Show dec czi 9 7 0 IN national topics interpreted by william bruckart Bruc karC national press Ruil building guilding ding washington D C washington farm leaders have gone before congress again to press 11 a new agricultural urge new p program L like I 1 k e farm program several that have come through in the last half dozen years the new proposition is based on a subsidy the cur current r ent program like the old AAA i is predicated on agreements by which farmers will not do something and be paid for not doing it to obtain the subsidies from the federal treasury contemplated in the new farm legislation farmers will have to sign contracts agreeing to curtail their up to twenty per cent of their average cultivation for the last several years it if they fail or refuse to sign these contracts the legislation describes them as not operating cooperating co and therefore they would be denied the right to obtain loans from the federal government and they would not have a guarantee of parity prices as a penalty moreover those farmers who failed or refused to operate cooperate co in this manner would be subjected to prohibitive taxes on the sale of products grown in excess of limits on totals to be prescribed by secretary wallace of the department of agriculture the announced basis of this new program is for conservation of the soil further its sponsors contend that it will mean a gradual ing of the fertility of the soil so that in the end fewer acres will have to be cultivated to produce the same volume of corn or cotton or wheat or whatever other crop is grown but I 1 think there are few individuals who will say that the above reasons honestly constitute the basis tor for this new farm legislation I 1 think it must be admitted that the plan is only a subterfuge that while it may help some farmers by giving them cash it is pure politics with cash as a sop I 1 am not one equipped to say that agriculture does not need a subsidy even though prices of farm products are now almost double what they were in 1933 it is entirely possible that farmers throughout the nation still need help in the form of cash it may be the better part of wisdom to vote such payments as are contemplated tem plated in this new legislation on the other hand however it if there is that need then let us be honest about it president roosevelt lately has signed a new law which provides subsidies to shipping companies in order that america may have its own merchant marine but those payments are to be called subsidies they are not disguised nor concealed it seems ridiculous therefore that the farm leaders should not be frank with the members of their organizations if they feel that a subsidy is needed why not put it up to congress that way so that those farmers who believe in subsidies as well as those who want i to see agriculture left alone for awhile can understand what is going on I 1 imagine that the farm leaders who are sponsoring the new legislation could scarce chose ay iy have chosen a bad time presentation of their program I 1 mean that in presenting this type of legislation when congress is undergoing a wave of economy the program is likely to receive scant consideration it always has been the case that legislation goes through several stages of hauling and filling in congress congre s S with the result that after much debate a bill satisfactory to the majority emerges in presenting their program at this time therefore the farm leaders are not doing a very good job of leading there will be much agitation on the part of the farm leaders that will get just nowhere at all because of conditions in congress edward A oneal president of the Ame american farm bureau federation recently was quoted as saying that the new plan would not require any payments direct from the treasury that is it would pay its own way through the medium of taxes if it works perfectly that is the rub I 1 find doubt in nearly all quarters that the plan can work perfectly it is so complex and requires such a bureaucracy for administration of it that to expect it to work perfectly is virtually to expect that legislation will control the weather I 1 think everyone will agree that congress and the administration has not yet been able to find the formula for controlling the weather I 1 believe it can be said fairly that many farnus are dissatisfied with the soil conservation program adopted as a substitute tor for the AAA which the much criticized supreme court held unconstitutional by a unanimous vote even those officials of the department of agriculture who are frank will admit that the soil conservation is not an effective means for controlling production it does have merit as far as it goes in conserving the soil but there is another phase it has been pointed out too often almost to need repetition here that the soil con law as occurred under the AAA results in millions of dollars being paid to individuals and corporations who are in no way participating in conservation activities now while mr oneal thinks that the proposed law can be operated without expense to the federal treasury there is yet the convict conviction io n in some quarters that it probably will cost about six hundred million dollars a year to pay the subsidies and pay for administration of the law six hundred million dollars a year is is a large sum at any time and it bulks much larger at a time when there is a nationwide nation wide cry for a balanced budget for the federal government it is a sum that if the tha budget of the federal government otherwise were balanced would be sufficient to frighten thousands of holders of united states bonds it would seem then that the farm leaders ought to take into consideration the status of the federal governments financial affairs it if they want to develop a program that will live I 1 have heard from many students of agricultural problems that the remedy for farm conditions is not an expensive new system of farm subsidies they assert that it will be impossible for uncle sam to continue annual payments to some three million or more farmers and they are convinced further that most farmers themselves objected to being placed in the category of relief clients an argument is also advanced that more and more farmers believe federal policies that cause money to be handed out free to farmers will in the end destroy the independence of agriculture however that may be and however the majority of the farmers feel about receiving money graus gratis from the government at washington it cannot be said that agriculture is being placed on a sound footing by politicians and political farm leaders whose sole objective is to loot the treasury farmers would not permit it to happen to the governments of their states or their counties but a considerable number of them apparently have been persuaded that the govern met at washington is something else the department of commerce which has supervision of airplane traffic has anair pilots bounced that it out of races will not permit american pilots to participate in an air race that was proposed for this summer the race was to have taken place from new york to paris but the department of commerce has vetoed the plan unequivocally because it considers the race as nothing more than a stunt it may occur to some that such a ruling by the department of commerce constitutes an interference with private business beyond reason I 1 cannot share that view the i experts have been unable to find in this proposed race any possibility bilitZ of benefit for aviation nor any experimentation peri that would lead to more scientific flying it has taken the position that there is too great a danger involved for those pilots pilots who are foolhardy enough to undertake the three thousand two hundred mile flight fight across the ocean its position is further fortified with the argument that if any of the pilots should lose their lives in that type of aviation it will cause many thousands of persons to lose faith in the airplane as a means of transportation por tation in short the department thinks that there are only disadvantages and no advantages in the prospect while many persons may disagree with the position the department has taken it is heartening to those of us who like to see private business encouraged to know that a responsible federal agency charged with supervision of a private industry is again functioning as it was intended to do for several years the department part ment of commerce with particular respect to its aviation division has been in a state of turmoil there were wide differences of opinion and in consequence little in the way of permanent development was sponsored from washington tor for the aviation industry in criticizing the governments inactivity no observer would be fair unless he also called attention to the frailties and the failures of the industry itself it is true that some of the larger lines lately have made sensational improvements in the equipment they use in the air and in the operations part of flying it is true that larger and better planes have been built and are building but it is likewise true that a number of airlines have adopted penurious penny pinching policies and have refused to replace worn out a and n d obsolete pi planes a nes because they did not want to invest additional money until the air industry awakens to the necessity c ss ty for spending money and until the department part ment of commerce becomes a smooth functioning supervisory agent the air travel of this country will not even approach the limit oa at its capacity a 0 weste newspaper union |