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Abstract
Excerpts: The Agricultural Adjustment Act was passed to cope with the economic situation that confronted this country at the beginning of 1933. The declaration of emergency and the statement of policy in the act were justified by the momentous needs of the hour and were in accord with social justice. The methods and procedures authorized by the act as a contribution toward an orderly yet quick dealing with the farm problem are directed toward existing difficulties and were needed to bring about orderly progress out of the great economic depression. They recognize the experience developed in previous efforts to correct the farm situation by legislative and nonlegislative measures. They utilize the results of the vast body of economic research which has been promoted in the previous decade by the United States Department of Agriculture and other institutions in their efforts to acquaint farmers with the underlying supply and demand factors affecting their prices. The methods and procedures provided by the Agricultural Adjustment Act are in full harmony with the workings of the so-called “law of supply and demand.” These economic bases of the Agricultural Adjustment Act and the fundamental principles underlying the domestic-allotment plan are discussed in the following pages. The facts presented are from the standpoint of conditions that prevailed during the winter months of 1932-33, just prior to the passage of this legislation.