AGRICULTURAL RELIEF 
597 
will give you an idea. If Congress would pass a farm commodity 
act—and that act has got to be broad and cover everything, of 
course—providing for the granting of Federal charters to associations 
of producers to market their farm products when organized-—nothing 
except as and when organized—the wheat associations could consol. 
date their marketing under such charters. I have been in corre- 
spondence with them, there are 22 very good substantial wheat 
associations in the United States, and they are all very anxious to 
do something. I do not mean in this particular plan, but they are 
very anxious to see something brought around. 
I have a letter here from one of them. I will just show vou one 
thing. He says, “A party to any such movement or all of them I 
have any knowledge of ’—that is cooperatives—‘“have an overhead 
handling charge away from 14 to 20 cents a bushel”’—that is the 
local cooperative organizations. 
Mr. KINcHELOE. You mean cooperatives when you speak of 
associations, do you? 
Mr. Yoakum. I speak of the present farm cooperative organiza- 
tions throughout the country. 
Mr. KincHELOE. When you speak of wheat associations, you mean 
cooperative wheat associations. 
Mr. Yoakua. Yes, sir. 
Mr. Apkins. That is the large ones that have the larce overhead, 
not the local cooperatives? 
Mr. Yoakum. It is the local cooperatives; I think so. This is the 
Farmers Grain Dealers Association of Indiana (Inc.); that is a local 
association; there are 22 of them. 
Mr. Apkins. I do not know his intentions, if he is talking about 
that much overhead. 
Mr. Yoagum. That is what he said. 
Mr. Apkins. They have one in Indiana. The large pooling associ- 
ations have shown that they can not carry that weight of overhead 
and that it is eating them up; that is, the large concerns. 
Mr. YoaruM. Maybe he refers to the large ones; I do not know. 
But that is all he says. C 
Mr. Apkins. The locals do not do that; they could not live if 
they did. Co 
Mr. Yoakum. Some of them have not been quitting. 
. Mr. Apkins. They are more successful this vear than they have 
been since the war. 
Mr. Yoakum. The wheat associations could apply for such a 
charter and consolidate their marketing under an “American W heat 
Marketing Board of Control (Inc.).” This does not mean that 
name will be used, this is only the idea—with authority to organize 
State boards of control when and where deemed advisable. 
Eighty per cent of any commodity controls its price; 80 per cent 
of our wheat is raised in 14 States. If the wheat producers of these 
States could under direction of a wheat marketing board of control, 
organize and operate under a Federal charter, they would control 
the domestic market and could, eventually, influence the foreign 
market by forming a “North American International W heat Pool, 
as this countrv and Canada contribute 68 per cent of the world’s 
surplus-wheat.