PRESIDENT HOOVER AND THE FARMERS.
In his pre-election campaign President Hoover promised that as one of his first official acts he would assemble Congress in extraordinary session to enact legislation giving relief to the farmers of the United States. In the special session of Congress convened last week there has immediately developed a serious clash between the President and the chief proponents of the views held by the leading farmers' organization. The fundamental conflict hinges on the farmers' so-called " debenture plan " which provides that when a cargo of wheat, for instance, is shipped abroad, the shipper shall receive a Government debenture entitling him to one half of the amount of customs duties that would have been paid on the same amount of wheat, had it been imported into the United States. In the case of cotton the debenture is specifically fixed in the Bill before the Senate at 2 cents per pound.
The President emphatically opposes the debenture plan and in a letter. to Senator McNary adduces ten specific reasons why in his judgment the theoretical benefits of the plan would not only not help the American farmer but would tend to " bring American agriculture to disaster."
On Monday, the very day on which the President's letter was made public, the Senate Committee on Agriculture reported favourably to the Senate with regard to the deben- ture plan. It is possible that the Bill will pass the Senate, but highly unlikely that it will get through the House of Representatives. * * * *
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