638 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



Mr. Pace. That is the reason I suggested having a conference with 

 Mr. "MacDonakl. Certain!}- if j^ou put it on wheat, he would have a 

 very much greater argument to put it on cotton. 



Mr. CooLEY. Wiiat Mr. MacDonald are you talking about? 



.Mi\ Pace. J. E. MacDonald, Commissioner of .Agriculture of Texas, 

 who has proposed this domestic allotment plan for cotton. 



Mr. Hope. I think he has given some consideration to wheat also 

 in connection with that plan. I do not know how far he has worked 

 it douTi. 



Mr. Cooley. He is not the man who first suggested it, is he? I 

 thought Marvin Jones, former chairman of this committee, was the 

 first man. I know we have talked about it from time to time ever 

 since I have been in Congress. 



IVIr. Hope. Of course, it is essentially the same thing as the process- 

 ing tax that we had back in 1933, except the mechanics are different. 

 It is the same idea. You imposed a tax which went to the producer 

 in the form of a payment. 



I think, however, the processmg tax has been critized and discussed 

 so much that you would probably have a lot of difficulty in getting 

 the processors and distributors of wheat and wheat products to accept 

 it. I think every miller and every baker would immediately start a 

 campaign against the tax, as they have done several times when it 

 has been discussed before. 



You would have a storm of protest coming into Congress from 

 consumers. The effect might be just the same as far as the certificate 

 plan is concerned, but it does not seem to have aroused as much 

 opposition as the processing tax. 



Then of course the processing tax was declared unconstitutional in 

 the 1936 case. We now have a processing tax on sugar and if a 

 wheat-processing tax were imposed in that same way, I am sure it 

 would not be held unconstitutional. I do not think anybody could 

 raise any question about the constitutionality of it if you imposed it 

 just like you do on sugar. 



Mr. Pace. 1 certainly say it is interesting, and I think that while 

 the responsibility, as I have said, for the future wheat program is very 

 largely upon the shoulders of the gentlemen who represent the great 

 wheat area, the committee as a whole will attempt to lend the wheat 

 area every assistance. I will assure you that the committee will give 

 full consideration to your suggestion. 



The only thing I suggest now is that you busy yourselves in the 

 next couple of weeks lookiug at all the objections, getting all the 

 additional information you can get. Pick all the flaws you can and 

 see if they can be overcome. Then let us know the outcome. 



Mr. McKiNNis. I might say along that line when you are speaking 

 of objections, everyone is fairh^ well sold on this out there. We 

 almost had to come back here to find some objections. All of the 

 people out there feel pretty well the same way. It is possible that 

 different parts of the country will raise a lot of different objections 

 and they will have to be overcome by working out something this 

 way or that w&y. 



Mr. Hoeven. Mr. Chairman, while these gentlemen are here, might 

 we inquire what their attitude is on nxarketing quotas for wheat? 



Mr. Kaseberg. I presume you are referring to wheat allotments on 

 marketing quotas. 



