OKLAHOMA RELIEF

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D. C., Friday, March 28, 1924.

The committee met at 11 o'clock a. m., Hon. Gilbert N. Haugen (chairman) presiding.

Present: Representatives Haugen (chairman), Voight, McLaughlin, Tincher, Williams, Sinclair, Thompson, Clague, Clarke, Ketcham, Aswell, Kincheloe, Jones, Fulmer, Rubey, Johnson, and McSweeney.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. McKeown, we will hear you now on your House Resolution 202.

(The resolution is as follows:)

[H. J. Res. 202, Sixty-eighth Congress, first session]

JOINT RESOLUTION For the relief of the boll weevil, drought, and flood stricken farm areas of Oklahoma

Whereas many sections of Oklahoma are impoverished because of continued boll weevil, drought, and flood conditions that have persisted for the past three years, and farmers so affected have borrowed money from all sources until now their credit facilities are exhausted, and they can no longer obtain funds to continue the cutivation of their farms; and

Whereas weather conditions now prevailing in Oklahoma point to a very successful year for farming providing the farmers of these stricken areas can obtain the necessary funds to operate their farms and thereby be able to recuperate their losses caused by repeated crop failures: Therefore be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized, for the spring of 1924, to make advances or loans to farmers in the boll weevil, drought, and flood stricken areas of Oklahoma, where he shall find that special need exists or such assistance, for the purchase of seed, feed, food, and for actual farming expenses, not including the purchase of equipment, as he may find need for the cultivation of farm lands within the said State, not to exceed in any instance the sum of $6 per acre. Such advances or loans shall be made upon such terms and conditions and subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Agriculture shall prescribe, including an agreement by each farmer to use the money obtained by him for the production of such crops as the Secretary of Agriculture may designate. A first lien on the crop to be produced from money obtained through this loan or advance made under this act shall, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, be deemed sufficient security therefor. All such loans or advances shall be made through such agencies as the Secretary of Agriculture shall designate, and in no instance shall any portion of funds obtained through the administration of this act be used for the payment of obligations other than those incurred under the regulations as provided by the Secretary of Agriculture in the administration and in accordance with the provisions herein contained.

SEC. 2. That for the purposes of this act there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of 1,000,000, to be immediately available, and not more than $15,000 may be used in the District of Columbia by the Secretary of Agriculture in the administration of this act.

SEC. 3. That any person who shall knowingly make any false representation for the purpose of obtaining a loan or advance under the foregoing section upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.

STATEMENT OF HON. TOM D. McKEOWN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. MCKEOWN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I just want to call your attention to the necessity for this legislation for the State of Oklahoma.

The CHAIRMAN. Your resolution is identical with the one that has been acted upon?

Mr. MCKEOWN. Yes. The farmers in this county; that is, the northeast part of the State, are having to buy their seed and feed, absolutely unable to get money or credit to do it. Some are offering to give one-half of the oats and furnish the land and the labor for someone to furnish the money to buy the seed. Others are giving one-third just for the man's furnishing the seed. Unless something is done immediately thousands of acres of good land will lie idle this year, which, if allowed to do so, will mean still harder times for Oklahoma.

That is from a letter from M. B. Eberhard, county president of the Mays County Farmers' Union, and R. T. Conn, county secretary.

A similar letter was received from Pryor, Okla. A letter from Tupelo, Okla., in which they say in Coal County they now have three banks out of 11 banks that were there in 1920. The three banks have all of their own customers that they can take care of, and the balance of us that have been doing business with banks that have failed are unable to get any assistance to make this crop. In other words, we do not have sufficient banking facilities at this time. And, of course, the county has been hit so hard by the boll weevil, drought, floods, and so forth, that we are surely in a pitiful condition.

Then I have a letter here from Ada, Okla., which says all wagon yards in Ada are filled up with old plows, wagons, horses, and mules, and I guess there have been 150 foreclosures this winter in Pontotoc County alone.

I have also a letter from Fort Towson, Okla:

There are 100 farmers in this township who would like to make a crop this year, but can not get any help. For myself, I have my land already to plant, but haven't any seed corn yet. I went to the bank yesterday and asked for a loan of $100 and they turned me down, saying my debts were too heavy. The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank closed our bank here, but they offered to release my stuff for that amount, but the banker said he could not get all the loans he could carry from people who did not owe but small amounts, and there are a thousand farmers in the same fix I am in. I only owe $365.18, secured by two good mules, two good milch cows, two good yearlings, wagon and harness. My crop will consist of 15 acres of corn, 20 acres of cotton on good land, besides my truck patches.

This is the true conditions of many farmers in Oklahoma. It seems if the Government loans money to the big corporations they could loan we farmers a little until we could get out of this strain, for it is not our fault, but due to the drouth and boll weevil. We can go without clothes as far as the law will permit it, but we have to have a little food and feed to work a crop. We need help here in Choctaw County.

Mr. CLARKE. Is that in your district?

Mr. MCKEOWN. No; there is only one letter from my district.

Mr. CLARKE. Do you know of these conditions?

Mr. MCKEOWN. Yes; I know the conditions. I know men in Oklahoma who made crops last year. Mention has been made of the food proposition-those men haven't had anything to eat for six months except corn bread and sorghum molasses. That is the situation down through this district. It occurred in this way: The boll weevil has destroyed cotton for four years. In addition to that last year, which started out promising, developed heavy floods in the spring; there was drought in the summer and in the fall the floods absolutely destroyed what cotton there was. I am not exaggerating when I say that the banks have gone broke all over the southeastern part of Oklahoma and that the requirement for security is so great that there is no use talking about any relief unless some relief of this sort is given.

Mr. TINCHER. Whose district is this in?

Mr. MCKEOWN. In Mr. Carter's district. Then there are letters from Pryor.

Mr. ASWELL. Why didn't he come here this morning?

Mr. MCKEOWN. They are tied up in the Indian Committee.

Mr. TINCHER. Part of Mr. Carter's district is very prosperous, isn't it?

Mr. MCKEOWN. Some parts of Oklahoma are all right, but there are other parts-for instance, take along the Canadian River, and the floods have absolutely devastated the farms and there are thousands and thousands of acres where they have destroyed not only the crop, but have absolutely destroyed the land.

The CHAIRMAN. That is in what section of the State?

Mr. MCKEOWN. Extending from the west clear through to the

east.

The CHAIRMAN. It is adjacent to New Mexico?

Mr. MCKEOWN. Yes; coming from New Mexico, straight through. I am not exaggerating, and I am here presenting this matter to-day because I know these conditions exist down there. I hesitated over this matter, but you are not going to lose any money in that country. Mr. TINCHER. Has somebody introduced a bill in the Senate? Mr. MCKEOWN. They told me to introduce it here and that it would be introduced in the Senate, that it would facilitate its passage to introduce it here first.

Gentlemen, this is not a question of asking for charity, but simply asking for a chance for those fellows who haven't anybody particularly to look after them. They are scattered all through that country.

Mr. TINCHER. We have some places in Kansas that are pretty badly in need, but the State, as a State, has been able to extend help.

Mr. MCKEOWN. Our people got into the guaranteed banking business down in Oklahoma, and we got into a bad situation there, where they are not able to do anything now. In Kansas you have another advantage as compared with us. In our section they can not own the land. It is Indian land, rented land, and there isn't the permanency to the situation that there is when a man own his farm, even if he has a mortgage on it.

Mr. ASWELL. Doesn't that area that you refer to connect very closely with Mr. Jones's district?

Mr. MCKEOWN. No; this extends up

Mr. JOHNSON. Do you think you need a million dollars?

Mr. MCKEOWN. We ask for so much of it as is necessary. I do not know that it will take that much.

Mr. ASWELL. How many congressional districts does this cover? Mr. MCKEOWN. It will affect practically six out of eight districts. It will relieve some men in all those districts.

Mr. CLARKE. The Indian River goes clear across there?

Mr. MCKEOWN. Clear through from the east to the west, down to the Arkansas River.

Mr. CLARKE. What did you say the State had done in the way of helping out?

Mr. MCKEOWN. They have extended taxes, extended the collection of taxes, and are not forcing tax collections. We had the bank guarantee system by which were guaranteed all these banks, and they are broke, and they have a large part of the funds of the State tied up. Mr. CLARKE. You don't think it is fair to tax Uncle Sam because they have been worshiping false gods, false financial gods, do you? Mr. MCKEOWN. Oh, no; but these poor fellows are not responsible for bad statesmanship.

Mr. MCSWEENEY. Will it cost more to administer the loan in your State than it will in New Mexico? I notice you ask for $15,000 instead of 10.

Mr. MCKEOWN. No; it wouldn't cost any more money, I suppose,

than in New Mexico.

Mr. FULMER. Both of these bills cover the same matter. The Secretary of Agriculture could administer them for less than ten thousand.

Mr. JOHNSON. I am going to cut the word " food " out of here. Mr. MCKEOWN. That is all right. I have a letter here which has just come in on this mail, from a man named Perry, in which he says:

I received a copy of House Joint Resolution 202 and took it over to the Farmers' Union Local. We indorsed it by a majority vote, and would say, in regard to the need of the fund, that fully 90 per cent of the farmers need it. Many farmers of this section have borrowed all the money they can get, and without more help will be forced to abandon their crops. I, myself, am one of this number. I hope my letter will do some good despite its late arrival.

Mr. ASWELL. Is that from your district?

Mr. MCKEOWN. Yes; this is from Paden, Okla.

Mr. TINCHER. Is there any of this condition in Mr. Howell's district?

Mr. MCKEOWN. I think this letter from Pryor is from Howell's district.

Mr. VOIGT. Do you object to your bill being changed like this other one was?

Mr. MCKEOWN. No; I do not object to a change in that, because I think it will do a great deal of good. Of course, in the form it stands in it would do more good, so far as relieving the situation is concerned. Mr. VOIGT. You have in here "and for actual farming expenses," and, of course, that would include any expense.

Mr. MCKEOWN. What I meant to cover was those things that we know are necessary, and follow the language of the other bill. I will be glad to accede to the judgment of the committee on those