The Key West Citizen Newspaper, June 22, 1953, Page 9

RIGID PRICE SUPPORTS BLAMED FOR FARM SURPLUS FOODS Most Organizations Backing Eisenhower Administration On Farm Program By OVID MARTIN and DON WHITEHEAD + WASHINTON (#—The nation’s ; crops as wheat, corn, cotton, rice and peanuts at 90 per cent of par- ity. Parity is a price standard estimated to give the farmer a fair income in relation to the cost of things he must buy. Federation and Grange leaders— and Benson—blame this high and rigid price support item for many farm ills, such as huge sur- need to worry about overproduc-|development in this country of ajlars a year, maritime subsidies of | related industries, 10 million on the | Monday, June 22, 1953 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Page 9? tion. We would have no need for |scarcity-oriented food and fiber | about 18 million a year, and busi-|farms, six million producing for acreage allotments and marketing | program.” ness -reconversion payments ofj|and serving farmers, and nine quotas, and no need for building up| Patton argues that taxpayer about five billion a year for the/ million processing and distributing unmanageable reserves, jlosses in farm price supports has |last eight years. Sarma prodnets: conduct free democratic elections | world’s civil war is being waged. “The economic reasoning under-| been about one billion’ dollars since | His argument is that this cost is} The ideal solution, Patton) 114 snide by the laws enacted by| The outcome will depend in a lying flex ort levels a |1933—or an average of 56% million | ndt too great to build up farm in-|afgues, would be a world economic | the governing body of such a union large measure on the ability of the the sliding le: is fallacious. a year. He compares this loss tol Gaae and production to help 25/union “with a single currency and | would be eligible for membership.” | farm leaders to line up support for followed, it can only result in Fig beste subsidies of 219 million dol- | million People in agriculture and!no trade or population migration! Within this sharp conflict of/their views. barriers.” | viewpoints on how the farm prob- He saysy “Any nation that will|lem should be handled, the farm “Big Three’ farm organizations | are in the front lines of the farm | world civil war which today is raging over the federal govern- ment’s role in aiding agriculture. They speak with the voices of millions of farmers in a struggle to shape the kind of farm aid Con- gress will vote next year when the present program expires. Although a final decision is months—perhaps years—away, or- ganization leaders already are tray the country rallying farmers to the showdown fight in state, county and town meetiugs. Each group has a strong lobby in ‘Washington. On the side of the Eisenhower | administration stand the American | Farm Bureau Federation—the big- Sest farm organization in the coun- try—and the National Grange. es ig memberships total 2,292,000. the opposing chmp is the Na- tional Farmers Union, which had a potent voice in the Truman ad- | | farm ministration. Its membership is | 189,600 farm families or 575,000 | voting members. The Grange, oldest of the three, started in 1866 to help solve farm- | ers’ economic problems. It did | mich to get railfoads and other utilities brought under government regulation. The farmers union was organized in Texas in 1902 to fight economic battles for low-income | farmers. T ‘arm Bureau Federation | dev: out of the farm reces- sion that followed World War I. Its sponsors said the older farm organ- izations were tailing to provide leadership. ad bureau mi elosely aligned with the Roose- administration during the ‘30s fh a, '40s. Its leaders helped and get through Congress Daa ition providing for crop con- Price supports and subsidies. However, the price supports of pea days ee of sey lower, is’ type advocated by the Eisenhower administration and the present farm bureau leadership. eration and the Grange | have thrown. their influence into | 4 administration drive to shift | the farm program to less. depen-| denice on government subsidy. With | relatively minor exceptions, these two groups see eye to eye on the| farm lem. Pe They support Secretary of Agri- Sele a Benson’s philos- ophy—' lects the Eisenhow- er thinking—that U. S. farmers must depend more on their own initiative and independent plan- . They favor less federal con- ‘and the use of flexible price supports to encourage or discour- age production fe certain crops as the need may Under eae laws, expiring next year, the federal government is compelled to support such basic | | | income supplement land purely |pluses in wheat, corn and butter. And they believed it will lead directly to complete government controlled production and market- jing. The National Farmers Union, on the other hand, is fighting not only to retain the high price support level but to extend it to other commodities. Its leaders argue that anything less than the present program will weaken the entire farm economy, bring further drops in prices, slash income, and create a program of scarcity in production. The union contends the Ameri- ean farmer is entitled to govern- ment subsidy just as much as air- lines and railroads, and that the federal government should in fact fs take a more active role in aiding the farmers. The union contends the nation is lucky to have surpluses as a safety reserve against drought and the possibility of war. It denies sur- |pluses have resulted from high | price supports. The men to watch in this fight are Allan B. Kline, president of the | American Farm Bureau Fede | tion; Herschel D. Newsom, m r of the National Grange; and James G. Patton, president of the Nation- jal Farmers Union. Of all the farm leaders, Kline | appears to be closest to Eisenhow- | er and has been a White House visitor more than once. His critics even claim that the federation is “in control” of the Department of | Air Conditioned for your Shopping Comfort Agriculture. | 4 During the Truman regime Kline was pretty much snubbed, | Kline believes government mark- | : et supports should be flexible, | ranging from 75 to 90 per cent of | heavy farm production, supports | could be lowered to discourage big surplusese which, tend to depress | market prices. If production falls too low, supports could be raised } to encourage planting. Kline is among those convinced | price fixing is an artificial device which doesn’t get to the basic cause of the farm trouble. He speaks for those who favor a more competitive farm market. As all the farm leaders do, he supports more farmer education, more. re- search, and more aggressive ex- port policy as sound means of pro- moting markets for farm produc- tion. He-has been outspoken against those federal farm aid Payments | he thinks are mere subsidies and | i do not actually promote better farming, such as paying farmers for putting lime on their land. Kline argues it has become nore} mal practice in the Midwest to use lime because it increases pro- duction and enhances the value of the land. “When payments are made for this kind of practice,” Kline told congressmen recently, “we are simply making an appropriation out of the Federal Treasury for an and we do not think that is the way to do that sort of thing. We think it is simply a dangerous political principle.” |lime The Eisenhower administration is going along with Kline on the payments, having recom- | mended that funds for conservation | practices be cut to 140 million dol | | j size,” | Avle FRANK BASO, 20, son of + Mr. and Mrs. B. Baso, 515 Louisa Street, is now serving with the Air Force in Korea as @ Radio Operator. He attended Key West High School and par ticipated in many baseball games in Key West. Gvurepe’s Tallest Building MILAN (WwW) — Workers, idle for & month, have rushed back to the completing Milan's sky- i lars for 1954 compared with million made available by Con ress in previous years. The House, however, refused to back guch a big cut. It voted 195 million. The Senate is expected to accept the House figure. Grange Master Newsom is con- vinced too much emphasis 8 been put on the price support level as the key to the farm problen. “What I would like to empha he said in an inter parity in the market Eisenhower, campai presidency oO talked parity in the market place While Eisenhower did how it could be achieved, si Point to efforts to boost come through researc } motion, improved costs, a abroad, shifti avoid price-d pr 250 farmer will ec ability and must be a drive kets overseas Our greatest relief ha expanded world trade, >} said. wer aw to tradition tallest spire Duomo - the reaches 108.5 apes had it that no city may surpass teok a special resolution of ety council to approve continuing Milan's newest skyscraper busi wead building beyond that height Patton, the N. Union chief, the uncompi wreckers. position as He refers “the false ec Read The Citizen Want Ads ° Sunshine Sweets ‘ Cc CANS Armour Star Tenderized PICNIC HAMS 09 Try Them... 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