Text of Gov. Landon's Des Moines Speech (Evening Star, Sept. 23, 1936, p. 9)

Text of Gov. Landon's Des Moines Speech Farm Relief Checks and Loans W ould Be Continued Pending Initia tion of Cash Benefits to Family-Type Farms, G. O. P. Candidate Promises. DES MOINES. Iowa. September 22. •-The text of Gov. Alf M. London's term address: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gen tlemen We are here for a frank discus sion of the needs of farming. You want to know what policies the termers can count on from the Republican party. My purpose is t to tell you. Most of my life, private and pub lic, has been spent in close contact with farmers. For four years I have had the honor of being Gov ernor of a great agricultural State. I know the aspirations of farm folks. They want to have the same chance and the same protection in the market as other American in dustries. They want a settled, a workable, national policy for agri culture. And I know that above all else they want no system which penalizes plenty and rewards scarcity. The American farmer wants to produce without fear. There is no greater satisfaction than in owning the piece of land that a man and his family call home. There is a feeling of part nership in a common undertaking among husband and wife and chil dren that is more possible on the farm than anywhere else. There is nothing more satisfying than raising good crops, having a crib full of corn, plenty of hay in the mow or stack, and hogs and 4 cattle fattening in the feedlot. As one of my farmer friends recently said to me. and said with all rev erence, "Lord, I wish we could have those things again!" Farm Question Vatinnal OiiMtion. For 15 years we have been strug gling with what has been called •'the farm question." It is not a farm question, but a national ques tion. It is a question of whether the farmer and his family will be able to buy the things they need --whether they'll be able to main tain the full American standard of living. It is a question of whether the rest of our people will be able to trade a part of their products to the man on the land for three square meals a day. All the farmer asks is that his Income be on a parity with the rest of the Nation; that he may en joy the same standard of life; that his home be made secure, and that he be able to build up a reserve for the future. It is to the direct interest of the consumers and other producers of this Nation that the farmer be a good provider and a good customer. I know that these aims cannot be realized over night. Miracles are no more common in Washing ton than they are in Des Moines. To get a real solution we must have a well-rounded program--a program that will meet, not only the present emergency, and the Im mediate future, but also the long time pull! Pledged to Meet Present Drought Distress. The Republican platform offers just such a program. By it we are pledged; To meet, to the fullest extent, the present distress caused by the drought. To make the1 farm standard of living secure, by protecting the in come of the farm family. To guard the food supply of the Nation by preserving our soil and other natural resources through sound conservation and land-use policies. To protect the farm and the rest of the country from ruinous debt and taxation. This program not only takes care of the present, it not only safe guards the farm family while we are working toward the necessary adjustments of the future, but it provides a settled, workable, na tional policy for agriculture. Before I go into a discussion of this program, let me make this one point absolutely clear. If I am elected, I shall fulfill all outstand ing obligations made by the present administration with the American farmer. By this I mean that those who have carried out their end of the bargain will receive the checks due them. I am equally emphatic in my views on meeting the suffering caused by the present drought. We will use the full power of govern ment to relieve the present distress. Continuation of Relief Checks Is Promised. Those of our fanners hard hit by the drought will be generously provided for until they can raise a crop. This means the continua tion of relief checks! It means as well, In the case of many farmers, seed loans and other necessary as sistance in order that the farmer may get started again. Where such help is needed, we will give it promptly. There will be no waste and no politics. Let me repeat this part of the Republican program. We will not allow needless suffering in this country--either on our farms or in our cities. We are determined to extend every reasonable aid to our neonle to eet them back to a self supporting basis in the shortest possible time. Now I turn to our policies which deal with the future! For many years farmers produc ing crops of which there is nor mally an exportable surplus have worked under a handicap. I mean iuch staple products as hogs, wheat, cotton and tobacco. The surplus is sold on world markets and the price of the entire crop is affected by what the surplus will bring. Tariff protection for these products, generally speaking, is in effective, except when there is a shortage. This handicap has be come increasingly severe In recent years. Today, policies of foreign nations are shaped principally by imperial istic aims and the fears they create. World markets are largely closed to our agricultural surpluses. Our foreign competitors are aided by government subsidies. So long as this Is the case, the cards are stacked against our farmers. Payment of Cash Benefits to Be Limited. Sometime there a|ain will be nor mal world conditions. In the mean time, those of our farmers with ex portable surpluses will remain at a disadvantage with our other pro ducers. The Republican party proposes to offset these disadvantages by the payment of cash benefits. These •ash benefits will be limited to the A

production level of the family-type farm We are pledged by our platform-- I quote: "To provide. In the case of agricultural products of which there are exportable surpluses, the payment of reasonable benefits upon the domestically consumed portion of such crops, in order to make the tariff effective." This means that our fanners will receive an American and not a foreign price for their products. This is the first time this prin ciple has been put forward by a major political party. Such pro tection is simply common fairness to the farmer. It will act as in surance until long-time programs of surplus removal and land use can be brought into effect. I will stand by this pledge. In doing so, I shall call on the states manship of both parties and will consult and work with responsible farmers and farm leaders. Farmer to Receive Equivalent of Tariff. We're going to see to it that the fanner whose crops have to be sold on a world market gets the equivalent of a really effective tariff. One thing we have learned from past experience is this: We cannot let temporary surpluses destroy the standard of living of the farm family. As part of the plan for removing the depression effect of surpluses I shall propose an amendment to the Federal warehousing act so that reserves of feed, such as corn, can be carried on the farm. We have learned from painful experience that the overfilled crib may quickly become the empty crib. It is to the advantage of both the producer and the consumer--and the farmer Is both w'hen it comes to feed crops --that these conditions be evened out as much as possible. Under this amendment the farm er who stores his grain on the farm. In such a way as to make it insurable, will be entitled to a Fed eral warehouse receipt. He then will be eligible to borrow from any banking agency. He will enjoy the same credit facilities as are avail able to owners of grain stored in terminal markets. The grain would be stored on the farm, ready for use or sale at any time the farmer cares to take up the loan. Crop Insurance To Get "Fullest Attention." I am now going to mention a subject that is in neither plat-> form--crop insurance. It is a question in which we have long been interested in Kansas. In fart, some of our Republican lead ers in farm legislation have been in the forefront in working it out. We realize that there are difficulties. But insurance companies are writ ing policies today covering risks that they did not consider feasible a few years ago. I believe that the question of crop insurance should be given the fullest atten tion. We need also to resume our once remarkable progress in intro ducing new crops for the use of our lands. This work seems to have slowed down. Yet it is exactly what the Department of Agricul ture should now be pushing. Not only must we take care of the problems of the land, but we must develop more domestic de- mand and different uses for the products of the land. I am far more interested in seeing farmers paid for growing the things we know we need than in paying them for not growing the things we think we don't need. Triple A Is Held No Permanent Policy. Most of us co-operated with the triple A in its early days, since we had been promised it was only an emergency measure. It was the only important agency working for the relief of the farm at that time,"and it was entitled to a fair trial. But as the program progressed, we discovered that the administra tion was trying to stretch the triple A into a means for the per manent control of American agri culture from Washington. I can not agree with such a policy. I cannot agree with the President. I believe the American farmer should be "a lord on his own farm." We were promised that the triple A would be quickly replaced by a sound, long-time program. But instead, after crop reduc tion we had crop adjustment, then more crop shifting under the soil conservation and domestic allot ment act. The conservation plan was not -conservation, it was a stopgap, a subterfuge. Any one going through the present mixup in an effort to qualify for a check will agree with me! Nobody was fooled, least of all the farmer. Now something else has just been announced. Like the automobile manufacturers, the administration believes in bringing" out a new model every year. Administration Seen Without a Farm Policy. What is the farm policy of this administration? In my opinion it has none. After being in power for nearly four years, the admin istration is still without a settled, workable, national policy for ag riculture. It's right back where it started from! Boll conservation--real conser vation--Is a aubject close to my heart. In Kansas we link soil con servation with water conservation and flood control into a co-related program. More than two years ago I sug gested to the present administra tion a comprehensive program to be administered through Joint State and Federal action. I re quested that the Federal Govern ment take leadership in these policies as a part of Its drought program. This was not done, but In Kan sas we went ahead anyway, making effective use of Federal funds pro vided for work relief by building ponds, by digging public wells for farms, and constructing a State wide system of lakes and municipal reservoirs. This work, backed by sound land policies, has given Kansas a real atart In the direction of conserva tion. Of course much remains to be done. But we know as a result of this experience that there is such a thing as spending money wisely. t Will Be Purpose to Co-Operate With State*. It will be my purpose to co-oper ate with the States In putting into effect a real conservation program alnrtff hrna^ linai Rllf UP Will nnf do this at the expense of dairy and live stock producers. Where the farmer is unable to afford proper conservation prac tices cash payments should be made for actual performance. There should be State participa tion in the program, with the local administration In the hands of farmers themselves. Conservation is an inseparable part of a national land-use pro gram. Through such a program we can bring our'farm plant into proper balance and gradually shape our land resources to their right uses. The program we propose will put an end to the policies of this administration of trading off the American farmer. It will make necessary giving away the equiva lent of 25.000.000 acres to foreign ers. It will prevent the importa tion of pork products from 16 dif ferent countries. It will eliminate all excuse for paying *785.000 in one year to a sugar corporation, or *155.000 to a packing company for Its hog operations, or *301.000 to a British-owned cotton company. And 'It no longer will be possible for a corporation farmer to rent Government-controlled Indian land and get *51.000 subsidy, or for a garbage feeder to get 100 times as much as a good corn belt farmer. Debt and Taxation Held Impending Danger*. There Is one more important point in our program I wish to emphasise. This, that we shall •'free the farm and the rest of the country from the impending dan- j gers of ruinous debt and taxation." All of you know the rate at which Government spending is going on. The national debt has now reached the stupendous figure of $34,000,* 000,000 and It Is Increasing every minute. Let us look at this proposition candidly. This increasing debt can be paid only by taxation if this is to remain an honest Government. Taxes add to the cost of everything and the farmer Is so situated that he cannot escape tfciir penalty. Further, the taxes reduce the abil ity of the consumer to buy the products' of the farm. The Repub lican party proposes to put an end to the present waste and extrava gance. So much for the main provisions of the program which we propose for American agriculture. It is a program based upon the same principles that farmers have urged lor years, it follows in tne same furrows that were plowed at the meetings of the Corn Belt Commit tee here In Dcs Moines. It ofTers a practical means to attain what we have been seeking--a free and Independent agriculture. Today, 42 farms out of every 100 are op erated by tenants. Our national welfare demands that the situation be corrected. If history teaches us anything. It teaches that the sta bility of civilisation depends upon ownership of the land by the man who works the land. Adequate Credit "At Reasonable Rates." It is our pledge to extend within the limits of sound finance ade quate credit at reasonable rates to capable tenants and experienced farmers for the purchase or re financing of farm homes. You will see that everything I have said points to but one end-- that Is, the protection of the fam ily type farm. This philosophy runs like a thread through the Re publican platform. It Is in keep ing with the American tradition, which is based upon preserving Individual opportunity. But you will not find it even mentioned In -_-■'■"-SV.J.-i1. ■"'MJg1 the platform of the opposing party. The provision of adequate credit at reasonable rates that I have just mentioned will encourage farm ownership. Our program of con servation will enable the man living on his own land to maintain the productivity of that land and thereby remain a self-supporting citiaen. Our cash benefits, as i said, will be limited to the proauc tion level of the iamlly type larm. The Republican party, in other words, does not believe in having our farms operated by large cor porate enterprises. Duty of Government to Preserve "Family Farms." It is our conviction that it is the duty of the Government to preserve the family tvpe of farm for all time --preserve It as a home and as a source of livelihood. We snouia make it possible for the farm wife to enjoy the comforts of modern labor-saving devices. We snouia make it possible for farm children to have the same educational op portunities as city children. WS should make it possible for our boys and girls of the 4-H Clubs and vo cational classes to inherit an agri culture worthy of their ideals and aspirations. The security of our social and economic system does not rest upon the foundation of a few great en terprises. It rests upon our hav ing millions and millions of Indi vidual farmers and home owners. These are the people that give us security and give us our spirit of independence as a Nation! We must not let them be driven to the wall! 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