840 



GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



that in addition to present proposals we should have the food-stamp 

 plan again to enable low-income families to have an adequate diet. 



We favor adequate crop-storage facilities as part of the Federal 

 farm program, especially on the farms or close to the farms. 



We want to emphasize the fact that we do not agree with those 

 interests who would, for one reason or another, leav^e the small farmers 

 to the mercy of the foul economic weather. 



The lower half of the farmers who only have a 10-percent share of 

 the market operate on a very narrow margin of safety. We are 

 interested in keeping these farmers on the farms and in a state of 

 prosperity. If they are allowed to become the victims of an eco- 

 nomic crisis, they will be moving into the towns and cities, scrambling 

 for jobs, undermining wage rates and trade-union contracts. 



Lastly, we feel that the cost of an adequate farm program is cheap 

 to the price we will have to pay without one. Som_e people think 

 that a farm program is necessary only in times of a depression as an 

 economic life preserver. We think that a farm program is necessary 

 to help prevent economic chaos. 



Mr. Pace. Thank you, Mr. Ayres, for your fine statement. May 

 I say I appreciate your understanding of the problems of the small 

 farmers and wage earners, and your statement will be helpful to the 

 committee. The profit study of your research department may be 

 inserted in the record at this point. 



(The profit study referred to is as follows:) 



Financial Report on Allis-Chalmers Covering 1948 Operations 



You probably didn't see A-C's announcement of its 1948 profits. Most 

 financial editors cooperated with the company by hiding the story on an inside 

 page with a small headline. 



Allis-Chalmers in 1948 made fantastic profits. Their 15.4 million dollars after 

 taxes was nearly three times as large as 1947 profits. That kind of profit is too 

 big to boast about. Too many people consider it pure and simple profiteering, 

 extracted by excessive prices, speed-up, and wages too low for decent living. 



The fact is that while a few big executives got much richer in 1948, a lot of A-C 

 workers' families went without desperately needed food, clothing, education, and 

 medical care to produce that profit. 



The table below shows how 1948 dwarfs all recent prewar, war, and postwar 

 records : 



Year 



Sales 



Profits before 

 taxes 



Profits after 

 taxes 



Prewar averag;e (1936-39) _ 

 Wartime average (1941-44) 



1945 



1946-..- 



1947 



1948 



$74, 519, 000 

 248, 313, 000 

 290, 302, 983 

 93, 784, 000 

 211,950,000 

 328, 101, 328 



$6,231,000 

 35,417,000 

 22, 947, 467 

 1 25, 941, 000 

 9, 072, 308 

 26,241,523 



$4, 496, 000 

 7, 250, 000 

 7, 090, 467 

 2 144, 000 

 5, 422, 308 



15, 441, 523 



I'Loss. 



s After tax refund from Government of over $25,000,000. 



Note especially that in 1948 alone, Allis-Chalmers made more net profit than 

 in the years 1945 to 1947, inclusive, even after $25,000,000 handed to the com- 

 pany from the United States Treasury in 1946 as tax rebates. 



As an indication of future trends, a comparison of A-C figures for the first 

 three quarters of 1948 and the last quarter is revealing. Net sales of 225.5 

 million dollars and net profits after taxes of $9,869,512 were reported for the first 

 9 months. That means in the last quarter alone A-C sales were more than 

 $100,000,000 and its net profit 5.6 million dollars. The sales for just this one 



