May, 1932 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Seven 



Business Relief 



(An editorial from the Dayton {Ohio) Daily News, from 

 the pen of Walter L. Locke, editorial writer.) 



T^HE Reconstruction Finance Corporation bill 

 — business relief — has gone to the President 

 and received his instant signature. Within six 

 weeks of the presentation of this measure of busi- 

 ness relief, Congress has passed and the President 

 has signed it while the entire country looks on 

 and applauds. 



This measure puts an injection of half a billion 

 dollars of government money and a billion and a 

 half more of government guaranteed credit into 

 the arteries of business. Banks and insurance com- 

 panies with frozen assets will find blowing over 

 them the warm breath of government credit and 

 government cash. Hard-pressed railroads will re- 

 ceive government aid. Frozen real estate securi- 

 ties will be thawed in what is to be essentially a 

 government mortgage market. With this help of 

 legislation, of government, prices are expected to 

 start upward — the prices of commodities, of 

 bonds, of lands, of stocks. The government's 

 measure may not succeed in all this, but the coun- 

 try hopes it will and approves the effort. If it 

 succeeeds, the depression is in hand. 



Now, while we view so admiringly the strong 

 action which, with big and little business insisting 

 and consenting, the government takes, let us pause 

 for a little smile at ourself. The smile may best be 

 introduced by a remark which that wild "radi- 

 cal," Senator George W. Norris, of Nebraska, 

 dropped in casting his vote against the measure 

 now a law. Senator Norris said: 



"I have been called a socialist, a bolshevik, a 

 communist, and a lot of other terms of a similar 

 nature, but in the wildest flights of my imagina- 

 tion I never thought of such a thing as putting 

 the government into business as far as this bill 

 would put it." 



The words of the insurgent Nebraskan are true. 

 He got himself written down a radical for insist- 

 ing that the government operate a little power 

 plant which it owns at Muscle Shoals. He has 

 variously favored public operation of a public 

 utility here and there. But put the government 

 in control, through a control of money and credit, 

 of all the business of the United States — such a 

 thing as that the Nebraska radical, now a con- 

 servative protesting against the radicalism of his 

 stalwart associates in Congress, never dreamed of. 

 This is what has just been done. 



We had to do it. The country was in a jam. 

 Only the government, it seems, can break the 

 jam. And so, under the leadership of the Presi- 

 dent who vetoed Senator Norris' Muscle Shoals 



bill as a violation of "rugged individualism," in- 

 dividualism is laid on the shelf and the most com- 

 pletely communistic measure ever adopted in time 

 of peace passes hurrahing into law. It's all right. 

 We had to do it. But as we do it, let's smile at 

 ourselves; it will keep us sane. Let's smile at our 

 "rugged individualism," at our insistent demand 

 that the government keep out of business; and 

 especially, as we set out now by law to increase 

 the price of everything, let us smile at our old 

 opposition to "price fixing." And as we smile, 

 can we complain if over at Moscow, which we 

 refuse to recognize because of its socialism, there 

 are a few smiles more? 



Smiling at ourselves, we can see why the farm- 

 ers smile, the farmers we so sternly rebuked with 

 vetoes, Mr. Coolidge's at Mr. Hoover's advice, for 

 wanting to be helped by law. , Remember how 

 long we stood out against the sinking farmers — 

 12 years. And when it was ourselves struggling 

 in the water, how long was government relief in 

 coming? Six weeks! Oh, there's very much to 

 smile about in this connection; and, finally, when 

 any of us hereafter in horror cry socialism at 

 anything it will be more than a smile, it will be 

 a snicker. 



From Illinois to Europe by Water 



'X'HE recent shipment by the Soybean Market- 

 ing Association of 150,000 bushels of soybeans 

 by water to Rotterdam provides an interesting 

 illustration of the value of the Great Lakes-St. 

 Lawrence Waterway to farmers of the middle 

 west. 



From Chicago via the Great Lakes and up the 

 St. Lawrence river to Montreal where the beans 

 were transferred to an ocean going vessel, the rate 

 to Rotterdam is only 14 cents per bushel. This is 

 the lowest possible rate obtainable to European 

 markets. If the rail rate from Peoria to Chicago, 

 which is approximately four cents, were added, 

 the total cost of shipment would amount to 18 

 cents from Peoria. 



The rate from New Orleans to Rotterdam 

 alone is 1 3 cents per bushel, and if the beans were 

 shipped down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers on 

 barges to New Orleans and there transferred to 

 ocean going vessels the rate would be 19.5 cents 

 from Peoria to Rotterdam via this Southern route. 

 By rail from Peoria to New Orleans the rate is 

 approximately 13.5 cenlts per bushel (6.5 by 

 water) or more than the cost of the ocean haul. 

 With Europe back in the market for farm prod- 

 ucts water transportation will be of decided help 

 to the corn-belt farmer. 



