NEW DEAL: FIRST PHASES 5 01 



who blamed it for food scarcity and high prices. 63 As one critic said, "The 

 Good Man up above never meant for anything to be killed." 6 



The next year hundreds of suits were instituted by processors to test 

 the constitutionality of the act, and also to avoid payment of processing 

 taxes, the backbone of the adjustment program. 65 That same year saw 

 a "plowman's pilgrimage" being undertaken to Washington, in support 

 of the A.A.A. It was led by a Texas corn-hog, cotton, and wheat raiser, 

 and had a preponderance of southerners with a small delegation of farmers 

 from the western Middle West. A.A.A. officials denied that they had 

 anything to do with this march, which was so unlike those of the Bonus 

 Army, the F.H.A. troop, and Coxey's Army, of "keep off the grass" fame. 

 The leader of the demonstration, a Texan named Clifford H. Day, 

 was aided by press agents from the A.A.A. information division, the con- 

 vention facilities of the Washington Board of Trade, police officials, and 

 hotel association chiefs. In contrast with older marches, this was a quiet, 

 dignified, serious affair; the delegates went to see their congressmen, met 

 in Constitution Hall to praise the A.A.A., visited Mt. Vernon, and then 

 returned to their homes. 66 



According to the Gallup poll, the nation in general was opposed to the 

 A.A.A.; what support there was for it was confined pretty much to the 

 South and the states of Kansas, North Dakota, and Iowa. These results 

 were published the day before the A.A.A. was declared unconstitutional. 67 



On January 6, 1936, in the Hoosac Mills case, the United States Supreme 

 Court in a 6 to 3 decision held that the production-control activities of 

 the A.A.A. were unconstitutional. This decision did not affect other ac- 

 tivities of the United States Department of Agriculture under the act, such 

 as marketing agreements, surplus-removal operations, and commodity 

 loans. 68 True enough, the back of the original A.A.A. had been broken, 

 but the court had not killed the farm problem. It was very much alive 

 and kicking. 69 



63. Christian Science Monitor, January 8, 1936. 



64. Minneapolis Tribune, January 5, 1936. 



65. Christian Science Monitor, January 8, 1936. 



66. Pioneer Press, May 13, 14, 16, 1935. 



67. Minneapolis Tribune, January 5, 1936. 



68. U. S. Dept. Agri., A.A.A., Agricultural Adjustment, 1933 to 1935, p. 35. 



69. Minneapolis Tribune, January 7, 1936. 



