Pa re Four 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



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J-egge Issues Comment 



Follotving Resolution 



FOLLOWING the resolution adopted by 

 the U. S. Chamber of Commerce in 

 its convention on April 30 at Washington 

 Chairman Alexander Legge issued the fol- 

 lowing statement: 



j j "The Chamber of Commerce 



I proposes to make the Farm 

 Board impotent and would spon- 

 sor another national conference 

 ijo adopt some more resolutions 



j it s}mipathy for agriculture. 



I I "That action simply confirms 

 what we told the membership of 

 that organization Wednesday — 

 They are for something to help 

 the farmer only imtil they find 

 out it works. 



"Naturally, we had hoped they 

 would support our efforts to aid 

 agriculture, but if they are go- 

 ing to oppose us we are glad 

 they have come out in the open. 

 It's much easier to deal with an 

 ^nemy whb is squarely against 

 you than one who pretends to 

 be friendly but fights you behind 

 our back. 

 Our client is the farmer and 

 are going to continue to serve 

 him just as the Agricultural 

 Marketing** Act intended we 

 should — for his benefit, not the 

 benefit of someone else." 



Following is the resolution in full passed 

 by; the convention attended by some 1,800 

 representatives of business organizations 

 throughout the country: — 



'!We reaffirm the earlier declarations of the 

 Chamber of Commerce of the United States 

 made through referendum vote of its member- 

 ship upon a carefully matured report of a 

 representative committee, in supporting the 

 principle that the producers of agricultural 

 con6modities should have the benefits which co- 

 operative marketing of their products along 

 (ou|id economic lines can confer; in pointing 

 out that all agricultural credit requirements 

 coufd be met by full development and adapta- 

 tion of existing credit facilities to local and 

 con^modity needs, rather than by the creation 

 of inew credit facilities; and in advocating a 

 federal farm board to assist agricultural pro- 

 duoers and their organizations in solving the 

 problems peculiar to agriculture. 



Recognize Emergency - 



' The legislation which was enacted in June, 

 1929, was in contravention of the Chamber's 

 proposals in its provision of new credit facili- 

 ties! in the form of large sums of money from 

 the! public treasury to be used under the Act 

 as the farm board might decide. During the 

 business crisis of some magnitude which has 

 occurred during the last six months these funds 

 have been brought into use in various ways. 



"We recognize the emergency considerations 

 which may have impelled this resort to the 

 federal treasury, but the experience which has 

 been gained now permits an appraisal both as 

 immediate effect and long-range results. 



Continue Opposition 



The anticipated benefits to the farming 

 intrrest as a whole have not been realized. On 

 the contrary there has been impairment of the 



marketing structure and prevention of support 

 which otherwise would have been given tot the 

 marketing of agricultural products which were 

 affected by the use of public monies. Without 

 benefit to agriculture there has been imposed 

 unbearable hardship upon business enterprises 

 unable to maintain their position against dis- 

 criminatory competition from the government. 



"We accordingly express our continued op- 

 position to the use of government funds in pro- 

 viding capital for the operation of agricultural 

 cooperatives, and for the buying and selling of 

 commodities for the purpose of attempted sta- 

 bilization. We condemn as a permanent policy 

 of government the employment of public funds 

 for the purpose of participation in business in 

 competition with established agencies and sup- 

 port the proposal for an amendment of the 

 agricultural marketing act to repeal the author- 

 ity of the Federal Farm Board to use federal 

 funds for such a purpose. 



"We advocate the continuance of the Federal 

 Farm Board as a proper agency, conducted at 

 federal expense, for the gathering and circula- 

 tion of authoritative information, for ascer- 

 taining conditions of overproduction, for advice 

 as to its prevention, and for assistance toward 

 the solution of the numerous and important 

 business problems affecting agriculture both in 

 production and in marketing. 



"We believe it is desirable to apply sober 

 and devoted study to methods by which coop- 

 erative organizations on their own resources may 

 find their warranted place, without the pres- 

 ent danger of undermining marketing facilities 

 and thus unfavorably affecting farm product 

 prices. We, therefore, recommend that the 

 Chamber with adequate preparation call a con- 

 ference of wide representation, including farm 

 cooperative leaders, to study and define meas- 

 ures of sound and effective aid to agriculture." 



Will Crystallize Farm 



Sentiment, Says Smith 



"^TlHE courageous and defensible posi- 

 I tion taken by Chairman Legge of 

 the Federal Farm Board and Secretary of 

 Agriculture Arthur M. Hyde, before the 

 annual meeting of the United States Cham- 

 ber of Commerce, will serve to stimulate 

 and crystallize farm sentiment in support 

 of the Farm Board and its policies as has 

 nothing else since the passage of the Agri- 

 cultural Marketing Act," President Earl C. 

 Smith stated following press reports of the 

 recent chamber of commerce convention. 



"The resolution reported by the press as 

 having been adopted by the United States 

 Chamber of Commerce, criticizing the Farm 

 Board and asking for repeal or modification 

 of the Agricultural Marketing Act, merely 

 discloses the selfish interests that have been 

 prospering at the expense of the farm pro- 

 ducers. 



"I feel sure this resolution does not re- 

 flect the true sentiment of a large percent- 

 age of the business men of Illinois and the 

 mid-west." 



Short Story — A girl from a telephone 

 exchange fell asleep while at church. The 

 preacher announcing the hymn, said 

 "Number 426." At that moment the girl 

 awoke and murmured: "I'll ring them 

 again." 



Alex. Legge Speaks 



Before U. S. Chamber 



(Continued from page J) 

 and make recommendations to congress, 

 but none to go ahead with the solution of 

 the agricultural problem which was char- 

 acterized as such a serious one by both the 

 industrial conference board report and re- 

 port of the Nagel commission. 



"In addition to that, however, it did go 

 on record very definitely in favor of the 

 principles of co-operative marketing based 

 upon the established right of the producers 

 of agricultural commodities to act together 

 in associations corporate or otherwise, with 

 or without capital stock, in collectively 

 processing and manufacturing, preparing 

 for market, handling and marketing in in- 

 terstate and foreign commerce such prod- 

 ucts of persons so engaged. 



"Results of the referendum were Tin- 

 nounced on November 14, 1928. The vote 

 in favor of the co-operative principle was 

 overwhelming, 2,816 to 117, and as you all 

 know, these were member associations and 

 not individuals doing the voting. 



Sarcastic in Comments 

 "I am sure that most of you will agree 

 that you know more about the agricultural 

 situation and how to meet it than I do. A 

 considerable percentage of your membership 

 have made that quite clear, and perhaps 

 the best answer I can make is the statement 

 that if this be true, and you really do know 

 so much about it, that the situation presents 

 a very severe indictment of the organization 

 which, having full information of the 

 facts, has made so little effort to remedy 

 the situation. Certainly none of you have 

 seen any evidence of constructive action on 

 the part of the chamber of commerce or 

 the part of any of its affiliated organizations 

 with the doubtful e^eption of taking a 

 referendum two years ago, looking to a 

 remedy for and permanent improvement in 

 the situation, which your own investigators 

 had warned, required substantial assistance 

 if not from you, then from the govern- 

 ment. 



"Perhaps I should mention the fact, that 

 while your national organization did adopt 

 a policy of silencfe when congress was fram- 

 ing the agricultural marketing act, spokes- 

 men of some of your member organizations 

 appeared before the house committee on 

 agriculture and indorsed the principles of 

 that legislation. ■•..'''■.., I 



Attitude of Indiflerence 

 "One might find much justification in 

 the statement that your attitude generally 

 has been one of indifference if indeed not 

 of antagonism; that you regarded the farm 

 problem like the poor as 'something we 

 have with us always' and that you who are 

 more fortunately situated, disctissed it 

 much along the same lines as the ladies are 

 apt to refer to the household question — 

 something that had to be endured if one 

 was to avoid having to do the work one- 



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