AGRICULTURAL MARKETING REVOLVING FUND 37 
the minute you sell short you are a buyer, because in order for you 
to get a profit you must come back in the market. 
But, in any event, 1 maintain that the present situation which 
has developed is due to these causes largely. I am not attacking 
the Farm Board in any way. I thinkitisa body of honorable men, 
but they are not cotton men. Now, under the law, or under the 
agricultural marketing act, Congress ignored 85 per cent of the 
men who marketed the commodity. As for the spread, I do not 
think any farmer can claim that he has paid anything like the pro- 
portion that is paid for selling a desk, a suit of clothes, a necktie, 
or anything like that, passing into the retail tride. At any rate, 
however, we cotton men were ostracized in this case. We were 
looked upon as being beyond the pale, and not fit to have anything 
to do with the agricultural marketing act. The Farm Board was 
created, and they operated, not through the independent trade, but 
only through the cooperative marketing associations, which were 
at that time going downhill. As a matter of fact, thev had to be 
rehabilitated before they could be used. 
Mr. Byrns. Assuming that the law is retained on the statute 
Looks, and, in response to what you say with refernce to the law 
fixing the cooperative associations as the only organizations through 
which the Farm Board can function, what agencies would you pro- 
vide in addition to those cooperatives? 
Mr. Hoax. I would have given the Federal Farm Board discre- 
tion in the matter. I would have given them the discretion of using 
that money, $500,000,000, through any legitimate agencies that were 
engaged in marketing. I would have made it discretionary. 
Mr. Byrns. You would have left that to the discretion of the 
trederal Farm Board. 
Mr. Hocan. I would not have done it at all, if I had had any- 
thing to say about it, because I do not believe that you can stabilize 
the market in that way. However, at any rate, it was worth a try, 
and we said, “ Let it be tried.” We could not go to Congress and 
oppose it, because people would immediately say that we were trying 
to keep the cooperatives from getting the business. We were per- 
fectly willing for the experiment to be tried. We did not want to 
oppose it when it was put down the throat of the legislature. I 
think we made a mistake at that time. 
I think that we should have come as patriotic citizens and asked 
Congress not to do this thing. At any rate, things went on to such 
a state, I will say, aside from any selfish motives, where we were 
practically put out of business, and I say to you now that the farm- 
ers of this country and the mills of this country are in such a fix 
that it will take 10 years for them to get back on their feet again. 
Therefore, we are asking that before the rest of this money is spent 
‘hat you may see fit to ask the Farm Board to call on some cotton 
people and some cotton spinners, because the cotton spinners are as 
vitally affected by this as the farmers, and see what can be done. If 
the spinners go broke, and it looks like that now, God help the 
farmer. So we feel that in asking for an investigation we are asking 
something for the farmer. We are asking that this great independ- 
ont-marketing machinery be used to help the farmer. If that is 
Tone. it will be the best thing that can be done at the present time