[S. 1975]

AN ACT

To provide for loans to farmers for crop production and harvesting during the year 1934, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration, hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Governor", is hereby authorized to make loans to farmers during the year 1934 for crop production, planting, fallowing, and cultivation and, to the extent of not exceeding $1,000,000, for feed for livestock in draught- and storm-stricken areas.

SEC. 2. (a) A first lien on all crops growing or to be planted or grown or harvested during the year 1934, or on livestock, shall be required as security for any such loan: Provided, however, That in the case of a loan for the purpose of summer fallowing or the production of winter wheat, a first lien, or an agreement to give a first lien, on crops to be harvested in 1935 may, in the discretion of the Governor, be deemed sufficient security. Except as hereinafter provided, such loans shall be made through such agencies, upon such terms and conditions, and subject to such regulations as the Governor shall prescribe. Recording and other fees in connection with such loans shall not exceed $1 in any case, which shall be paid by the Farm Credit Administration. Loans made pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall bear interest at the rate of not to exceed 512 per centum per annum. For the purpose of collecting loans made under this Act and under prior Acts of the same general character, the Governor may use the facilities and services of the Farm Credit Administration or of any officer or officers thereof and may pay for such services and the use of such facilities from the funds made available under section 5 hereof for the payment of necessary administrative expenses; and such institutions are hereby expressly empowered to enter into agreements with the Governor for such purposes.

(b) The amount which may be loaned to any borrower pursuant to this Act shall not exceed $250 unless, in the opinion of the Governor, the circumstances surrounding the loan are such as to warrant a larger amount, in which event the borrower shall be entitled to a loan not in excess of $400: Provided, however, That in any area certified by the President of the United States to the Governor as a distressed emergency area, the Governor may make loans without regard to the foregoing limitations, under such regulations and for such time as he may prescribe therefor.

(c) No loan shall be made under this Act to any applicant who shall not have first established to the satisfaction of the proper officer or employee of the Farm Credit Administration, under such regulations as the Governor may prescribe (1) that such applicant is unable to procure from other sources a loan in an amount reasonably adequate to meet his needs for the purposes for which loans may be

made under this Act; and (2) that such applicant is cooperating directly in the crop production control program of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration or is not proposing to increase his 1934 production of basic agricultural commodities in a manner detrimental to the success of such program.

SEC. 3. (a) The moneys authorized to be loaned by the Governor under this Act are declared to be impressed with a trust to accomplish the purposes provided for by this Act, namely, the production, planting, fallowing, cultivation of crops, and feed for farm livestock, which trust shall continue until the moneys loaned pursuant to this Act have been used for the purposes contemplated by this Act, and it shall be unlawful for any person to make any material false representation for the purpose of obtaining any loan or to assist in obtaining such loan or to dispose of or assist in disposing of any crops given as security for any loan made under authority of this Act, except for the account of the Governor, and for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to charge a fee for the purpose of preparing or assisting in the preparation of any papers of an applicant for a loan under the provisions of this Act.

(c) Any person violating any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.

SEC. 4. The Governor shall have power, without regard to the provisions of other laws applicable to the employment and compensation of officers and employees of the United States, to employ and fix the compensation and duties of such agents, officers, and employees as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act; but the compensation of such officers and employees shall correspond, so far as may be practicable, to the rates established by the Classification Act of 1923, as amended.

SEC. 5. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $40,000,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the provisions of this Act. Any moneys so appropriated, and all collections of both principal and interest on loans made under this Act, may be used by the Governor for all necessary administrative expenses in carrying out the provisions of this Act and in collecting outstanding balances on crop production, seed and feed loans made under the Act entitled "An Act to provide for loans to farmers for crop production and harvesting during the year 1933, and for other purposes", approved February 4, 1933, or under prior legislation of the same general character.

Approved, February 23, 1934..

(c) In order that the surpluses of agricultural products may not have a depressing effect upon current prices of such products, the corporation is authorized and directed to make loans, in such amounts as may in its judgment be necessary, for the purpose of financing sales of such surpluses in the markets of foreign countries in which such sales can not be financed in the normal course of commerce; but no such sales shall be financed by the corporation, if, in its judg ment, such sales will affect adversely the world markets for such products: Provided, however, That no such loan shall be made to finance the sale in the markets of foreign countries of cotton owned by the Federal Farm Board or the Cotton Stabilization Corporation. (d) The Reconstruction Finance Corporation is authorized and empowered to make loans to bona fide institutions, organized under the laws of any State or of the United States and having resources adequate for their undertakings, for the purpose of enabling them to finance the carrying and orderly marketing of agricultural commodities and livestock produced in the United States.

(e) The Reconstruction Finance Corporation is further authorized to create in any of the twelve Federal land-bank districts where it may deem the same to be desirable a regional agricultural credit corporation with a paid-up capital of not less than $3,000,000, to be subscribed for by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and paid for out of the unexpended balance of the amounts allocated and made available to the Secretary of Agriculture under section 2 of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act. Such corporations. shall be managed by officers and agents to be appointed by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation under such rules and regulations as its board of directors may prescribe. Such corporations are hereby authorized and empowered to make loans or advances to farmers and stockmen, the proceeds of which are to be used for an agricultural purpose (including crop production), or for the raising, breeding, fattening, or marketing of livestock, to charge such rates of interest or discount thereon as in their judgment are fair and equitable, subject to the approval of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and to rediscount with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the various Federal reserve banks and Federal intermediate credit banks any paper that they acquire which is eligible for such purpose. All expenses incurred in connection with the operation of such corporations shall be supervised and paid by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation under such rules and regulations as its board of directors may prescribe.

Approved, July 21, 1932.

[H. J. Res. 352] JOINT RESOLUTION

To provide funds to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with States in control of chinch bugs.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to apply such methods of control of chinch bugs as in his judgment may be essential to accomplish such purposes, in cooperation with such authorities of the States concerned, organizations, or individuals, there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to remain available until December 31, 1934, the sum of $1,000,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be used for expenditures of general administration and supervision, purchase and transportation of materials used for the control of chinch bugs, and such other expenses as in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture may be deemed necessary, including the employment of persons and means in the District of Columbia and elsewhere and rent outside the District of Columbia: Provided further, That the cooperating State shall be responsible for the local distribution and utilization of such materials on privately owned lands, including full labor costs: Provided further, That, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, no part of this appropriation shall be expended for chinchbug control in any State until such State has provided the necessary organization for the cooperation herein indicated: Provided further, That procurements under this appropriation may be made by openmarket purchase notwithstanding the provisions of section 3709, Revised Statutes: And provided further, That no part of this appropriation shall be used to pay the cost or value of farm animals, farm crops, or other property injured or destroyed.

Approved, June 7, 1934.

BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[H. Con. Res. 32]

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas an audit made by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration has revealed that distributors in four of the largest milksheds in the United States, for the five years ended December 31, 1933, made a net profit of 25.71 per centum on their net plant investment; and

Whereas this audit shows the net profits of distributors in each of the milksheds for the five-year period to be: Philadelphia (distributors handling 85 per centum of volume), 30.76 per centum; Boston (distributors handling 75 per centum of volume), 22.45 per centum; Saint Louis (distributors handling 67 per centum of volume), 14.64 per centum; and Chicago (distributors handling 90 per centum of volume), 25.84 per centum; and

Whereas during this same five-year period the wholesale price of milk sold by farmers declined 50 per centum, resulting in severe hardships and suffering to milk producers throughout the United States and strikes and violence in many rural and metropolitan centers; and

Whereas the aforesaid audit by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration has revealed net profits of milk distributors which tends to establish that similar conditions exist in other milksheds throughout the United States; and

Whereas an investigation in the District of Columbia pursuant to S. Res. 76, Seventy-third Congress, first session, revealed testimony which abundantly sustains the contention that over a period of years. large milk distributors have attempted to create a monopoly in the District of Columbia, and largely as a result of these efforts farmers producing milk for the District of Columbia milkshed have received low returns for their product and have been placed at a serious disadvantage; and

Whereas the testimony adduced at hearings in the aforesaid investigation in the District of Columbia tends to prove that similar monopolistic efforts likewise exist in other milksheds in the United States; and

Whereas there is reason to believe that there exists a close tie between certain leaders of milk producers' cooperatives and milk distributors, which tie is unbeknown to milk producers and detrimental to their interests; and

Whereas the continuation of the practices now engaged in by milk distributors and certain leaders of milk cooperatives seriously endangers the efforts of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration