COEN-ACKEAGE ALLOTMENTS AND MAEKETING QUOTAS 



TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1949 



House of Representatives, 

 Special Subcommittee of the 



Committee on Agriculture, 



Washington, D. C. 

 The special subcommittee met at 10 a. m., Hon. Stephen Pace 

 presiding. 



Mr. Pace. The committee will please come to order. 

 Gentlemen, the committee this mornmg begins hearings on the 

 general subject of marketing quotas for corn. As you all know, the 

 Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, which is now m effect, covers 

 this subject, but it has been on the statute books for many years, and 

 it is thought that it should be studied by the committee with a view 

 to the possible need for changes. 



I would like to insert at this pomt in the record a complete summary 

 of marketing-quota provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act 

 of 1938, as amended, which the Secretary has kindly supplied to the 

 committee. I will also file that with the clerk for insertion in the 

 record at this point. 



(The summary is as follows :) 



Summary of the Markeiing-Quota Provisions of the Agriculturai 

 AnjusTMEXT Act of 1938, Including Amendments Made by the Agricul- 

 tural Act of 1948 ' 



I. general 



The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 originally provided for marketing 

 quotas on the basic commodities of wheat, cotton, corn, tobacco, and rice. It 

 was amended in April 1941 to in chide peanuts as a basic commodity and to provide 

 for marketing quotas on peanuts. There have been many amendments to the 

 quota provisions of the act, inchtding important amendments added bj' the 

 Agricultural Act of 1948. The amendments made by the 1948 act do not take 

 effect until January 1, 1950. Although this summary does not differentiate be- 

 tween the original act and the amendments made thereto, it should be noted that 

 the quota amendments contained in the Agricultural Act of 1948 involve, for the 

 most part, changes in the conditions under which marketing quotas are to be 

 proclaimed and changes in the definitions of certain terms contained in the 1938 

 act. 



The quota provisions of the act are based upon the constitutional power of 

 Congress to regulate commerce, and the purpose of such provisiors is to regulate 

 the volume of basic commodities moving in interstate and foreign commerce. 

 The objective of such regulation is to prevent abnormally excessive and abnormally 

 dpfiei >nt suppli '■: of th?s.^ commodities and thereljy st-Jbilize prices in the intsrests 

 of both prodiuers and consumers. The act thus seeks to provide for a continuous 

 and stable flow of the commodities in interstate and foreign commerce. 



Since the conditions under which the basic commodities are produced and the 

 manner in which they are marketed differ so widely, each commodity is dealt 

 with separately in the act. In this respect, the summary follows the .statutory 

 pattern. 



1 Applicable section or sections of the act cited at end of each paragraph. 



