398 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



of Illinois proposed provided for this and was similar to the McNary- 

 Haugen bill last defeated in both houses. But the conference this time, 

 instead of accepting existing tariff schedules on industrial products, 

 sought a reduction of duties on aluminum, steel, and chemicals, which 

 provided "shelter for price-fixing monopolies." Again it was suggested 

 that Congress investigate those phases of agricultural legislation which 

 had made it possible for industrialists, dealers, and speculators to take 

 such a leading role in shaping and administering agricultural programs. 

 Also, a permanent program was asked for cotton in place of the proposal 

 that the President withdraw four million bales from the market, which 

 was nothing more than a "temporary expedient." 70 



Late in November Senator McNary was in conference with farm heads 

 in an effort to perfect details for a new measure that he was preparing to 

 introduce when Congress convened in December. 71 About the same time 

 Congressman Dickinson protested against the actions of the Industrial 

 Conference Board and the United States Chamber of Commerce in their 

 forming of "peripatetic" organizations "to find out how much some 

 people don't know about the farm problem." He warned that the farmers 

 were capable of changing the political complexion of the nation, if they 

 were not given instant relief. 72 



If the leaders of the southern cooperatives, which handled about 10 per 

 cent of the crop, favored the McNary-Haugen proposal, there were others 

 like W. L. Clayton, the prominent cotton merchant, who believed that 

 ". . . irrespective of [the] merits of the plan as applying to other agri- 

 cultural products," especially for those of which 85 to 90 per cent of the 

 crop was consumed domestically, "it must be abortive if applied in this 

 way to cotton." About 55 per cent was exported and only 45 per cent was 

 consumed at home. The best hope of the South was to buy the cotton 

 surplus and remove it from the market temporarily. 73 



The louder the farm groups "yelped," the larger the dose of cooperative 

 "medicine" that the Republicans gave to the farmers. In January, 1927, the 

 Curtis-Crisp bill was introduced providing for the establishment of the 

 Federal Farm Board. This board was to be allowed $250,000,000 to make 



70. Pioneer Press, November 18, 1926. 



71. New Yor^ Times, November 27, 1926. 



72. Ibid., November 29, 1926. 



73. Cotton Trade Journal (New Orleans), February 19, 1927. 



