Report of committee No. 11, farm population and farm home__ Report of committee No. 12, coordination of State and Federal legis- REPORT OF THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCE. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, December 30, 1921. MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: In harmony with our conversation of a few days ago, I am writing to ask you to call a national conference to consider the agricultural problems of the American people. We are all well aware of the severe agricultural depression which exists throughout the land and the extraordinary conditions which brought about the present situation. No one will pretend that the present conditions could have been avoided, but none of us is willing to agree that there ought not be some corrective and constructive steps taken to remedy the severe hardships under which so important a portion of our productive citizenship is struggling. I am convinced that a conference may be made a very helpful agency in suggesting practical ways of improvement, particularly if brought into coordination with the helpful investigation which has been begun by the congressional committee committed to a related work. Such a conference might divide itself into two parts-one part to give consideration to our present-day difficulties, which, though temporary, are serious and need effective attention; the other part, a survey of the future in an effort to determine upon general policies, having in view the maintenance of production, the greatest possible use and at the same time the conservation of our agricultural resources, and the more complete coordination of our agricultural, manufacturing, and general business interests. It seems reasonably certain that, as the world comes out of the present period of disorganization, this country may find itself confronting new conditions which may very directly influence both our agricultural and industrial life. We should anticipate such changes and endeavor, to prepare for them. It is unthinkable that with our vast areas, our unparalleled endowment of agricultural resources, our fertility of soil, our vast home market, and the great ability and resourcefulness of our farmers we should accept the status of a distinctly industrial Nation. Our destiny seems to require that we should be a well-rounded Nation with a high development of both industry and agriculture, supporting one another and prospering together. It must be, and I feel sure it is, the national wish and purpose to maintain our agriculture at the highest possible efficiency. It is unquestioned that a conference will bring us to a clearer understanding of the problems before us. I would like you to bring 3 into the conference not only the ablest representatives of agricultural production, which shall represent our great country in the broadest possible way, but I think much good would come if you will include in the conference those who are engaged in industry most intimately associated with agriculture. It will clarify our views if we may have present representatives of the more important interests which are closely related and dependent on agriculture. I trust these representatives will be invited. I must leave the make-up of the conference to your more intimate knowledge of those who may confer most helpfully, but I will be glad if you will immediately issue invitations so that both the country and the Government may have the benefit of the earliest possible suggestions which will come from such a meeting. Very truly yours, Hon. HENRY C. WALLACE, WARREN G. HARDING. Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Upon receipt of your letter of December 30, 1921, in which you directed me to call a national conference to consider the agricultural problems of the American people, I immediately set about the matter of carrying out your desires. The date was fixed for Monday, January 23. A total of 439 people were invited to come as delegates to the conference, as follows: Included in the farm group were the presidents, in most cases, of all the principal farmer organizations, as well as more than 100 individual farmers whose success and whose standing in their respective States warranted us in considering them as representative. Of the 439, 336 accepted invitations and were present as delegates. They came from practically every State and represented every phase of agricultural activity. I think I am fully warranted in saying that never before in our history was there brought together a group of men who so completely represented the agricultural thought and practice of the Nation. During the week prior to the meeting of the conference the various delegates who accepted were assigned to 12 committees, the effort being in every case to assign each delegate to the committee which would deal with the subject in which he was particularly interested, and on which his experience and interest would best qualify him to serve. Meeting rooms were provided for each committee and stenographic help and experienced secretaries were made available. This made it possible for the various committees to get to work at once. The forenoons of each day and the afternoon also of Monday were given over to discussions of various matters of immediate interest, the afternoons and evenings remaining free for committee meetings. It was a working conference. Every delegate, with the possible exception of a very few who arrived late, had a place on one of the committees. Representative Sydney Anderson, of Minnesota, chairman of the Congressional Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry, at my request acted as permanent chairman of the conference. I hand you herewith a report of the conference in two parts, one of which contains the various papers and addresses and the other the reports of the various committees as they were adopted finally by the conference. Very respectfully, The PRESIDENT, HENRY C. WALLACE. The White House. THE WHITE HOUSE, MY DEAR MR. HAUGEN: I am sending to you herewith the letter of the Secretary of Agriculture reporting to me on the recent national conference held to discuss the agricultural problems of the American people, together with a copy of the report of the committees and resolutions to the conference and the proceedings of the conference. I have felt that this is a document which the Congress would very much wish to possess. I have no doubt that there is a very genuine demand for printed copies of these reports. The Department of Agriculture is without authority to cause them to be published. I submit them to you for such consideration and such action as you and your associates deem best. I assume that there can and will be no publication unless authorized and directed by resolution of the Congress. Very truly, yours, Hon. GILBERT N. HAUGEN, Chairman Committee on Agriculture, WARREN G. HARDING. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. ADDRESSES Invocation by Rev. James Shera Montgomery, Chaplain of the House of Representatives. ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. SECRETARY WALLACE AND MEMBERS OF THE CONFERENCE: It is an occasion of the greatest satisfaction to me that Secretary Wallace's invitation has been so widely and cordially accepted. I confess the firm belief that in the public life of a people so intelligent as the American Nation most problems may be regarded as well on the way to solution when they are once reduced to their simplest terms and generally understood. This conference was called with the aim to bring about such a general understanding of the critical situation now confronting American agriculture. We all understand that this conference is not a legislative body. Its recommendations will require to be written into the statute books by other authorities, or applied in administration, after sanction by those who must assume responsibility. But we do confidently anticipate that the considerations here had will be helpful and illuminating to those immediately responsible for the formulation of public policy in dealing with these problems. Therefore, it has seemed to me, I can make no more appropriate observation than that your work here will be of value precisely as you address yourselves to the realities, the matters of fact, the understanding of conditions as they are, and the proposal of feasible and practicable methods for dealing with those conditions. Concerning the grim reality of the present crisis in agriculture, there can be no differences of opinion among informed people. The depressions and discouragements are not peculiar to agriculture, and I think it fair to say there could have been no avoidance of a great slump from war-time excesses to the hardships of readjustment. We can have no helpful understanding by assuming that agriculture suffers alone, but we may fairly recognize the fundamental difficulties which accentuate the agricultural discouragements, and menace the healthful life of this basic and absolutely necessary industry. I do not need to tell you or the country of the supreme service that the farmer rendered our Nation and the world during the war. Peculiar circumstances placed our allies in Europe, as well as our own country, in a position of peculiar and unprecedented dependence on the American farmer. With his labor supply limited and in conditions which made producing costs high beyond all precedent, the farmer rose to the emergency. He did everything that was asked of him, and more than most people believed it was possible for him to do. Now, in his hour of disaster, consequent on the reaction 6 |