farmers of the nation. Since the unprec- 

 edented need for food w'ill likely 

 continue for a while after the war, we 

 believe that trucks and other military 

 equipment should be made available 

 to farmers immediately upon the ces- 

 sation of hostilities. The farms of the 

 nation are also in need of better hous- 

 ing and farm buildings. Consideration 

 should be given to the practicability of 

 using some of the surplus war material 

 to improve rural housing facilities. 



Land suitable to farming which has 

 been purchased by the government 

 should be sold as soon as possible after 

 the war. This land should be offered 

 to the original owner, and then if not 

 purchased in a reasonable time, it 

 should be put up for public sale and 

 sold to private individuals in units 

 suitable for the operation of family 

 size farms. 



We believe that it would be doing 

 the returning veterans a disservice if 

 they were encouraged to locate on 

 small farms or poor land as a means 



of rehabilitation. Any plan of resettle- 

 ment for returning veterans should be 

 on an economically sound basis, and 

 should not require a permanent sub- 

 sidy or permanent government super- 

 vision. In the light of the experience 

 after World War I, we believe that all 

 federal resettlement programs should 

 be carefully scrutinized, to see that the 

 participants have a reasonable chance 

 of succeeding in their farming opera- 

 tions. We are opposed to programs 

 which tend to make agriculture the 

 dumping ground for the unemployed 

 from the city. Returning veterans 

 should be encouraged to continue their 

 education and also to develop voca- 

 tional skills of all kinds. 



VIII 

 Postwar Planning 



The position of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation on postwar plan- 

 ning is outlined in detail in the folder 

 entitled "A Guide to Postwar Planning" 

 which is reprinted below. 



A GUIDE TO POSTWAR PLANNING 



By the Board of Directors of the American Farm Bureau Federation 

 Adopted at Quarterly Meeting, Sept. 3, I94i 



I. We favor the United States of America 

 assuming its rightful share of the responsi- 

 bility for cooperation with other nations in: 



1. Holding aggressor nations in check 

 after the end of the war. 



2. Maintaining world trade policies that 

 will give opportunity to all nations 

 to obtain the materials necessary to 

 maintain a sound peacetime economy, 

 and 



3. Providing the opportunity for politi- 

 cal and economic freedom for all peo- 

 pie; - 



to the end that a just and lasting 

 peace may be maintained among the 

 nations of the world. 



II. We favor extending aid to the people 

 of the war-ravaged nations to relieve human 

 suffering, but in every case, in order to avoid 

 misunderstandings and unfortunate conse- 

 quences, we should make certain that no com- 

 mitment is made which our nation within rea- 

 son cannot fulfill. The primary objective 

 should be to assist them in their rehabilitation 

 plans and programs so as to enable them to 

 help themselves in meeting their own needs in- 

 sofar as they desire and request such assistance. 



in. We favor domestic policies that will 

 assure full production and full employment, 

 which will result in constantly rising living 

 standards for all groups. To attain this ob- 

 jective, an equitable balance in purchasing 

 power among all groups must be maintained. 



We believe that this can best be accom- 

 plished by industry, labor and agriculture 

 through voluntary adoption of price and wage 

 policies based on a philosophy of abundance. 

 Only if each group will do its part to form- 

 "jf *e and carry out such a program, can they 

 effectively protect the general welfare against 

 the development of extremely paternalistic pol- 

 icies on the part of Government. 



IV. We recognize that as civilization be- 

 comes more complex, government must as- 

 sume new functions, but we insist — 



That our historic constitutional form of 



government with its balance of powers among 

 the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branch- 

 es be reverently observed and jealously 

 guarded ; 



That the continuation of successful dem- 

 ocracy demands that individuals and groups 

 shall assume the greatest possible responsi- 

 bility for the solution of social, political 

 and economic problems. 



To the extent that governmental aid is 

 necessary, it should be carried on as far as 

 possible by governmental units closest to the 

 people, and where federal action is required, 

 such powers should be administered as far as 

 possible through agencies IcKally responsible 

 and which can adapt such programs to local 

 conditions. 



Too great reliance upon governmental ac- 

 tion alone will inevitably destroy our demo- 

 cratic institutions and lead us into some form 

 of stateism with the accompanying loss of our 

 freedom. Government should be the servant 

 and not the master of the people. 



V. We favor the adoption of monetary and 

 credit policies, domestic and international, that 

 will encourage and facilitate maximum produc- 

 tion, distribution, and consumption of goods 

 and services, on a fair-exchange basis. 



VI. We favor adjustment or removal of 

 foreign and domestic barriers so as to facilitate 

 the maximum exchange of goods and services 

 between nations, and between groups in our 

 own country, to the end that maximum em- 

 ployment and production may be achieved 

 throughout the world. 



VII. We favor every legitimate and neces- 

 sary aid by private industry, labor and agri- 

 culture in cooperation with government, to 

 provide opportunity for profitable and satis- 

 factory employment for men and women de- 

 mobilized from the armed forces and war 

 plants. 



We favor the speedy reconversion of pri- 

 vately-owned industrial plants to the produc- 

 tion of peacetime goods. Agricultural land, in- 



dustrial plants and unneeded inventories owned 

 by the government should be disposed of as 

 rapidly as practicable on terms and conditions 

 that will make the maximum contribution to 

 our peacetime economy. 



VIII. We believe that fiscal and tax policies 

 should be adopted that will retard inflation, 

 that will be as nearly as possible on a pay-as- 

 you-go basis and will encourage the system of 

 free enterprise. We urge that prompt action 

 be taken to put into operation a definite pro- 

 gram for the retirement of the public debt as 

 rapidly as economic conditions will permit. 



IX. Public educational opportunity must be- 

 enlarged for the youth of America and for its 

 adult population as well. To the extent Fed- 

 eral assistance is needed it should be limited 

 to financial grants, without Federal control, to 

 the states on the basis of need with local and 

 state governments responsibe for performing 

 this function. 



The educational system must aid our citizens 

 in the function and use of organization in be- ^ 

 half of their individual and general welfare. 



The dignity of agricultural pursuits mast 

 become more widely respected. Urbanism must 

 not be pitted against ruralism, for each 

 is dependent on the other. The country and 

 small-town youth of America must have equal 

 opportunity with urban youth. 



X. We favor an intensive attack on the 

 problems of better medical and hospital care 

 for all groups. This is particularly necessary 

 in rural areas. In general, we favor action on 

 this problem by the voluntary organization of 

 cooperative health and hospital associations. 

 We stand ready to cooperate with the medical 

 profession and other groups in the solution of 

 this problem. 



XI. Neither agriculture, labor, nor iodusUr 

 can solve their own problems without giving 

 due consideration to the problems of the 

 others. The goal of full production and full 

 employment through private enterprise can 

 only be attained through their cooperation and 

 their support of nation-wide policies and plans 

 directed toward the good of all instead of 

 each striving to obtain a position of monopo- 

 listic advantage. We therefore urge that all 

 possible efforts be made by industry, agricul- 

 ture, and labor to promote better relationships 

 and more edetxive cooperation between these 

 great economic groups for the common wel- 

 fare. We call on all groups to join in confer- 

 ence to sincerely seek the solution of our mu- 

 tual problems in the interest of the nation as 

 a whole. 



XII. Our national agricultural policy must 

 include a constructive soil conservation pro- 

 gram and mechanism lo assist farmers to ad- 

 just production to changing conditions, to 

 assure abundant supplies of food anjl fiber for 

 domestic and export needs, and to maintain 

 economic balance between agriculture and 

 other segments of our national economy. Even- 

 tual destruction of our soil wealth, which 

 would be followed by national disintegration, 

 will be inevitable unless farm products can 

 be traded on a fair-exchange basis for the 

 goods and services produced by other groups. 



XIII. Our post-war planning must be done 

 on a democratic basis. Government agencies 

 may furnish information but the people should 

 make the decisions on plans. We therefore 

 urge that Congress, as the eleaed represent- 

 atives of the people and the policy-making 

 body under our Constitution, at once assume 

 its proper responsibility in cooperation with 

 the Executive department in all post-war plan- 

 ning, both national and international, by the 

 Federal Government. 



We favor the establishment by Congress of 

 a Joint Congressional Commission to study 

 thest postwar problems, to consult with rep- 

 resentatives of all groups in the Nation, and to 

 submit definite recommendations to Congress. 



JUNE. 1944 



