Potato control law
Encyclopedia
The Potato Control Law was based upon an economic policy enacted by U.S. President Herbert Hoover's
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
at the beginning of the Great Depression
. The policy became a formal act in 1935, and its legislative sponsors were state of North Carolina
. The law was enforced by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)
to protect about 30,000 farmers who made their main living growing potatoes, and who feared that the potato market would be invaded by other farmers whose land became idle by other AAA controls.
The law restricted the export of potatoes and mandated that they be used instead to provide direct relief to those in need. Because of the federal government’s direct involvement in the economic affairs of American potato
growers, this law was widely regarded as one of the most radical and controversial pieces of legislation enacted during the New Deal
. The United States Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1936.
The Potato Control legislation prevented individuals and companies from buying or offering to buy potatoes which were not packed in closed containers approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and bearing official government stamps. Penalties included a $1,000 fine on the first offense, while for a second offense, violators faced a year in jail and an additional $1,000 fine. Farmers and brokers could not receive the necessary official stamps unless they paid a tax of $0.45 per bushel, or if they received tax-exemption stamps from the Secretary of Agriculture.
The law sparked considerable protest, as evident in the following 1935 declaration signed by citizens of West Amwell Township, New Jersey
:
, a forerunner to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
, which provides commodity food items like potatoes to soup kitchens, homeless shelters,and similar organizations that serve meals to the homeless and other individuals in need.
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration was the new name given by the Roosevelt Administration to the Emergency Relief Administration which President Herbert Hoover had created in 1932...
at the beginning of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The policy became a formal act in 1935, and its legislative sponsors were state of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. The law was enforced by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)
Agricultural Adjustment Act
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was a United States federal law of the New Deal era which restricted agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant part of their land and to kill off excess livestock...
to protect about 30,000 farmers who made their main living growing potatoes, and who feared that the potato market would be invaded by other farmers whose land became idle by other AAA controls.
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
growers, this law was widely regarded as one of the most radical and controversial pieces of legislation enacted during the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. The United States Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1936.
The Potato Control legislation prevented individuals and companies from buying or offering to buy potatoes which were not packed in closed containers approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and bearing official government stamps. Penalties included a $1,000 fine on the first offense, while for a second offense, violators faced a year in jail and an additional $1,000 fine. Farmers and brokers could not receive the necessary official stamps unless they paid a tax of $0.45 per bushel, or if they received tax-exemption stamps from the Secretary of Agriculture.
The law sparked considerable protest, as evident in the following 1935 declaration signed by citizens of West Amwell Township, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
:
Included in the 1935 Potato Control Act was a provision that created the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation
That we protest against and declare that we will not be bound by the 'Potato Control Law,' an unconstitutional measure recently enacted by the United States Congress. We shall produce on our own land such potatoes as we may wish to produce and will dispose of them in such manner as we may deem proper.
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, a forerunner to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
Food and Nutrition Service
The Food and Nutrition Service , an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture , was established on August 8, 1969. FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs...
, which provides commodity food items like potatoes to soup kitchens, homeless shelters,and similar organizations that serve meals to the homeless and other individuals in need.
See also
- Critics of the New DealCritics of the New Deal- From the Left :* Carter Glass, Senator from Virginia, came from his death bed to the 1940 Democratic Convention to nominate Franklin Roosevelt's campaign manager James Farley as the Democratic Party's candidate for the Presidency...
- New DealNew DealThe New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
- Great DepressionGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
- New Deal coalitionNew Deal coalitionThe New Deal Coalition was the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until the late 1960s. It made the Democratic Party the majority party during that period, losing only to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952...