AGRICULTURAL RELIEF

tion fee, or change the wording. If I remember, the old hill provides
vefore you start declaring an operating period, you must agree on
the fee. We sort of meet one of those implied objections anyhow
if we change that wording of the fee proposition so that the board
might, before declaring the operating period, if the commodity fel-
fows could make proper security to clear the loans, that they might
proceed without a fee. Then the question of the constitutionality
of the law would be tried. For instance, they trv it on wheat next
summer, and if it would secm to be unworkable—we don’t know
what it would be—or if it would seem to be unconstitutional, then
we would have that experience. What do you think of that sort of
a provision in this law? That, I think, would meet the President’s
suggestion.

Mr. Stone. The bill you have contemplates an alternative proposi-
tion in there.

Mr. Apkins. How is that?

Mr. Stone: You contemplate the use of an alternative operation
in your bill. In other words, to do one thing if you can’t do the
other.

Mr. Apkixs. My suggestion is this, and I am not set on that——

Mr. Stone. I know that.

Ar. Apkins. My suggestion would be this; that if it would be
declared unconstitutional—the administration has contended that
this can be done through a cooperative, through good merchandising
without a loss—if the law is found to be unconstitutional in trying
it out on this, the powers and duties of the board can be so used that
the board can then, after the constitutionality was determined,
proceed to operate as suggested by the bills that have been suggested
here to the effect that it could be done without a fee.

Mr. Stone. Well, just offhand, without seeing it in effect, it looks
to pe as if a compromise of this kind might be effected and might
work.

Mr. Apkins. In other words, we have met the constitutionality
question. We have not put him up against the question of signing
a law that he feels, with all the advice of his legal counsel, would be
unconstitutional, and it gives us a chance to try it out, and then,
if so, we are authorized under the law to take the proposal he has
now, without the fee.

Mr. KincaeLoE. How could you test the constitutionality without
this in the bill?

Mr. Apkins. I may not be a lawyer, but what I had in mind was
shat if we put that provision in, this board won’t function except
on one commodity. Say it is wheat. We go to work and declare
an operating period, and then they proceed to levy their fee. I
think the legal procedure would be to come in and enjoin the board
from collecting this fee, and it would immediately go up to the
Supreme Court, and they would rule whether it was constitutional
or not.

Mr. AsweLL. They did that a year ago.

Mr. Apkins. That is what is going to happen anyhow. This bill
is going to be delayed by somebody taking this bill into the courts,
and we had just as well start upon something we think will do the
trick, and get through with that court procedure and try it out. If
the President is right, and it is unconstitutional, we can proceed so

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