818

AGRICULTURAL RELIEF
with the Federal-reserve banks, the intermediate credit banks, or any other
available source for financing the holding of the entire surplus of that crop until it
can be fed into the market without loss to the producer or the Government, the
difference between the amount advanced and that received, less the cost for
storage, handling, etc., to be returned through the association to the producer.
The board is permitted to advance the market price of the crop prevailing at
the time it is removed from the channels of trade. The bill does not provide for
any tax, fee, or charge of any kind against the producer. ‘

in short, the purpose of the bill is to provide a connecting link between the
existing financial agencies of the Government and the warehousing systems of
the Federal and State Governments whereby the farmer himself will, through his
farm organizations or cooperative associations, be able to control the surplus of
a nonperishable crop and market the remainder in a systematic and orderly
manner. It is not subject to the criticism that it is an effort on the part of the
Government to fix prices, because it makes no reference whatever to prices, and
it does not set up cumbersome and unlimited governmental agencies to be sup-
ported and maintained at the expense of the producer, but attempts to utilize
existing governmental agencies so as to enable farmers themselves to handle and
control their surplus crops.

Probably the most significant feature of the bill is that provision which attempts
to regulate acreages, for, in my opinion, no surplus control legislation will be effec-
tive that does not regulate the acreage and thereby, to some extent, control
production. In other words, if you remove the surplus and stimulate prices
increased acreage and probable increased production will certainly follow, and
any surplus control legislation that does not provide in some way for the control
or regulation of acreages will in the end prove to be expensive and useless. Iknow
that production in any one year is not determined solely by acreage, but increased
acreage over a period of years, other things being equal, will mean an increased
production and possibly an increased surplus. The provision of the bill which
attempts to take care of this feature of the surplus control problem is as follows:

“That no advance or advances under the provisions of this act shall be made
to any person, organization or association whatsoever when the ensuing produc-
tion of such crop or commodity shows an increase in planting or breeding
according to the estimates of the United States Department of Agriculture over
and above the five-year average immediately prior thereto.”

I have no disposition whatever to offer criticisms of other plans for handling
the surplus of our various agricultural crops, and I am not disposed to be particu-
larly critical of some other proposed legislation with this end in view, but I do
want to emphasize the fact that this bill has a peculiar advantage over other
bills in that instead of setting up new bureaus or governmental agencies it por-
poses to utilize and link together three great outstanding governmental agencies
already in existence, and have them perform the same functions as the proposed
new agencies provided for in a number of these other bills. In other words, in
this bill, we take the Federal reserve banks and the intermediate credit banks and
finance the business; then we use the Federal warehouse system and the State
warehouse systems for storing the surplus; and then ‘we use the Cooperative
Marketing Division, provided for in the Department of Agriculture two years
ago, at the initial cost of $225,000 per annum, for perfecting cooperative arrange-
ments among producers, and link them all together under the operations of this
bill to take care of the surplus and control production. } }

The principle involved is politically sound because it is in keeping with out-
standing existing legislative policies of our Government. It iseconomically sound
because it is the embodiment of cooperation in that it provides for the united
and combined effort of the Government’s financing agency, its warehousing sys-
tem, and its marketing system, all cooperating with the united effort of the pro-
ducers of any particular nonperishable farm crop in controlling production thereof,
taking care of the surplus, and marketing the remainder in an orderly manner.

Mr. FuLmer. I would like to say to the committee that this bill
is worthy of their serious consideration, because I have worked along
with the gentleman of South Carolina and I know he has got a number
of good ideas in the bill.

Mr. Hare. I want to say I appreciate the support that has been
given by Mr. Fulmer in the preparation of this bill, because he has
been very helpful.