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No Agreement. Next day Shuman yielded the platform to Minnesota's Democratic Senator Hubert Humphrey, an old champion of huge handouts (and heavy controls) to farmers. Humphrey, who is an aspiring vice-presidential candidate, was in Chicago on Lyndon Johnson's behalf to make peace with the Farm Bureau. He read a letter from Johnson emphasizing the President's desire "to search for better ways" in agriculture and to "use the pricing mechanism of the free market with more vitality." Said Humphrey: "I have now become convinced that the time is at hand to free our farmers from their daily concern over the long-term implications of expanding regulations and controls. There are better ways than mandatory programs for some of our commodities."
At first hearing, Humphrey's statement brought satisfied smiles to the faces of Shuman and his Farm Bureau followers. But then there were some second thoughts. "Quite a show," said an Illinois farmer, "but I don't believe two words of it." In fact, what Humphrey really said was that the Democratic Administration has given up on compulsory controls for the time being, now wants to push through a bill with voluntary features. The current favorite: a proposal by South Dakota's Democratic Senator George McGovern to guarantee a $2-per-bushel support price for farmers who voluntarily restrict their acreage, and no supports for those who plant all they want to, therefore must sell it at the market price.
Shuman was all for the elimination of compulsory controls in the McGovern bill, but was dead set against the compensatory payments. "That is the reason we would have to oppose it completely," said he. U.S. farmers "ask only to be unshackled and given the opportunity to produce for consumers rather than for politicians. The Farm Bureau will gladly cooperate with the Administration in any sincere re-evaluation of Government agriculture programs and policies."