Page:GPO-CRECB-1937-pt2-v82.pdf/15

1937 [Mr. ] why they have stricken out the percentages found in lines 8, 9, and 10 on page 24 of the bill?

Mr. POPE. Mr. President, the figures have been transferred to another portion of the bill, and were necessarily stricken out at this point.

Mr. McNARY. Is there a provision in another portion of the bill dealing with the matter of cotton exceeding 15 percent of the normal supply? If so, I should like to have the Senator point it out.

Mr. POPE. I understand that the percentages with reference to different commodities vary. The provision with respect to cotton will be found in the cotton section of the bill. The provision of 20 percent for wheat is stricken out on page 24 of the bill; likewise the provision of 10 percent with reference to tobacco and other commodities. They are dealt with in other portions of the bill.

Mr. McNARY. But as the bill was taken around the country the Senator must have told the farmers that prior to the beginning of the marketing year cotton, wheat, corn, tobacco, and rice were going to be dealt with, and when the Secretary of Agriculture had reason to believe that the total supply would exceed the normal supply thereof by the following percentages, cotton, 15 percent; wheat, 20 percent; field corn, 10 percent; tobacco, 10 percent; and rice, 10 percent; the Secretary then should hold hearings at some principal place in the area or areas.

I am now asking the Senators why they struck out the reference to wheat, cotton, and rice; also the percentages; and if they inserted those percentages at some other point, where they inserted them?

Mr. POPE. Mr. President, if the Senator will read on beyond the portion stricken he will find that the provision with respect to wheat is 10 percent, instead of 20 percent, and corn 10 percent. As I said a few moments ago, the provisions relating to rice, cotton, and tobacco are in other portions of the bill which deal with those commodities.

Mr. McNARY. I ask the Senator, in what other portions of the bill is to be found this language which is stricken from the bill at the place that I am referring to—the bill which the Senators took out to the country folks?

Mr. POPE. I will leave those matters to Senators who are familiar with them. The Senator from Alabama [Mr. ] is familiar with the cotton provision.

Mr. McNARY. I am willing to yield to any Senator. I simply asked the question.

Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. President, if the Senator will examine page 33 of the bill he will find that 35 percent is declared to be a reasonable carry-over at the end of each marketing year.

Mr. McNARY. Oh, yes. We discussed that matter the other day. I said to the Senator that I thought 35 percent was a reasonable carry-over. That does not have anything to do whatsoever with what I am discussing. I have appealed to someone to explain to me about the marketing quota. When this bill was taken out and read and explained to the country people it provided the marketing year for all these commodities; and when the Secretary believes that the total supply exceeds a certain amount—that is, the carryover, plus the estimate of the current year's production—then what does he do with all these commodities? He holds hearings when he believes that the total supply at the beginning of the current year, which is June 1 for wheat and August 1 for cotton, will exceed the normal supply therefor, that is the average over a period of 10 years, by the following percentages: Corn 15 percent, wheat 20 percent, and other percentages for other commodities. That is the bill the boys down on the farm were discussing.

Mr. BANKHEAD. Not in the cotton section.

Mr. McNARY. Did Senators have a different bill which they took down to the cotton section of the country?

Mr. BANKHEAD. We did not take any down.

Mr. McNARY. Oh, Senators did not take any bill down?

Mr. BANKHEAD. No; we did not. We went through the country searching for the views of the farmers.

Mr. McNARY. That is a revelation. I thought Senators were down there studying.

Mr. BANKHEAD. I hope that will satisfy the Senator on the cotton question.

Mr. McNARY. It explains many things.

Mr. ELLENDER. Mr. President. will the Senator yield?

Mr. McNARY. I yield.

Mr. ELLENDER. I desire to state to the Senator from Oregon that it was my privilege to attend all of the meetings, and the only place where the bill was mentioned to any extent was in the Northwest. In the South it was seldom referred to.

Mr. McNARY. Senators were ashamed of it in the South?

Mr. ELLENDER. No; that is not the reason. The commodity under discussion was different from the one produced in the South. The farmers of the Northwest desired voluntary control and those from the South favored control with teeth in it if we could give it to them.

Mr: McGILL. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. McNARY. Mr. President, I like to be accommodating to Senators, but my 15 minutes are rapidly being used up. I will yield, however, to the Senator from Kansas.

Mr. McGILL. I have several times stated on the floor of the Senate, and I do not think I should take time to reiterate it, that at each and every meeting of the subcommittee, of which I happened to be chairman, it was announced to those who assembled that the scope of the hearing was not limited to the terms of any bill pending in Congress, and that all farmers were entitled fully to express their views. My judgment is that some farmers had read and discussed this bill, and that the committee amendments have been adopted because they are in line with the expressed views of the farmers who came before the subcommittee.

Mr. McNARY. Mr. President, there is no imputation upon my part that the eminent Senator from Kansas is unfair at all. I have never intended to convey that impression to him. I think it is just unfortunate that he had to take this sort of a bill around and talk to the boys about it.

Mr. McGILL. The Senator is in error in saying that I took the bill around and talked about it. We discussed all bills pending in the Congress and called attention to them. So this bill was not particularly brought to the attention of those who assembled.

Mr. McNARY. I do not blame the Senator for not particularly bringing it to the attention of the farmers. Mr. President, I have only a minute or so left. I have not heard an explanation by anyone as to why wheat and corn have again been placed on a basis wholly different from that told to the boys down on the farm, and without any cotton limitation whatsoever, excepting on a quite immaterial matter, quite an unrelated matter referred to by the Senator from Alabama [Mr. BANKHEAD], which refers to a normal year of domestic consumption and the carry-over therefor. I suppose my inquiry will simply result in my taking my seat and not having an answer, but I think it is another example of unfair advantage and discrimination against the corn and wheat producers.

Mr. O'MAHONEY. Mr. President—

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. HATCH in the chair). Does the Senator from Oregon yield to the Senator from Wyoming?

Mr. McNARY. I yield.

Mr. O'MALLONEY. What is the Senator's understanding of the requirement which brings the marketing quotas into effect with respect to cotton and tobacco?

Mr. McNARY. That is found in section 21. There are three levels of production. The total supply must be ascertained by the Secretary of Agriculture. When he ascertains the normal supply, and if he finds that the total supply is greater than these percentages, then he calls a meeting in the area.

Mr. O'MAHONEY. Will the Senator for the benefit of the state precisely and briefly the difference, in his opinion, in the operation of this bill as now presented to us with respect to wheat and corn, and its operation with respect to cotton and tobacco?

Mr. McNARY. There is no operation regarding cotton, tobacco, and rice in this respect. This provision deals with