GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 497 



Mr. Pace. We have nobody to bargain with. The point I am mak- 

 ing is, if you propose to tie the price of farm commodities to the 

 supply of those commodities, why do you not propose to tie the mini- 

 mum wage to the supply of labor ? 



Mr. Kline. The minimum wage does have some ties to the supply 

 of labor because all the prices above the minimum would be subject 

 to negotiation. 



There the supply of labor in a very important factor. 



Mr. Pace. I am sorry I cannot agree with you on that. I think the 

 75-cent minimum fixes the basis for negotiation. 



I am not proposing that you tie the minimum wage to the supply 

 of labor; but, if you are going to tell the farmers of this Nation to 

 produce abundantly and then tell them that when they do it they are 

 going to get a low-support price, I cannot understand why, if you 

 did exactly the same thing with labor, you would not tell them that 

 when there are only 1,000,000 or 2,000,000 unemployed the minimum 

 wage would be 75 cents, but if you have 10,000,000 men walking the 

 streets then it is 50 cents, or something of the kind. 



What is the difference ? What right have you or the Government or 

 anybody else to crj for abundant production, and then propose a 

 plan that says to that farmer, "You produce abundantly, but I want 

 to tell you that, when you do, we have a law on the books that will cut 

 your throat." 



That is exactly what the Aiken bill does. No farmer who is half- 

 way intelligent, who understands this law and understands that his 

 price depends on the amount of that commodity that he produces, is 

 going to follow your lead or my lead or the President's lead in trying 

 to get abundant production in this country. 



If he did, he would be a common, ordinary imbecile. When we tell 

 him, "If you just raise not more than 70 percent of the normal supply, 

 you will get 90 percent of parity ; but, if you have 130 percent of the 

 normal supply, you will get 60 percent of parity," What do you think 

 he is going to do ? What would you do ? 



Mr. Kline. Well, in the first place, I am a farmer. You have used 

 some very strong language in describing any farmer who would sup- 

 port this bill, and I do support it. 



Mr. Pace. Let me retract that. I think that is unfair. 



Mr. Kline. I thought so myself. 



Mr. Pace. I think that was improper because you would not come 

 under that term under any conditions. You are a very able and 

 learned and fair man. 



Mr. Kline. I try to be fair. I object to the "learned" part of it. 



Mr. Pace. I still say, Mr. Kline, that when the farmer has an under- 

 standing that when he produces abundantly his support price is going 

 down, there will be no encouragement to produce abundantly. Is that 

 fundamentally wrong? 



Mr. Kline. No ; that is the fundamental reason for setting in acre- 

 age allotments and marketing quotas and marketing agreements and 

 all the other provisions of the act which are designed to enable the 

 farmer to get his production into line with effective demand so that 

 he can get a fair price. 



We recognize fully and have stated in this statement the proposi- 

 tion that the farmer is vulnerable on exactly the point you suggest. 



