| Show stamp program takes up slack in loss of borei foreign food markets CHICAGO As the food stamp plan moves into the third year farmers housewives public officials welfare administrators and chamber of commerce organizations eions carefully moisten and affix their own stamp of approval to the project this new method of administering a subsidy so that the distribution system would serve broad social purposes and in general maint maintain din the essential profit and loss principle was the brainchild of milo perkins former manufacturer and now head of the surplus marketing administration in washington with reservations actions the blue and orange economic gadget has worked to the satisfaction of those most concerned as evidenced by the recent arrival of the political stork who calmly deposited a little brother in the form of the cotton stamp plan and broadly hinted that the next arrival would be in the field of low cost housing lose foreign markets when foreign markets for S surplus products principally food faded away in 1930 anath e country asp way faced with one of its most vexing problems economy of abundance the nations leaders cast about for a solution people actually faced starvation while living in the midst of plenty jobs and savings were gone and while foodstuffs rotted in the fields for want of market crops were plowed under acreage restricted strict ed and marginal land retired from cultivation in a desperate attempt to set the wheels of industry rolling again scientific agriculture added to the count rys woes boes by increasing the quantity of farm products with less labor thereby further building up the unemployment roster foreign trade agreements failed tor to save the count rys volume to them because the purchasing nations were more interested then in making themselves self sufficient and were eliminating all possible imports search for solution vice president wallace th then en secretary of agriculture sums up the situation as it appeared then to authorities in the capitol first we had to find a market for farm surpluses and we knew that a surplus at one price might be a sellout sell out at another second we like the spectacle of people hungry from too little food while we were worrying over too much senator proposed to solve the first problem by sending our surpluses abroad and selling them at a lower price there but some of us thought that if we were going in for a two price system wed better do it at home and let our own needy have the benefit studies by nutritional experts revealed some startling facts working people were paying only between 10 and 12 cents per meal average while those millions on relief could only allot halt half of that amount for their food the result of this was to continue to pile up foodstuffs in bins all over the country despite its shrinkage the major hope was still that of the domestic market because our own people would continue to buy food regardless of the disappearance of the f foreign or markets due to the war after other methods had been found unsatisfactory or inadequate such as soup kitchens for the needy and to utilize surplus wheat lunches for school children direct distribution of hams and other meat to households and other schemes the food stamp plan was created it was first tried out in rochester N Y and is now well known and popular in the count rys largest metropolis new york city approximately areas are now benefiting by the plan while about 1500 more have applied to washington direct savings of is shown by the statement of commissioner william hodson of the new york city department of welfare and the food stamp plan this year will cost only as compared with the cost direct distribution of government purchased supplies previously sly said mr hobson people like the pl anfor many reasons one is that they can purchase what they want when they need it like the rest of us do another because they know they can arrange a more healthy diet and the savings will stretch the cites budget for relief cases and that is no small item milo perkins originator of the idea added his views on the subject by saying predict wide benefits the conservatives like it he said gulping down some of brazils surplus coffee from a paper cup because it goes through the regular channels of trade and spreads its benefits all along the line they feel safer about it that way than if the government had set up its own M machinery a of hand handling lini in the second place they like it because it creates purchasing power for things they feel it a disgrace for any american to have to do without like nourishing food and in the third place and you hear more about this now than when the plan started they regard it as a hedge against t trouble in the future find them talking already about going to happen when this war activity ends improve distribution the liberals like it because they regard it as a new kind of money and they have an obscure feeling that these blue and orange tickets give the needy an access to the kind of wealth they most need to have also they are pleased because the plan makes it possible to distribute certain types of things that cant effectively be given away they think our present system of distribution needs remodeling and far rather have government money spent for the better distribution of food than for buying and hoarding it while people go hungry As for the middle of the road man he likes it because it makes sense to him hes found some of the governments ern ments programs pretty hard to tie in with his own experience but tell him lets fix it so the hungry eat the surplus and hes au all for it |
