1182 General farm program 



per litter. And remember, that there was a disappearance last year 

 of 34,000,000 head of hogs over and above the inspected slaughter. 

 The proposal is simply wide open to fraud. 



It is estimated that farmers slaughter for their own use 12 to 13 

 million head annually. But if the hog market declined, as it would, 

 until there was a subsidy paid on all hogs slaughtered for consump- 

 tion, would I butcher my own hog? Certainly I would not. I 

 would buy my hog to butcher from my neighbor, giving him a bill 

 of sale on which to collect the subsidy. This would make some 

 12,000,000 more sales that would need to be checked before checks 

 could be sent to cover. What an army that would take. What a 

 chance to build up a bureau that would outrank every other bureau 

 in Washington. And what a bill would be added to the net cost of 

 meat to Mrs. Consumer. 



There would undoubtedly have to be a deadline on this bonanza. 

 It would only hold good up to a certain date. The Treasury could 

 not stand for it to run too long. So what would I as a hog producer 

 do before that deadline? 



I would sell every hog on the place. It might take some scurrying 

 around among my neighbors to find one who had an equal number 

 with me, and of the same breed. Or it might be necessary for my 

 original herd to change hands two or three times before I got them 

 back in my name. But how often is the opportunity given you to 

 sell your hogs to your neighbor and buy his, then sell his back to him 

 and buy yours back, and both of you profit by many hundreds if 

 not thousands of dollars? 



There again would be million upon million of sales to check before 

 checks could be mailed. 



I am sure that the impression prevails among farmers that all they 

 would need to do would be to take their sales slip to somebody im- 

 mediately after the same was made and collect enough money to 

 bring their dollar return on the farm up to levels that prevailed 

 during the war. They do not understand nor appreciate that no one 

 would loiow until the end of the marketing period how much the sub- 

 sidy would be. They would not know until that time and until they 

 had gone with their sales slips to the proper authorities, agreed to 

 abide by any and all orders issued from Washington as to the opera- 

 tion of their own livestock program, and had run the gantlet of 

 the supposition that their claim for the subsidy was wi'ong or crooked 

 until it could be proved right before they would eventually get that 

 check, so they would know how much their hogs actually brought. 



The sale of the farmer to the local butcher or to the renter of 

 locker space is just as legitimate as his sale to the packer. So I 

 cannot see but what there would be a minimum of 16,000,000 sales 

 to check before the subsidy checks could all be mailed. This check- 

 ing program would not start until after the beginning of 1950 at 

 least. It is very doubtful to me that that number of sales could be 

 checked and the final checks mailed out before election time of 1950. 



Now, it might be argued that restrictions could be thrown around 

 this program eliminating some of this checking. For instance, a 

 suggestion might be made that payments of the subsidy would be 

 limited to sales of hogs for slaughter. Such limitations are completelj^ 

 impractical. 



