THE I. A. 



RECORD 



Page Seven 



detailed elaboration of legislation and 

 appropriations to put it into force. 



"During my term as secretary of 

 commerce I have steadily endeavored 

 to build up a system of cooperation 

 between the government and business. 

 Under these cooperative actions all 

 elements interested in the problem of 

 a particular industry, such as manu- 

 facturer, distributor, worker, and con- 

 sumer, have been called into council 

 together, not for a single occasion, but 

 for continuous work. These efforts 

 have been successful beyond any ex- 

 pectation. They have been accom- 

 plished without interference or regu- 

 lation by the government. They have 

 secured progress in the industries, 

 remedy for abuses, elimination of 

 waste, reduction of cost in production 

 and distribution, lower prices to the 

 consumer, and more stable employment 

 and profit. While the problem varies 

 with every different commodity and 

 with every diflferent part of our great 

 country, I should wish to apply the 

 same method to agriculture so that the 

 leaders of every phase of each group 

 can advise and organize on policies and 

 constructive measures. I am convinced 

 that this form of action, as it has done 

 in other industries, can greatly benefit 

 farmer, distributor, and consumer. 



"The working out of agricultural re- 

 lief constitutes the most important ob- 

 ligation of the next administration. 

 I stand pledged to these proposals. The 

 object of our policies is to establish 

 for our farmers an income equal to 

 those of other occupations; for the 

 farmer's wife the same comforts in her 

 home as women in other groups; for 

 the farm boys and girls the same op- 

 portunities in life as other boys and 

 girls. So far as my own abilities may 

 be of service, I dedicate them to help 

 secure prosperity and contentment in 

 that industry where I and my fore- 

 fathers were bom and nearly all my 

 family still obtain their livelihood." 



SECRETARY HOOVER AT 



WEST BRANCH, lA., 



AUG. 21, 1928 



i i TUST as there is transformation in 

 fj agriculture so there is in other 

 industries. Just as there is more spe- 

 cialization on the farm, so there is in 

 other industries. We live today by the 

 exchange of goods among ten thousand 

 sorts of producers of specialties. A 

 large number of occupations which 

 were conducted on the farm in old days 

 are now conducted in the factory. That 

 is one reason why we have a decreas- 

 ing proportion of our people on the 

 farms. By this revolution the Amer- 

 ican farmer has become enmeshed in 



powerful and yet delicate economic 

 forces which are working to his dis- 

 advantage. 



"In my acceptance speech 10 days 

 ago I made an extended statement upon 

 the legislative proposals for relief to 

 the agricultural industry which the Re- 

 publican Party has put forward in its 

 platform. You would not wish me to 

 take your time to review that state- 

 ment. I should, however, like to em- 

 phasize that the spirit of those legis- 

 lative proposals is to work out a more 

 economical and stable marketing sys- 

 tem. A federal farm board is to be 

 set up with the necessary powers and 

 resources to assist the industry to meet 

 not alone the varied problems of to- 

 day but those which may arise in the 

 future. My fundamental concept of 

 agriculture is one controlled by its own 

 members, organized to fight its own 

 economic battles and to determine its 

 own destinies. Nor do I speak of or- 

 ganization in the narrow sense of tra- 

 ditional farm cooperatives or pools, but 

 in the much wider sense of a sound 

 marketing organization. It is not by 

 these proposals intended to put the 

 government into the control of the 

 business of agriculture, nor to subsi- 

 dize prices of farm products and pay 

 the losses thereon either by the federal 

 treasury or by a tax or fee on the 

 farmer. We propose with govern- 

 mental assistance and an initial ad- 

 vance of capital to enable the agri- 

 cultural industry to reach a stature of 

 modern business operations by which 

 the farmer will attain his independence 

 and maintain his individuality. 



"And upon this whole question I 

 should like to repeat from my accept- 

 ance that: 



Quotes Acceptance 



" 'The working out of agricultural 

 relief constitutes the most important 

 obligation of the next administration. 

 The object of our policies is to estab- 

 lish for our farmers an income equal 

 to those of other occupations; for the 

 farmer's wife the same comforts in her 

 home as women in other groups; for 

 the farm boys and girls the same op- 



portunities in life as other boys and 

 girls. So far as my own abilities may 

 be of service, I dedicate them to help 

 secure prosperity and contentanent in 

 that industry where I and my fore- 

 fathers were born and nearly all my 

 family still obtain their livelihood.' 



"In formulating recommendations 

 for legislation to carry out the pro- 

 posals of the party, I trust that we 

 may have full assistance of the lead- 

 ers of agricultural thought. I am not 

 insensible of the value of the study 

 which sincere farm leaders have given 

 to this question of farm legislation. 

 They have all contributed to the reali- 

 zation that the problem must be solved. 

 They will be invited into conference. 

 Outstanding farmers such as Governor 

 Lowden will be asked to join in the 

 search for common ground upon which 

 we can act. 



Interior Waterway* 



"I had thought today to particularly 

 point out the importance of the de- 

 velopment of our interior waterways as 

 bearing on the prosperity not only 

 of agriculture but of the whole of our 

 midwest business and commerce. It is 

 a most important supplement to agri- 

 cultural relief. The necessarily large 

 advances in railway rates from the 

 war militate against the economic set- 

 ting of this whole interior section. 

 This, together with the completion of 

 the Panama Canal and the fact that 

 ocean rates have increased but little 

 since before the war, further disturbs 

 the whole economic relationships of the 

 midwest. It is as if a row of toll gates 

 had been placed around this whole sec- 

 tion of our country. It seriously af- 

 fects the farmer. I think we can ac- 

 cept it as an economic fact that the 

 farmer on most occasions pays the 

 freight on his products. It is a deduc- 

 tion from the ultimate price. You 

 yourselves can test this. In a ge^ieral 

 way, the center point of markets is 

 overseas or the Atlantic seaboard, 

 where prices are determined by the 

 meeting of the streams of world prod- 

 ucts. For every hundred miles you are 

 removed from these market centers, the 

 price of farm products is lower by the 

 amount of freight rates. Some cal- 

 culations which I made a few years a£:o 

 showed that the increase in railway 

 rates had in effect moved the midwest 

 200 to 400 miles further from seaboard. 

 Moreover, some of the competitive agri- 

 cultural regions such as the Argentine 

 and Australia are close to seaboard 

 and with sea rates about the same as 

 before the war, they are able to com- 

 pete with the American farmer in for- 

 eign markets to a greater advantage 

 than before the war. This increase in 

 transportation rates also affects the 

 prices of many things which the 

 farmer must bay, for much raw ma- 



