3. Provide for a civil penalty that will constitute a more effective deterrent to excess production. a. Increase the penalty on marketing excess tobacco to 75 percent of the previous year's average market price. b. Provide that penalty is imposed to implement public policy. B. To improve measurement by statutory provision for it with standards and penalties clearly defined: 1. Require aerial surveys annually. 2. Eliminate tolerance in calculations of acreage. 3. Provide for criminal punishment as misdemeanor of not more than 1 year or not more than $10,000 or both for willful inaccurate measurement, making the penalty cover the Government employee only. C. To amend 7 United States Code Annotated 1315 to establish a minimum allotment of 10 percent rather than 25 percent of the cropland. D. To provide that whenever there is an increase in quota, the increase shall be shared only by those having taken a decrease in quota in a prior year until all decreases have been restored. As far as the foreseeable future is concerned, this would benefit only those growers who have taken curtailments within the past 2 crop years, but, in any event, every segment of the industry ought to recognize that restorations of cuts should be shared only by those who have suffered cuts until original quotas have been fully restored. E. To authorize Secretary of Agriculture to redetermine and set marketing quotas for 1955. Respectfully submitted. EIGHT STATE BURLEY TOBACCO COMMITTEE, By JOHN M. BERRY, Chairman. Mr. JENNINGS. You say you have had an opportunity to study Mr. Taylor's recommendation? Mr. BERRY. Yes, sir. Mr. JENNINGS. When did you have an opportunity to study them? Mr. BERRY. Yesterday afternoon I heard it. Mr. JENNINGS. Did you have an opportunity to discuss it with any of your members? Mr. BERRY. No, sir. Mr. JENNINGS. So that is just your opinion and not the opinion of the associations which you represent? Mr. BERRY. No, it is not the expressed opinion of the board of directors of our organization. However, our board members are very practical and very realistic and they know that they cannot always get all that they want and all that they recommend. They know that it is imperative that we have something effective in this situation, else we will lose the whole program. Its loss may be postponed for a year, but it is inevitable. The stocks piling up as they are, this program is going to be the subject of very effective and very damaging criticism. Mr. JENNINGS. Do you think we should give the farmers some alternative to vote on or just give them this one package plan? Mr. BERRY. I think it is all right to submit it as proposed. I really do. I think we will sustain it by their vote. I think if they do not want to sustain it, we had better determine now rather than later whether we are going to have the program for the future. Mr. JENNINGS. In other words, you think they should be given this or nothing? Mr. BERRY. That is my thought about it. I feel this way about it. If we are going to lose the program we will be far better off to lose it now before we shall have to take greater losses on our stocks. Mr. JENNINGS. Yes, but we may not have to lose the whole program if we give them some alternatives to vote on other than just this complete decrease going right on down. If we put a stopgap in there at five-tenths of an acre, we might be able to salvage the program. If you put it in here and take it right on down, I am afraid we might stand a good possibility of salvaging the whole program. Mr. BERRY. I do not know whether we will or not. I have no alternative to suggest. Mr. Chairman, there was one statement made sometime during the day that the marketing quota for 1955 was 548 million pounds. That statement ought to be corrected. The marketing quota for burley tobacco for 1955, as proclaimed by the Secretary of Agriculture, is 478 million pounds. The CHAIRMAN. We certainly thank you. Mr. WATTS. Mr. Chairman, I do not think I have any more witnesses who want to testify, but I certainly would like to recognize Mr. W. L. Staton of Lexington, Ky., who is the secretary of the Burley Tobacco Growers Association. The CHAIRMAN. Will you stand up and be recognized? Mr. WATTS. Did Mr. Sinclair introduce the other members of the Farm Bureau who were along? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. WATTS. Mr. Chairman, that concludes it as far as I am concerned. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any other grower witness or representative here who would like to testify? If not, I see that Mr. Miller of the Department is here, and I wonder if he would mind coming to the witness chair for a second cross-examination. Without objection, I would like to have unanimous consent for Congressman Jennings to include as part of the record the telegram he received from former Congressman Tom Fugate, dated March 8, 1955. (The information referred to above follows:) Hon. W. PAT JENNINGS, Member of Congress, New House Building, Washington, D. C.: EWING, VA., MARCH 8, 1955. Acre Recommend acreage of tobacco of five-tenths or less have no reduction. age of six-tenths to eight-tenths, inclusive, cut one-tenth annually when reduction is made. Acreage of nine-tenths and above cut percentage to bring production in line with disappearance. Red card tobacco should carry 75 percent penalty relationship adjustment reduced to one-tenth of 1 percent. Growers selling red card tobacco on white card penalized with cancellation of allotment for 1 year. TOM B. FUGATE. Mr. WATTS. Mr. Chairman, while you are on that, I have several resolutions that have been sent to me by various groups. I do not know that I would care to file all of them, but I would like to have permission to go through them and file such of them as I think might be pertinent for the record. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, that will be done. Mr. Miller, you have heard the testimony of various grower representatives and you have heard Mr. Randolph Taylor's proposal this morning. I just wondered if you had any observations or recommendations or principles or thoughts that might be helpful to this committee in trying to solve the problem. STATEMENT OF CLARENCE L. MILLER, DIRECTOR, TOBACCO DIVISION, COMMODITY STABILIZATION SERVICE Mr. MILLER. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity again of appearing before the committee. I and my staff have been very much interested in the testimony given here today. I think those that have presented their opinions and the views and resolutions of their respective organizations have done so in an admirable manner. Mr. Taylor's so-called three-point package legislative proposal this morning has not been presented in time for the Department of Agriculture to make a study of it. I cannot at this time make any recommendations as to whether they would be in favor of such a proposal or not. However, I have this noon conferred with my superiors and I beg to inform you, sir, that we could give you an answer within 24 hours as to the Department's recommendations or incorporation of this so-called three-point legislative proposal in the proposals that I gave last week. The CHAIRMAN. I will ask unanimous consent that Mr. Miller be permitted to file for the record the recommendations of the Department as to this matter. (The data referred to above is as follows:) Hon. WATKINS M. ABBITT, House of Representatives. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Washington 25, D. C., March 14, 1955. DEAR CONGRESSMAN ABBITT: At the hearings before the Joint Subcommittee on Agriculture on March 10, 1955, a legislative proposal was presented and endorsed by the producer organizations present. This proposal would, in effect, direct the Secretary of Agriculture to hold a referendum of burley producers in which the producers would accept or reject marketing quotas and price supports on the 1955 crop of burley tobacco under the following conditions: (a) That the Secretary of Agriculture redetermine the 1955 burley allotments using the now known 1954 production and stocks figures (provided that in no case should the 1955 allotment be reduced more than a total of 25 percent under the 1954 allotment.) (b) That the minimum acreage provision under which allotments cannot be reduced below the smaller of (1) 0.7 of an acre, (2) 25 percent of the cropland, or (3) the allotment for the preceding year, be changed to provide that the minimum shall be the smaller of (1) 0.5 of an acre, (2) 10 percent of the cropland, or (3) the allotment for the preceding year. The department feels that such legislation providing for a referendum in which the grower has the opportunity to express his free choice on this matter is a democratic process of law and, thus, is acceptable to the Department. Sincerely yours, J. A. MCCONNELL, Mr. MILLER. As to any personal recommendations on the proposal at the present time or any personal opinions, I personally feel that such a proposal to present legislative matters in the form of a referendum is possible in line with what I had in mind last week when we discussed the matter here in the testimony given before this committee. The CHAIRMAN. I understand that the Department has already gone into the field to acquaint growers with the situation? Mr. MILLER. That is correct. We are to appear in your State on Saturday at Abington, Va., in the first of a series of meetings. Those meetings are to extend through the 23d of March. That is the following Wednesday a week, approximately a period of 10 or 11 days in the 8-State area. As this committee directed the Tobacco Division to go to the field, we have prepared 3 groups, and they will carry on simultaneously 3 sets of meetings in order to expedite the matter as rapidly as possible. The CHAIRMAN. I think that is fine. We deeply appreciate your assistance in this matter. Unless there is something else that somebody wants to say, we will adjourn this meeting. It is my understanding that we will meet on Monday to hear from the Members of Congress. Then we will have an executive session meeting of the subcommittee on Tuesday. (The following data was submitted to the subcommittee:) FAYETTE COUNTY FARM BUREAU, Hon. JOHN C. WATTS, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: The farm bureau organization of this county has been concerned with the present difficulties in the burley tobacco program and has studied the situation with care in an effort to determine what measures could be taken to improve the program. It is our opinion that this program can never succeed unless the present exemption from cuts accorded small growers be entirely eliminated. The quota system must apply to all growers alike. We think this consideration takes prior importance over any other questions relating to the present program and we do not want to recommend any improvements in the present program unless this provision can be adopted. In the event the above-mentioned seven-tenths acre minimum can be eliminated, we would suggest the following improvements in the present program: 1. Eliminate the tolerance factor used in measurement. 2. Cut the percentage of acreage allotted for new growers and acreage adjustments from five-tenths of 1 percent to one-tenth of 1 percent. 3. Increase the penalty for the production of "red card" tobacco to the upper legal limit permissible and provide that the production of "red card" tobacco does not entitle the producer to a quota increase. 4. Eliminate the present provision enabling a landlord to secure an allotment through "tenant history." 5. In place of the present acreage allotment system, substitute a poundage and acreage combination with a reasonable ceiling on the poundage. It is our sincere hope that you will consider these recommendations and see the fairness of them and will recommend them to the Congress for legislation thereon. Yours truly, ROBERT D. WOODS, President. RESOLUTION OF THE KENTUCKY ASSOCIATION OF FARM MANAGERS AND RURAL APPRAISERS REGARDING BURLEY TOBACCO PROGRAM Whereas it appears that the State of Kentucky and other burley-growing States are in need of a more workable tobacco program; and, Whereas the Kentucky Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers is vitally interested in the promotion of burley tobacco and the development of proper controls, did propose and adopt at the regular meeting of the board of directors, held on February 26, 1955, at the Lafayette Hotel, Lexington, Ky.; the following resolution: Be it Resolved, That there be no reduction in burley tobacco acreage allotment unless the reduction applies to all burley tobacco growers regardless of the size of individual acreage allotments; be it further Resolved, That burley tobacco acreages be measured under strict supervision, by well-trained disiinterested parties; be it further Resolved, That all tolerances on burley tobacco acreage allotments be eliminated; be it further Resolved, That new burley tobacco acreage allotments to be determined by the past history of burley tobacco acreage on established farm units; be it further Resolved, That poundage control of the maximum amount of burley tobacco to be marketed per acre be established and be combined with acreage control; be it further Resolved, That marketing cards to be presented when tobacco is delivered, and that all "red card" tobacco be plainly identified prior to and at the time of all established tobacco auction sales; be it further Resolved, That the Congressional Agricultural Committee determine from the manufacturers of tobacco products the types and qualities of tobacco desired by the manufacturer; be it further Resolved, that alternate uses of the surplus tobacco held by the Commodity Credit Corporation be explored, such as its use for lawn fertilizer, manufacture of insecticides and other domestic uses, and that sale of same be handled through regular trade channels; Be it further Resolved That, All agencies concerned continue to accent and increase the sale of Burley tobacco products in foreign countries; Be it further Resolved That, A copy of these resolutions be sent to the Honorable Ezra Taft Benson, Senator Earle C. Clements, Senator Alben W. Barkley, Representative John Watts, Representative Hull, and that a copy be furnished to the press. Whereupon this resolution was unanimously adopted and approved this 26th day of February 1955, at Lexington, Ky. Witness my hand this 26th day of February 1955. JOE E. JOHNSON, President. JOHN H. BONDURANT, Secretary and Treasurer. RESOLUTION FROM BERTIE COUNTY (N. C.) FARM BUREAU Whereas the flue cured tobacco grown in excess of allotted acreage is helping to create a surplus that is causing serious concern and threatening to wreck the flue cured tobacco program, we the Bertie County Farm Bureau respectfully request the North Carolina Farm Bureau to use its influence in asking that the penalty for growing excess tobacco above the allotment be substantially increased. The flue-cured tobacco program has been generally recognized as one of the best of the commodity programs and should be kept on a sound basis. We would further request that no credit be given for over-planting when this seems to be done specifically for increasing the allotment permanently on the farm through this practice. BERTIE COUNTY FARM BUREAU, (Thereupon, at 4:45 p. m., the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene at 10 a. m., Monday, March 14, 1955.) |