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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1940)
Saturday, September 21, 1940 The Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon Three Text of Senator McNary's Address onFarmProblems Aurora, 111,. Sept. 21 VP) The text of the speech of Sen. Charles I. Mc Nary of Oregon, republican vice pres idential nominee, at Exposition park here today follow: I am genuinely happy to be here today. Rejoicing In another harvest, with farmers; men, who, like myself, practice the ancient and difficult arts of husbandry. You and I need no In troduction. Farmers of the vast, fruit ful middle west and farmers of the Pacific northwest both suffer from the adverse elements; in common with other agrarian sections of the country both Buffer because of an In come that too often falls below the cost of production. I speak to you as a farmer. I have worked on a farm Mnce childhood; always the same farm, the farm my grandfather home steaded almost a century ago. I &hail apeak with the direct candor of the farmer so that nothing I say may be misunderstood, lirrects of War The times demand clear definition. The second World war has lasted Into Its second harvest season. We mett under 1U threatening shadow; a threat that disturbs our economy, im pels Mb all to extraordinary effort and huge expenditures for defense. At the minimum, wo shall have to sacrifice our treasure; at the worst, we lace war In defense of our Independence, our way of life and our rightful pres tige In this, our hemisphere. If we must face war, let us face it with steady gaze and a single heart. If we must grasp the nettle, let us grap It firmly. It Is too late In our historic day for Americans to flinch from a duty once made plain. But meanwhile, despite wars abroad and the fevers of a presidential con test at home, let us hold on to our emotional balance and our common, or horse, sense. We hear that. Inas much as the war seems to dwarf do mestic considerations, we should ad journ domestic politics; that the cam paign should be fought out solely in terms of our relationships with Eur ope and Asia. X take emphatic Issue with that doctrine. We must guard the home front, especially in times of Internatolnal stress, to make sure that enduring values our liberties and the democratic processes that as sure them are not impaired under cover of an emergency distracting our attention elsewhere. For myself, I nan stress domestic issues. New Deal Failure I am here today to discuss the new deal's failure, substantially to better the lot of agriculture, alter seven years of authority; and to suggest hope for tile future under a realistic and expansive administration of our common problem. Permit me, how ever, to digress momentarily. I had supposed, until reading Mr. Wallace's acceptance speech, that there was lit tle disagreement among Americans regarding Hitler. Nor did Mr. Wallace convince me to the contrary. What he did convince me of was that he had elected to transfer his campaign for the vice presidency from the farm belt or Europe. I fear that Mr. Wallace seeks change of venue. The device Is fa mil lar. When I was a young lawyer out In Oregon, we observed that shrewd counsel. In defending a weak case, preferred being as far from the scene of the crlmo as possible when he went to trial. Mr. Wallace has been psyslcally present in the farm belt during the last weeks, out tils uttered thoughts have been far, far away. HerillcR to Wnllncc In my acceptance speech I char acterized Secretary Wallace as i ; "high-minded and sympathetic sec , retary of agriculture." That charac terization stands. I had not then ob served him as a candidate for office. In his new role, he Is energetic, ar ticulate but mischievous In argu ment. The attempt to make party the test of patriotism is sheer mtscuit-l- making. If taken seriously, it might Injure the national unity so neutiJUi In a crisis. He should take greater care, therefore, to avoid weakening the country's common resolution. to say mat tne repuoncau party Is the "party of appeasement"; to suggest that republicans, as republic ans, are eager to appease timer, wun the blood of the European aemocia cles fresh on his hands, Is, of course, an Irresponsible generalization un worthy of a leader In times of tendon Still at Pence Mr. Wallace charges that congresn lonal debate hinders his word is "obstructs" national uefense. 2 dis pute that. Docs Mr. Wallace propose that congress abdicate; go home for the duration of the crisis una leave all power and all discretion in the hands of the new deal? i reminu Mr. Wallace that we are yet at peace and the time has not arrived for martial law. I hope the time does not arrive wheln it shall be unpatriotic lot the congress to fulfill Its constitutional functions. I hope that fervently. Elewhere in Mr. Wallace's remark able speeches, he credits the new deal with unique qualifications to arm America. I do not share his faith. I maintain that the new deal's failure with America at peace disqualifies It for administering the affairs of an America that may bo at war. The new deal's frivolous waste of our substance has enfeebled us In advance of the vast effort that may He ahead. The shrinkage of business activity In strategic lines finds us with en Indus trial plant unequal to its enlarged tasks, to say nothing of a depleted reservoir of skilled labor. Intent Not Enough The new deal desires to arm Amer ica. No one questions that. But good intentions are not enough. The roads of Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France were paved with good intentions. Will Is needed; a will capable of Integrating a gigantic, na tional effort, will, plus the willing ness to collaborate with all elements in the population and the added and vital capacity to get tilings done I have every confidence that an ad ministration pofiBeBsing the attributes I describe would galvanize the nation into an intensified effort that would shortly spell security against any ices, x iook lor mat type oi adminis tration under Wendell 1. Winkle. The new deal stands charged will. Incompetence In preparing to safe guard this country against the ordeal that crushed Franco and now chal lenges England. Failed To Prepare It failed to prepare the agricultural plant for wartime demands. The con sequence Is that a closing of markets In other parts of the world, might find us crippled by shortages of es sential raw materials. The Irony of this situation Is that many of these materials could profitably be grown here benefitting our own depressed farmers at the same time that their domestic growth assured us against stoppage of supplies. In peacetime, we import far too much agricultural produce. Most of the fats and oils, medicinal drugs, starches, fibres and pulps that we bring In from abroad either can be grown here, or home grown substitutes, equally as useful, can be made to take their place. The aggregate sum annually expended on theso foreign purchases Is great. Ever Normal Povrrly The part of prudence as well as the Interest of our farmers at a time wbsn world markets were vanishing should have dictated to the secretary of agriculture steps toward closing this possible gap In the national sup plies. A wise administration shouli! have surveyed this situation months ago. Secretary Wallace, to my knowl edge, exercised himself In two direc tions toward defense Emplolng a direct appropriation for the purpose, he has Initiated experiment in rub ber cultivation in Brazil and Centra) America. And he has renamed the agricultural surpluses. You will, of course, recall that the great gluts of wheat, corn and cotton that tlh plague the new deal began as plain surpluses. Then, In 1938, Mr. Wallace changed the name, but not the sub stance, to the "ever-normal granary" a condition which, if not checked, seems on the way to providing ever normal poverty for tho farmer. Now the "ever-normal granary" has been trannlated Into "war reserves." The sound of "war reserves" is reassuring. It should reassure you to know that the immense hoards of corn, wheat and cotton held by the government either outright or as pledges against non-recourse loans no longer over hang the market as plain surpluses Surplus Increased The only thing wrong with this picture Is that, In the absence of for eign demand, our present rate of pro duction seems fully ample to take caro of any conceivable requirements a war would levy. Mr, Evans, admin istrator of the agricultural adjust ment administration, estimates that only IS millions of our acres will be needed to supply foreign requirements this veal against 26 millions In 1938 New Jolts Needed Happily, the future Is not altogeth er as foreboding as It has Just been painted. Given an industrial boom because of war orders and many analysts predict such a boom the domestic demand for farm products should steadily expand. But even here, we should not count on too swift, or widespread, a recovery In domestic demand. However, a government green light to business resulting In new Jobs for city workers would be re flected at once in Improved demand for farm produce. We need a sustain ed rounded program for restoring American prosperity. We need, in short, what we have been vainly pro mised for tho last seven years busi ness recovery. Surrounded by mountainous sur pluses, or reserves, the farmer has Dcen irozen into a dependence on the government. The new deal, as every one knows, did not Invent the farm problem. Its offense lies In the fact that, finding agriculture til or a functional disorder. It made the dis order chronic. Disorder Chronic For generations, agriculture playrd a lordly role In American life. The first European migrants to these shores came to farm. Our earliest In dustrlcs shipbuilding, milting, tan ning and weaving grow out of farm ing. Washington and Jefferson pri marily were farmers: they got their livelihoods from tillage. At the time of Washington's first inaugural, nine out of ten Americans lived on the soli Thereafter, land-hungry pioneers poured out across mountains, prairie and plain; preempting fertile valleys: dispersing civilization westward. One does not often nowadays associate adventure with husbandry but tho farmer during nil these years was the nutnenue empire-ouuder. Golden Ace The years from 1900 to 1014 loom. In retrospect, as the farmers' golden age. Population expanded by 29 per cent, unrestricted Immigration added 22 million mouths to be fed. The world's markets eagerly purchased our surpluses. Acreage values stena lly rose. And the farmer had what, In the main, he has lacked since that day his fair, proportionate share of the national Income. He could trado an hour or labor for product of an hour of labor expended by a city dweller. That Is, of course, what we mean in the lost analysis by parity. The year 1020 was the last in which the farmer had an abundant share In the national Income, based on hh. proportion in the population. In . WM, his snare was more man per: cent. hast year his share was only 12 percent. That Is, of every eight dol lars earned oy Americans, only one went to the farmer. Something Wrong Clearly, something is woeiuitv amiss. It Isn't so much that the farmer Isn't as well off as formerly; many Americans in the cities, largi; and small, are in that tlx alao. Thu trouble is that the larmer is worst: off disproportionately. He has tak en a deeper pay cut than the rest of us. Mr. Wallace concedes that for the last several years farm pri ces have constituted apart from gov ermnet payments a clear gift from farmer to consumer oi two nmion dollrrs a year. Oddly enough, that is the precise sum, two billions, by which the average farm Income for the seven lean, or new deal, years fails below that for the seven years Just preceding the new deal. Those, I might throw in, were republican years. The new deal, It Is true, has kept the farm population off the bread lines. That ts not my Idea of suc cess. In the seven new deal years. average farm income per larm nnf. been only 41,124 Including benefit payments; In the seven preceding years, it was 41,432. In Us futile attempt to increase prices by with holding crops from the market, the new deal now has on hand In govern ment ownership and control 10 mil lion bales of cotton, 500 million bushels of corn and 100 million bushels of wheat. I do not regard that as successful, especially as farm commodity prices on August 1. 1840, were in approximately the same ranee as on August 1, 1953. No Nearer bom t ton Actually, the basic farm problem Is no nearer solution today than it was on March 4, 1833. The new deal has reached none of Its funda mental objectives. Its farm pro gram Is a thing of shreds and pat ches; settling nothing; merely put ting off the day of reckoning. If I did not believe that the new deal's "success" could be enormously bet tered, I should not as a fanner ond a friend of the farmer be standing before you today. If I thought that the best the government of the Unit ed States had to offer the farmer was regimented subsistence au6 n permanent state of disparity, then I should despair for my country. A billion dollars this year bops from the treasury to the relief of agriculture. A billion dollars rich ly corned In service to society, A billion dollars which still falls short by an equal sum of the farmers' Just due. No thoughtful citizen, In any party, whether a rural or a city dweller, begrudges those payments They bear the seal of ancient and eminent sanctions. Remedy Offered Alexander Hamilton, farslghtedly expected that tariffs protecting manufacturers would work to the disadvantage of the unprotected far mer, advocated subsidies in compen sation. Before him. Benjamin Franklin, observing British corn laws created artificial surpluses that de pressed farm prices, urged that the government indemnify tne farmers Otherwise, he said, the farmers were being taxed for the benefits of the city consumers. , In passing It may be said that the inclusion oi tne marketing agree ment provision In the agricultural adjustment act was wise end well considered legislation, and Its invoca tion has proved beneficial to many groups oi iarmera. this provision may be termed appropriately one of the corner stones of this act. Under Section 32 of this statute a substan tial appropriation Is provided to en courage the exportatlons of agri cultural commodities ana their in creased use domestically by diver sion. This program has been a particular child of my heart. From tnat iund has heen evolved the food stomp program which serves the dup purpose of assisting the needy and helping the farmer by reducing sur plus crops. 1 know of no one who Advocates Joan Crawford As "Susan" Has a Halo Around Her Head Devil try in her heart . , and love on her mind in "Susan and GooV Fredric March portrays "Susan's" husband who would gladly throttle her at times, "Susan and God" plays Sunday through Wednesday at the State theatre. Companion hit is "An Adventure in Diamonds" with George Brent and Isa Miranda. withholding from the farmer the grants he now has soil conserva tion, parity payments, crop loans, and other benefits until the pro longed emergency Is past and the farmer no longer at a disadvantage. Bureaus Plague Enterprise I have many farmer friends who are gravely concerned, over the deft cits which these benefits together with all the new deal's excess ex penditures are piling up for defer red payment. The farm population will pay Its full share in -meeting these bills. Furthermore, the ad ministration of these vast paternal istic enterprises leave much to, be desired. The inevitable faults oi bureaucracy red tape, favoritism, confusion and delay plague these enterprises. They should be decen tralized. Costs should be reduced. The new deal, satisfied with its form program, sees tne aggregate im provement it has 'been able to make in the farmers lot as a maximum aim. I see It as a minimum. I ac cept that program only as a stop gap substitute for something better until something Better can oe pro vided. And 1 assert. In full confi dence, that the next administration will be able to provide something better. You may, quite properly, ask the grounds for my confidence. My answer is prompt, The next administration will not begin, as did the new denl, with the notion that the American economy Is winding up; that It is m Its dotage. It was In 1932, before the election. that Mr. Roosevelt set the party line in a speecn at ban Francisco, where in he said, and I quote, "Our In dustrial plant is built. The problem Just now is whether under existing conditions It is not overbuilt. Our last frontier has long since been reached and there Is . practically no more free land . . . Our task now 15 not discovery or exploitation of na tural resources, or, necessarily pro ducing more goods. It is the soberer, less dramatic business of adminis tering resources and plant already in Mann ... - mo en a oi quotation. Nnt Stilting for Scarcity The republican party and the next administration take direct issue with tne concept or a shrinking economv, We propose to create nrfltpr abun dance; not to strive for scarcity and devote our chief energy to plannln how to distribute that scarcity. I nave a id that the farm problem American producers, who sell at the American not the world price. That simply means folding the American farmer at last into the American economy. An administration worth its sail will strive for parity prices not par ity payments. It will seek to makel our surpluses a blessing and not a curse: It will seek to blot out rural j poverty and avoid future enforced i shameful large scale mgirations. A first order of business will be restor ation of the family-size farmer to his rightful place as an Independent producer realizing, with Jefferson,, that the prospering freeholder is the cornerstone of the democratic state. Problem Can He Solved To me a permanent solution of the agricultural problem does not appear to be Insuperable. A substantial so lution merely involves a national pro gram which will allot to each farmer hlB fair share in the American market upon whirh he will receive parity price. Such, a plan would assure the farmer his equitable share in the na tional Income. This desideratum can be accomplished through some form of an allotment plan whereby a seg gregatlon will be made of that part of the crop which is required for do mestic consumption and that part which Is denominated the exportable surnl us. Definitely we must not permit the ruinous world price levels to fix the once level of American farm products. Too long, far too long, a world of lower standards of living, lower wages and lower incomes has fixed the price of American agricultural products, Xes us end that situation without delay, A program can and will be evolved, by a republican administration for attaining these objectives. I believe them to be vital to our continuity as a nation of free men. I believe that through them we can build the great er, happier America wherein tha "more abundant life" may become a reality instead of a political phrase. Classes for Women Will Start1 Tuesday Woodbum Classes in Knitting, crocheting, basketry and needle- craft under the direction at Mr. Inga Hanson will start Tuesday and continue through the fall and winter season. Hours will be from 1 to 4 o'clock and classes will be held on Tuesday at Aurora; Wednesday and Satur day at the Tremaine store in Wood burn; Thursday at Hubbard, and Friday at Brooks. Instruction is free. Silverton Mrs, John Middlemas, who has been at the Silverton hos pital for some time tor medical at tention, was removed to her hom Thursday, Mrs. Clarence Nicois sub mitted to a minor operation at the hospital Thursday morning. is primarily one of markets. The new deal, doubting that markets are expansible and that new markets may be found, has made little ef fort to find them. In addition, the next administra tion will not be found by the free trade dogmas of Secretary of 6tate nun. A patient and iovaoie gentle' man. Secretary Hull yearns lor the return of the last century, before the world had been parcelled out into trade preserves; before the days of quotas, embargoes and the other aroitrary devices oi totalitarian trade. Hence, the reciprocal trade! Veatles, which are not reciprocal; do not promote trade ana are not pro perly treaties, not being subject to ratification by the senate. They ate not reciprocal because, under the un conditional most favored nation practice,' treaty negotiated between the United States and Mexico, fur example, at once applie to ail other countries with which we maintain unimpaired trade relations. Former Hpeerh Quoted It may be appropriate for me briefly to quote from a speech 1 made In the senate in 'April of this year on reciprocal trade agreements: "What impelling motive should prompt us to lower our standards to those of Europe and Asia or any other country? Our sacrifice will not solve their problems of econo mics, conquest or peace. The best contribution we can make to tho world, as well as ourselves, is to de fend, preserve and Improve our Am erican standards of living by pro tecting American markets for Ameri can producers at American prices, consistent always with an Intelli gent policy of reciprocity that does collide with the resources of any na tion with which we contemplate a treaty agreement." End of quotation. The next administration undoubt edly will deal with foreign countries realistically. At the least, it will reserve to the American farm pro ducer first access to his own mar ket. It will further, by every means, seek to enlarge the American mar ket for farm products both by im proving the consuming power of city consumers and also by encour aging the industrial uses of farm raw materials. Thirdly, it will search for a formula of freeing the Am erican farm price from the Tagaries of foreign markets: putting the far mer on the same footing with other l Meet Susan . there's a halo 'round her head U. -,T 11 and Deviltry In ,r I her heart! She was Just a giddy """'about with much l IflW she traveled arn4 the world to shore it fJg Iwfb eversboriy. i Q '3s - ?! 9 1 GREAT AMERICAN A$ip 1 M0TI0W PICTURE! Vy ljjr ry QTj jXlLrJ I written especially for the screen by I ' l0UlS BROanBLD fn POWER darnell m BRIAN DONLEVY-JANE DARWELL-JOHN Ajk - ' j n CARRADINE MARY ASTOR VINCENT fM& j t ---f PRICE JEAN ROGERS ANN TODD g$p 4ifS4 4?nti PEANJAGGERBrighrYoung ' fclj i '"1: r'rf-E&WlPxM2 w f 13 tf admissions this attraction . v mMMmmW V-J J c jlsxhs. 40c fp fiSTWVlfeEj A M)Qf ";!""' CHILDREN 10c ANYTIME a$S aamaiHiiliiT'l l c-o L l "l"vn" I i " P Read the ADVERTISEMENTS in the Capital Journal and save many times your subscription price!
