Speech #770055913

The stocks are already here. The distinguished Senator from Louisiana spoke of the fact that really we would not benefit the island peoples. or the Peruvians. because they would not get a chance to ship in any of their sugar. since the sugar is already here. He is exactly right. because under the quota system there must be a licensing system. and the licensing system now in effect permits the holder of the license which has the earliest date upon it to dispose of a percentage of his quota if there is increase in the marketing possibilities. Of course. the sugar is here in bond. and all that can happen to the beet producers and to the cane producers In the United States in the domestic area. or in any of our insular possessions. Is the granting of permission this year. under the proposed law. to market a larger percentage of the surplus now on hand. I grant that would be of some general benefit. but I am getting to the point that there is no practical benefit to the grower of beets or cane from the proposed legislation. without additional things occurring. first. a decision as to whether we are going to continue the sugar legislation. which will be in effect only until December. and will then expire unless we do continue it. second. if we are to continue it. would we not have a much better chance of maintaining a fair and equitable quota system without undue friction with our neighbors in Peru and elsewhere? Would we not have a much better chance of retaining a fair and equitable quota system which would be helpful to us and helpful to them at the same time. and then try to give to the domestic producers in the United States some additional advantages in our own market. which is. of course. the underlying thought of the Senators from the West who have been urging the enactment of the pending bill? With their effort I have every sympathy. and I can see some very strong reasons for it. but I think we are hazarding too much .and that we will put ourselves in an awkward position. so that propagandists can highly prejudice our interests. and the interests of all the Western Hemisphere. based upon an action we may take here which will not materially help our producers. assuming it would do justiceand no fair argument could be brought against doing justice to our own producers so far as possibleassuming we do all that we will have the opportunity to do. either in the extension of this act. which we must consider prior to December. or in the passage of some other Sugar Act. Therefore I have asked the Senator these questions. because I wanted to get his answers. since I knew he had given far more study to the sugar question. and to the quota system as applied to sugar. than I had had opportunity to give. But I always had in my mind what I regarded as the great value of the quota system in an attempt to formulate some type of effective sugar legislation.