Radio and Television Remarks on the Veto of the Farm Freeze Bill

[Recorded on film and tape]

My fellow Americans:

A few hours ago I returned to the Congress, without my approval, the farm freeze Bill.

I vetoed this legislation because I wanted to help, not hinder, farm families in their efforts toward a balanced, more prosperous agriculture. It is my firm conviction that the situation today calls for forward-looking action--not enforced stagnation.

We must improve the farm program--not freeze it. We must do a better job of protecting farm income--not by restricting farmers with last year's already outgrown patterns, but by forward-looking legislative action.

The freeze resolution would have piled up more price-depressing surpluses in warehouses.

It would have restricted the growth of markets.

It would have largely ignored the problems of the small farmer who sells so little that price supports have scant meaning.

It would have been unfair to winter wheat growers already signed up in the acreage reserve program.

And it would have stopped much of the progress already made in the transition toward a freer farm economy.

We have made progress in agriculture. Income per person living on farms from all sources last year was the highest on record; farm assets are at an all-time high. farm ownership is also at a record high.

Prices received by farmers this month averaged 11 per cent above a year ago. farm exports in fiscal 1957 set a new record and the surplus production of American farms is being made available for hungry people at home and abroad. The family farm remains the backbone of American agriculture.

Yes, we have made progress in agriculture.

And most of this progress has been made by giving farmers a chance to make their own decisions.

Among the farmers who are getting along best are those who produce hogs and cattle and most of the poultry products. Aside from bad weather, the same is true of fruits and vegetables. These farmers are completely free of production controls.

The farmers with the most problems are those who grow wheat, corn and cotton--the products which have the greatest amount of governmental interference. We need less, not more governmental interference in agriculture.

If I had signed the freeze bill, it would have been a 180-degree turn-right back to the very problems from which our farm people are beginning to escape. Instead of doing that we should build on what we have done to meet the problems that remain.

In my Message to the Congress today I proposed a five-point action program which represents a progressive approach to the current farm situation.

First, the Congress should enact the legislation outlined in my Special Message of January 16th. Such legislation will give farmers the machinery needed to do the job.

Second, when these necessary legislative changes are made, 1959 acreage allotments will be established at levels as high or higher than those prevailing in 1958.

Third, when necessary new authorization is provided, the special export program to expand our markets and to move our surplus crops will be enlarged.

Fourth, dairy products acquired under price support operations will be used outside the regular domestic commercial market. These products will be donated to the schools, to charitable institutions, to needy persons and other eligible outlets, and some may be exported.

Fifth, the Secretary of Agriculture will put into operation a special export program for cotton, corn and feed grains. This will avoid running so much of these products through the Commodity Credit Corporation. This will avoid red tape and strengthen markets.

This five-point action program would move in the right direction, if we want to give real, lasting help to farmers. So that our farm families may look with confidence toward more income and less governmental interference, I have today urged the Congress to give prompt and careful consideration to legislative needs of this program.