574 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



Mr. Granger. I was wondering, Mr, Goss, if the board would unite 

 as well on some plan, as some boards do, in recommending legislation 

 to this committee. 



Mr. Goss. I do not know whether you expect me to answer that 

 question or not, but I would say that I would not anticipate that 24 

 men would agree on everything. I would anticipate that there would 

 be a lot of discussion, but when they got through, I think you would 

 find that under the instructions and the mechanism provided by 

 Congress, their conclusions would be about as safe, on as safe grounds, 

 as the Congress or anybody else could develop. It is not perfect. 



Mr. Granger. Every farm organization I know of is split down 

 the middle as some of them do not seem to be able to unite on any- 

 thing. 



Mr. Goss. I think that may be pretty nearly true, not complete unity, 

 maybe. For instance, on this question of subsidy, we debated the 

 subsidy at the last annual meeting of the National Grange; we had 

 it up for a long time, 3 hours of debate on the floor after long hear- 

 ings. We came out with a vote of 35 to 2, which I think is pretty 

 close, and I think the board could do as well. 



Mr. Granger. You would like to have this committee do as well ? 



Mr. Goss. That is right. We are never going to have complete 

 agreement. 



Mr. Granger. The thing that disturbs me, and I dislike very much, 

 is to have people coming here and complaining about politics. We 

 have a system of government in this country that has at least two 

 strong political parties that everybody seems to want to maintain, 

 and yet we have the lawyers on the one side saying they want 

 the judiciary taken out of politics; the school teachers want to get 

 something and they talk about it being in politics, and that we want 

 to get away from politics ; others say we are not going to be able to do 

 some things as long as we have free elections in this country. I do 

 not like these ideas since our Government is dependent upon politics 

 for its very existence. 



Mr. Goss. Mr. Granger, I appreciate what you have said, but there 

 are some questions that I think we can agree we do not want to get 

 too much into politics. You would not want to have the farmers out 

 campaigning on the amount of stibsidy in cash that could be paid to 

 farmers, I do not believe. You would not want to put the farmers in 

 a position where they would have to go out and campaign to elect a 

 fellow who would promise the most subsidy. Then the whole merits of 

 the question woulcl be submerged and subordinated to the question of 

 who would vote for the most subsidy to the farmer instead of the 

 qtiestion of what is the interest of the general waif are of the country. 

 That is the kind of politics we want to avoid. 



Mr. Granger. Why do you think we have done so bad politically in 

 this committee? 



Mr. Goss. I do not think you have. 



Mr. Andresen. Will the gentleman yield ? 



Mr. Hope. I do not like to be in the position of controlling the time, 

 but I would like to ask one or two more questions of Mr. Goss, but 

 I will yield to the gentleman from Minnesota. 



Mr. Andresen. I think I have served on this committe probably as 

 long as anybody else, and I can say that in all these years that I have 



