Palmer, Alaska
Editor.
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.Dorothy la.Dell
•Harriet Z.Bell
Published once a week at Palmer, Alaska, for the Matnnuska Valley
Farmers’ Cooperating Association for the purpose of giving news of the
Associations work, problems and accomplishments.
SUBSCRIPTION RATE $1.75 per year $1.00 for six months 100 copy
THE AIKEN-ANDERSON ACT
By F.L. Kerzie, C.P.A.
In this land of virulent lobbies (our real rulers in spite of our demo
cratic flauntings) we shall probably shortly witness a most interesting
congressional pug-fight, a mat battle between Truman, Brannan, the
Farmers’ Union on one hand; on the other former Secretary Anderson, the
Grange, the Farm Bureau and the lords of the press chuckling away,full
of joy at the possibility that farmers’ votes wil dwindle away from
papa Truman in 1950. .In another article or two this pen hopes to tell
you more about this farmers’ battle to come.
This first article, sarcastic in part, will try and sum up the new
Aiken-Anderson farm price support act. Later we may talk about the
interesting dish that Brannan and Truman prepared for the soil digger.
Of a sudden, under the new act, we.get three kinds of cropsj-basic,semi
basic and non-basi'c. Old parity was and is a pain-in-the-neck, now we
get new extra hypodermic injections„ three of the same kind, but we
deny their blood relationship by a magic oversimplification. Our dead
lav;(?) of supply and demand(it never was a law, my dear farmer brother),
parity, basic, semi-basic and non-basic crops, what a colorful, non
communistic and strictly Anerico-democratic economic dose I It should
convert even a Nazi.
Said smarty Congress: Six crops shall be basic—wheat, corn, peanuts,
rice, tobacco and cotton. Little wonder that in signing the act papa.
Truman did not emit even a White House s.o.S. oath when swallowing this
delicious two-thirds dixiecratic dish. Our new basic aristocrats get
full .90$ of parity for one year at least. Smart southern dixiecrats,
they somehow always manage to remain on top of Missouri.
Continued the smart-alecking Congress: Milk dairy products, honey (yes,
honey!), tung-nuts (ever heard of these?), goats’ h£drs (laugh, clown,
laugh--or did they overlook our Alaskan mountain goats?), Irish pota
toes (what kind are Irish potatoes anyway?) and wool (simply wool) be
come only semi-basic. Now note, poultry and eggs are not mentioned by
name(probably not enough Matanuska poultrymen!) but like hogs and other
livestock products are left to the discretionary mercy of the Secretary
of Agriculture. All these semi-basic orphans lose their previous 90$
rarity,milk and dairy now rate only 75$ to 90$, the other five above
sink.still lower to from 60$ to-90$. Irish potatoes from Aroostook and
Long Island big farms seem to mix well with goats’ hairs, not a very
flattering compliment to the Irish.
Perorates our unimproved 81st edition of the 80th version of previous
Congress, on the hill above stinking Potomac marshes: All other pro
ducts (i.e. one half of all farm output) are christened *non-basic* and
poor Brannan is to decide what support they will get;, anything from zero
to 90$, providing funds are made available by Congress. Says Charlie
J. Coe in Facts for Farmers (get a copy from this writer gratis): This
sets the stage for a brawling slugfest betv;een rival lobbies over the
cut of the discretionary pie. It will make price support odious and
provide jet bomhs for the press lords and help them to atomize the
whole support program. That’s what they also mean by welfare state.
All of above legal mumbo-jumbo will hold to June 1950 only; however,
basic crops may in the 1951 fiscal year be cut down to 80$—but only if
’’marketing quotas or acreage allotments are in effect." How can Branr.an
get out of a dirty stiff farm leaders’ fight in his Office, tell me'»
This pen bets a rotten iron penny that all of this hocus-pocus will be
kicked out the window when Congress reassembles.