Itoiiiid Table ronferenre 



Features /IFItF riiiiientioii 



Labor, liidiistr.i iiiiil 4i|rit'ulliiri> Tulli TliiniiK (lirr 

 and \v\\ Vurk's Haiiir Has His Sai 



\/y^ N N()\'. IJ, 13. 1 I. l^M9. tanner 

 If / ^IcItTi.itcs representing' 3^ states 

 V__/ trom Maine to ( alilornia, the 

 Great Lakes to tlie Gull', ^athereil at 

 the Sherman Hotel, Chii.iuo. resoheJ 

 to lorin .m organization to promote 

 and represent the busine^^, eeonomu . 

 social, .ind eihu.itionai interests ot the 

 lariiiers of tlu Nation,' adopted a 

 constitution .iiid hv law s later to he 

 ratified hy the states, lalkxl their hahv 

 the American I'.irm Bureau Feder.ition 

 On Dei. i:. I V 11, n. I9s,s, the 

 li.ihy !,;ro\vn to lusty manhood. survi\ 

 in^ the ilarkest years in Amerii.in a^'ri 

 cultural history. ..elebrated its .3(ith an 

 niversary in a i^rand .uid enthusiastic 

 convention in the worlJv. hrawlint; 

 metropolis of the Jeep South. New 

 Orleans. 



\\ am Price Stabilized 



C Dmnientin^ on the initial meet mi; 

 in ( hit.u,;o to oryani/e the Al'Bl'", old 

 ^ray-haired Zealy M. Holmes of Pioria 

 county. Illinois, said in welcoming; the 

 lAA annual inectini; to Peoria in Jan- 

 uary. \<-)20: '\X'hat we want and ex- 

 peit is that the prices ot larm products 

 can be stabilized so that after produt- 

 ini; the crops, we lan. in return, receive 

 cost of produition plus a reasonable 

 profit. in the contracts our govern- 

 ment made with other industries, they 

 allowed cost plus .i lertain per cent of 

 prolit. The larniers stood by the ^ov 

 eminent at all times, '(hey have worked 

 from early morning until Lite at ni_t;ht 

 to help leed the worM. ,ind so f.ir have 

 succeeded in doin^ it . . The tarm 

 er is entitled to ecjual treatment. We 

 should so or^.inize that we, as repre- 

 sentative* of one of the largest and 

 most important industries of the 

 world, should be recognized by other 

 industries -,o that we may be able to 

 work together for the best interests of 

 ill humanity .md be patriotic, loyal, 

 law -.ibidin^ Americ.ins.' 



Still chiefly concerned with the prob- 

 lein of f.irm prices and their relation 

 to the prices of industrial t;ood> and 

 services w.is the New Orleans conven 

 tion. But in the intervening 20 years, 

 the f'arm Bureau has carved its name 

 deeply into the economic and political 

 life of the nation, .md tod.iy has the 

 respect, recoiinition. and standing 

 which the foundini; fathers planned for 

 It. 



Old Zeal) Holiness prophetic \\ord> 

 became a reality this year for the New 

 Orleans < onvention brought together 

 in public discussion patriotic represen- 

 tatives c)f ,i^riculture, industry, l.ibor. 

 and government, each commentini:, 

 cntici/int;, and expressing their diver 

 t;ent points of view on the mminon 

 jTohkm ol ,ill how lo restore 



econoniK justice, cinplovnunt .md 

 pros|^eriiy for .ill croups in America. 

 1 he iileelmi; itselt which cirew a con 

 L'ratul.itory tek.yr.im from President 

 Roosevelt .ind the presence of le.iders 

 111 m.iny w.ilks of lite was ,i demoiistr,i 

 tion of the importance with which 

 ,ii;ric till lire is ret;arded in reslorint; 

 ii.itur.il prosperity. 



And carryinc this fe.itiire of the 

 convention a step farther, ( hairman 

 Pari ( . Smith and his associates on the 

 Resolution ( ommittee drafted ,i re- 

 soimdinL: decl.iration of policy dial 

 lentiini; l.ibor and industry to m.iteli 

 the lariiier surj-'lus production and pro- 

 ^Uram of plenty, iiryed the President of 

 the llnited States to select leaders of 

 the three m.ijor economic uroups to 

 work out .1 program of .ictioii designed 

 to briny about economic balance and 

 lull utiliz.ition ot our i;reaf productive 

 resoiin c s," 



Respect I'ach Other 



Henry I H.irrim.in, broad v isioned 

 and liberal ex-presicieiit of the U. S 

 ( hamber of ("ommerce dwelled at 

 lent'lh on the labor movement in Great 

 Bril,iin There, he indicated, both 

 labor and industry have ureat respect 

 lor e.uli other's rights. Hours of work 

 are not regulated in the British Isles 

 except lor women and children, em- 

 ployers recoi;nize the riyht of the 

 workman to his job, .md seldom arc 

 collective agreements between labor 

 unions .ind employers violated Harri 

 man sup|H)rted the AAA of iy.3K, 

 ur^'ed that it be retained until civen 

 .1 lull and fair trial. 



C'harlton O^burn. counsel for the 

 American I'ederation of Labor, stoutly 

 detended the labor unions' demands 

 lor higher wa^e rates and shorter 

 hours. Technological unemployment 

 and the need for dividing; the work 

 amon^ the available workers, he said, 

 justified such a course. He laid him- 

 self wide open when he asserted that 

 farmers had received far more aid from 

 t;overnmenl th.m l.ibor ever rec|iiested 



A moment later. Clitford Gregory, 

 speaking for agriculture, struck back 

 citing the vast feder.il appropriations 

 lor "PWA and WPA. Parmers feel 

 that this money is a subsidy to labor 

 .ind industry in defiance ol the law ol 

 supply and demand, he said. 



C)gburn denied that increased wage 

 rates were responsible for the disparity 

 between farm and city |-iriees. He men 

 tioned the cigarette industry which 

 he said has installed kibor-saving ma- 

 chinery and reduced its Libor cost .SITJ 

 from 1919 to 19.sl while greatly ex 

 paneling production. He took the Parm 

 liureau to task for its "unfriendly res- 

 olution adopted in 19.37," asserted that 

 labor has always supported farm leg- 

 islation, suggested that the (.,()()().()()0 

 farmers neecl the support of the lO,- 

 ()()(),()()() workers in coping with the 

 power of the corporations to fix jsrices 

 and eliminate competition, emphasized 

 that the laborer is the farmers' best 

 customer, that low vv,iges only weaken 

 the f.iriilers' market. 



High Wage Rates 



Gregory agreed that labor needs a 

 f.iir sh.ire of the national income but 

 insisted that high wage rates had been 

 pursued by organized labor far be- 

 yond the |H)int of diminishing returns. 

 ■ What most laborers I have talked to 

 want is more annual income and se- 

 curity. They are not so much con 

 cerned with shorter hours and high 

 hourly wage scales, " he said. To il- 

 lustrate the tremendous increases in 

 cost of distribution, he pointed to the 

 milk drivers of the Twin Cities who 

 he said were paid S9() a month in 191S 

 when the farmer got S3, 10 per cwt. 

 for milk and S23 i a month in 193H 

 when the farmers' jirice was $1.91. 



Alter listening to the speeches in 

 the morning. Mayor l.aGuardia of New 

 '\'ork rity. first on the afternoon pro- 

 gram, began by inviting his audience 

 to the 19 10 Wiirlds Fair at New York, 

 then suggested a new policy, the organ- 

 ization of "The American Truth Telling 

 -Society." He complimented Harriman 

 as making the most progress in national 

 thinking, criticised Gregorys labor ex 

 ,imples, talked about the high cost of 

 living in the city, agreed that farmers 

 ought to have parity prices, ridiculed 

 the idea of sur|->lu.ses "so long as there 

 is a man. woman, cjr child without 

 enough to eat or proj-ier clothes to 



wear 



•'♦ 



LaGuardi.i spoke impressively with- 

 out notes. His frankness captivated the 

 audience of several thousand which 

 filled the main floor of the big munici- 

 pal auditorium and floweil over into 



• \i-w V.irk (.ily. llic Mi.n..i .liv. l..«a, in spcrnliii,; 

 slo.dlMi.duii ,1 miititti i>t Its t>un ni..nc% t,.r leli f 

 ri .i.l.lilmn t.. WPA fun.ls. 



HunllillitJ 'III j^./.c'. /')/ 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



