Milk Producers' Association of Summit County and Vicinity, 145 Beaver Street, Akron, Ohio.

Milk Producers Federation of Cleveland, 1012 Webster Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Milwaukee Cooperative Milk Producers, 1633 North Thirteenth Street, Milwaukee, Wis.

Nebraska-Iowa Non-Stock Cooperative Milk Association, 2506 Dodge Street, Omaha, Nebr.

New England Milk Producers' Association, 73 Cornhill, Boston, Mass.

Northwestern (Ohio) Cooperative Sales Co., 22211⁄2 Detroit Avenue, Toledo,
Ohio.

O. K. Cooperative Milk Association, Inc., Oklahoma City, Okla.
Peoria Milk Producers, Inc., 216 East State Street, Peoria, Ill.
Pure Milk Association, 608 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill.

Pure Milk Producers' Association, 853 Live Stock Exchange Building, Kansas
City, Mo.

Pure Milk Products Cooperative, 204 Retlaw Theatre Building, Fond du Lac, Wis. Richmond Cooperative Milk Producers' Association, 516 Lyric Building, Richmond, Va.

St. Joseph Mo., Milk Producers' Association, Inc., 1024 South Tenth Street, St. Joseph, Mo.

Sanitary Milk Producers, Room 609, Chamber of Commerce Building, 511 Locust Street, St. Louis, Mo.

Sioux City Milk Producers' Cooperative Association, Inc., 413-14 Warnock
Building, Sioux City, Iowa.

South Iowa Cooperative Creameries Association, Keosauqua, Iowa.
South Texas Producers Association, Inc., 3600 Center Street, Houston, Tex.
Stark County Milk Producers' Association, Inc., Canton, Ohio.
Tillamook County Creamery Association, Tillamook, Oreg.

Twin City Milk Producers' Association, 2402 University Avenue, St. Paul, Minn.
Twin Ports Cooperative Dairy Association, 6128 Tower Avenue, Superior, Wis.
United Dairymen's Association, 635 Elliott Avenue, West, Seattle, Wash.
Valley of Virginia Cooperative Milk Producers' Association, Harrisonburg, Va.
Wayne Cooperative Milk Producers' Association, 104 East Columbia Street, Fort
Wayne, Ind.

Wisconsin Cheese Producers' Federation Cooperative, Plymouth, Wis.

PRICE CEILING LEGISLATION

We oppose rigid price fixing on agricultural commodities under any condition, and particularly on the flimsy pretext that such action is essential to forestall inflation. With agriculture at complete disparity with industry and labor, we see no justification for a Federal policy of agricultural commodity price fixing.

In view of this position, we necessarily are opposed to the principles of legislation which has been introduced in Congress and is designed to authorize the fixing of price ceilings on agricultural products. Such legislation is predicated on the substitution of a philosophy of ceiling prices and "get it if you can," for cushion prices. Furthermore, such legislation obviously is inimical to the best interests of the Nation and agriculture, for it proposes to tie farmers to a depression parity formula and to fight a war on low commodity prices which, historically, cannot successfully be achieved.

We further believe that such legislation would throw into discard existing legislative programs and policies contained in such laws of Congress as the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act, the triple-A legislation and the Commodity Credit Corporation authorizations, without an appraisal of either the merits, purposes, or accomplishments of such legislation.

If price fixing is forced upon us, we insist that the legislation contain, (1) a formula which relates the prices of agricultural commodities to the rates of industrial wages, (2) adequate provision for periodic price adjustments, (3) a guaranty of minimum prices to producers, and (4) the preservation of the right to public hearings prior to the establishment of price ceilings as well as adequate court review.

PARITY

We believe that the method of parity-price determinations now used by the Department of Agriculture is antiquated and wholly unsuited to the computation of agricultural prices. We are firmly convinced that this parity rule results in prices for farm products which permit farmers to purchase only the same quantity of goods that they could buy in the period 1910-14 and no more. Opposed to this, our industrial progress and social gains in urban areas have made it possible for the average city worker to purchase a much greater quantity of goods and services with his hour of work that he could have purchased 30 years ago. We believe that parity for the farmer should include at least a part of these net gains made in the standard of living that have accrued to urban groups.

We urge, therefore, in order that parity may more nearly reflect true equality for agriculture, a complete revision of the outmoded method of computing agricultural prices on a parity concept. We recommend changes in the parity index which, (1) provide for the addition of farm wage rates and, (2) provide for the addition of factors reflecting the wage rates or well being of urban workers. In order to maintain a proper and realistic balance within the agricultural industry itself, we further urge that parity prices be computed in such manner as will give consideration to the actual competitive price relationships which have existed in recent years between individual farm commodities.

Mr. CHARLES W. HOLMAN,

THE NATIONAL FARMERS GUILD, Washington, D. C., December 15, 1941.

Secretary, National Cooperative Milk Producers Federation,

Washington, D. C.

DEAR MR. HOLMAN: In view of the pressure of time and because of the fact that we have worked together for several weeks and are in agreement on the proposal and the emergency parity price formula which is contained therein and which you are presenting to the Committee on Banking and Currency in relation to agricultural commodities in the bill H. R. 5990, may Í suggest that you also present the views of myself, representing the National Farmers Guild.

We are opposed to rigid price fixing and price-ceiling legislation in relation to agricultural commodities because, (1) farm prices are now far below any fair concept of parity or the cost of production; (2) the proposal does not contemplate ceilings on the personal services of labor and, we believe, cannot constitutionally include them; (3) with the estimate of certain agricultural surpluses on hand, there can be no possibility of inflationary farm prices for a long, long time-if then; (4) farm prices and farm incomes must be high enough to insure full production of all essential farm products necessary for the safe and successful prosecution of the war in which we are now engaged.

If, on the other hand, the committee feel that some sort of price-ceiling legislation is to be enacted, we then fully recommend and endorse the proposed amendment to section 3 of H. R. 5990 as a substitute for the present section 3, which you are proposing to the committee as an amendment.

This proposed amendment contains a carefully prepared formula for ascertaining a true emergency parity of farm prices with urban labor and industrial prices and below which farm price ceilings may not be fixed. It provides for administration in the Department of Agriculture in harmony with relative prices and urban wages and provides for judicial review.

We believe that before Congress authorizes or permits any price fixing of agricultural products that serious and full consideration be given to the proposed amendment to section 3 of H. R. 5990 which you are presenting so that agriculture will be fairly treated in this war emergency, regain their financial ability to produce to the limit and their equitable share in the burdens and responsibilities of this Nation in its all-out war effort.

Sincerely,

EDW. E. KENNEDY, Washington Representative.

1 While it is destrable to show prices for specific grades at specific markets, the U. S. Department of Agriculture has not yet translated parity prices at the farm for all grades into market prices. However, they are currently working on this complex problem and on the basis of their preliminary work it is possible to make a rough estimate of the market parity prices for some products.

2 Unavailable or not reported.

3 The U. S. Department of Agriculture usually makes a seasonal adjustment in computing partity for butterfat and eggs, but in the interest of comparability this adjustment has been eliminated from this table. The inclusion of proper seasonal adjustment would raise the parity prices shown here for butterfat and eggs in January and November.

Column I: Those are simple average prices in the peirod July 1919 to June 1929. Prices in this period are shown just as a matter of information, bcause an amendment recently offered to the price-ceiling bill provides that ceilings on farm products cannot be any lower than the average prices during this period. Column II: Actual prices on Nov. 15, 1941, as reported by U. S. Department of Agriculture. Columns III and IV: As officially reported by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Columns V and VI: The method by which these figures were computed is reviewed in the accompanying report. The index utilized in this computation is comprised of (a) the official parity index now used by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and (b) an index of wage rates of urban workers; with the former carrying a weight of 70 percent and the latter a weight of 30 percent. Column V is arrived at by multiplying the actual farm prices (including Government payments) in 1931-40 by 159 and then multiplying that result by 107. (This can be accomplished in one operation by multiplying by 170.) Column VI is arrived at by multiplying column V by 109.5.