SUMMABT of BESOLUTIONS 



Adopted By Voting Delegates at 26th Annnal 

 Meeting of AFBF in Chicago. Dec. 14, 1944 



To THESE aims — victory in war, and 

 victory in peace — the or/^anized farm 

 people of America have pledged them- 

 selves anew. So help us God, we shall 

 not fail. 



I. Democracy and Balance 

 America needs an economic balance which 

 will assure security for labor, stability for 

 industry, and parity for American agricul- 

 ture. Therefore we appeal to the 



leaders in other groups of agriculture and 

 the recognized leaders in labor and in in- 

 dustry, to join in a series of conferences in 

 1945, to formulate a program necessary for 

 the establishment and maintenance of pol- 

 icies designed to assure large-scale produc- 

 tion of the products of both agriculture and 

 other industry, and their interchange on a 

 basis of true economic balance and the es- 

 tablishment and maintenance of a standard 

 of regular wages for workers on such a 

 basis of economic balance. 

 II. Importance of a Prosperous Agriculture 

 to National Welfare 

 The demands of farmers for industrial 

 products and services will be the greatest 

 single contributing factor to a continuous 

 prosperity of all segments of our economy 



Therefore, the welfare of labor and 



industry — in fact, the national wellbeing — 

 requires the adoption and maintenance of 

 economic policies and relationships neces- 

 sary to assure a fair exchange value for the 

 products of industry and agriculture, and 

 the maintenance of continuous and substan- 

 tial wages for labor in line with such a bal- 

 anced price level. 



III. National Farm Program 

 We insist on the following basic meas- 

 ures: 



1) Retention and strengthening of the Agri- 

 cultural Adjustment Act and all related 

 measures. 



2) Continuation of present mandatory loan 

 rates on basic commodities and price 

 supports under the Steagall Act. 



3) Continuation and strengthening of the 

 Agricultural Marketing Agreements Act 

 of 1937. 



4) Adoption of a positive, effective policy 

 and program for regaining our fair 

 share of world markets develop- 

 ing new and expanded domestic outlets. 



5) Goal of all farm programs to be parity 

 prices in the market place, with ceiling 

 prices so adjusted as to eliminate sub- 

 sidies in lieu of fair prices. 



6) Intensification and expansion of farm 

 research. 



7) Adequate appropriations necessary to 

 carry out the above programs. 



8) Simplification, decentralization, and co- 

 ordination of administration of the 

 various phases of the program. We rec- 

 ommend that hereafter no soil conserva- 

 tion practice be included in any program 

 for any State unless it is approved by the 

 State Exf>eriment Station or the State 

 Extension Service. 



rV. International Trade 

 We recommend ; 

 1) Calling an international trade conference 

 to consider lowering barriers to trade, 

 and to discourage erection of barriers in 

 the future. 



2) That the United States participate in in- 

 ternational action on monetary and credit 

 policies designed to stabilize currencies 

 and prices. 



3) That foreign and domestic barriers be 

 gradually adjusted or removed. 



4) That the trade agreements program be 

 improved and expanded. 



5) That new and improved international 

 trade agreements for surplus agricultural 

 products be developed. 



6) That all nations be given access to the 

 raw materials needed (for their peacetime 

 economies. 



7) That, during postwar reconstruction, our 

 exports for rehabilitation of other na- 

 tions that are honestly trying to rebuild 

 their economies be primarily considered 

 as outright expenditures. 



8) That our Government adopt a positive 

 program to develop world trade. 



V. International Cooperation 



We recommend U. S. cooperation with 

 other nations along the following lines: 



1) A general international organization for 

 maintaining world peace, based on the 

 principles outlined at the Dumbarton 

 Oaks Conference, such organization equip- 

 ped to maintain peace by force if neces- 

 sary. 



2) International monetary programs for 

 _ stabilizing currencies and prices, in- 

 cluding the International Monetary Fund 

 and the International Bank for Recon- 

 struction and Development proposed at 

 the Bretton Woods Monetary Confer- 

 ence. 



3) A international food and agriculture or- 

 ganization such as the one initiated at 

 the Hot Springs Conference. 



VI. A Federal Tax Program 



A bi-partisan Federal tax commission 

 should be created to develop an equitable 

 program of taxation. The personal income 

 tax should continue as the major source of 

 Federal revenue. Low exemptions should 

 be retained. Income on future issues of 

 Federal, State and local government bonds 

 should be taxed as other bonds are taxed. 

 The excess-profits tax should be repealed 

 when excessive wartime earnings end. Cor- 

 poration earnings distributed to stockhold- 

 ers as dividends should be exempt from tax- 

 ation except as the stockholder is taxed on 

 such dividends. Undistributed earnings 

 should be taxed at rates sufficient to en- 

 courage but not compel distribution. Gov- 

 ernment-owned property, managed on an 

 earning basis in competition with private 

 enterprise, should be taxed by all other 

 governmental units. Federal social security 

 taxes should be increased only upon proof 

 of necessity. Unemployment compensation 

 taxes should be levied on employer and em- 

 ployee alike by the States, not the Federal 

 Government. The estate tax-offset law 

 should be modernized. 



This Federation will continue to support 

 income tax exemption of patronage refunds 

 of cooperatives. 



VII. Monetary Control and Price Stabiliza- 

 tion 



We will work for a sound monetary and 

 fiscal policy designed to stabilize the gen- 

 eral price level. 



VIII. Inflation Conuol and Price Control 



We recommend that price controls, when 

 necessary and workable, be continued until 

 goods are once again abundant; that the 

 "Little Steel" formula be retained for the 

 duration ; that the intent and specific pro- 

 visions of the Price Stabilization Act be 

 carried out; and that regulations and orders 

 of the War Food Administration and the 

 Office of Price Administration be coordi- 

 nated so as to prevent delay and misunder- 

 standings. 



IX. Farm Credit ' 



We will continue to oppose all efforts to 

 convert the Farm Credit System into a gov- 

 ernment-owned or government-operated in- 

 stitution. We make the following rec- 

 ommendations for reorganization and im- 

 provement of the System : 



1) Direction of all agencies now in the 

 System, plus control of direct-lending 

 agencies dealing with farmers, should be 

 vested in an independent policy-making, 

 bi-partisan board. 



2) With respect to present Farm Oedit Ad- 

 ministration agencies: 



a) All should be farmer-owned and farm- 

 er-controlled. 



b) Initiative and responsibility should 

 rest in the local associations. 



c) National farm loan associations and 

 Federal Land Banks should share 

 profits on a 50-50 basis, and a por- 

 tion of interest payments should go 

 to the associations for operating ex- 

 penses and reserves. 



d) Government capital now in the Sys- 

 tem should be made available to all 

 units in the System when needed, but 

 should be gradually returned accord- 

 ing to an orderly plan. 



c) Interest rates should exceed the aver- 

 age cost of capital funds by an amount 

 sufficient to meet costs and provide 

 for reserves, with any amount left 

 over returned to borrowers as patron- 

 age dividends. 



f) Adjustments in organization and ad- 

 ministration should be made to in- 

 crease efficiency without imparing 

 necessary services. 



3) With respect to governmental direct- 

 lending agencies, we recommend : 



a) All except the Federal Farm Mort- 

 gage Corporation should be admin- 

 istered by an executive officer em- 

 ployed by the national bi-partisan 

 board according to policies to be laid 

 down by Congress and regulations to 

 be issued by the board. 



b) Necessary Congressional appropri- 

 ations for loans and expenses should 

 be made to the proposed bi-partisan 

 board. 



c) Loans should be made only to those 

 unable to qualify with the usual 

 sources of credit. 



d) Interest rates should be not less than 

 rates on similar loans made by per- 

 manent cooperative units of the Farm 

 Credit System. 



e) Existing loans of all direct-lending 

 government agencies should be con- 

 solidated in this agency. 



f) All loans should be limited to 

 amounts that can normally be re- 

 paid out of the earnings of the farm. 

 Clients should be encouraged to as- 

 pire to attain a credit status which 

 will enable them to borrow from the 

 usual farm credit agencies. 



g) Administration should be decentral- 

 ized, improved, and kept free of 

 political control, and the creation of 

 collective colonies forbidden. 



I. A. A. RECORD 



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