May, 1932 





THE I. A. A. RECORD 



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CLASSIFICATION OF TOTAL EXPENDITURES CHARGED TO 

 U. S. DEPT. OF AGR., FISCAL YEAR 1931, ON BASIS OF DAILY 

 TREASURY STATEMENT, JUNE 30, 1931. TOTAL $296,865,945. 



Hyde Discloses Facts About 



U. S. Dept. of Asriculture Budget 



EXPENDITURES of the U. S. Dept. 

 of Agriculture and the Federal 

 Farm Board have been singled out re- 

 cently as targets for attacks by middle- 

 men's organizations and newspapers 

 that front for them. 



Everyone agrees that taxes must 

 come down and unnecessary govern- 

 mental activities cease, but fairness de- 

 mands that the truth be disclosed and 

 all federal expenditures be placed in 

 their true light. 



The accompanying chart received 

 from a budget officer at Washington 

 clearly reveals that of approximately 

 $300,000,000 administered by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture in the last 

 fiscal year the greater part of it went 

 for roads, emergency relief loans, and 

 public service not confined to agricul- 

 ture. The figures on the chart above 

 vary slightly from those given below 

 since one covers a fiscal year ending 

 June, 1931, while the other (Mr. 

 Hyde's) is for the calendar year. 



Replying to a series of charts and 

 other propaganda published some time 

 ago by the Chicago Tribune Secretary 

 Arthur M. Hyde presented these facts: 



$174,000,000 of the 1931 Dept. of 

 Agriculture expenditures went to the 

 states as federal aid in highway con- 

 struction. This money served the gen- 

 eral welfare and relieved unemployment. 



$50,000,000 went to farmers in 



drought areas as emergency relief loans. 

 The Department of Agriculture did not 

 ask for the money. It was no part of 

 our regular program. 



$14,000,000 went to the states for 

 experiment stations, extension services, 

 and forest fire prevention. The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture did not spend it. 

 We were merely the channel through 

 which the money passed. 



Deducting these sums leaves $58,- 

 000,000 spent by the Department. This 

 contrasts with the $30,000,000 spent 

 in '1917. (All other moneys were either 

 paid to the states direct, or were emer- 

 gency funds for which this department 

 made no request.) 



But even this $58,000,000 is not a 

 fair statement of the expenditures for 

 agricultural purposes. 



$4,000,000 in 1931 went to the 

 Weather Bureau, including $1,200,000 

 for commercial aviation — only $50,000 

 of the entire appropriation being direct- 

 ly for agriculture. 



$6,000,000 went for eradication of 

 bovine tuberculosis — a public health 

 service fully as much as an agricultural 

 service. 



$5,000,000 went for meat inspec- 

 tion — primarily for public health. 



$1,600,000 was expended for en- 

 forcement of the Food and Drugs laws 

 — another health service. 



$15,000,000, in addition to payments 



to states for forest roads already 

 counted, went to the Forest Service to 

 conserve our national resources. 



$2,000,000 went to Biological Sur- 

 vey, principally for wild life conserva- 

 tion. 



These items add up to $33,600,000. 

 Minor non-agricultural items bring the 

 total well above $3 5,000,000. That 

 leaves, of the $58,000,000, only $23,- 

 000,000 that can properly be charged 

 against the Department of Agriculture 

 for strictly agricultural expenditures. 

 Of the $30,000,000 expended in 1917, 

 about $11,000,000 was for strictly 

 agricultural purposes. 



The increase in expenditures by the 

 Department of Agriculture for agricul- 

 tural purposes from 1917 to 1931 was, 

 therefore, about $12,000,000. Any 

 other statement is unjust to agriculture. 

 f 



{Continued from page 4) 

 business is beginning to realize that industry 

 cannot recover until the farmer regains his lost 

 purchasing power. 



"We see new cars in showrooms all over the 

 country but not on the highways," Mr. Smith 

 pointed out. "The value is there, but we 

 haven't the down payment to make. It is a 

 complex problem, but industry is beginning to 

 realize that the farmer prostrated by two years' 

 depression has to get up first." 



Cut Budget $47,000 



Polo, 111., April 21. — Approximately 700 

 Farm Bureau members and their families from 

 Ogle, Lee, Whiteside, Carroll, Winnebago, Ste- 

 phenson, and JoDaviess counties gathered in 

 the community high school here tonight to hear 

 President Earl C. Smith review problems of 

 chief interest to organized farmers. C. £. Bam- 

 borough, I. A. A. director from the 13th dis- 

 trict, presided. 



Answering a question from the floor regard- 

 ing a misleading article that appeared in the 

 Chicago Tribune the day before, Mr. Smith 

 stated that since October, 1931, the I. A. A. 

 and the companies it manages had reduced the 

 annual budget $47,000; that in only two in- 

 stances did co-operatives affiliated with the I. 

 A. A. borrow funds from the Federal Farm 

 Board, not one cent of which was used for 

 organization purposes. 



The I. A. A., he said, has borne all of the 

 expense of organizing co-operatives affiliated 

 with the I. A. A. In one instance (Illinois 

 Grain Corporation) all the money borrowed 

 from the Farm Board has been returned, and 

 in the other instance (Soybean Marketing Asso- 

 ciation) substantial payments on the loan have 

 been made and a definite plan adopted to liqui- 

 date this loan over a period of years. 



Metzger at Ottawa 



Ottawa, III., April 2 5. — ^Between 900 and 

 1,000 Farm Bureau members attended the Farm 

 Bureau mass meeting held in the high school 

 auditorium here tonight. The principal address 

 was made by Secretary George E. Metzger. 



Questioned from the floor as to how farmers 

 could combat their enemies the audience 

 cheered Metzger's reply: "Patronize your own 

 co-operatives." Mr. Metzger disclosed the source 

 of the opposition and challenged the middlemen 

 to come forward with a constructive program 

 that will bring agriculture out of the depression 

 which began in 1920. Metzger substituted for 

 Earl Smith, who was unable to attend because 

 of serious illness in his family. 



