Let me tell you something else about the Federal Trade Commission conferences, if you are interested in that. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Patman, you have had about 30 minutes now, and we have one or two other matters to dispose of. Mr. THURSTON. Does you resolution have the unanimous support of the members of the cotton-producing districts of the United States? Mr. PATMAN. I have not conferred with them. I know this, there is complaint all over the South. If you will just pardon this one addition to my statement, here awhile back, Mr. Benet, the general counsel of this big organization, consisting of everybody except the farmer, issued orders to put up the posted price every morning and between 8 and 5 o'clock wire your State secretaries what the price is going to be, but do not do it after that time, because some of the boys live in a country where they do not have telegraph service before 8 and after 5. We do not want to change these prices except during those hours. That was a positive and direct violation of the laws of the United States. And he knew it was a violation; he was bound to, because he is a good lawyer. As a result of that, cottonseed went down from a dollar to $5 a ton. That was October the 23d. It has remained there. The CHAIRMAN. What is the price now? Mr. PATMAN. From $22 to $28. In some places it is $30, but very few. Mr. PURNELL. What should it be, in your opinion? Mr. PATMAN. In my opinion it should be from around $37.50 to $42.50 right now. That is what seed should be selling for right now. If you will pardon one other reference, these cottonseed oil fellows who own the refineries are interested in buying cottonseed oil at a low price. They want to keep the price low. As evidence of that fact, they go before the Interstate Commerce Commission-that is, they get the railroads to go before the Interstate Commerce Commission-and file a new rate on coconut oil. It will be effective March 1, and it provides that they can bring coconut oil from San Francisco to Kansas City for 55 cents 100 pounds, when they charge 53%1⁄2 cents 100 pounds from Dallas, Tex., to Kansas City for rendering the same service on cottonseed oil. The difference is this. They are rendering four times the service from San Francisco to Kansas City as they render from Dallas, Tex., to Kansas City, because the distance is four times as great. It is another evidence that they are trying to keep the price of cottonseed oil down. The CHAIRMAN. Who is responsible for that? Mr. PATMAN. There are only a few companies that control the oils in the United States-Swift & Co., Armour & Co., Procter & Gamble. The CHAIRMAN. The freight rates are governed by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Mr. PATMAN. Swift & Co. and Armour & Co. doubtless got the railroads to make the application. And do you hear these cottonseed oil mills objecting to it? No; they are not objecting to it. They don't care if the price is low. They make it in the refinery, while the low price is at the mill. They have got a conspiracy here against the cotton farmers, and it is ruining the cottonseed farmers. The difference between what they are receiving and what they should receive is the difference between a reasonable, fair living, and poverty, almost, and I plead with you gentlemen to give us this investigation, give us this opportunity to show the true facts. I could tell you things here that would open your eyes in addition to the things I have mentioned. I have studied this situation of 12 long months. I have gone into it from every angle and I believe that I am right about it. I believe that the farmers of the South have been treated unfairly and unjustly, and the only way they can get a square deal is by a fair and impartial investigation by Members of this House. I thank you for the opportunity of making this statement. STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES H. BRAND, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Brand wants to say a few words on Mr. Patman's resolution. Mr. BRAND. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I want to indorse what Mr. Patman has said and speak in favor of his resolution. I know that prices in my section of Georgia have gone down $10 to $15 for cottonseed. The price was anywhere from $35 to $40 last year and this year it was $20 to $25. The CHAIRMAN. How does the price of cotton itself compare this year and last? Mr. BRAND. The price of cotton this year, until the long torrential rains came in, held its own and the farmers were very well satisfied Actually, though, the price of cotton went from 18%1⁄2 cents down to 9 and 10 cents, on account of those rains. The CHAIRMAN. Did that affect the quality of the cotton? Mr. BRAND. Yes, sir; it affected the quality. You could not pick it out in the bolls. It was cotton that had to go to one of those gins that gins that particular kind of cotton. It reduced both the quantity and the quality, and the price, too. I want to go on record in favor of this resolution, because I believe, and conscientiously believe, if you have a committee from the House of Representatives, the members of which are the true representatives of the people, especially a committee composed of members from the cotton States, it will be of great benefit to the cotton farmers of the country, who rely on cotton and what they get for their cottonseed to pay their debts and to support their families. In my State those farmers are in a terrible condition, due largely to the decrease in the price of cotton, for the reason that I have already stated and also due to the decrease in the price of cottonseed per ton, which we do not understand. Mr. Patman, of Texas, perhaps has given the real reason for it. I think an investigation on the part of the House would be of far more value than a committee investigation in the Senate. I attended one of those investigations for about six weeks and I could not see where we got anywhere with it. This House represents the rank and file and the run of the mine of the people. I hope you will grant the rule, because if there is no conspiracy it will not harm anybody, and if there is one it ought to be broken up. I am much obliged to you. STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES G. EDWARDS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Chairman, I want to be recorded as in favor of the Patman resolution. I hope the committee will give his request favorable consideration. |