August, 1932 



THE 1. A. A. RECORD 



Page Five 



Brief Story Of The 



Rainey-Norbeck Bill 



Rules Committee, Speaker 



Garner, and Reactionary 



Senators Defeat It 



WHILE in Washington early in 

 May conferring with the 

 leaders in Congress regarding 

 measures for the relief of agri- 

 culture, Congressman Rainey re- 

 quested President Smith to under- 

 take the preparation of emergency 

 agricultural legislation having for 

 its purpose the immediate increase 

 in, prices of basic farm com- 

 modities so as to improve the in- 

 come of the American farmer. 



On his return to Chicago, Mr. 

 Smith called into conference other 

 officers and staff members of the 

 Association, C. V. Gregory, editor 

 of Prairie Farmer, M. L. Wilson of 

 Montana, a recognized agricultural 

 economist, and a number of busi- 

 ness leaders and executives. 



Undivided Attention 



Undivided attention was given to 

 the preparation of this legislation. 

 After the principles of the legisla- 

 tion had been generally agreed up- 

 on, Mr. Fred Lee of Washington, 

 an authority on constitutional law 

 and legislative drafting, was re- 

 tained to write these principles in- 

 to a bill. This was done and the 

 bill was delivered to Congressman 

 Rainey on June 13. On June 15 Mr. 

 Rainey introduced it in the House 

 where it was referred to the Com- 

 mittee on Agriculture. 



In its deliberations the Committee 

 on Agriculture was practically 

 unanimous in asserting that the 

 measure would have the desired 

 effect in raising the prices of 

 wheat, hogs, and cotton, yet in- 

 sisted upon including many other 

 agricultural commodities which 

 made it impossible of operation. 



Recognizing the impossibility of 

 getting the Rainey bill out of the 

 Committee on Agriculture in the 

 House without serious amendment, 

 the bill was introduced in the Sen- 

 ate on June 28 by Senator Norbeck 

 of South Dakota. On July 1 the Sen- 

 ate Committee on Agriculture re- 

 ported it out with favorable recom- 

 mendation, and on July 13 the bill 

 passed the Senate without a record 

 vote. 



Favorable Consideration 



On its passage, the Norbeck bill 

 was messaged to the House and on 

 receipt was immediately referred to 

 the Committee on Agriculture 

 where it received prompt and fa- 

 vorable consideration, being re- 

 ported out unchanged by a vote of 

 9 to 4. Congressman Rainey, who 

 had the whole-hearted support of 



the entire downstate Illinois dele- 

 gation in Congress as well as in- 

 fluential representatives from other 

 states, then worked energetically 

 for immediate consideration on the 

 floor of the House. 



Under the Rules of the House, 

 no bill can be brought up unless 

 a rule for its consideration is ob- 

 tained from the powerful Rules 

 Committee. In getting a rule for 

 consideration of the Rainey-Nor- 

 beck bill in the House, sponsors of 

 the measure met with difficulty. 



Seek To Recall Bill 



In the meantime, a situation had 

 arisen over in the Senate which 

 threatened the life of the bill. Re- 

 actionary sentiment from the East 

 led by Senator Bingham of Con- 

 necticut, on July 14, sought to re- 

 call the Norbeck bill from the 

 House and move for a reconsider- 

 ation. This was a parliamentary 

 effort to destroy the measure, at 

 least for the current session of 

 Congress. But this eff<i»t was tem- 

 porarily blocked when Senator 

 Norris of Nebraska, a valiant sup- 

 porter of the measure, gained the 

 floor and maintained it throughout 

 the day to give time for ample 

 consideration in the House. 



While Senator Norris' filibuster 

 was underway in the SettsTt^mem- 

 bers of Congress, both Republicans 

 and Democrats, went repeatedly to 

 Speaker of the House Garner and 

 the Rules Committee urging them 

 to allow immediate consideration of 

 the bill. All of these efforts failed. 



Norris Yields 



Since nothing more could be 

 done to secure consideration of the 

 bill by the House word was sent 

 over to the Senate that it was use- 

 less to continue the filibuster. 

 Thereupon Senator Norris jrielded 

 the floor and Senator Bingham 

 was recognized. His motion to recall 

 the Norbeck bill from the House 

 and recommit it to the Committee 

 on Agriculture where it now rests, 

 prevailed 30 to 25. The vote on this 

 measure follows. All those who 

 voted "yea" were against the bill, 

 all those who opposed Bingham's 

 motion were for the bill. 



^ YEAS 



^V: 



Fletcher 



Prazler 



Hatfield 



Howell 



Johnson 



Jones 



LaPollette. 



Lewis 



Bankhead 



Barkley 



Bingham 



Black 



Blaine 



Borah 



Bratton 



Brookhart 



Broussard 



Bulkley 



Caraway 



Carey 



Coolldge 



Copeland 



Cutting 



Dale 



Davis 



Dickinson 



Dill 



Pess 



Glass 



Plttman 



Robinson, Ark. 



Robinson, Ind. 

 ; .; Schall 



.; •?. Sheppard 



Shipstead 

 "" Trammel 



NOT VOTING ■■^;%.-".. 



Glenn ;.-'v< ■ 



Harrison "^:;' > - 



Hawes 



Hayden 



Hull 



Kendrlck 



Logan 



McGlll 



McNary 



Oddle 



Shortrldge 



Smith 



Stelwer 



Swanson 



Thomas, Idaho 



Thomas, Okla. 



Walsh, Mont. 



Waterman 



\^'^atson 



Wheeler 



Responsibility for the defeat of , 

 the Rainey-Norbeck emergency; 

 price-raising measure which would !> 

 have brought about immediate in-;' 

 creases in the price of wheat, hogs 

 and cotton, and indirectly other 

 agricultural commodities, rests with 

 Speaker Garner and the Rules 

 Committee of the House for their -v 

 inaction, and with the reactionary 

 interests in the Senate who insisted 

 on the bill's recall and recommit- 

 ment. ;, , ; . 



Bill Widens Farm Credit 



Senate bill 2409 to widen the ' 

 powers of Federal Intermediate 

 Credit banks and give them greater 

 latitude in financing farmers re- 

 cently went to President Hoover for 

 approval. 4 



The measure would authorize 

 Federal Intermediate Credit Banks 

 to accept drafts drawn on them 

 by co-operative marketing associa- 

 tions and would permit rediscount 

 by Federal Reserve banks of notes 

 discounted by such banks. 



STILL HOPE FOR HIGHER PRICES •" v 



(Continued from page 4) , I 



tention on the part of outstanding 

 business men and executives in all ■■''[ 

 walks of life than at any previous ■ / 

 time. Certainly we still have in : .. 

 America the ingenuity of thought, : 

 the determination and willingness ' 

 of effort, the brains and the states- ; 

 manship that should when coupled 

 together result in an early agree- 

 ment upon and the putting into 

 effect of such a permanent agri- 

 cultural policy as is necessary to 

 assure the future prosperity of the , 

 corner-stone of the Nation — its 

 AGRICULTURE." 



J. E. Mummert, our president 

 who was seriously injured in a^ 

 automobile accident, is making: 

 satisfactory recovery, writes J. E. 

 Watt, farm adviser Fulton county. 

 It will be several weeks before he is 

 able to walk. 



