REPORT OF IOWA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION 405 



ica— American agriculture— and that it is the duty of those wlio repre- 

 sent^ through their various organizations, the farmers of America, to sit 

 across the table with any and every other interest where questions of 

 large moment are to be discussed. 



Our future policy is first to continue through the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission and through conferences with railroad men to press for 

 further material rate reductions and to continue to urge Congress to so 

 modify the transportation laws as to do away with definite guarantees and 

 excessive valuations, as well as the restoration of the proper authority 

 of state commissions. 



The great hope of the future in transportation for the whole Mississippi 

 valley lies in the development of our waterways. The progress being 

 made during the past two years on the lower Mississippi is indicative of 

 the possibilities of both the upper Mississippi and the Missouri. We are 

 watching this with great care. 



The report of the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes- 

 St. Lawrence route is before Congress. This report makes it clear that by 

 the opening of this great waterway ocean shipping and ocean rates can 

 easily be brought 1,200 miles nearer to our farms. It is the greatest agri- 

 cultural issue that has been before our nation in decades. You should 

 lose no time in demanding quick and definite action regarding it. 



ni— LEGISLATION 



One of the first departments established by the American Farm Bureau 

 Federation was that of legislation. 



When Congress convened last April the situation confronting both agri- 

 culture and industry had become so tense that a number of Congressmen 

 who knew the actual condition confronting agriculture resolved it was 

 time for something to be done for deflated agriculture in order to save not 

 only the farmer, but the industries of the nation. They recognized the key 

 to the situation lay largely in assisting agriculture to "come back." 

 They sensed also the changed conditions. They realized a new era had 

 come and with it a turn in the tide of basic productions. This resulted in 

 the formation of that much discussed group in Congress, the agricultural 

 bloc, which has to its credit more agricultural legislation in the extraor- 

 dinary session than ever before was passed in a single sitting of Con- 

 gress. Let me mention among them the aids to the Federal Land Banks, 

 the War Finance Relief measure, the Packer Control bill, the Grain Con- 

 trol bill, the Farm-to-Market road law, and the emergency tariff. 



Let me point out two essential differences between the agricultural bloc 

 and the other blocs. First, the agricultural bloc is the only bloc which 

 has been organized without selfish motive and in the interests of all our 

 citizenry. Second, the agricultural bloc is the only bloc that has ever pro- 

 ceeded with its cards on the table face up and without secret or closed 

 door caucuses. 



The American Farm Bureau Federation has been faithfully and persist- 

 ently pressing the needs of agriculture before Congress through the agri- 

 cultural bloc, in cooperation with other agricultural societies, and through 

 our own organization. We have had a vital part in the passing of needed 



