1024 . GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



It is almost impossible to believe that American citizens such as 

 ourselves down there, would be put under such a pressure. Mr. 

 Prichard was asked the other day in a Senate hearing, if there was 

 not a way under article 22 to alleviate this situation. He said, as 1 

 remember it, he thought there was, but he was not enough of a 

 lawyer to be able to advise them. 



Now, I have a great respect for this Government and its various de- 

 partments. But as a farmer I think that when we come up to ask for 

 relief, that they ought to explore every possible means within their 

 activity to give us that relief, because they have to represent us. 

 They are supposed to be the guiding spirit of this Nation. 



We made inquiries at the State Department and they say that this 

 product was bound on the free list and that we were given ample op- 

 portunity to protest or to file a brief. We never beard about it. 



Mr. Andresen. I agree with you in everything that you have said. 

 And I know, if you had filed a protest, it would not have made any 

 difference an^^vay. 



Mr. Rowlands. Perhaps so. 



Mr. Andresen. Let me ask you this question. Is there any par- 

 ticular company or organization or cartel, such as Unilever, that 

 controls foreign tung oil and brings it into the country? 



Mr. Rowlands. I think so. 



Mr. Andresen. Is that Unilever, of London and Holland? 



Mr. Rowlands. No. 



Mr. Andresen. What company is it? 



Mr. Rowlands. I think the company that has the greatest control 

 of tung oil coming into the United States is the Pacific Vegetable Oil 

 Corp. in San Francisco. 



Mr. Andresen. Is that a domestic corporation of this country? 



Mr. Rowlands. I could not tell; I think they are. They are in San 

 Francisco. 



Mr. Andresen. But you do not know whether the Unilever Co., 

 which is the largest company in the world dealing in fats and oils 

 and generally controls the price of fats and oils, has anything to do 

 with it? 



Mr. Rowlands. I think not, because they are interested more or 

 less, as I understand it, in greases and other tallows of that sort, that 

 go into soap. 



Mr. Andresen. Oh, they go further than that. 



Mr. Rowlands. They might; I am not well informed, sir. 



Mr. Andresen. That is all. 



Mr. Hope. Mr. Rowlands, it is not quite clear to me whether the 

 relief that you are asking for now is designed to preserve the industry 

 that you have built up, to preserve it in its present size and develop- 

 ment, or whether you want a program which you expect will result in 

 a continued expansion of the industry in the United States. 



I am raising that question particularly because in your brief you 

 indicate that the big development in the tung-oil industry has taken 

 place in the last few years, during the war period and since. It is 

 very evident, I think, that if we have a price-support program here 

 that would make for a profitable price, and we do nothing about 

 imports, we will have a problem on our hands, because the Govern- 

 ment would undoubtedly have to take over all of the tung oil produced 

 in this country and we would have to let the tung oil that came in 

 through imports go into commercial channels. 



