364

AGRICULTURAL RELIEF
the time of our French and Indian War, 1765, the exportable sur-
pluses in the case of wheat and other bread grains had come to a
place where it could not be foreseen from one year to another,
whether there would be any or not. They see-sawed, you might say,
for a period of about 25 years. From about 1790 up until the time
it was taken off the books, England was definitely upon an import
basis. so far as bread grains were concerned, so that import duties
came to be regarded as an effective way to bring about protection.

Mr. AsweLL. I am not interested in the history of the world. I
asked you what other countries had it now.

Mr. STEwarr. At the present time you will find in addition to
the four countries which I named earlier as having a form of the
export debenture type a number of countries, including Australia
and Venezuela. I have a memorandum of that, which I would be
glad to place before you. (See Appendix.)

Mr. Kercaam. You will pardon me, Doctor Stewart. But I think
Doctor Aswell was not in the room when you made that statement.

Myr. AsweLL. I was here when he named them, but I wondered if
there were any other outstanding countries except Germany.

Mr. Stewart. I would recommend to your attention the Bureau
of Agricultural Economics bibliography, Economics No. 20. entitled
“ Bounties on Agricultural Products.” It summarizes the bounty
experience, not only in all countries of the world but also to the
American Colonies prior to our Constitution.

Mr. Fokr. Is that anything more than a bibliography? Does it
give the history, or is it simply a bibliography ?

Mr. Stewart. It is a bibliography, with excerpts that are helpful.
Let us come now to the legal principle underlying the particular
kind of export premium which I think might be helpful in this
juncture of our agriculture. It is that the sending out of the United
States of exportable surpluses may justify this country in allowing
Juiiable goods to come back to replace them without collection of
uty.

Let me state that principle in personal terms. He who sends out
of the United States certain farm products of which we have export-
able surpluses may be given the right to replace them with dutiable
goods brought in without collection of duty. That is the legal
principle which seems to me to be definitely embedded in the Ein-
fuhrschein of Germany. This arrangement was called to my atten-
tion by Mr. E. C. Squire, who had returned from Germany in 1924, 1
believe, after having seen it operate in that country.

Mr. PurNerr. That does not mean, Doctor Stewart, that the
exporter and importer must be one and the same person?

Mr. Stewart. No; I think that is not required in the case of any
of the four countries which have applied the tariff-waived replace-
ment principle to this problem.

Mr. Forr. The debenture, or whatever corresponds to it, may be
made negotiable and may be transferred to others?

Mr. Stewart. It would merely mean that the second man might
take from the first man a credit and continue the operation which
the fest man began. The fact that the debenture would be nego-
tiable under those circumstances does not modify this legal principle
to which I am calline attention.