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<br />CONGRESSION AL RECORD-HOUSE
<br />
<br />N O\'EMBER 7
<br />
<br />back to fundamental economic prin-
<br />dples. the better off this country will
<br />be, because It Is bound to come, or this
<br />country wlll coJlapsejnto communism or
<br />totalitarianism of some kind.
<br />Mr. VURSELL. Mr. Spl'akeT, will tht'
<br />gentleman yield?
<br />Mr. RANKIN. I ~'ield.
<br />Mr. VURSELL. I would like to sug-
<br />gest to the gentleman that there arc
<br />560,000.000 pounds of wool hanging owr
<br />the wool growers of thls country and
<br />the OPA is prohlbltlng the manufacture
<br />cf better woolen fabrics b)" the textile
<br />mills of this country, and at the same
<br />time Is Pf'rmlttlng the finished product
<br />to come in from England and sellJng at
<br />$20 and $25 a sullo
<br />Mr. RANKIN. Now. this policy Is
<br />dri\'lng the farmer.'! of this Nation to-
<br />ward peonage. I am opposed to It. I
<br />want to get back on the "'beam" so to
<br />speak. And, r('memb('r, the fal'mers of
<br />this coUnlt). ate entltlPd to e\'er}' con-
<br />~Iderntion we glve en'ry olher class of
<br />our citizens.
<br />Mr. RICH. Mr, Spt'aker, wlll the gen-
<br />tleman yield?
<br />Mr. RANKIN. Bril'Oy.
<br />Mr. RICH, In t('ference to the state-
<br />ment made by the gentleman from Mich-
<br />Igan in regard to wool, practically aU
<br />the woo] In this country of the clip for
<br />this yrar is being held by the Go\'ern-
<br />ment. The gyeatest part of the clip for
<br />last :..ear is being held by the Govern-
<br />ment, The people of this country can
<br />buy forelltn "'001 Cor about 15 to 20 cents
<br />l\ pound less than they can buy the do-
<br />mestic wools, yet the Governmpnt is
<br />holding this domestic wool, and we arl'
<br />gOing to ha\'e to take a big loss unless
<br />something Is done about these rull's and
<br />regulations.
<br />Mr. RANKL'l". AU right; now they are
<br />trying to hold. as I said, the Incomes of
<br />the poor farmer down to this eeonomlc
<br />len'l of 22!r!: cents an hour. and that
<br />affects the economy of the entire Nation.
<br />The result Is that the man In the factory
<br />Is getting two or three or four times as
<br />much as the man on the farm. Yet these
<br />men In the factories are paral}'Zlng the
<br />country with unnecessary strikes, ket>p-
<br />lng the boys re-tuming in unitorm from
<br />f:oing to work. keepin" legislators from
<br />going to their offices, k.eeping down the
<br />Increased production of things that
<br />everybody needs.
<br />Mr. REES of Karlsa.$. Mr. Speaker,
<br />will the gentleman yield?
<br />Mr. RANKIN. I yield.
<br />Mr. REES of' Kansas. I want to go
<br />back for a minute to the Question asked
<br />by the g('ntleman from Michigan as to
<br />this cotton crop. We raised the greatest
<br />cot.t.on cropsl8lit year and the year before
<br />last that ha\'e ever been raised in tbls
<br />country, yet we are unable to get cotton
<br />goods. There must be a suppl)' of cotton
<br />somewhere: whtll'e Is It?
<br />Mr. RM"KIN. It is In the warehouses.
<br />Mr. REES 01 Kansas. In the ware-
<br />houses. but wht're?
<br />Mr. RANKIN. All o\'er the countr)'.
<br />Mr. REES of Kansas. But who has
<br />contra] 01 It?
<br />Mr. RANKIN. Much of it is owned by
<br />private individuaL<;, l\ good deal of it ts
<br />controlled by the Oo\"emment. The
<br />private owners wHI not sell1t, or do not
<br />
<br />want to sell It, because If they did they
<br />would have to take a loss. If the farmers
<br />were cetting as much for their labor as
<br />the Industrial workers-and I am refer_
<br />ring now to these men In Detroit, Mich.,
<br />who are striking, I am referr1ng now to
<br />these men In Pittsburgh, Pa.. I am refer-
<br />ring to men in St. Louis, Mo., and New
<br />Orleans, La.-if, as I say, the farmer
<br />were getting as much for his work as
<br />these men are tlle}' would be getting from
<br />60 to 75 c('nts a pound for their cotton:
<br />and wheat. corn. hogs, land, and lumbt:r
<br />would rise In proportion and you would
<br />ha~'e the greatest era of pr~perity in the
<br />agricultural areas of thIs country that
<br />has e\'er been known.
<br />Prices In II; Crpe economy are based
<br />upon two things: the volume of a na-
<br />tion's currenc)' multiplied by the velodty
<br />of Its circulation. Wherever the circu-
<br />lating medium Is small In amount or the
<br />\'e1odty Is slow you are going to ha\'e a
<br />depres..<;lon.
<br />'Vhen Aml'rlca was discovered all the
<br />government heads of Europe were on a
<br />t"old standard. The amount of cold
<br />known to be In existence was small, and
<br />the supply was rapidly diminishing.
<br />Prices were going down gradually all the
<br />time and there wa., stagnation all over
<br />Europe. That was one reason for the
<br />search for a route to a new world, or
<br />for a new route to India.
<br />Wh('n America was discovered a new
<br />and almost unIlmltert amount of gold
<br />was poured Into the gold reserves of
<br />Europe caw;lng an expansion of the cur_
<br />rency. Prices began to rise. Industry
<br />took on new life. Art, literature, and
<br />everything bell"sn to thrive, and Europe
<br />leaped forward into an era of prosperity
<br />Ihe like of which the world had ne\'er
<br />seen.
<br />During the late 1920's \\'e lound our_
<br />selves in the same condition. We were
<br />In a money panic. Unfortunately, we
<br />had some money-changers In control of
<br />the Federal Rl'Serve System at that U1'ne.
<br />Let me show yoU what they did. and let
<br />me show YOU the situation now.
<br />In 1920 we had in circulation $5.698,-
<br />214.612. At that time wheat was $2.50
<br />a bushel b(:ocause you had no OPA; at
<br />Ihat time cotton was from 35 to 40 cents
<br />a pound because we had no OPA: at that
<br />time corn was $1.75 per bushel. let me say
<br />to the gentleman from Iowa. because we
<br />had no OPA to hold down the pr1ce. At
<br />that time the farmer was paying good
<br />prices for the things he bougbt, but be
<br />had the money to pay It with. We had
<br />not started on this road to serfdom that
<br />totalitarianism and comnmntsm led to.
<br />Mr. JE:-JSEN. Mr. Speaker, \\iU the
<br />gentleman )ield?
<br />Mr. R.ANKL...... I )ield to the gentle-
<br />man from Iowa.
<br />Mr. JENSEN. We know now sinee reo
<br />search has been made that every time
<br />the cotton farmer or any other farmer
<br />loses a dollar In the price of the prOducts
<br />that he sells the national ineome su!Iers
<br />to the extent of $7.
<br />~tr. RA....'KIN. \Vb)", of course.
<br />Mr. JENSE.1>i. So e\'ery time your
<br />cotton farmers and my farmers sell be-
<br />low" reasonable price. the laboring men
<br />suffer and ever}'oody su!Iers to the ex_
<br />tent of $7 for 1.
<br />
<br />Mr. RANKIN. I noUce ever)' once in
<br />awhile I am attacked by the Washington
<br />Post. which Is " compliment to me, But
<br />the owner or the Washington Post, Eu-
<br />gene Meyer, If you will remember, got
<br />to be head of the Federa] Reserve System
<br />and squeezed the currency, drove it down
<br />to where farm prices went bE>low the cost
<br />of productlon and we plunged into a
<br />panic. I am told that he speculated on
<br />tile exchange and made 54.000.000 with
<br />which he bought thl' Washmgton Post,
<br />and now attempts to browbeat the Con-
<br />gress with It. If any of }'ou doubt that.
<br />I Invite the ,"Vays and Means Committee
<br />to search his Income-tax record for the
<br />last 15 years and see If that r~port Is
<br />true.
<br />r see th~re Is a book out by Barney
<br />Baruch on how to make money on the
<br />stock. exchange. Anybody who can hang
<br />around the White House as he has done
<br />for Ihe last 25 ).ears and do a little specu-
<br />lating can get rich. If he can find out
<br />what Is going on Inside the White House,
<br />1 do not care whether Wlison. Harding,
<br />Coolidge, Hoo\'er, Rooseve]t, or Truman
<br />15 Presldcnt. he can amass a fortUne.
<br />What we want to do Is to get down to
<br />some sound. fundamental economics and
<br />that Is what I am trying to preach to
<br />",'ou tOday.
<br />By 1930 thl'}' had sQu~ed this cur-
<br />rency down from $5.698.000.000 or $53.iil
<br />per cnplta in 1920 to H.4:!6.000,OC'l, or
<br />$35.90 pt'r capita In 1930. That Is when
<br />the craID came.
<br />We passed a law giving the President
<br />the right to issue $3.500.000,000 In cur-
<br />rency. with a gold rl'serve behind It. I
<br />was Ihe author of that bill. Senator
<br />'rHOM,o,S of Oklahoma was the author of
<br />It at the other end of the CapitoL We
<br />finally put It on as an amendment to
<br />another measure, but Instead of carrYing
<br />its purpose.!;. a policy was begun of bor-
<br />ro'\\'ing from the rich and give to the
<br />poor through the WPA and otber agen-
<br />cies. just what I am alrald thLs bill to
<br />which the gentleman from Texas was
<br />referring ,,111 lead 111t Is passed and be.
<br />comes law.
<br />This 1.s encouraging the people, if you
<br />p]ea.'It'. to be out of work. All of th!,"!;e
<br />strikes are absOlutely unnecessary.
<br />E\'ery man in America who wants a job
<br />can get a Job It you do not have some
<br />labor racketeer standing between him
<br />and that job.
<br />Mr. JENSEN. Mr. Speaker, II the
<br />genUeman will ,..1eld further, Russia,
<br />Germany, Japan, and Italy had full em-
<br />plo)'Dlent after they had II; dictatorship.
<br />M:r. RANKIN. Oh. yes.
<br />Mr. JENSEN. And everybody had a
<br />Job, but what kind of a job did they
<br />have. and at what pay?
<br />Mr. RANKIN. Certalnly. They had
<br />full employment, but they did not have
<br />full pay and they did not have a fuUllte.
<br />They did not hal'e any liberty at all, and
<br />ha'l'"e not yet. It we WlUtt to have a.
<br />totalitarian s}'stem whl're free men will
<br />be regimented then I am wrong: but jf
<br />we want to maintain free Amerlcan
<br />enterprl~e and carryon the glorious
<br />progress that we ha\'e made for the lMt
<br />150 }'ears. then I am right In my con-
<br />tention that we should not adopt any-
<br />thing that even looks like a totalitarian
<br />pollc)', but earry on our s)'stem of free
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