Bumper Crop

One of the last surviving wartime-emergency measures for bolstering the domestic economy is the rigid, 90%-of-parity price support for "basic" crops (corn, wheat, cotton, rice and peanuts). Last week the U.S. Senate put the Government-support program on a flexible 82 1/2%-90% formula.

The 90% level, needed in wartime to encourage food production in the face of shortages and inflation, was due to go out within two years after President Truman declared war's end in 1946. But farm-bloc Congressmen of both parties found that 90% was the sweetest manna in the political crib. Democrats conveniently forgot that in prewar 1938, Congress set the basic-crop price-support floor at only 52%; retrospectively, they sold 90% supports as a New Deal measure. Every two years, Congress extended the 90% supports, and farm surpluses piled up in Government storage houses. Example:the U.S. owns 764 million bushels of wheat, 100 million more than a full year's supply. The Agriculture Department estimates this year's wheat crop at 977 million bushels, which would add another 300 million to the surplus.

Clean Sweep. During last month's Senate filibuster, Vermont's rustic George Aiken, chairman of the Agriculture Committee, almost despaired of bringing the Administration's farm bill to a vote during the Senate's session-end log jam. Since his committee had voted against him, he faced a major floor fight to restore President Eisenhower's flexible formula.

When the fight started last fortnight, Aiken brought up his amendment to authorize supports ranging from 80%-90% of parity. Later he made a careful nose count of the Senate, learned that the vote would be too close for comfort. Deciding that the 82 1/2%-90% scale which the House of Representatives had previously voted could carry, Aiken asked Kansas' Andrew Schoeppel to propose it. This shored up Schoeppel's wavering support and clothed the plan with the mantle of a wheat-state Senator. For the prestige of sponsoring the winning compromise, and for the promise of presidential backing in this fall's election, Republican Schoeppel was willing (if not eager) to oblige.

When, on a 49-44 vote, the Schoeppel amendment was adopted, the nation had a policy of flexibility, and President Eisenhower had harvested a bumper legislative crop. With the farm-bloc diehards thus shaken, George Aiken moved in to score a clean sweep on other provisions of the bill. In fast succession, the Senate beat away the chaff of demands for 1) increasing price supports on soybeans and feed grains (oats, rye, barley, grain sorghums), 2) imposing cattle supports at a rigid 80% of parity, and 3) pegging dairy supports at 80% instead of the 75% set by Agriculture Secretary Ezra Benson.

Final Tally. Standing inflexibly against flexibility was a small band of Republican irresponsibles, including North Dakota's William Langer and Wisconsin's Joe McCarthy. When the manna-hunters' sniping subsided, the Senate passed and sent to conference with the House the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1954. The final Senate tally: 62-28. Voting "aye" were 44 Republicans, 18 Democrats. Voting "nay" were Wayne Morse, 24 Democrats and three Republicans. The three: Minnesota's Ed Thye, Bill Langer and Joe McCarthy.

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