Two Plans

Farm legislation is about to come before Congress. Indeed the first of the farm relief proposals went before the Senate last week. There are two chief bills which are receiving serious consideration at the present time. By the curious double christening of Congressional practice, they are called the Norbeck-Burtness bill and the McNary-Haugen bill.

Norbeck-Burtness. The first of these has received the support of President Coolidge. It went before the Senate last week and at once aroused opposition. Senator Fletcher declared it was "paternalism run rampant" and added "of course, if the idea is to establish a good campaign fund, I have no doubt that 50 or 100 million properly handled will be very effective."

The bill as proposed provides a fund of $75,000,000, to be loaned in sums not in excess of $1,000 each to one crop farmers in order that they may buy livestock and diversify their farming.

McNary-Haugen. The second measure is much more ambitious. According to Washington dispatches it has received the "qualified indorsement" of the President.

It proposes to establish a Government Corporation with a capital of $200,000,000. It would first raise wheat tariffs to increase artificially the price of wheat in this country. Then it would in substance have the Government Corporation buy enough surplus wheat to bring the price of wheat in the same proportion to the cost of living that it was for the ten years before the War. There is an intricate system of calculation provided to determine how this shall be done. The Government Corporation is to pay at once only a portion of the price current in this country. It is then to sell its purchases abroad as opportunity may offer. If the returns from foreign sales are sufficient it would then complete payment to the farmers at the full domestic price. If profits were not sufficient it would prorate the loss among those who had furnished the surplus wheat.