situation and need to do something right now. We need to study further things which Mr. Bass and I have already discussed.

Senator CLEMENTS. Mr. Goddard, you don't think that the committee would be justified in waiting for that answer on the poundage question to make a determination of what should be done now?

Mr. GODDARD. No, sir; with a prospect of a 50 percent or 60 percent cut next year, it would just be financially disastrous to the tobacco growers and the tenant farmers.

Senator CLEMENTS. If this program gets out to all the farmers throughout the burley area, it is going to take a lot of legwork on the parts of folks like yourself.

Mr. GODDARD. I realize that.

I would like to introduce Mr. James Hoffman, the president of our organization. Also Mr. Tom Pepper, who is our counsel.

Mr. BASS. Mr. Pepper is the attorney for the Stabilization Board. Mr. Pepper, did you have anything to say to the committee? I think Mr. Pepper would like to make a statement.

STATEMENT OF TOM PEPPER, COUNSEL, BURLEY STABILIZATION CORP., KNOXVILLE, TENN.

Mr. PEPPER. Congressman Bass, Mr. Chairman, gentlemen of the committee, I thank you.

Mr. BASS. Mr. Pepper is from my congressional district.

The CHAIRMAN. We are mighty glad to tell you that your Member is very faithful in attending these committee hearings.

Mr. PEPPER. I relinquished with regret my position as the last witness, gentlemen, because I think he always is looked forward to with great pleasure, especially on an occasion of this kind when you gentlemen have been so faithful and had so much hard work in hearing witnesses in this matter.

I am general counsel for Burley Stabilization Corp. based at Knoxville. I live in Springfield in Robertson County, which is the largest and highest dark-fired tobacco market in the world. It is a big frog in a little pond. Springfield is the leader in that market.

About the only unique information that I might bring you gentlemen would be something of the thinking and attitude in my area. As I say, I live in middle Tennessee. The main burley crop in Tennessee, as you know, is grown in east Tennessee, about half of it. the other half of it being grown in the First Congressional District of the State. We have a substantial amount of burley now grown in middle Tennessee. Tennessee grows something like 20 percent of all the burley tobacco and we grow about a fourth approximately of the tobacco grown in Tennessee. So that we are really small in the industry. But we are old in tobacco because we have a large and prospering darktobacco market at Springfield, and in the adjoining counties of north middle Tennessee and of southern Kentucky.

Mr. COOLEY. May I interrupt you?

Mr. PEPPER. Certainly.

Mr. COOLEY. I just want to say that the bells are ringing in the House now, and we will have to adjourn pretty quickly to answer the rollcall. I would like to ask you before I go if you are familiar with the recommendations of the Department.

Mr. PEPPER. Yes, I am.

Mr. COOLEY. Are you in accord with the recommendations?

Mr. PEPPER. Personally I am. I am not authorized to represent anyone.

Mr. COOLEY. But as attorney for the Stabilization Corp., you do approve these recommendations?

Mr. PEPPER. Yes.

Mr. COOLEY. And you will join in in trying to bring the facts to the attention of the farmers?

Mr. PEPPER. I will, indeed.

Mr. COOLEY. That is all.

Senator CLEMENTS. You heard the recommendation made here by Mr. Taylor and supported by a number of other witnesses. Since this matter would be submitted to the growers if we followed his recommendation, would you also favor that program?

Mr. PEPPER. I would; yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I might say for the benefit of the committee members and all present, there is a quorum call and we have to leave. If it is agreeable, without objection we will come back at 2 o'clock.

There are a number of witnesses here, and we will have plenty of time to hear everyone that wishes to be heard.

Mr. SHUFORD. Mr. Chairman, I have two witnesses here. I am pretty sure that it will be agreeable to them to come back at 2 o'clock. There is a quorum call and the bells have already sounded.

The CHAIRMAN. We will have time to hear everybody this afternoon who wants to be heard.

Senator CLEMENTS. Mr. Chairman, we have some witnesses here from Kentucky who are on your list. I regret I am not going to be privileged to be with you at 2 o'clock. I know you will get some very fine and worthwhile testimony from these witnesses, and I hope I have an opportunity before the day is over to further discuss the afternoon with them.

(Thereupon at 12:40 p. m., a recess was taken until 2 p. m. the same day.)

AFTER RECESS

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order, please.

I would like at this time to recognize Congressman Shuford, from North Carolina. I know he has at least two witnesses from his district. I will ask him if he would like to present his witnesses.

Mr. SHUFORD. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate very much this opportunity of being with this committee, and to present to the committee two citizens of my district in western North Carolina, who are very much interested in the burley tobacco situation. We are small farmers, and it means a great deal to us to have a proper determination of this issue.

I have here two witnesses, Mr. Joseph Higdon, who is the treasurer of the Farmers Federation Cooperative of Asheville, N. C. He is also a member of the Eight State Burley Tobacco Growers Committe, and likewise a farmer and producer of tobacco.

I also have Mr. Charles B. McCrary of Haywood County, who is a tobacco farmer and a member of the Eight State Burley Tobacco Growers Committee.

I would like to present at this time Mr. Joseph Higdon.

The CHAIRMAN. I would like to say we are not only glad to have you here, but Congressman Shuford has been very much interested in this matter, and has contacted us almost daily. We appreciate very much your coming up and giving us any information which you may wish to present.

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH HIGDON, TREASURER, FARMERS FEDERATION COOPERATIVE, ASHEVILLE, N. C., MEMBER, EIGHT STATE BURLEY TOBACCO GROWERS COMMITTEE

Mr. HIGDON. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen of the committee, I am indeed delighted to have the honor of appearing here today, even though what I have to say will probably be little as compared to what we have heard here this morning. It has been inspiring listening to the arguments here pro and con.

I would like to say at the outset that I am sure everyone is aware that the section of the burley country that we come from, representing the small farmer, that is our average acreage rate allotment is 0.64 acre, having a little over 12,000 acres, and almost 20,000 producers. My organization is a farm organization operating in 17 western counties of North Carolina, principally all of the burley tobacco territory. We have taken up with these farmers through the medium of press and meetings and other means these subjects that are being discussed here today. I will state further in connection with the Eight State Burley Committee, of which I am a member, a meeting was held, and I would like to introduce this letter to the Secretary of Agriculture. This meeting was held in Lexington on February 19. For your information I would like to read the contents.

DEAR MR. SECRETARY: The Eight State Burley Tobacco Committee recommends and respectfully requests you to recommend to the Congress that legislation be enacted:

A. To discourage production of excess tobacco:

1. Provide that production of nonquota tobacco shall not give any entitlement to a quota.

2. Provide that excess production by an allotment producer shall result in a penalty of allotment reduction in an amount equal to the excess production in the prior year.

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 or misdemeanor of 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.

I would like to point out in the discussions and proposals at that meeting that a proposal to repeal all minimum allotment provisions was defeated by the majority of the committeemen present at that meeting.

The other provisions generally speaking were accepted.

I referred to the Department's recommendations. I have not had an opportunity to go into that thoroughly to see how it would tie in with the Eight State Burley Committee's report, but it looks as if they have adopted or would recommend certainly several of the recommendations handed down by this committee.

I will say since our meeting in Lexington on February 19 we have contacted through the press, through the ASC offices, through the county agents' offices, and through group meetings which have been held in our territory and presented all of this information to our farmers.

The committee's report, I might add, has been very agreeable. It has been accepted by, I think, the majority of those that I have had the opportunity to discuss it with.

The CHAIRMAN. We certainly do thank you for your statement. Congressman Shuford, have you any questions to ask?

Mr. SHUFORD. Mr. Higdon, as far as the farmers are concerned in western North Carolina, the proposal of the Eight State Burley Committee is agreeable to them. That is their plan and what they favor at this time?

Mr. HIGDON. The plan as set out in that would be acceptable to our group, I am sure.

Mr. SHUFORD. What is the average tobacco acreage in western North Carolina?

Mr. HIGDON. I believe last year it was 0.64 acre.

Mr. SHUFORD. They are mostly in that area of small operators having more planters than they have acreage?

Mr. HIGDON. Yes, sir, considerably more.

Mr. SHUFORD. I think that is all.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Higdon, do you think your group would go along with the referendum idea that was advanced this morning? Mr. HIGDON. I think first if the referendum idea advanced is proposed, it should be spelled out definitely to let them know what they are voting for, and I am sure they would go along with it.

The CHAIRMAN. You would help to get the information to the farmers?

Mr. HIGDON. I would be delighted to.

The CHAIRMAN. And in your opinion it would be perfectly proper for this committee to approach it that way and give the growers the opportunity to express their approval or disapproval of the proposal? Mr. HIGDON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other questions of Mr. Higdon? If not, we thank you.

Mr. HIGDON. Thank you.

Mr. SHUFORD. Mr. Chairman, I would like to present Mr. Charles B. McCrary.

The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have you with us, Mr. McCrary.

STATEMENT OF CHARLES B. McCRARY, HAYWOOD COUNTY, N. C., MEMBER, EIGHT STATE BURLEY TOBACCO GROWERS COMMITTEE

Mr. MCCRARY. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen of the committee, it is a pleasure to appear before you. As a member of the Eight State Committee, I agree with what has been read before the committee and submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture.

It

As to Mr. Taylor's submission before the committee, I believe that our growers, as Mr. Higdon has said, will go along if it is clearly placed in front of them. I think they would understand it by having time to think it over, but right now they have great fear as to this program, because they have such a small acreage in our area. means the lifeblood to them. A four or five hundred dollar income on small farms is the nerve to the pocketbook. That is what you are touching with them. They are independent and they don't want to get off that independency.

The CHAIRMAN. All of us are very sensitive to the pocketbook.

Mr. MCCRARY. It is a very sensitive thing. They don't want to lose that 0.7 if there is any way around it, because that seems to be what they want to keep as security.

I believe that is all I have to say.

The CHAIRMAN. We certainly do appreciate your coming here and giving us your opinion.

Are there any questions?

Mr. SHUFORD. I just wanted to bring out, Mr. McCrary, that the tobacco crop in western North Carolina is the money crop for the farmer of that section, is it not?

Mr. MCCRARY. That is true for the small farms.

Mr. SHUFORD. That is his cash crop.

Mr. MCCRARY. That is his cash crop in the rural areas.

Mr. SHUFORD. His tobacco allotment and acreage is essential for his

well being.

Mr. MCCRARY. It certainly is.

Mr. SHUFORD. That is all.

The CHAIRMAN. We certainly do thank you, sir.

Mr. MCCRARY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to get this in the record. I had a letter from two people of my district who were invited here. The president of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, and the Tennessee Burley Tobacco Growers Association asked me if I would get permission to file statements in the record, and without objection, Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask permission that they be allowed to file statements later on.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection that permission will be granted. Mr. BASS. They should be on the way, Mr. Chairman.

(For data submitted by Mr. Bass, see p. 144.)

Mr. SHUFORD. Mr. Chairman, I would also like permission for Mr. Higdon and Mr. McCrary to file a written statement at their con

venience.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection that will be done.

We are most fortunate to have Congressman Burnside of West Virginia sitting with the committee today. He has been intensely