Wallace's Report

Henry Cantwell Wallace, gone now some two months, is not forgotten. Last week, his successor, Secretary Howard M. Gore, Governor-elect of West Virginia, transmitted to the President the report of the Department of Agriculture for 1923-24. He said in doing so that, although Mr. Wallace had never seen the final draft, he had superintended the gathering of the material and it was believed to represent his opinions.

The report told of the great, although somewhat uneven, recovery which agriculture had made: wheat, the great gainer; corn, hogs, cotton, livestock, holding their own; dairy and poultry products somewhat behind. But it looked forward to a farm income of 12 billion dollars for 1924-25, as compared to 11 1/2 billion dollars the year previous, and 9 1/2 billion dollars in 1921-22. It suggested that cooperative marketing might disappoint those who have very great hopes of it, and expressed the opinion that, in aiding the movement, the Government's assistance would be of most value if confined to the indirect services of advice and information. The farmers must be left in complete control of their cooperative enterprises.