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
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