows it a vegetable garden will get etwo whole dollars that are still highly regarded ded by me it if he cooper co oper stes and does as he Is told by the AAA matter farmers if he falls to grow that vegetable garden he will be docked 2 the government will get it too uncle sams boys are good at that to make sure about getting that 2 one the AAA will deduct it frond from whatever other payment that the farmer has earned the have not been Is sued yet so I 1 cannot report to you in advance what you will have to do to get your 2 the AAA may possibly tell you that you have to grow so many rows of radishes so BO many hills of beans of two or more types maybe some pole beans if you have planted trees under the stra con program or they may tell you to produce so many yards ot of spinach and there must be carrots and pens peas because children must eat carrots and pens peas and potatoes oest I 1 want to warn the AAA about potatoes maine and idaho voters may k kick ck about including potatoes in the list of must vegetables in the south there ought to be melons for there is nothing like a good ripe watermelon medical men advise squash sh in the diet along with rutabagas As a special favor to me I 1 am going to ask that onions be included and planted alongside that row of tomato vines will extend law as par far as language can he be stretched ed of 01 course as I 1 said the regulations have not been issued and so I 1 do not know what will constitute a vegetable garden within the meaning of this act as the official rules will say on this point however I 1 think it can be said safely now that the regp regulations lations will extend the law just as for far as human ingenuity can stretch language the idea will be to embrace as many of the farmers as can be brought under the newest and rawest of the schemes for regimenting regi the farmers of the nation none will be overlooked except perhaps those like myself whose farm consists of a backyard some 60 00 feet deep wherein are crowded flowers that I 1 love I 1 guess that I 1 will not get any payment for planting trees either cither but the real reason I 1 resent tills this 2 payment Is that it represents a gigantic reduction in the price of votes I 1 think those AAA men learned much about politics gone sissy the new price sounds like a fire sale they ought to know that no votes induced by that price will stay put but to get serious about this thing this new atrocity that is being put over in the name of farm aid it 0 ought to be said that never in all recorded history has there been any such thing attempted before that of course Is no answer it Is an answer however to say that some governmental policies like the actions of some private persons are so BO utterly ludicrous that they hardly warrant discussion further we ought to remind ourselves that in this instance a government supposed to serve all of the people is under undertaking laking the course to my mind the fact that government is doing it inkes it perfection onon on the asinine side folks Awa awakening hening to fact that waste must be paid for we have witnessed waste in more forma in the last few years than ever happened in our nation or any other folks throughout the country are awakening to the fact act that this waste has to be paid tor for because taxes are beginning to sneak up on them from the most unexpected directions there will be more of 0 that there can be no doubt meanwhile instead of slowing up federal spending we find AAA paying 2 for a garden there should be something in the way of aid for those chose who grow window boxes jt it was only the other day that the treasury released final figures on its condition at the end of the tha fiscal year july I 1 those figures showed that the government had spent mare more in the last 12 months than it had taken in by taxation shortly thereafter a private organization issued a statement showing income and taxes of 63 great corporations those figures were claimed to be revealed that only about hall half of those corporations had made enough money in the last year to meet their tax bills in some home instances the taxes paid by those corporations amounted to na as much as three times the income that was left to them after they had paid their workers and their overhead expenses thus it seems to me that when our government Is s running so tar far behind when it Is already taking from its citizens as much or more than they earn in taxes and when more taxes are as certain as death is to all of us when these condl condi lions exist it is about time to take stock and see where we are going i to end up the future Is not so I 1 black but that we can see streaks of light in it and these problems can be solved they can be solved rather simply too it as in the case of the vegetable garden swe stop to figure that government Is going to take lake several times 2 tor for every vegetable garden brought under this new scheme of co operation cooperation co ne lessed by union |