May 2, 1949
IT IS a pleasure to meet you. The work that you are doing in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture has been exceedingly helpful, not only in implementing the farm program but in keeping it going after it has been implemented.
We are working on a farm program that is a real one now, and I know that you are all going to cooperate.
We are trying to arrange things so that there is a balance--a fair balance--between the man who raises the things to eat and the fiber with which we are clothed, and the man who processes it and the man who uses it. If we have a balance between the producer, the man who does the processing, and the consumer--the processor and the consumer sometimes is the same man--it doesn't make much difference what the prices are, so long as there is a balance between the three groups that is fair and square. That is what we are working for. We want everybody in the country to have a fair share in the prosperity of the United States of America, and we want to make that prosperity continuous. And I think we have got a policy in mind at home to do that, not only for the farmer, but for labor and for industry.
That whole thing is tied into the world situation. It is all one picture. If we ourselves can show how to make our form of government work successfully for all the people, that has its effect on the world situation. If we could just raise the standard of living of the people in Asia and Africa and South America, our prosperity never could cease. Just two percent is all we need to do that. Our ambition is to give all the people everywhere a chance at the good things of life, and we want to do that peaceably.
So, if you help make your own country successful and prosperous, you are helping make the world peaceful and prosperous. And that is all any of us want to see.
I thank you for coming over here, and I appreciate having the chance to meet you. And at 5:30 in the morning I'll be listening to you !
NOTE: The President spoke in his office at the White House at 11:30 a.m. to approximately 100 members of the National Association of Radio Farm Directors who were in Washington for their annual conference with officials of the Department of Agriculture.
There was unusual interest in agricultural matters at this time because of the recent introduction of the Brannan plan. On April 7 Secretary Brannan outlined the plan before a joint session of the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture. The plan provided for an income support standard in place of the previous parity formula, and for direct payments to farmers when prices of certain perishables fell too far below parity. The perishables would be sold to consumers at supply and demand prices.
IT IS a pleasure to meet you. The work that you are doing in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture has been exceedingly helpful, not only in implementing the farm program but in keeping it going after it has been implemented.
We are working on a farm program that is a real one now, and I know that you are all going to cooperate.
We are trying to arrange things so that there is a balance--a fair balance--between the man who raises the things to eat and the fiber with which we are clothed, and the man who processes it and the man who uses it. If we have a balance between the producer, the man who does the processing, and the consumer--the processor and the consumer sometimes is the same man--it doesn't make much difference what the prices are, so long as there is a balance between the three groups that is fair and square. That is what we are working for. We want everybody in the country to have a fair share in the prosperity of the United States of America, and we want to make that prosperity continuous. And I think we have got a policy in mind at home to do that, not only for the farmer, but for labor and for industry.
That whole thing is tied into the world situation. It is all one picture. If we ourselves can show how to make our form of government work successfully for all the people, that has its effect on the world situation. If we could just raise the standard of living of the people in Asia and Africa and South America, our prosperity never could cease. Just two percent is all we need to do that. Our ambition is to give all the people everywhere a chance at the good things of life, and we want to do that peaceably.
So, if you help make your own country successful and prosperous, you are helping make the world peaceful and prosperous. And that is all any of us want to see.
I thank you for coming over here, and I appreciate having the chance to meet you. And at 5:30 in the morning I'll be listening to you !
NOTE: The President spoke in his office at the White House at 11:30 a.m. to approximately 100 members of the National Association of Radio Farm Directors who were in Washington for their annual conference with officials of the Department of Agriculture.
There was unusual interest in agricultural matters at this time because of the recent introduction of the Brannan plan. On April 7 Secretary Brannan outlined the plan before a joint session of the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture. The plan provided for an income support standard in place of the previous parity formula, and for direct payments to farmers when prices of certain perishables fell too far below parity. The perishables would be sold to consumers at supply and demand prices.