AGRICULTURAL RELIEF

309

tunately business by management, the manufacturer by manage-
nent—and I commend him and congratulate him for it, and hope we
vill learn some lessons from business, from labor—the task of the
farmer must be to gather some of this information and put it in
practice. But through management and by management our friends
in industry can have an influence on the surplus and upon the output
and upon the product. oo

Agriculture, for climatic and other reasons, has that possibility;
consequently, we sometimes have the benefit of the tariff on paper
vithout the benefit in the pocketbook. Consequently, we direct our-
selves again to this proposition: The Grange’s 40-year-old deciara-
tion was carried out by putting higher schedules in the various
tariff acts. They helped at times—they may have helped on some
-ommodities, but take such products as wheat, of which there is a
great exportable surplus. There has not been a direct benefit, be-
cause of that exportable surplus. Liverpool, as you have been told
again and again, and not America sets the price.

Almost 40 years ago David Lubin, a great prophet and idealist, a
‘hinker and profound scholar, a man who had amassed wealth in
commerce, developed what is known as the Lubin idea—another ap-
proach to what we are coming to to-day. Darid Lubin founded the
[nternational Institute of Agriculture at Rome, interested the kings
and queens in Europe in a great movement, and lost his enthusiasm
for tariff reform.

Mr. Adkins, Doctor Stewart, Mr. Jones, Mr. Ketcham, and a num-
ber of others have been finding an idea that was needed, and we
to-day should translate that idea into law to bring the tariff to the
farmer.

{Vhen we come to the question of the export debenture bill, H. R.
10568 or some other bill with the same principle, we find in the
simplest barnyard English—of course, I know this committee would
prefer to have the philosopher and the student discuss these ques-
tions, and we will let Doctor Stewart and Mr. Goss come later—but
in the barnyard English that we understand out in the country.
The export debenture plan, in the simplest language, is an attempt to
bring tariff benefits to farm commodities of which there is an ex-
portable surplus. It attempts to bring the farmer under the tariff;
it attempts to do it in harmony with established precedents, and I
believe, and we hope we can prove to you. that it will do it: and it
does it with real simplicity.

[he Grange has some old-time notions. We believe that there are
enough people now.on the pay voll of the United States. Every
thirteenth man in America is drawing pay from the Nation, the
State, the county, the township, or the school district; and that is
enough. Consequently, we are not seeking high salaries; and we
propose a bill without added salaries. That is a new thing to pre-
sent to Congress. We provide an ex officio board—Dbecause we have
explained that it does not require a board so, without salaries, with-
out expenses and, still more marvelous, without appropriation, save
$50,000 for incidentals, we propose to lift the income of American
agriculture at least a billion dollars per year. We propose, in the
simplest English, that as we set up our ex officio board—and I again
nause : Mr. Albert Goss, of Seattle, Wash., who has been collaborat-