ANTI-INFLATION PROGRAM AS RECOMMENDED IN THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE OF NOVEMBER 17, 1947 HEARINGS BEFORE THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMIC REPORT EIGHTIETH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION PURSUANT TO SEC. 5 (A) OF PUBLIC LAW 304, 79TH CONGRESS NOVEMBER 21, 24, 25, 26, 28, DECEMBER 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, AND 10, 1947 Printed for the use of the Joint Committee on the Economic Report CONTENTS Baer, Julius B., general counsel, Commodity Exchange, Inc., New 448 Boyd, James, Director, Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, Barnes, Raymond J., president, North American Export Grain Asso- ciation, New York, N. Y.. Bright, Edgar A. G., New Orleans Cotton Exchange, New Orleans, 504 Brown, Edward E., chairman of board, First National Bank, Chicago, 561 Chapman, Hon. Oscar L., Acting Secretary, Department of the 515 Crawford, Roy D., secretary and general manager, the Farmers Union Jobbing Association, Kansas City, Mo- Creekmore, E. F., American Cotton Shippers Association, New 493 Crow, William C., Director, Marketing Facilities Branch, Production 124 Eccles, Marriner S., chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve 133 Eccles, Marriner S. (resumed testimony). 595 Farrington, Carl C., Assistant Administrator, Production and Market- 92 Friedman, Robert E., Oil and Gas Division, Department of the 538 Gardner, John C., president, New York Coffee & Sugar Exchange, 458 Gordon, Colin S., vice president, Quaker Oats Co., Chicago, Ill Harriman, Hon. W. Averell, Secretary of Commerce, Washington, 171 Rhodes, F. Marion, assistant to the Administrator, Production and McClintock, J. O., president, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago, Ill. 267 192 67 127 Skyberg, Herman F., president, Farmers Cooperative Marketing 374 Statement of-Continued Slaughter, Charles, New York Cotton Exchange, New York, N. Y.--- Sturtevant, R. H., vice president, Hart-Bartlett-Sturtevant Grain Co., Snyder, Hon. John W., Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.- Uhlmann, Richard F., president, Uhlmann Grain Co., and vice presi- dent, Chicago Board of Trade, Highland Park, Ill.. Vaile, Roland S., professor of economics and marketing, University of Wheeler, Dan H., Director, Program Division, Department of the Witkin, Isaac, president, General Cocoa Co., New York, N. Y.. Page 501 408 340 528 ANTI-INFLATION PROGRAM AS RECOMMENDED IN THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE OF NOVEMBER 17, 1947 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1947 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMIC REPORT, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 2 p. m., pursuant to call, in Room 318, Senate Office Building, Senator Robert A. Taft, chairman, presiding. Present: Senators Taft (chairman), Ball, Flanders, Watkins, O'Mahoney, Myers, Sparkman, and Representatives Wolcott (vice chairman), Bender, Rich, Hart, Patman, Huber. Senators Capper, Aiken, Ecton, Baldwin, Bushfield, Cooper, Young, and Representatives Talle, Poulson, and Horan. Also present: Charles O. Hardy, staff director; Fred E. Berquist, assistant staff director; and John W. Lehman, clerk. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. The committee is meeting in a series of hearings to complete the investigation which the committee itself has been making for the last 3 months, particularly through three subcommittees which have held hearings in some, 30 or 40 cities on the subject of high prices, and also to consider the President's recommendation in his recent message in particular the 10 points, or some of the 10 points which appear in that message. Secretary Harriman, acting for the President, has arranged to have the officials directly concerned appear before the committee to present in more detail the proposals made by him in his message. The first witness to appear is Secretary Anderson, Secretary of Agriculture, and I presume he will deal with various of these items, and particularly items 2, 5 and 6. I assume also that he is open to questions on those, and perhaps any of the others that are stated in the message. Mr. Secretary. STATEMENT OF HON. CLINTON P. ANDERSON, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, D. C. Secretary ANDERSON. Primarily, Senator, I thought we would deal with No. 2, briefly with No. 3, if you do not mind we would like to make some comments on it, and No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, and No. 7. The CHAIRMAN. All right. Secretary ANDERSON. And very briefly on some of the others. The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed. Secretary ANDERSON. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the Department of Agriculture, through me, in the main would 1 |