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per- cent- of -parity loan bill has not yet been disposed of, so we may 

 continue to have erratic markets until that issue is settled. Presi- 

 dential approval of 100 per cent loans is doubtful. 



During the past week there have been two significant develop- 

 ments affecting the prices of farm products, and a third \j8ls suggested 

 in Thursday's papers. I refer to the July 1, crop report and Uie legis- 

 lation permitting the sale of 125 million bushels of wheat at a price ■ 

 equal to S5 per cent of the parity price of corn. The third item was 

 the proposal by President Roosevelt to restrict wage increases in order 

 to combat the rapidly increasing dangers of inflation. This item is oy 

 all odds the most important of the three. Neither the President nor 

 Congress has been willing to tackle the problem of preventing wage in- 

 creases in order to hold down costs and prices as a means of preventing 

 inflation. That was one reason that farm organizations were reluctant 

 to consent to the sale of farm products at less than parity. It is 

 quite possible that the House receded from its former stand of insisting 

 upon sales of wheat at at least full corn parity as a result of some 

 understanding with the Administration that steps i.-ould be taken to pre- 

 vent further increases in wages. 



A recent report indicr.tes that prices of farm products were 

 152 per cent of the base period level; prices of commodities farmers 

 buy, interest, r.nd taxes were I52 per cent of the base period level, 

 but that v/ages were 500 per cent of the level of the base period. The 

 recent order of the War Labor Board which granted kh cents a day in- 

 crease to steel workers instead of |l.00 a day as requested indicates 

 that the attitude of the Adninistraticn may be stiffening in this 

 connection. Leon Henderson, of the Office of Price Administration, rias 

 insisted all along that if price ceilings were tc hold, and if inflo.^ 

 tion wore to be prevented, it would be necessary tc held down v;age 

 rates as well as commodity prices. One of the plans now proposed 

 is that if costs become so high that an industry cannot sell 



