xt7wwp9t2q46_30 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61.dao.xml American Liberty League 37 linear feet archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), No. 33 "Regimenting the Farmers" Speech of Dr. G.W. Dyer, Professor of Economics, Vanderbilt University, May 5, 1935 text No. 33 "Regimenting the Farmers" Speech of Dr. G.W. Dyer, Professor of Economics, Vanderbilt University, May 5, 1935 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_33/Am_Lib_Lg_33_001/Am_Lib_Lg_33_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_30 xt7wwp9t2q46 Pamphlets Available * *
* I O
Copies of the following pamphlets may  
be obtained upon application to the ‘
League’s national headquarters:
Why, The American Liberty League?  
Statement of Principles and Purposes
American Liberty League—Its Platform  
An Analysis of the President’s Budget Message F
N. R. A.—Its Past, and Recommendations for  
the F utur•
Analysis of the $4,880,000,000 Emergency Relief
Appropriation Act.  
Economic Security-·A Study of Proposed Legis· ·
lation
The Bonus——An Analysis of Legislative Proposals * * * ,
Inflation—Possibilities Involved in Existing and
Proposed Legislation ’
The Thirty Hour Week—Dangers Inherent in
Proposed Legislation
The Pending Banking Bil1——A Proposal to Sub-
ject the Nation’s Monetary Structure to the S h f
Exigencies of Politics p°°° °
The Holding Company Bill—An Analysis of
S Proposed Legislation DR. G. W. DYER,
"WShat 2 £he]Const§31t§;n Between Friends?"—
"°°° y ‘""°’ ‘ °° P f f E ' V d b°lt
Where Are We Going?—·Speech by Iames W. I0 ?SS0r_ 0 conomlcsl an Cr I
Wadsworth University, over the Network of the
Co§5;;; at the Crossroads—Speech by Iouett Columbia Broadcasting System,
Price Control—An Analysis of Experiments and May 5, 1935
Recommendations for the Future
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow—A Review of
Factual Analyses issued by the American Lib-
erty League and a discussion of the Legislative
Situation.
The Labor Relations Bill—An Analysi of an ERI
Undesirable Measure 8 Y`}  
Government by Experiment——Speech by Dr. Neil  
Carothers V;   u
How Inflation Affects the Average Family--  lm-*"i°'°`  U
Speech by Dr. Ray Bert Westerfield Tfy L?}
The AAA Amendments—A Study of Proposals p
Illustrating a Trend Toward Fascist Control
of Agriculture and other Industries _
Political Banking—Speech by Dr. Walter E. .‘
Spahr I
The Bituminous Coal Bill-—An Analysis of a
groposed Step Toward Socialization of In- A - AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
umly National Headquarters
* NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING
AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE WASHINGT°N· D' C‘
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING *
WASHINGTON, D. C. *
¤%4 Document No. 33

 “Regimenting the Farmers”
*
. DEPRESSIONS of necessity create conditions
Q that are favorable to economic and political
j quackery. Sane recovery from the shock of a
  depression is always slow. It is the slowness of
  sound recovery measures that gives the oppor-
I tunity to the quack to come in with his radical
‘ remedies and cure everything in a "jiffy.” In
‘ order to impress the weak minded with his
  marvelous healing power, the quack always
* makes a large use of stimulants and narcotics.
“ In all other depressions the sane leaders were
I » able to protect the industrial order against
·‘ quack economic principles, and permit the
  natural constructive laws of recovery to func-
. A tion. The result in every case was complete
r recovery after a few years of readjusting. This
l is the first time in our history that extreme
radicalism has attained a position of leadership
in the Nation. p
p It is no reflection on the character of a man
to call him a quack. A quack may be a good
man, and may mean well. Quackery is a defect
in the brain, not in the heart. Quackery is an
unscientific, illogical course of conduct based on
superficial knowledge and positive ignorance.
The ignorant man who knows he is ignorant
may be a very good citizen. But the ignorant
man who is under a delusion that he is a
A p Solomon is always dangerous. No other type of
boldness is so destructive as the boldness of
ignorance.
` ` When the depression came in ’29, the prices
of farm products, like the prices of everything
. I else under natural laws, fell to a very low point.
  This always happens in a depression. As a re-
  sult of this temporary crisis, many farmers, like
  men in every other field of business activity,
ly were unable to meet their obligations. Many
A farmers had bought farms and were in process
t of paying for them. Many other farmers had
r borrowed money under mortgages. But this
y condition of the farmer was not unlike the con-
ditions of other groups. As a matter of fact, it
is highly probable that no other large group of
I 3
I  

 msn in buelnessv when the depressien eeme’ of low prices and hard times on the farm. It is
were so free from debt as Southern farmers and thc result Of wild speculation on the Part of
rle ether €l`euP ef men were mere able te take farmers in the period of inflated agricultural
care of themselves without charity from the Prospssitss The mts] farm mortgage iudsbtsd_ w
G‘¥le1rrlment· 1 112 834 f _ h S th ness in 1910 on farms operated by owners for
ere were ¤ ¤ arms m t e eu em the whole Nation was only $1,727,172,851. In
gist? in 193*;)*ha* qsrzggzgsd by fun ewnerg 1920 the mortgage indebtedness had jumped to  
I 18 1111111 C1` 011 Y , WCIB 1I101‘tg8.gC .   _  
lll the Southern States 7e4*77e farms were As a matter of fact, in times of inflated pros-  
ab;-leluteiy frg; ef mertgegg 1; l?3°· t d 1 perity farmers lose their heads and engage in  
ess t an Per eent e t e arms epere e j wild speculation just like other groups in the Y
by full owners 1n the Southern States carry any citisso But when they srs brought {scc to face
merligagebt an• Over 78 Per eent ef me farms * with the results of their mistakes, superficial
of Vlfglnla operated by owners are free Of 11101** { leaders and radicals tell them their trouble is
gage The tem] farm memgege 1¤·i·=*¤·=·=<*¤·=¤¤_¤f the result of unwarranted discrimination against
eil mei S1;>¤g¤¤m S;a;Iss 1sYen1§ gbeut ;;e't§nl;:   the poor farmer by powerful groups in the big
t e in e te ness 0 ew or ny' e e cities. They explain their troubles as a boa
ef télellclw if Detlien ls gieete; iw ten mnnens constrictor explained his predicament on one
eh 0 srs t en t e eem me erm mertgege occasion. The boa constrictor was crawlin
indebtedness of Virginia, West Virginia, North through s Hsld sud was approaching s mi?
Carennar Squth elerennev Geerglm Flebmm Ale' fence. He was anxious to get through the fence
bemav Mlsslsslppn Arkansas and Lemsmnm and there was one space between the rails just t
More than ee Per eent ef ths farms ef the large enough for him to squeeze through. But
Natlen rglgeretedl by ewners srs free of mesh just before he got to the fence a rabbit jumped
g&gCS. 6 12013 811'10l11'1t O 31’111 11101'tg&gC 111- u within his ran c and he was S f d f
_ debtedness on all the farms of the whole coun- rfbbits hs just hsds-is swallow them grhscglthgy
HY Operates by Owners is enly ebbut °ne'tnn`e came within his reach. He swallowed the rabbit
the bonded indebtedness of the railroads. and started through ths fsnss_ But when hs
_ The farm mertgege P¥°b' got down to the rabbit he had to stop; the rab-
Prosperlty lem IS reesly net e semeus bit was too big for the hole. While he was
and Farm Preblem In tne Sentnern trying to get through, another rabbit came in his
Mortgages Stgiissh The Ssete ftbet range and he swallowed this rabbit also. Then
re Y as e semeus erm he had a rabbit on each side of the fence. The
mertgeg; Igeblegln 18 Iewisiltns neme af the See' result was that he could neither move forward
retary o gr1c ture. e arm mortgage 1n- b kw d_ I 1 · · h- d- t r
debtedness of Iowa is greater than that of all EET sszssnsag ss Elsiissb isgzggsdlsfgfgl 1§;;1;l;s
the Southern States combined, with Texas ex- L mason today, hs said hs wss s Victim of um
%u*;fd° hln line State sf I¤w=i·· gvnese   fortunate conditions over which he had no con-
e eee es een e eenspleueus ee sr m_ngm' trol. Hence he proceeded to repudiate the Con- I
5=¤1¤¤¤ldP¤11¢1¢;s;;B%10 ggzrtgege lnmilgszdnesg s stitution and declare war on the whole system
increase over , , etween an ‘ f A s ·ssm frssd m_
1920. This was an increase of 132 per cent. 0 m H 0 The uuususl conditions
Yet this was the period of great agricultural Conditions created by the present
prosperity. It is in this period that Mr. Wal- Favor the depression msds it sssy
lace gets his standard of real agricultural pros- Quacks fm; radicals, quscks and
PeHtY‘ _ superficial ignorant re-
The farm mortgage Problem le rmt thc result formers to capitalize the supposed hopeless farm
4 s

 mortgage indebtedness. The theory was broad- The dictator went back v 5
cast throughout the Nation that the farmer was The Plan to the period of 1909-  
in a desperate, helpless, hopeless condition, that _ gf the 1914 to get what he l
this condition wasbrought about by conditions Dictator called the base period '
beyond the farmer’s control. As a result of the for prices of agricultural
brilliant analysis of the situation, the conclu- products. He decided that this basis was all
sion was reached that the American system of · . right for everything except tobacco. He selected
freedom in agriculture had proven a miserable . the period 1919-1929 for tobacco. He might
failure and must be repudiated, that the farmers have selected any other period or no period at
of the Nation must be regimented and placed all. He had the power to fix arbitrarily the
under centralized control from Washington price baseany where he pleased. Dictators are
with Mr. Wallace from Iowa as dictator. As a not bound by any rules save those the fix for
result Congress at once repudiated constitu- V themselves, and these are mere scraps gf paper.
tional freedom for the farmers and gave the _ After fixing high arbitrar ros crit rices
dictator full power and authority to regiment   for farm products, he issueld Pan Idrdez 5; his
American farmers and direct their lives and ac- (Y vassals to cut down the production of farm com-
tivities as he pleased. modities to the point that would force prices on
At once Mr. Wallace called on American account of scarcity to the hi h ros erit
farmers to repudiate constitutional freedom, to level. His orders were to keep fgod End {slot};
repudiate the theory of Jefferson that the pur- ing scarce and keep the prices high regardless'
suit of happiness is a valuable right of the in- of the poverty of the consumers, regardless of
dividuals, and hence take orders from him in unemployment, regardless of human suHerin ,
H pursuing their activities as farmers. He made regardless of everything. His orders were 51
it plain that the farmer must henceforth get hold these high artificial monopoly prices at
permission from him to plant his crop, and the points arbitrarily fixed b the dictator and
must plant and cultivate and destroy or market “starve” the consumers into lpaying the prices
under his direction. demanded.
Moved by the hope of reward and the fear of Soon after this edict came from the small
punishment, the farmers rushed in, surrendered echo of Stalin, news came to him that the great
their freedom em] pledged thgmgglvgg to obey cotton fields of the South, almost white unto
every order of their new master; The dictator h¤1'V6St- g8V6 p1‘0miSc of a great cotton crop.
made it dear to all farmers from the beginning This was bad news to the dictator. He tore his
that he would permit no sort of freedom to the here end resented the efrreht of ¤¤t111‘6 in PIG-
individual farmer to do anything that might be eummg te interfere with his plan of Withhold-
in conflict with his orders. He also made it mg f°°d rnd clothing frem the Peers and
clear that he would Practically destroy the n prdered his vassals to deetroy more than a mil-
crops, through taxation, of any farmer who Q éoni acre; of these éaeautiful plants, the gift of
· should have the presumption to disobey his   ig to tf C Plgfuh t atl Wim §m1tZk°;ly sf thc
orders. But to all good servants who would rr ?h;?;fn0 Sec mg to C Ot 8 t C n E and feed
obey his will and carry out his orders without 4 grr" Th f _
uestion he graciously promised to reward me news came mm his
q ’ . . Nature provinces that the supply
them from a large fund raised by a processing and the or hogs was large and
tax on consumers. Smce the doors to freedom Dictator . that this indicated that
were closed by the dictator, the average farmer . thc Prices of bacon and
felt that he had 110 ¤pt10¤» that he must Jem fresh pork and hams would be within the reach
the regiment and be g0¤d· of the poor, that every family might have bacon
6 , » 7

 for breakfast and a roast of pork on Sunday. misc a huge f`md_ to be used in {awarding
This news aroused the an er of the dictator in farmers for dcstmymg food and ckfthmg matc-
E . . .
a most unusual way. Nature had taken up arms · nah m Order tlhatlfoodhfn; clinhlgg may be-
against him again in the interest of the millions come scam? £t?Th?c Et lg d Pillccl t but
of the poor. In order to crush nature’s forces I Custommr , ai 8 . Emm JS imlly 0 mib
once for all he gave orders to murder five mil- Supposcl It ls, a En?1 t` bus fgwc me d mi
lion hogs and destroy the meat, and warned his Pliiuailsil min t awor .5;   gl? pom] S a
vassals not to let nature start anything like that t 6 lg cr Place`, ,6 VT fa ,cs °
again. His orders were not to permit any human “
being to get one single ounce of the meat from Cusmmcm (A_,;¤¤¤th late!) WeHs has pork
these hogs for food. It was all right to feed it come dow? any` d I h ld , Y
to rats and wild cats and worms, but it must be Clerk: Come Owm S Duh Say not.- Ou
denied to any human being whatever his state ` kn0w’ the Govcnmlcm took t F Ilmccssmg tax
of need and poverty. , you have been paying, and pa1d It to the hog
The dictator was victorious in his battle with raisers to destroy 5’000°000 h0gS° The result of
nature. The 5,000,000 hogs were murdered and · the dcsuluctiml of S0 much meat that youllmoncy;
destroyed, and only the rich and government accompl1shed 1n the hands of the ‘Hog Dictator
employees and others of good incomes can afford was to misc the pmcc of Pork fmfu 12% cents to
to buy breakfast bacon at thirtyéivc and forty 25 cents a pound. Your processing tax brought
cents a Pound. about an advance of 100 per cent 1n the PIICC of
p In Order to facilitate the pork. It 18 wonderful, 1sn’t 1t?”
Eifccts mgimcming of farmers in Customer: "Well, we can’t afford to eat pork
Upon the Organizing the greatest at that price. I suppose we w1ll have to give up
Consumer monopoly of food prod- meat and live on turnips and on1ons.”
ucts of an time, the (hc- Clerk: “l3ut the processing tai: will perhaps
tator invented what no calls rho processing tax. g°C°" t“r"‘¥”“;“d °m°"° °°°”‘ H h
In order to understand the nature and purpose . flstomch 0 You mean to tc hmc   at z;
of the processing tax, we may listen to a con- cwlhzcd pévcrnmcm has adopted t .8 P0 my 0
versation between a clerk in a chain store and a tmfmg mllhous of Poor consumers m Order. to
poor Woman customer. raise a fund to pay the ezrpenses of destroying
Customer: ,,1 want a foubpound pork mast. food and clothing material so that the con-
What is the p1_icc?,, sumers may be fo;ced to pay more for their
Clerk: "Fifteen cents a pound.” food and glothmgl , . . .
s Customer: "I paid only 12% cents a pound Clerk: N0° I dldnl Say that a.cw11lzcd.G0v-
last Week}, ernment would do this or anything 11ke 1t. I
Clerk: "But that was before the processing Sullpbgsay that this 18 what your Government is
tax went into effect. The Government collects dogfgé h . h
pssonos11y 2% cents on every pound or pork ” °”.t §P’°];’°”";1g mx t ‘?¥°°’d°l‘;”?{‘m‘;f”
now as a processing tax, and you must pay the are mqulrc to . uy t B mamma an ul d t C
tax], V scaffold on which they are to be executed.
Customer: "What is the processing tax?” Soma] Jusucm Th h h h
Clerk: "The Secretary of Agriculture thinks k 8.1; (Try t fglt E Pio-
pork and practically all farm products are far  ac . ccss1ng.dTl°t“l1 . ath t .at
too cheap. He thinks that you ought to pay a 30;:1cS $0% gn f   IS uaf C mg
whole lot more for your food and clothing than and acts tifspczplc ivgzc 1;;; 31
;;;i;;€ t1;;“;l;iy;;i a';;u;_BI;;Egg°t;f;;1;Si§r:Q rural sections, like other quack theories, is not
9
8

 supported by the facts. Over 53 million of our more and more reduce the demand for their
population are recorded as rural. There are goods om] this will ceuse still more unemploy-
less than six million farmers and farm tenants. ment_
A very large proportion of those recorded as When the mi]]ions of consumers really under-
f¤1‘111¢1`¤ get ¤0ti1i¤g f1'0¤1 the P1'006SSi¤g t¤x· stand the nature of what seems to be the most
A large P1`0p01‘ti0D of the lZ€I13HlZ fa}-'I¥1€1`S I‘6CBlVB outrageous and il1CXCl1S&l3lC social lI1jl1SlliCC CVB!
no part of the processing tax. The great ` imposed by any government on the poor, we
majority of the people in the rural sections are may look for a popular protest from the rank
not farmers. and file of the voters that will sweep away every
Again the 53 ¤1iiii011 people 1iVi11g ill the vestige of protection for American farmers,
rural sections including the farmers themselves t open this country to the markets of the world
are the really big buY61‘S of farm pr0€il10tS· H and leave the American farmer stranded as the
Cotton ·farmers don’t spin and weave the cloth ’· victim of his own stupid folly.
they use. Wheat farmers don’t grind their The Little Dictator is not
wheat. Only a small portion of farmers raise More satisfied with the power
their own meat. The 53 million people in the » Powgr that has been given him.
rural sections constitute the really big buyers of Sought He wants more power.
pork. On account of a lack of refrigeration Dictators always want
they are compelled to use cured hog meat.` more power. He has succeeded in regimenting
They are also the big consumers of flour and the farmer. Now he is asking Congress to give
corn and cotton goods. Nearly all that the two him the power to regiment and bring under
and a half million farm hands make, they pay his control and direction the manufacturers of
for pork and flour and meal and cotton fabrics. farm products.
Hence they are the really big taxpayers under Under the powers he is seeking from Con-
the processing tax. In many cases the very poor gress, he could take over the virtual manage-
man pays more in dollars and cents under the ment of industries engaged in canning, milling,
processing tax than the rich man. brewing, distilling, meat packing, textile manu-
The high artificial prices fixed and main- facturing, cotton seed crushing, soap making
tained regardless of demand and supply and and the manufacture of sugar, feeds, tobacco
regardless of human needs throughout the products, various foods, fertilizer and automo-
world, of course, will drive American farmers bile tires. Commission houses, distributors and
out of the world markets. Europeans and retailers handling farm products would also
Asiatics are rapidly taking the place we for- come under his control. With such power the
merly held and might continue to hold, of feed- Little Dictator could become a real Stalin.
ing and clothing the world. This means that mil- ln view of the facts that are open to all, if
lions will be thrown out of employment in the Congress should grant him this additional power
rural sections. This will mean a reduction in or should permit him to exercise further the
the value of agricultural land. W power he has, it should at once resign and give
The high cost the processing tax forces on place to representatives of the people who have
the manufacturer of farm products is forcing the brains to discriminate between sound gov-
these manufacturers out of the foreign markets. ernmental and business principles, and eco-
They can’t compete, under such costs of pro- nomic and political quackery.
duction, with Japanese and European competi-
tors. This is already forcing textile mills to
close and adding large numbers to the unem· .
ployment rolls.
The high prices forced on manufacturers will _
10 11