614

AGRICULTURAL RELIEF
through the cooperative organizations of farmers, for the purpose of
handling the surplus, regulating acreage and controlling production.

Mr. KincaeLOE. 1 am just asking for information. = Of course, all
these bills provide that, giving the board created under them thé
right to coordinate any other branches of the Government for the
purpose of information .or working this; and they provide for an
appropriation our of the Treasury, a revolving fund like this does?

Mr. Hare. Yes.

Mr. KincaELOE. In other words, under the curtis-Crisp bill they
would have the power to coordinate these agencies?

Mr. Hare. I think probably they would have the power, but they
would not have the direction and the specific instructions as provided
for in this bill.

Mr. Apkins. Would you figure on covering the losses by appropria-
tions from the Government, whenever you had a loss?

Mr. Hare. I take this view, that any legislative program that
does not enable a surplus to be sold at a sufficiently high price or 4
sufficient increase in price to take care of the expenses, then that
legislation will sooner or later fall to the ground.

Mr. Apkins. You will never get any of that kind.

Mr. Hare. Then legislation for taking care of the surplus will not
amount to anything. In other words, if as the result of legislation fair
prices are not to be maintained, and if the surplus is not to be sold at
a price equal to or above the cost of production, then that legislation
will not serve the purpose for which it was enacted.

Mr. KincaeLoE. Your idea is that over a term of years the surplus
will be sold and not any loss?

Mr. Hare. Yes; I think if the surplus can not be sold over a term
of years at a profit, then any legislative enactment will not be worth
a penny, because if the surplus must be sold at a loss over a period of
years and the remainder at Jess than a fair price you do not aid agri-
culture but you are placing an added burden upon the farmers and
tying a millstone around their necks, because there is going to be
some costs, and unless there is a profit there will certainly be a loss,
and hence no benefit to the farmer.

Mr. Apkins. Do you know there has never yet been any nation-
wide commodity organization that has not been 100 per cent failures
up to date?

Mr. Hare. I am not prepared to make that statement.

Mr. Apkins. I make it; I make it for the record.

Mr. Hare. I think there are some commodity organizations that
have been quite successful. That 1s, they say they have been
successful.

Mr. Apxkins. But I am talking about nation-wide commodity
organizations. xr

Mr. Hare. I do not think that the gentleman gets the purport of
my remark. What I mean by commodity organization is that there
should be unity of action, that every organization should have a head
to which it should look. As I tried to illustrate at the beginning
for instance, we have a cooperative cotton organization in my State
of South Carolina; North Carolina has one; Texas has one; Okla-
homsa has one; Alabama has one; and probably the other cotton-
erowing States all have one; and they all have their overhead charges
to take care of, and the cost must come out of the members of the