444 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



Mr. CooLEY. And the floor avouIcI be so far below the farmer he 

 would hit bankruptcy before he hit the floor, would he not? 



Mr. Kline. No, indeed. The different philosophy seems to me to be 

 that there is some suggestion here, perhaps, that the price set in the 

 act is to be the price. As a farmer, I am unwilling to have an act set 

 the price for all these various agricultural commodities. I am only 

 Avilling to have a proposition set in under which agriculture can 

 (jperate as a part of a really dynamic economic set-up. 



Mr. CooLEY. How can it be very dynamic if it is only getting about 

 50 or 60 percent of parity ? 



Mr. Kline. This 50 or 00 percent has been b;Mid'cd around a good 

 deal. Any price-support program would, of course, require acreage 

 allotments for a basic commodity. 



Mr. CooLEY Do you oppose acreage allotments and marketing- 

 quotas ? 



Mr. Kline. May I answer the first question first, please? With 

 acreage allotments in effect, the minimum in the act of 1948 is, of 

 couse, 72 percent, not 50 or 60, 



Mr. CooLEY. Are you willing for American agriculture to operaiv. 

 on 72 percent of a fair price ? 



Mr. Kline. As I said a moment ago, that would be the minimum 

 floor. That is not the price at which we expect it to operate. 



"Sir. CooLEY. Why should those interested in agriculture be ^Yillin^ 

 to weaken the floor under agriculture to 72 percent while lal)or, for 

 instance, is pushing now up to a 75-cent mininuim wage and the 

 tendency with labor is in exactly the opposite direction from the 

 tendency which you are leading us into. 



Mr. Kline. First, there are a lot of world-wide tendencies in which 

 I think we can afford to take part only with some reluctance. 



Second, the minimum wage is probably fairly close to this kind of 

 floor. It certainly is not the wage for which the unions would be will- 

 ing to settle. 



Mr, CooLEY. Which minimum wage are you talking about, the -iO- or 

 75-cent minimum wage? 



Mr. Kline. Seventy-five, if you please. 



Mr. CooLEY. You think 75 cents as a minimum wage for labor is 

 equal to about 72 percent of the support price of croj)S ? 



Mr. Kline. Probably not. At any rate, I make this point, that the 

 labor unions would certainly be loathe to settle for a 75-cent price for 

 labor. It is a minimum wage, not the price of labor. If you make a 

 comparison with farm prices it is like saying that labor is ready to 

 settle for 75 cents an hour. 



Mr, Cooley. Suppose you apply the 75 cents an hour to farm labor 

 and it takes 200 hours to produce a bale of cotton. You come up with 

 $150 merely for the labor in producing the cotton, not including the 

 land rent, fertilizer and other incidentals that go into the crop. 



Mr. Kline. Wliat is the question ? 



Mr. Cooley. The question is, Do vou think that is a fair relation- 

 ship? 



Mr. Kline. It does not sound fair to me. 



Mr. Cooley. That is your recommendation, though, is it not? 



Mr. Kline. Xo, sir. 



Mr. Coolly. Under your formula the farmer would not get $150 

 for a bale of cotton. 



