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Show As An Agriculturalist Sees Farm Board's Job The new Agricultural Marketing Act approaches farm relief from a materially materi-ally different point of view from that of former bills before Congress in recent re-cent years, says Dean H. L. Russell of Wisconsin University College of Agriculture Agri-culture in the American Bankers Association As-sociation Journal. "It contains a new Idea, fraught with the greatest possibilities the organisation organi-sation of a Federal Farm Board," he says. "It has been possible for farm cooperatives to borrow from Federal, aided institutions before, and at ma. terially lower rate than city business men had to pay for working capital, but this is the first set-up made by the government in which a commission commis-sion has been carefully chosen to give undivided attention to an effort to solve the problems of a farm group. "It is hard to conceive of a higher legree of responsibility than must be issumed by this commission. No board sver created by congressional action ias been clothed with as wide plenary lowers. It is authorized not only to idvise but to execute, to plan and put ts plans into effective action, to buy md hold, to dump, to dip into the federal treasury to accomplish its nds with what would be almost nn-Imited nn-Imited resources to any private com-nercial com-nercial concern. The board's only ob Is to succeed, and no governmental govern-mental agency even during the war ime emergency had a wider latitude. "Many will think the farm relief rogram will be universally applicable 3 the individual land owner or oper.. tor. Such procedure Is far from the ase. Aid is to be extended through cooperative organizations by making t possible for such groups to obtain ash advances to hold crops so as to termlt of more orderly marketing. "While the primary relation Is with sooperatlves, the individual or unorganized unor-ganized farmer will also profit by the activities of h' "-Tnl-ed fellows. If a stabilize! of merchanilslusr Is able to cli:-'iii' tho surpluses tha' exert such depressing Influence on prices tbe general price relation should be Improved. If this occurs tho individual farmer should also benefit "It is here the government is pro. posing a novel attempt in economics. Through s'ablllzatlon corporations for each commodity it is proposed to make possible the handling of the surplus so as tj lessen its disturbing influence on prices. With non.perlsh-able non.perlsh-able products such a program is, of course, conceivably possible, but one wonders what would happen if a stabilization sta-bilization corporation had to handle a perishable crop in great quantities. "Is it going to be possible for a stabilization sta-bilization corporation to stabilize T It would be one thing If it had merely to stabilize the American situation, but often that situation is complicated with world conditions. Perhaps the very fact that such a stabilization corporation cor-poration is in position to function may have a steadying effect on the market. "Markets respond to psychological stimuli as do individuals. The very fact that the government has now def. lnltely stepped into the breach with all of its resources available to make the new plan work will exert undoubtedly un-doubtedly a strong stabilizing effect. "It would be presumptuous to forecast fore-cast what the ultimate effect of the new act will be. It can, however, be definitely stated that in tha present plan much of tho philosophy that had been so drastically criticized as eco. nomically unsound has been eliminated. elimi-nated. The existing plan is worth trying. It will undoubtedly cost the Federal treasury no Inconsiderable amounts of money, but if it produces the hoped-for result it will have been Well worth while." |