AGRICULTURAL RELIEF
STATEMENT OF XENOPHON CAVERNO—Resumed

171

Mr. AsweLL. Mr. Caverno, when you were on the stand on Fri-
day, you said toward the end of your statement, referring to Senator
McNary—I am reading from the record—‘We had a conference last
summer and again in December,” you left him with the understand-
ing that he would not introduce a bill with the fee in it; and then you
went on, you said you did not speak for the Senator, but you knew
what he meant, that a bill with a fee in it vetoed “would be just as
valuable as any bill that the same people would allow to be passed.”
Did you mean that?

Mr. CaverNo. Senator McNary told our group last December
that if he could find any other bill, proposed by the administration
or anybody else, that would give the farmer a measure of relief, and
if it did not contain the equilization fee he wanted to serve notice on
us that he would feel obliged to support that measure. And then I
said when Senator McNary introduced a bill with the equalization
fee in it—this is what I intended to get across—that it meant that he
had not had anything proposed to him that would benefit the farmer
any more than the McNary-Haugen bill with the equalization fee in
it, vetoed.

Mr. AsweLL. But then you followed that up——

Mr. Caverno. I distinctly said I did not speak for Senator
McNary.

Mr. AsweLL. You followed that up with this statement addressed
to me “I will say this, that you have proposed a bill that would help
cotton and would not help anybody else, and, being a cotton farmer,
if you will pass that bill I will go home and put my whole farm in
cotton.” You said that would help cotton and be such a good bill
that you would go into the cotton business wholeheartedly. Do
you think that is better than a vetoed bill?

Mr. Caverno. Oh, yes; Senator McNary was not speaking about
cotton.

Mr. AsweLL. Well, but you said at that time that this bill was
such a good cotton bill that you wolud go home and put your whole
farm in cotton?

Mr. Caverno. Well, Doctor, you know just about what I meant.

Mr. AsweLL. No; I want to know what you meant.

Mr. Cavervo. I will not go home and put my whole farm into
cotton. But I simply wanted to bring out that that kind of a bill
would help cotton but it would not help northern crops; and I do
not think it would help cotton very much.

Mr. AsweLL. You said you would go home and put your w ole
farm in cotton.

Mr. Caverno. I tried to see that thing fairly, and I took occasion
to drop into Mr. Ketcham’s office Saturday and ask him if he could
figure out how the northern crop.would be helped by the Aswell
bill. I wanted to go to a man interested in northern crops and see
if IT was reading this bill straight. If any of you gentlemen can
explain to me how the Aswell bill will help wheat or any of the
northern crops I shall be glad to learn, because I do not see it now.

Mr. WirLiams. Will it not work exactly the same way with the
equilization fee, up until such time as the revolving fund is exhausted?
In other words, it will work exactly the same for at least two vears.