( 173 ) 



wheat to stabilize the price of wheat in this country. The 

 Board did not know it, but it committed itself to stemming 

 a world- wide collapse in wheat prices. 



The present administration put an end to the Farm Board, 

 but not to its basic principles, which were later revived under 

 the "ever normal" granary policy. 



The greatest changes in our national price policies occurred 

 during the present administration. During its earlier years 

 the policy was to raise prices in this country when world 

 forces were holding them down, with the altruistic aim of 

 aiding food-producers. More recently, the policy has been to 

 prevent prices from rising when every economic force has 

 been driving them up, with the avowed purpose of protecting 

 the consumer. The objection to these changing policies is not 

 their inconsistency, but their ineffectiveness. 



During 1933, food prices and incomes of both food-pro- 

 ducers and food-consumers were raised by the unpopular but 

 effective method of devaluing the dollar. This gave way to 

 the rather popular but very ineffective program of controlled 

 production. The theory was that incomes of farmers could be 

 raised by reducing supplies, plowing under cotton, restrict- 

 ing the wheat acreage, and killing the pigs. Since reducing 

 the supply did not raise incomes, farmers were given benefit 

 payments for conserving the soil, curtailing the acreage, and 

 the like. The ever normal granary, the parity conflict, easy 

 credit, the stamp plan, and other price panaceas flashed 

 across the horizon. 



Present Policy Is a Dilemma 



The present national price policy is somehow or other to 

 get the farmers to increase food production despite low ceil- 

 ing prices, protect the consumer's pocketbook with low frozen 

 retail food prices, and protect all of us from the wild inflation 

 that is universally believed to be just around the corner. 



