6540 
AGRICULTURAL RELIEF 
In fact, Mr. Chairman, my faith in my farmers’ finance corpora- 
tion plan with its production and marketing control by contract 
features, has been very much strengthened from day to day as I have 
attended these hearings. 1 am sure that real farm relief can only 
come with a proper control of production and marketing and that 
there can only be established proper control by contracts enteres into 
by the farmers with all concerned under an enabling act of Congress 
such as my bill provides. All the other bills introduced by other 
members fail in this most essential respect. 
Proper control of production and marketing means control of 
prices by the farmers themselves and hence the naming by them of 
their own profits in reasonable bounds. 
I have studied this problem for years and for the last six weeks 
I have attended hearings of this committee for two hours each day 
and worked until midnight each night reading bills and speeches, 
drawing bills and collecting data on this matter, and my very best 
judgment is that we must work a plan to enable the farmer to name 
within reason the price of the commodities which he sels as other 
businesses and enterprises do, or else we must leave this problem 
unsolved for the present.. 
Another most important feature of my bill is that it provides for 
the selection of the various commodity councils by the governors of 
the commodity growing States at first, until the farmers become 
properly organized and then by the farmers themselves. Some may 
suggest that these must be appointed by the President. It will be 
seen though that these councils are in no sense composed of Federal 
officials but only a part and parcel of an organization the functioning 
of which is recognized by the bill under its contract features. These 
officials are no more Federal officials than are the road officials of a 
State Federal officials, because they and their works are recognized 
by the contract or law whereby the Federal Government matches 
State road funds in the construction of good roads in the country. 
This feature of the bill safeguards the rights of the afrmer and makes 
sure the selection of his friends for the administration of the farmer’s 
most important affairs under this bill. 
Some may suggest that my bill provides for price fixing and 1s 
therefore objectionable. Let me say I think that it is clearly price 
fixing in its nature and provisions and that is just the reason I am so 
much in favor of it. Congress has passed laws to help everybody else 
fix prices of what they sell. Why not extend this privilege to the 
farmer? 1 have no patience with any plan: of so-called farm relief 
which attempts to help the farmers without helping them get a better 
price for their products. 
Too many farm relief bills attempt to please the farmer without 
giving him any real relief. They attempt to work out a plan satis- 
factory to the farmer and yet leave him to be preyed upon by those 
who speculate on his products. They propose to help the farmer and 
yet leave him at the mercy of the middlemen. Real relief can not 
be secured in this way. Again, many of the bills seek to help some 
one help the farmer indirectly and charge too much for the service, or 
help the farmer by handling his commodities at an exorbitant charge 
for the service. All this is wrong. 
Again, Mr. Chairman, many object to all bills which vote any 
financial assistance to the farmer on the idea that the farmer should