AGRICULTURAL RELIEF 
357 
Mr. Forr. One hundred and sixty million bushels a year would be 
three hundred and twenty-odd millions bushels additional. 
Mr. Jones. May I suggest there is a provision in your bill that 
on any increase in production you provide for corresponding reduc- 
tion in the debenture rate? 
Mr. Fort. That is 20 per cent and above. 
Mr. Goss. The question has been raised with us, if it might not 
be well to establish a different rate of increase on different commod- 
ities. The 20 per cent increase in some crops is not so great as 
in others. 
Mr. Fort. Here you go up to 40 per cent on wheat, which would 
be 320,000,000 bushels, or bring our crop up to 1,120,000,000 or 
1,130.000,000 bushels, which is more than we ever raised in the 
history of the country; and for that you are only going to take 
1 cents off the debenture. It seems to me that scale would not even 
constitute a threat. 
Mr. Joxes. But there is a provision they can construe in connec- 
lion with that, by which they can reduce the debenture any amount 
hey want to, even down to nothing. 
Mr. Goss. This is mandatory. 
Mr. Jones. But they have the right, privilege, and authority to 
reduce that debenture just as far as they see fit, even down to zero. 
Mr. Fort. But the psychological effect of your legislation that the 
farmer will feel if he plants 11.000.000 more acres of wheat—— 
Mr. Jones. I do not think so. That board is going to exercise a 
little judgment. 
Mr. Goss. The rates of reduction is in the judgment of the board. 
If they do not start early enough and are not drastic enough they 
can be changed. We strongly believe, however, that there should be 
an automatic scale providing for rates of reduction. 
Mr. Former. You understand that the farmer has no control 
whatever over his production, or very little, since he can plant a 
smaller acreage and the production will sometimes increase ? 
Mr. Goss. Yes, Mr. Fulmer. Of course, we understand that; but 
on the average, intelligent planting will bring results a whole lot 
better than haphazard planting. 
Mr. Former. Take the instance of the cotton crop in 1926, when 
they produced 18,000,000 bales, or about 5,000,000 bales above the 
average for five years. Then, under your bill the debenture plan 
would not apply on cotton when the crop was 5.000.000 bales above 
the average for the past five years? 
Mr. Goss. Oh, yes; it would cut down the debenture rate on cotton. 
There is an automatic reduction in the debenture rate when the 
production is as high as that; and possibly the scale which we pro- 
vided is not drastic enough. 
Mr. Friyzr. In other words, if the cotton farmers happened to 
be blessed with a good crop which reduced the price below the cost 
of production, because of being blessed with a good crop they would 
not get any benefit out of this plan at all? 
Mr. Goss. The debenture rate would be reduced by the size of 
‘he crop; that is true. Usually the cost of production is also re- 
duced by the size of the crop, and in the case of that kind, such as 
vou have pointed out. the remedy which would best be applied is the