Ache, Agony, Anguish

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 passed into U. S. history one January afternoon in 1936, when Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts began reading the majority Supreme Court decision in U. S. v. Butler et al., receivers of Hoosac Mills Corp. The AAA of 1938 has yet to reach the Supreme Court. But last week two of the men most prominently identified with it set out to argue its case before the tribunal of public opinion. One demanded an outright conviction for failure, the other appealed for a suspended sentence.

Mad Farmers. South Carolina's Ellison D. ("Cotton Ed'') Smith took a long time to make up his mind whether he was proud or ashamed of the fact that, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, he brought the second AAA to the Senate floor this year. In his recent campaign he sometimes blamed the bill on the New Deal, sometimes claimed credit for it. Last week, with cotton prices tumbling under a bumper August carryover of 13,400,000 bales and no increased AAA relief in sight, Cotton Ed set his weather-vane for good.

He and seven other cotton Senators-- Georgia's George and Russell, North Carolina's Reynolds, Mississippi's Harrison and Bilbo, Missouri's Clark, Oklahoma's Elmer Thomas--marched on Washington to demand that the Government's present 8.3% cotton loans be upped to the 11.75-c- maximum (75% of parity) possible under the Act. There they were told that the President was too busy, advised to take their grievances to AAA. Cotton Ed snorted: "These farmers are mad. Why shouldn't they be? ... I have served here under five Presidents preceding this one. I never was refused an audience and I never was asked what my business was before this." "Do you want to be quoted on that?" cautioned his secretary.

"Hell, yes, I do. Why not?" Surest Way. To Secretary of Agriculture Wallace AAA has recently come to stand for ache, agony and anguish. In defense of AAA he has argued that present low prices are due more to bumper weather (even the Dust Bowl bloomed this year) than to any serious defect in the Act. But in spite of the most far reaching crop control laws ever enacted, all three major U. S. crops are in trouble. Wheat, with a near-record crop of 940,000,000 bushels and a whopping 300.000,000 bushel carryover in prospect for next year, has stumbled to 50-c- a bushel on the farm (against $1.25 in 1936). A plan to subsidize export of 100,000,000 bushels has been so snagged by record surpluses abroad that only 10,000,000 bushels had been moved out by last week. AAA estimated that this year's corn crop was not so large that compulsory marketing quotas need be applied, but corn last week sold at 5-c- compared to 65-c- a year ago. The crisis in cotton, where compulsory marketing has been imposed, was so grave that Oklahoma's Thomas, a faithful New Dealer, reported last week that cotton farmers in his State were deserting their land to go on Relief.

Taking his courage in both hands, Secretary Wallace last week set out to talk to wheat farmers at Hutchinson, Kans. and--cotton growers in Fort Worth, and promised to talk next week to corn farmers at Springfield, Ill. "Fight for the program that you have," he urged, then revealed what he thought should be done to AAA II to make it work.

AAA II is supposed to induce farmers to limit crops in return for benefits--soil conservation payments, crop loans, crop insurance, Government purchase of surpluses. If these inducements do not work the Act provides for compulsory controls--marketing quotas (such as are now in force for cotton and tobacco) invoked after two-thirds of the growers approve in a referendum. If crop prices continue falling however, Mr. Wallace declared himself opposed to outright price fixing on the basis of production cost, which "would soak the consumer, sink the farmer, and mean uncontrolled production."

"The surest way for wheat farmers to get their fair share of the national income," said he, is for the Government to give the farmer the difference between his market price and what his crop would have brought in some Golden Age like that of 1909-13. Such payments are authorized in principle by AAA II whenever appropriations are made for them. Mr. Wallace boldly suggested that the best way to finance the payments would be to revive processing taxes, which the Supreme Court found illegal. "Why not use this kind of a tax once more?" he demanded. "We know it will work because it has worked."

"Roads to Disaster." AAA's misfortunes have already revived a host of rival farm panaceas. Most popular is the long talked of "domestic allotment" plan, permitting unlimited crop production and assuring producers a profit on that part of their crop consumed in the U.S., the balance to be sold abroad at world prices. At Fort Worth Henry Wallace told cotton farmers that domestic allotment would be a "road to disaster." Bristling on the platform was Texas' Commissioner of Agriculture J.E. McDonald, a champion of domestic allotment. As soon as the Secretary left town, Commissioner McDonald announced he would organize Statewide opposition to AAA and all its works. Sniffed Mr. McDonald: "The officials of his [Wallace's] organization are merely holding their AAA jobs to keep from leaning on WPA shovels."

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