1 



They're Afler The AAA 



, . £~'\ ET rid of all processing taxes," says the Syracuse, 

 ••Ij N. Y. Post-Standard. "The farmers of the country, 

 even those receiving checks, are not actually helped. 

 .\s long as the money is taken from consumers, as it is, the 

 market for farm products is reduced. There is no creation of 

 wealth, merely an unsound and unjust transfer of wealth." 



This editorial opinion is typical of propaganda coming from 

 the East, from textile centers, from the processors, from those 

 who have a vested interest in big volume production of agri- 

 cultural products regardless of the price the farmer gets. 



All the charges made against the processing tax and adjust- 

 ment of farm production apply equally against the industrial 

 tariff, against the sharply curtailed production and fixed prices 

 of industry. 



Manufacturers and the industrial population are getting a 

 taste of the medicine they have been dishing out to American 

 farmers for a half century ok more. The high prices of indus- 

 trial products, the fixed charges and commissions of middle- 

 men likewise curtail consumption. They, too, have transferred 

 wealth from the farmer's pockets to the owners of industrial 

 enterprises. So a little reciprocity is long overdue. 



The processing tax is the farmer's tariff. The A.\A surplus 

 control program was sponsored by organized farmers to bring 

 agriculture within the American protective system of con- 

 trolled production and controlled prices. It seems to be work- 

 ing. The farmer at last has a seat at the table of privilege. 

 He is a newcomer. And that's what the shouting is about. 



There is one outstanding reason for the processing tax, that 

 is, to equalize the farm and industrial price level. With the 

 aid of the drouth that goal has been largely realized. The 

 foundation for recovery has been laid in the restored buying 

 power of farm products. See the result. 



Industrial production of consumer goods has increased from 

 around 60 percent to approximately 90 percent of pre-depres- 

 sion levels according to Walter Lippmann, economist and polit- 

 ical commentator. Farm buying power according to this same 

 authority is within 10 percent of the pre-depression level. 

 .Statistical information supports these statements. 



Without claiming all the credit for crop adjustment, this 

 striking improvement pays tribute to the accuracy of the 

 diagnosis of the Illinois Agricultural Association and the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation. Such recovery as we have 

 had vigorously supports the solution of the problem, so acute 

 in 1932, offered by the Agricultural Adjustment Act. 



Thinking farmers are determined to defend these principles. 

 If controlled production and controlled prices are sound for 

 industry they are sound for agriculture. When industry is 

 ready to open wide the gates of production regardless of the 

 return on capital and labor, then and not until then, will think- 

 ing farmers consider doing likewise. 



A WASTE OF CROCODILE TEARS 



(Farm and Ranch, Dallas, Tex.) v. . .-..:, 



WE SAW an editorial in a daily newspaper the other day 

 that was dripping wet with crocodile tears. It stated 

 that in Anhwei province, China, 3,000,000 Chinese were 

 starving, and, after describing in harrowing detail just how 

 these babies looked with gas distended stomachs and exposed 

 ribs, concluded with the statement that here in America "farm- 

 ers are signing up in solemn contracts with the American 

 government not to farm as well as they can for fear there 

 will be a surplus of foodstuffs." 



Wouldn't give him up for any+hJng 



Long before any one ever heard of an Agricultural Adjust- 

 ment administration — at times when American farmers were 

 producing to capacity, and shiploads of wheat, meat, and other 

 foodstuffs were crossing the ocean in almost an endless line 

 to the markets of Europe, there were starving millions in 

 China, and oftentimes in India and in other parts of the world. 

 That there are starving Chinese mothers and babies at this 

 time is to be regretted. There are also ill-fed people here in 

 this land of abundance, and there would be millions of others 

 in the same condition as found among the Chinese were it 

 not for the fact that a generous government and a generous 

 people are providing for them. 



There is no sane reason to believe that these starving peo- 

 ple in China would now be nourished had it not been for the 

 AAA. It is far-fetched even to presume that it has made 

 any difference at all. Therefore it is indeed a lame argument 

 to use against the attempt to reduce surpluses in this country 

 in order that our own farmers may receive a price for their 

 labor and investment that will give them a fair standard of 

 living. 



If the hearts of those who oppose the .\AA are so melted 

 with the hot tears of sympathy for the starving Chinese, let 

 them contribute to a fund to purchase food from our abundant 

 stores and send it to them, transportation paid. Or better yet, 

 let them go out on the land and plow, plant, cultivate, and 

 harvest in the boiling sun to raise the food and fiber below 

 cost of production in order that they may distribute both food 

 and clothing to the needy throughout the world. If they are 

 not willing to do this, then why put it up to the farmers? 



We suggest that if some of the energy and brain power con- 

 sumed in finding fault could be used in formulating plans that 

 would result in a more equitable distribution of opportunity in 

 this country, as well as in other parts of the world, we could 

 forecast with reasonable accuracy the approach of the millen- 

 nium. 



MAY, 1935 



