280 AGRICULTURAL RELIEF credit banks, or from commercial sources. So that with $90,000,000 three millions of bales could have been bought and have been taken off of the market, paying 50 per cent of their value from the equaliza- tion fee, and 50 per cent from commercial sources, or the revolving fund; that is, the revolving fund would have been used there as a loan, up to some amount—I do not want. to say just what, because that would be invading the realms of the operation of the board with the law in effect. But $90,000,000 on a 50 per cent basis for 3,000,000 bales of cotton, which represented the surplus for this big crop as it turned out after the year’s operations were over, would have taken care of the surplus of that crop. Mr. Kercuam. If I have vour figures correctly in mind, the levying of $5 a bale would have made $90,000,000. Mr. KiLcore. Yes; it would have brought $90,000,000. Mr. KercaaMm. On that basis, with that fee levied, and with the price as you gave it, on the average of 12 cents a pound, how would you have especiad that the price of the whole cotton crop would ave been aflected! Mr. KiLcore. My thought as to the way that would have operated had the board been established at that time—— Mr. Kercaam. That is what I am getting at. Mr. KiLcore (continuing). Would have been that the equaliza- tion fee—possibly not $5, but maybe a lesser amount, would have been. levied by the board on the entire production of 18,000,000 bales. The board would have begun operations, however, before cotton reached 12 cents. According to the figures of the Department of Agriculture the average cost of average production of cotton is about 18 cents a pound. The board would have begun somewhere below 18 cents a pound. It might have been 16 cents a pound, it might have been 15 cents a pound or it might have been 14. Mr. Kercuam. What is your best judgment of what it would have been; would it have been as much as 15 cents a pound? Mr. KiLcore. I would think so; yes. Mr. Kercaam. That would be fair—15 cents a pound? Mr. KiLgorE. Yes. The board would have begun operation in taking the surplus of cotton off of the market, and would have stabil- ized the price at that point, and likely gradually above that point. Mr. AgweLL. Would there have been any loss there, do you think? di Kincore. Doctor, we can see behind better than we can see ’ tr. ASWELL. You were describing what would have taken place in your at? in operation. Now, what would have taken place, Mr. KiLcore. There would 1Sus last year for profits on the in oR sausualiy good shares Mr. AsweLL. If you had stabilized the price at 15 cents but had bought at 12 cents, there necessarily would not h b los Mr. KiLGoRre. I said I should have begun at 15:1 51d not have : : : I would not have let it go down to 12 cents. | ink we ought to get this in mind right at that point, that if B10 GOIN 10, Watt point, that if we and so yt Rime on ; care ul and cautious as not to buy until it has reached bottom. av, 10 Conte. or oven 9 cents as it was last year, then our buying don: cris, Ov gvey 8 would have given no relief to th ging down a logy point o the fellow who needed it most, the man