NEW DEAL: FIRST PHASES 495 



thin and emaciated that they could not withstand the shipment to market. 

 Even if it had been possible for them to get them to market, they would 

 have been condemned as unfit for human food because of their extreme 

 emaciation." This forced liquidation of meat animals reached a great 

 volume and forced down the prices of all animals. 45 



In some communities special prayer days were set aside by church and 

 government officials. In South Dakota and North Dakota frantic farmers 

 were reported moving their cattle by railroad, truck, and hoof into Minne- 

 sota, thus crowding out Minnesota livestock, much to the dismay of the 

 authorities of that state, who ordered the national guard to check all such 

 shipments. In the neighboring state of Wisconsin, farmers complained 

 that Minnesota farmers were doing the very same thing that the farmers 

 from the Dakotas were doing. 46 In Emporia, Kansas, the city fathers put 

 into effect a "four-inch bath" decree. 47 Tragic though the results were, 

 the Milwaukee Journal well pointed out that "the drought is doing what 

 the agricultural program apparently was failing to do. . . ." 4 



One thing that aroused the ire of the agricultural authorities in Wash- 

 ington was the fact that some farmers were being led to believe that 

 the drought came in retribution for the human destruction of the crop. 49 



Fortunately, this serious crisis found the United States better prepared 

 for such eventualities than ever before in its history, because there had 

 been established emergency agencies with broad and flexible powers to 

 meet any critical situation that arose. The broad policy of the A.A.A. was 

 to maintain the farm income and buying power, not merely for the sake 

 of the farmers alone but also for the general recovery of the nation. Farm 

 production was to be kept in reasonable balance. As a result, drought- 

 relief operations were well under way by the end of May. 



As the emergency agencies were put into action, President Roosevelt 

 and Congress prepared for additional action to carry the program through 

 to a successful conclusion. Some $525,000,000 was voted by Congress to 

 be distributed among the various agencies cooperating in the relief pro- 

 gram. The President's Drought Relief Committee was appointed for 



45. Ibid., p. 20. 



46. Milwaukee Journal, May 20, June 2, 3, 9, 1934. 



47. St. Paul Dispatch, August n, 1934. 



48. Milwaukee Journal, June i, 1934. 



49. Minneapolis Journal, July 30, 1934. 



