GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 489 



Mr. Pace. Mr. Kline, I have one or two questions. 



As I understand from your direct statement, you disapprove of the 

 proposal of the Secretary of Agriculture to use the production payment- 

 plan. Is that correct ? • 



Mr. Kline. I read the position of the American Farm Bureau on 

 that. We think it is a less desirable means and should be used as a 

 last resort, not a first one. 



jNIr. Pace. Then as I understand, you maintain j^our support of the 

 Aiken bill with the payment authorization there — and check me closely 

 on this — because you think it should be what you might call a stand-by 

 service used in time of emergency. Is that the reason you say you want 

 the payments kept in the Aiken bill? 



JV^t. KxiNE. You mean production payments ? 



Mr. Pace. Yes. 



Mr. Kline. Again, you just cannot answer yes or no because con- 

 ditions are so indefinite and one finds great difficulty in finding any 

 definition of when is an emergency. Some people think it is now. 



Mr. Pace. If the proposal of the Secretary of Agriculture is bad 

 and yet you propose to leave a provision in the Aiken bill whereby all 

 that, then, becomes necessary to put it into operation would be a con- 

 gressional appropriation, well, then have you given thought to this 

 feature, that you have invited the American consumer to drive upon 

 Congress an appropriation of funds for production payments in order 

 to reduce the price of their food ? 



Mr. Kline. We certainly have. 



Mr. Pace. Do you not think it is an unfortunate situation to create ? 



Mr. KuNE. Yes. We have indicated our misgivings with regard to 

 it in this testimony. 



Mr. Pace. If it is a bad thing, Mr. Kline, why do you not suggest 

 it be taken out of the law and remove that temptation on the part of 

 the consumer ? 



Mr, Kline. There are a lot of other bad things with which we are 

 also threatened and which I assume the committee is not unaware of. 

 We sometimes have to make choices between things which we would 

 prefer not to choose between. 



There could be a likely possibility that it would be necessary to do 

 something in the case of some nonbasic commodity not subject to 

 acreage allotments where we would ourselves be in favor of using 

 this provision. 



We believe, however, that as an independent group we ought to be 

 able to help protect the Congress against unreasonable appropriations 

 and to help to guide the Administrator in making reasonable ones. 



Mr. Pace. It seems to me, Mr. Kline, in all fairness, that the posi- 

 tion you are taking now is that you are just placing the Congress in 

 a position to become subject to the greatest lobbying the Nation has 

 ever known. 



Let me go one step further. Do you agree that the increase of the 

 minimum wage to 75 cents an hour would increase the cost of food ? 



Mr. Kline. It would depend on whether it was widely applied in 

 the areas where we have tried to keep it from being applied but if 

 it were applied in a good many of those areas it would increase the 

 cost of food. 



Mr. Pace. Even if it did not apply by law, Mr. Kline, I think it is 

 generally agreed that it would have its effect. 



