Fight On AAA Continues 



(Continued from page 3) 



Mr. Sullivan might have added that 

 there has been price fixing of non-agri- 

 cultural commodities, and wage fixing 

 through organisation for a long time. 

 The industrial tariff and industrial con- 

 tiol over production, to say nothing of 

 trusts and monopolies which many be- 

 lieve exist in spite of the anti-trust laws, 

 have resulted in an artificial price struc- 

 ture based on cost of production plus a 

 liberal profit. 



In all the criticism of crop adjustment 

 and farmers' efforts to secure parity 

 prices, not once have we seen an op- 

 ponent mention the terrific cut in pro- 

 duction, and the price control put into 

 effect by industry from 1929 to 1932, when 

 millions of workmen, as Henry Wallace 

 puts it. were plowed out on the streets. 



President Earl Smith of the I. A. A.. 

 President Edward A. O'Neal of the 

 A. F. B. F., as well as government lead- 

 ers have repeatedly pointed out that 

 farmers from 1929 to 1932 substantially 

 maintained their production but suf- 

 fered a drop of more than 60 per cent 

 in price. But during this period the in- 

 dustrialists cut their production up to 

 80 per cent or more so as to maintain 

 their prices for the most part within 15 

 to 20 per cent of the high time. Farm- 

 ers were ruined by the thousands by the 

 lowest price levels in 60 years. 



The critics of crop adjustment by their 

 silence condone the practice of curtailed 

 production and price maintenance by in- 

 dustry, but censor farmers and the Ad- 

 ministration for attempting to bring ag- 

 riculture within the American protec- 

 tive system. 



Of late it seems that the meat packers 

 who, with their injunction suits, have 

 most violently opposed the corn-hog pro- 

 gram designed to maintain reasonable 

 prices, are guilty of the very thing 

 they condemn. Recent news reports in- 

 dicate that the government is looking 

 into alleged price fixing combinations 

 by packers in violation of the Packers 

 and Stock Yards Act. 



At a hearing in Washington Septem- 

 ber 16 twelve packers were charged 

 with conspiracy to fix prices and allot 

 territory for the sale of meats. C. E. 

 .Miles who presented the argument for 

 the government produced a letter from 

 Ed Winant representing the North 

 American Provision Company to Ed Hill 

 of the Valley Provision Company of 

 Cleveland, Mississippi, in which he said: 

 "In line with onr talk in front of the 

 hotel the other night I am attaching a 

 list of minimum prices effective next 

 Monday. The map shows the territory 

 affecteil. If you meet with any trouble 



let me know about it and I will see if 

 it cannot be fixed up." 



Hill then complained (according to the 

 evidence) to one Eugene Doyle of the 

 Cudahy Packing Company that Wilson 

 & Company was cutting prices. Doyle 

 protested to Wilson & Company and 

 Glen Waldren of the latter concern re- 

 plied: "Acknoflrledging your note of the 

 first I plead guilty with a promise that 

 we have tightened up in the order de- 

 partment and that there will not be re- 

 occurrence. 1 certainly don't have any 

 intention of doing anything that will 

 cause any one to sell products on a low 

 basis. Salesmen will not get any orders 

 shipped below the list." 



Miles introduced a letter from E. P. 

 Allen of Birmingham, independent gro- 

 cer, to a meat packer who is not a re- 

 spondent, saying: 



"This is the list that I explained to 

 you that we got out once a week after 

 holding a meeting with other interested 

 parties, and is a price list that we sell 

 the closed or small trade." Another let- 

 ter from Allen said: "I have never seen 

 a time when we had a more unanimous 

 get-together meeting." 



A few years ago manufacturers of re- 

 frigerators were found guilty of violat- 

 ing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and 

 were fined heavily. They were fixing 

 prices. But whether or not manufac- 

 turers, processors and distributors are 

 prosecuted under the Anti-Trust Laws, 

 thinking people generally believe that 

 there are "understandings" and price 

 agreements in practically all lines of in- 

 dustry. 



A great deal of fuss is being made 

 over the constitution and recent Supreme 

 Court decisions on this, that, and the 

 other pieces of legislation. And most of 

 it is coming from those who have en- 

 joyed special privileges under the Con- 

 stitution and the statutes at the expense 

 of those less fortunate. 



You hear forecasts by enemies and 

 friends of agriculture as to what will 

 happen when the high court gets a 

 chance at AAA. Some of the metropoli- 

 tan newspapers that are shouting the 

 loudest for the Constitution today, were 

 doing their utmost a few years ago to 

 wreck part of it — the 18th Amendment. 



During the recent celebration of "Con- 

 stitution Day" in Chicago, the publicity 

 experts dragged in Abraham Lincoln's 

 name to strengthen their claim of the 

 sacredness and infallibility of this basic 

 law and Supreme Court decisions, in gen- 

 eral. This was an unfortunate reference. 

 For Abraham Lincoln was a bitter critic 

 and vigorous opponent of the Supreme 

 Court decision of his day which held that 

 a slave is property and Congress had no 

 power to prohibit slavery in the terri- 

 tories. This decision came five months 



after the people had by their ballots 

 spoken more decisively than ever before 

 against slavery extension into new terri- 

 tory with a majority of 400,000 against 

 slavery extension. 



Stephen A. Douglas, Carl Sandburg 

 tells us in his interesting biography of 

 Lincoln, defended this decision in a 

 speech in Springfield, 111., in which he 

 said: "The courts are tribunals pre- 

 scribed by the Constitution and created 

 by the authority of the people to de- 

 termine, expound and enforce the law. 

 Hence, whoever resists the final decision 

 of the highest judicial tribunal aims a 

 deadly blow at our whole republican sys- 

 tem of government." 



Doesn't that sound strangely familiar ? 

 Lincoln replied first quoting from a mes- 

 sage of President Jackson disregarding 

 a Supreme Court bank decision. "Again 

 and again," said Lincoln "have I heard 

 Judge Douglas denounce that bank de- 

 cision and applaud General Jackson for 

 disregarding it." 



And having eateli many meals with 

 judges and having slept in the same 

 hotel bedrooms with judges and having 

 himself, on a few occasions, sat on the 

 bench by appointment during the absence 

 of a judge a day or two, Lincoln ven- 

 tured to say, "Judicial decisions are of 

 greater or less authority as precedents, 

 according to circumstances. That this 

 should be so accords both with common 

 sense and the customary understanding 

 of the legal profession." 



He pointed to the fact that the Su- 

 preme Court had often overruled its own 

 decisions, and said, "We shall do what 

 we can to have it overrule this." 



There had been days when the Declara- 

 tion of Independence was held sacred. 

 "But now, to aid in making the bondage 

 of the negro universal and eternal," said 

 Lincoln, "it is assailed and sneered at 

 and construed, and hawked at and torn, 

 'till, if its framers could rise from their 

 graves, they could not all recognize it." 



So it all depends on whose ox is gored. 

 The slavery question was settled by the 

 Civil War and the Thirteenth Amend- 

 ment to the Constitution ratified and 

 proclaimed law Dec. 18, 1865. 



All this parallels much of the argu- 

 ment you hear today from spokesmen 

 for the processors and price fixers who 

 want that privilege exclusively for 

 themselves. The farmer has been told 

 that he is being deprived of his liberty — 

 that he is being "regimented." These 

 opponents of AAA are not worried about 

 the liberty of the farmer. Their only 

 concern is that farmers will fight to 

 make permanent crop adjustment legis- 

 lation which might deprive them of the 

 liberty to exploit the farmer if not cruci- 

 fy him on a cross of unlimited produc- 

 tion and ruinous prices. — Editor. 



L A. A. RECORD 



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