474 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



our crop surpluses. I have been trying to find the fig-ures here as to 

 what the total value of the livestock in the United States is. Do you 

 have any idea, Mr. Kline, as to what that figure is ? 



Mr. Kline. I do not have the figure in mind, but we can get it very 

 readily. 



Mr. PoAGE. I know we can, but it is obviously onlv a portion of the 

 $30,000,000,000 farm income of the Nation. It is actually about 30 

 percent, as I recall. 



Mr. Kline. I think probably somewhat higher, Mr. Congressman, 

 because grains and livestock are almost 75 together. 



Mr. PoAGE. Assuming that it is 75 percent, that is only about $22,- 

 000,000,000. Five percent of that is about a billion dollars. In other 

 words, assuming it was 75 percent, which we know it is not, you could 

 not have more than a billion dollars to pay for 5 percent of all the 

 livestock in the United States. If that 5 percent will care for all of 

 the surpluses and maintain all of our other crops in the desirable posi- 

 tion we want to maintain them, then certainly it is im})ossible that we 

 would have to spend the 6 to 15 billion dollars that you and Mr. Andre- 

 sen discussed. 



Mr. Kline. That sounds reasonable. On the other hand, one must 

 remember the other 95 percent. What we are assuming, if we say that 

 5 percent will take care of it, is that the 95 percent is moving at a very 

 profitable price and that people have the wherewithal to buy the 95 

 percent. It is in the 95 percent where the big deal is. That is the 

 question of everybody's purchasing ability. That is the question of 

 production per man in the area outside agriculture, whether this is a 

 prosperous and productive economy that we trade our goods in. 



Mr. PoAGE. I think that is right, and I think unquestionably the 

 soundest way of maintaining that prosperity on the part of everybody 

 is to maintain that farmer prosperity. If we have been able to main- 

 tain that farm prosperity, which I understand could be maintained this 

 way, then certainly, as far as I can see, we are going to have prosj^erity 

 on the part of everybody because I do not think you can have a depres- 

 sion in the United States when you have a high farm income. Do you 

 think we can have a depression in the United States with a high farm 

 income ? 



Mr. Kline. It certainly would be a lot more difficult, but I do not 

 think it would be impossible. Actually, these depressions, which are 

 drops in prices, sometimes have implications which are even far wider 

 than domestic. When the prices fall all over the world there are tre- 

 mendous implications. 



Mr. PoAGE. But the farmer's income always falls before the other 

 people go broke, does it not? 



Mr. Kline. It falls faster and sometimes first. The argument is a 

 long one and I doubt that we should expand the record with it. 



Mr. PoAGE. It seems to me that we have here evidence that we prob- 

 ably are not goin.'i to have to go into this thing as expensively as we 

 had thought in order to maintain farm prices. 



Mr. Hope. Will the gentleman yield to me on that particular point? 



Mr. PoAGE. For a question. I want to proceed. 



Mr. Hope. I just have this question : I did not understand that Mr. 

 Kline stated that if we were able to increase our consumption of live- 

 stock by 5 i^ercent that that would bring our whole farm price struc- 



