108

AGRICULTURAL ‘RELIEF
associations within the restrictions provided for in the antitrust law. But during
the last half of 1927 there came an intense competition between the business
firms, resulting in new forms of business combinations, in connection with lower
profits on the average, and in some industries selling below cost. Thus a new in-
dustrial epoch is in existence. The relative index number as between 30 farm
products and the business interests has risen from 82 in March, 1927, to 92 in
October, and a continuation at about that level. (See preceding table.) The
number of private monopolies has lessened greatly. The prevailing condition is
intense competition accompanied by eries for relief.

3. Beginning in January, 1928, another deflation was placed in operation by the
Government commission, the Federal Reserve Board. In January there were
sold by the reserve banks, by order of the reserve board, something like $180,-
000,000 of Government securities, thus deflating to that extent the combined
bank credit and money in use. (Weekly reports of the Federal reserve banks.)
This was quickly followed by the raising of the bank rate, one after another in 10
of the 12 districts.

President Coolidge has two representatives on that commission, who are the
balance of power. They are deflating and thereby increasing the purchasing
power of debts—inside favoritism for the creditor class, and against the business
interests. Thus President Coolidge is doube-crossing the interests who selected

im

The crying need is either that President Coolidge shall reverse the deflation
policy, or that Congress shall enact the Strong bill, instructing the Government
commission to operate in the direction of stability, which should be the 1926
price level,

4. In 1922 the revision of the tariff on imports was by the application of a new
principle—the differences between this country’s prices in 1922 and the prices
abroad. This was in place of the protective tariff principle of allowing for the
differences in the cost of production. In this country in 1922 there were monop-
oly prices (see preceding paragraph) and the 1922 tariff revision is on that basis,
namely, the differences between this country’s prices in 1922 and the prices
abroad. (Minority report in the Senate.) This monopoly tariff has been con-
tinued year after year, but with a recent vote in the Senate for revision, the
McMaster resolution, 56 to 37, counting the pairs.

5. On June 1, 1925, our National Supreme Court by vote of 6 to 3 validated
an extreme form of the trade association—the reporting to a common center in
each of a few industries, the quantity of production and distribution, accompanied
by concerted action among the producers in the industry to not overproduce and
to hold up prices. (Cement case and Maple Flooring case.)

This validation by our Supreme Court was followed by the almost immediate
application of the new system to the other industries, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, resulting in higher relative prices
for the business interests, and lower relative prices for the farmers. (See the chart
of relative prices supplied by the United States Department of Agriculture.)

We have described five ways in which the dominant conservative Government
has been operating, and four of these five ways of operation have been in behalf of
the organized business interests, with the fifth method in behalf of the creditor
class, and to the vast injury of all the other citizens.
V., WORLD-WIDE IISASTER
The results from the above-described operations as a whole in our vast Repub-
lic, were injuries in the nature of world-wide disaster except for the few citizens
who constitute our business interests, plus benefit temporarily to our woge
people after there was started the widespread building program of 1922, including
automobiles.

The disaster has come to— ]

1. Our farming population. Their injuries have been the worst as to the stap 2
farm products having prices at an international level: Wheat, cotton, corn, an
the products of corn, namely, livestock. } ‘oh

2. Our consumers in general have been greatly injured by the relatively hig
post of living. .

3. And disaster came also to the peoples in the other countries of earth, whose
markets were invaded by our business interests by dumping abroad some of the
surplus in this country from underconsumption. Following are the statistics
by our Department of Commerce:

A. The exports by the United States for the calendar year 1926 were 45 per
cent greater than in 1913, quantitatively, while Europe's exports were 20 per