Speech #740234158

By virtue of this diversion from domestically produced starches to these imported starches many potatostarch mills have been closed. and a surplus of over 20.000.000 pounds of potato starch now remains unsold. At the same time the cornstarch manufacturers have been obliged to curtail their operations. with the result that in 1935 their purchases of corn were many million bushels less than in I say that. in all fairness. the American farmer Is entitled to the American market in the case of all commodities which can be grown to advantage on the farms of this country. The imports of these foreign starches are increasing so rapidly from year to year because the price of corn in this country and the price of American labor and all materials used in the manufacture of starch result in a cost far above the cost of these Asiatic starches. which are produced in tropical countries and handled and converted with coolie labor who receive between 25 and 30 cents a daylong hours--as against a wage of 50 cents an hour in the starchrefining plants of this country. the policy of our Government results in a price level for the farmers products at a figure which makes it entirely impossible to make these domestic starches cheap enough to compete with the Asiatic starches. It seems inconsistent to pay money to take starchproducing products out of production at around $10 an acre and then let these competing products come in duty free and take the market away from manufacturers who are buying and converting the American products. The starchrefining industry must have its raw products hauled into the plants. which means heavy freight charges. * the finished starch products are transported to the indus-. trial centers. again supplying considerable revenue to the .railroads.