BONUS FOR U.S. FARMERS

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 661, 14 January 1933, Page 1

BONUS FOR U.S. FARMERS

Strong Opposition to Plan of Relief. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. WASHINGTON, January 12. As a first move towards the authorisation of the agriculture relief legislation propounded by the Presidentelect, Mr F. D. Roosevelt, during the Presidential campaign, the House of Representatives to-day passed the socalled “Parity Plan” Farm Relief Bill by 203 votes to 150. The plan, in effect, provides for the payment of bonuses to the producers of seven commodities, representing the difference between the present world price and the average prices prevailing before 1914. The commodities concerned include wheat, hogs, cotton, tobacco, rice, peanuts and butter-fat. The bonus will be paid by processors, such as millers or meat packers, to the United States Treasury, which in turn will refund the amounts to farmers upon fulfilment of a pledge to reduce acreage or production by 25 per cent. The final passage of the Bill is doubtful, as the opposition to it in the Senate is strong, while the Presidential veto, if the measure is passed, is considered to be probable. Whether Mr Roosevelt will favour the legislation if it is passed is not known. It has been drafted generally but not specifically as outlined by him. Opponents of the measure are vigorous in their denouncements, alleging that it would cost the consuming public approximately a billion dollars annually. The administrative expense, w'hich the farmers must bear, would be excessive owing to the necessity of strict supervision to enforce the reduction clause. Many critics predict that the Supreme Court will declare the measure unconstitutional if it is enacted. It would pqg the price of wheat at 75 cents a bushel, cotton at 9 cents a pound, and hogs at 5 cents a pound.