Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss the lack of an effective response to farmers’ travails by the Hoover administration, contrasted with the whirlwind of legislative activity that addressed the agricultural sector in the “first Hundred Days” of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took office in March of 1933. These actions included the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which is now viewed as the first in a long series of farm bills providing a financial safety net for US farmers, as well as the Soil Conservation Act, the Rural Electrification Act, and legislation establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps. A key court case, United States v. Butler, forced President Roosevelt to alter his legislative course in 1935.
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Notes
- 1.
In the 73rd Congress, the Democrats initially held the Senate with 59 out of 96 seats (plus one Farmer-Labor Senator from Minnesota), and the House with a 311–207 majority.
- 2.
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act, enacted in 1948, and the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as PL-480, are also considered to be permanent legislation, but address policies outside of farm price and income support.
- 3.
These commodities were selected largely because a significant surplus of them had already been built up at the time that the legislation was enacted, leading to low commodity prices.
- 4.
The Commodity Credit Corporation was later formally authorized by Congress in the CCC Charter Act of 1948 (P.L. 81-806).
- 5.
Peek sought to have this agency established outside of USDA, but Secretary Wallace won the jurisdictional battle.
- 6.
Then Representative John Connally (D, TX) introduced this legislation. Mr. Connally later was elected as Governor of Texas and was riding in the car with President John Kennedy when the president was assassinated in Dallas, TX, in November of 1963. Governor Connally was wounded in that same attack. He served as Secretary of Treasury for President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, changing party affiliations in the process. His co-sponsor was Rep. Marvin Jones, also (D, TX), who was chairman of the House Agriculture Committee for five terms.
- 7.
Bennett’s co-author was William R. Chapline.
- 8.
This language is found in the opening paragraph of the legislation, spelling out the purposes of the new law.
- 9.
273 U.S. 418 (1927).
- 10.
277 U.S. 350 (1928).
- 11.
278 U.S. 235 (1929).
- 12.
For the purposes of this volume, there is no need to delve into the concept of substantive due process and other legal theories of the day.
- 13.
94 U.S. 113 (1877).
- 14.
The initial list of basic commodities included wheat, cotton, corn, hogs, rice, tobacco, and milk. Other commodities were added as the act was implemented. This list of commodities covered by agricultural programs has changed many times over the last 80 years.
- 15.
297 U.S. 1 (1936).
- 16.
Following the appeals court decision, Congress passed some modifications to the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935 (P.L. 74-320) to address some of the issues raised by the court of appeals.
- 17.
This practice of paying farmers for doing things that have positive environmental impacts continues today in different forms.
- 18.
307 U.S. 533 (1939).
- 19.
The committee system gave the programs grassroots support, but in some cases, allowed local interests to discriminate against some classes of farmers as illustrated in the Pigford and related class action court cases in the late twentieth century. This issue is addressed in some detail in Chap. 16.
- 20.
317 U.S. 111 (1942). Claude Wickard was the Secretary of Agriculture at the time, and thus named as plaintiff in the lawsuit.
- 21.
Congress provided President Roosevelt with funding for these programs under similar bills for a total of eight years, ending in 1943.
- 22.
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was established late in the Hoover Administration (January 1932), and was initially empowered to make loans to troubled banks. The RFC’s authority was broadened considerably with the passage of the Emergency Banking Act on March 9, 1933.
- 23.
Representative Rayburn became Speaker of the House in 1940 and served in that role until his death in 1961. His speaker tenure was interrupted twice when Republicans won the majority in the House between 1947–1949 and 1953–1955.
- 24.
A check dam is defined as a small, sometimes temporary, dam constructed across a swale, drainage ditch, or waterway to counteract erosion by reducing water flow velocity.
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Mercier, S.A., Halbrook, S.A. (2020). Early Federal Policy Responses. In: Agricultural Policy of the United States. Palgrave Studies in Agricultural Economics and Food Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36452-6_12
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