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1. That is all I have to say, Mr. Chairman, except that I would like to state for the record that in my appearance here, and the statement I have made in connection with the Rivers bill, I am associated with and have the concurrence of my Wisconsin colleagues, Congressmen Lawrence H. Smith, Glenn R. Ďavis, William H. Stevenson, John C. Brophy, Charles J. Kersten, John W. Byrnes, and Alvin E. Ó'Konski. At this point I wish to include the prepared statement of Congressman Merlin Hull, who has a lifetime record of support for the dairy industry of the Nation.

(The statement referred to is as follows:)

STATEMENT OF MERLIN HULL A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN

Mr. CHAIRMAN: Representing one of the largest dairy districts in Wisconsin, with more than 30,000 dairy farmers, I heartily agree with my colleague, Mr. Murray, in opposing the bill to repeal the taxes on oleomargarine, and particularly the 10-cent tax on oleomargarine colored to resemble butter. In Wisconsin are hundreds of cooperative creameries, with thousands of farmer patrons, who well realize that repeal of such taxes will mean a return of the competition in the sale of oleo as butter, with all the bootlegging practices which became a national scandal in the days before the taxes were imposed.

Wisconsin's dairy production is one of the most important of our national industries, amounting to more than $500,000,000 annually. The campaign of falsehood and prejudice carried on by the oleo interests against the farmers of the Middle West in particular, is poor recompense for the tireless endeavors of the farmers to produce the food which won the war. Passage of the Rivers bill would result in disaster to many creameries, and the consequence would be serious and far reaching. I hope that your committee and the Senate will defeat this unfair and unjustified measure.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much for coming, Congressman. Representative MURRAY. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Charles W. Holman, secretary of the National Cooperative Milk Producers Federation.

STATEMENT OF CHARLES W. HOLMAN, SECRETARY, NATIONAL COOPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS FEDERATION

Mr. HOLMAN. Mr. Chairman, before opening my testimony, I have a few statements that were sent in by member organizations from outside of Washington, who have asked me to file them for the record, and with your permission I will file them with the reporter, without necessarily itemizing them.

The CHAIRMAN. We will be very glad to have them, Mr. Holman. We will have them digested, appropriate credit will be given to the authors, and as digested they will be brought to the attention of the committee.

(The letters referred to will be found in the appendix.) Mr. HOLMAN. I thank you very much.

My name is Charles W. Holman. I am secretary of the National Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, with national headquarters in this city at 1731 I Street.

This federation now consists of 86 member associations, and about 600 submember groups. These associations are all farmer-owned and farmer-controlled dairy cooperatives, with more than 430,000 farm families living in 47 States.

The only State in the Union where we do not have farm membership is South Carolina. Incidentally, that is where this legislation originated, Mr. Chairman.

The volume of whole milk equivalent handled by the members of the federation approximates 18,000,000,000 pounds annually, which represents about 18 percent of all milk and separated cream that leaves the farms of America in commerce.

I am filing for the record a list of our member organizations with addresses, and a list of the officers and directors of the federation.

THE NATIONAL COOPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS FEDERATION, NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON 6, D. C.

OFFICERS

George W. Slocum, treasurer.
Charles S. Holman, secretary.

John Brandt, president.

W. P. Davis, first vice president.
W. J. Knutzen, second vice president.

W. H. Austin, Lake Cormorant, Miss.
John Brandt, Minneapolis, Minn.
W. W. Bullard, Andover, Ohio.
Leon A. Chapin, North Bangor, N. Y.
J. W. Collins, Xenia, Ohio.
W. P. Davis, Boston, Mass.
B. B. Derrick, Washington, D. C.
A. L. Faulkner, Monticello, Ga.
Ralph T. Goley, Enid, Okla.
Earl N. Gray, Morrisville, Vt.
Henry Hagg, Portland, Oreg.
A. N. Heggen, Des Moines, Iowa.
C. W. Hibbert, Los Angeles, Calif.
F. W. Huntzicker, Greenwood, Wis.
D. H. Kellogg, Superior, Wis.
Albert Klebesadel, Shawano, Wis.
W. J. Knutzen, Burlington, Wash.
Melvin Mason, Whitewater, Wis.
I. K. Maystead, Osseo, Mich.
Fred W. Meyer, Fair Haven, Mich.
R. C. Mitchell, Southbury, Conn.

DIRECTORS

M. R. Moomaw, Canton, Ohio.
W. S. Moscrip, Lake Elmo, Minn.
E. P. Mulligan, Lee's Summit, Mo.
Marvin E. Neumann, LeGrand, Calif.
John L. Pearson, Portland, Ind.
R. D. Pennewell, Palmyra, Mo.
Otto Pfeiffer, Omaha, Nebr.
George Pitts, McLean, Ill.

H. H. Rathbun, New Hartford, N. Y.
I. W. Reck, Sioux City, Iowa.
Lloyd Schell, Terre Haute, Ind.

Robert Schiering, Mount Healthy, Ohio.
R. W. Shermantine, Sparks, Md.

B. E. Stallones, Houston, Tex.
Fred H. Suhre, Columbus, Ind.
Milo K. Swanton, Madison, Wis.
W. J. Sawyer, Gurnee, Ill.
B. A. Thomas, Shelbyville, Ky.
E. W. Tiedeman, Appleton, Wis.
E. S. Trask, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
B. H. Welty, Waynesboro, Pa.

Honorary director for life: N. P. Hull, Lansing, Mich.

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

Akron Milk Producers, Inc., 194 Carroll Street, Akron 4, Ohio.

Arizona Milk Producers, 724 Heard Building, Phoenix, Ariz.

Arrowhead Cooperative Creamery Association, 224 North Fifty-seventh Avenue West, Duluth 7, Minn.

Central Grade A Cooperative, 315 College Avenue, Appleton, Wis.

Central Missouri Milk Cooperative, Marshall, Mo.

The Central Ohio Cooperative Milk Producers, Inc., 2 North Third Street, Columbus 15, Ohio.

Challenge Cream and Butter Association, 929 East Second Street, Los Angeles 12, Calif.

Chattanooga Area Milk Producers Association, 460 Dodson Avenue, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Cheese Producers Marketing Association, Seventeenth Avenue at Illinois Central tracks, Monroe, Wis.

Coastal Bend Milk Producers Association, Box 837, Corpus Christi, Tex.

Connecticut Milk Producers' Association, 990 Wethersfield Avenue, Hartford 6, Conn.

Consolidated Badger Cooperative, 116 North Main Street, Shawano, Wis.

Cooperative Pure Milk Association of Cincinnati, Plum and Central Parkway, Cincinnati 2, Ohio.

Dairy Cooperative Association, 1313 Southeast Twelfth Avenue, Portland 14, Oreg.

Dairy Farmers Cooperative Association, Inc., Kentwood, La.

Dairy Producers Cooperative, 703-713 South McDonough Street, Montgomery 5, Ala.

Dairyland Cooperative Association, Juneau, Wis.

Dairymen's Cooperative Sales Association, 451 Century Building, Pittsburgh 22, Pa.

Dairymen's League Cooperative Association, Inc., 11 West Forty-second Street, New York 18, N. Y.

Denver Milk Producers, Inc., 945 Eleventh Street, Denver 4, Colo.

Des Moines Cooperative Dairy, 1935 Des Moines Street, Des Moines 16, Iowa.
Dried Milk Products Cooperative, Eau Claire, Wis.

Enid Cooperative Creamery Association, 402 West Walnut Street, Enid, Okla. Evansville Milk Producers' Association, Inc., 413 American Building, Evansville 8, Ind.

Falls Cities Cooperative Milk Producers Association, 229 Bourbon Stock Yards Building, Louisville 6, Ky.

Farmers Equity Union Creamery Co., 169 Grove Avenue, Lima, Ohio.

Georgia Milk Producers Confederation, 661 Whitehall Street SW., Atlanta, Ga. Golden Guernsey Dairy Cooperative, 2206 North Thirtieth Street, Milwaukee 8, Wis.

Guilford Dairy Cooperative Association, 1700 West Lee Street, Greensboro, N. C. Hi-Land Dairyman's Association, 700 Vine Street, Murray, Utah.

Indiana Dairy Marketing Association, 401 Broadway, Muncie, Ind.

Indianapolis Dairymen's Cooperative, Inc., 729 Lemcke Building, Indianapolis 4, Ind.

Inland Empire Dairy Association, 1803 West Third Avenue, Spokane 2, Wash. Inter-State Milk Producers Cooperative, Inc., 401 North Broad Street, Philadelphia 8, Pa.

Farmers Cooperative Creamery, Drawer No. 2, Keosauqua, Iowa.

Knoxville Milk Producers Association, 508 Morgan Street, Knoxville 17, Tenn.
Land O'Lakes Creameries, Inc., 2201 Kennedy Street NE., Minneapolis 13,
Minn.

Lehigh Valley Cooperative Farmers, 1026 North Seventh Street, Allentown, Pa.
McDonald Cooperative Dairy Co., 617 Lewis Street, Flint 3, Mich.

Prairie Farms Creamery of Bloomington, 103 North Robinson Street, Bloomington, Ill.

Madison Milk Producers Cooperative Association, 29 Coyne Court, Madison 5, Wis.

Manchester Dairy System, Inc., 226 Second Street, Manchester, N. H.

Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Association, Inc., 1756 K Street NW., Washington 6, D. C.

Maryland Cooperative Milk Producers, Inc., 810 Fidelity Building, Baltimore 1, Md.

Miami Home Milk Producers Association, 2451 Northwest Seventh Avenue, Miami, Fla.

Miami Valley Cooperative Milk Producers' Association, Inc., 136-138 West Maple
Street, Dayton 2, Ohio.

Michigan Milk Producers Association, 406 Stephenson Building, Detroit 2, Mich.
Michigan Producers Dairy Co., 1315 East Church Street, Adrian, Mich.
Mid-South Milk Producers Association, 1497 Union Avenue, Memphis 4, Tenn.
Mid-West Producers Creameries, Inc., 224 West Jefferson Street, South Bend 2,
Ind.

Milk Producers Federation of Cleveland, 1012 Webster Avenue, Cleveland 15,
Ohio.

Nashville Milk Producers, Inc., 901 Second Avenue North, Nashville 3, Tenn. Nebraska Cooperative Creameries, Inc., Fifteenth and Webster Streets, Omaha 2, Nebr.

Nebraska-Iowa Non-Stock Cooperative Milk Association, 402 North Twentyfourth St., Omaha, Nebr.

New Bedford Milk Producers Association, Inc., 858 Kempton Street, New Bedford, Mass.

New England Milk Producers Association, 51 Cornhill, Boston 8, Mass.
North Carolina Milk Producers Federation, Box H-1, Greensboro, N. C.

The Northwestern (Ohio) Cooperative Sales Association, Inc., 2211⁄2 Detroit Avenue, Toledo 6, Ohio.

Paducah Graded Milk Producers Association, Inc., Route 1, Paducah, Ky.

Peoria Milk Producers, Inc., 216 East State Street, Peoria 2, Ill.

Producers Creamery Co., 555 West Phelps Street, Springfield, Mo.

Pure Milk Association, 608 South Dearborn Street, Chicago 5, Ill.

Pure Milk Producers Association of Greater Kansas City, Inc., 853 Live Stock Exchange Building, Kansas City 15, Mo.

Pure Milk Products Cooperative, 18 West First Street, Fond du Lac, Wis.

Richmond Cooperative Milk Producers Association, 516 Lyric Building, Richmond 19, Va.

Roanoke Cooperative Milk Producers Association, Inc., 508 Mountain Trust Building, Roanoke 11, Va.

Rochester Dairy Cooperative, Rochester, Minn.

St. Joseph (Mo.) Milk Producers Association, Inc., 1024 South Tenth Street, St. Joseph 26, Mo.

Sanitary Milk Producers, 1439 Chouteau Avenue, St. Louis 3, Mo.

Sioux City Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc., 511 Benson Building, Sioux City 15, Iowa.

South Texas Producers Association, Inc., 3600 Center Street, Houston, Tex.

The Stark County Milk Producers Association, Inc., 212 Canton Building, Canton 2, Ohio.

Tillamook County Creamery Association, Room 107, I. O. O. F. Building, Tillamook, Oreg.

Twin City Milk Producers Association, 2424 Territorial Road, St. Paul 4, Minn. Twin Ports Cooperative Dairy Association, 6128 Tower Avenue, Superior, Wis. United Dairymen's Association, 635 Elliott Avenue West, Seattle 99, Wash. United Farmers of New England, Inc., 86 Cambridge Street, Boston 29, Mass. Valley Milk Producers Association, McAllen, Tex.

Valley of Virginia Cooperative Milk Producers Association, 41 West Washington Street, Harrisonburg, Va.

Vigo Cooperative Milk Marketing Co., Inc., 414 Mulberry Street, Terre Haute, Ind.
Wayne Cooperative Milk Producers, Inc., 340 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne 2,
Ind.

Weber Central Dairy Association, Inc., 2569 Ogden Avenue, Ogden, Utah.
Wells Dairies Cooperative, 2320 Wynnton Drive, Columbus, Ga.
Wisconsin Cheese Producers Cooperative, Plymouth, Wis.

My short testimony today is divided into two parts.

The first will be a discusion of the consumer opinion poll on oleomargarine, and the second a discussion of three amendments which we will propose to the pending legislation.

In the heat of any battle as emotional as the butter-oleomargarine controversy, statements and claims are often made without regard to fact. And I don't like to call it a butter-oleomargarine controversy. I think it is a case of the 26 oleomargarine manufacturers versus the 212 million dairy farmers.

As I say, in this type of controversy, statements and claims are often made without regard to fact.

Unfortunately, many such claims come to be accepted without further examination of the source, the basis, or the real principle involved. For some time our dairy farmers have realized that the people of this country were being deliberately misled and confused by highpressure publicity for the repeal of oleo taxes. They have seen that it was incumbent upon them to seek out the true facts, before serious harm could result to the agricultural economy of the consumer's pocketbook.

Our dairy farmer population of 10,000,000 people has a big, but by no means the only stake in this battle. We have ample evidence to substantiate our belief in the soundness of present oleo controls. A large part of our testimony today is based upon scientific research

the results of which cannot be disputed, although they contrast sharply with the misstatements, half-truths, and distortions put forth by the oleo interests.

I am sure you are familiar with the Gallup-poll figure which once showed that 69 percent of the population favored the repeal of oleo taxes. I do not for a moment question the correctness of that figure. Indeed, we ourselves have sponsored a poll which in part verifies it. Our poll, however, goes further than the Gallup-poll question. The data which we secured explains and modifies the results of that earlier poll.

We found that the public's reaction to the Gallup question on oleo tax repeal was similar to organized labor's first reaction to the TaftHartley Act.

And before proceeding further with this statement, Mr. Chairman, I would like at this point, with your permission, to ask the chairman to put on as a witness, to be "split in" in the middle of my testimony, Mr. Benson, the president of Benson & Benson, an organization of Princeton, N. J.

This is one of the great information- and fact-gathering organizations in the field of public opinion. And, may I say also, Mr. Benson is connected with the Gallup poll.

I would like to have him present his testimony, after which I will proceed to make comments on it.

The CHAIRMAN. Whenever you are ready.

Mr. HOLMAN. Mr. Benson, will you please take the stand?

The CHAIRMAN. Pull up a chair there, Mr. Benson. Will you identify yourself for the reporter, please?

STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE E. BENSON, PRESIDENT, BENSON & BENSON, INC., PRINCETON, N. J.

Mr. BENSON. I am Lawrence E. Benson, president of Benson & Benson, Inc., an independent research organization located in Princeton, N. J.

Mr. Chairman, I am appearing at this meeting today for the sole purpose of presenting the findings of an impartial public opinion poll conducted by our organization.

We were asked to conduct an independent survey dealing with issues involved in the butter-oleo problems, and to do it on an independent. basis.

The particular survey results that I am presenting today, have to do with various issues on which we were seeking public opinion, and these results are really what we might consider part of a bigger study that is contemplated and actually in the process now.

Because of the time factor, however, we felt that it would not be possible to complete this larger survey, larger in the sense that the sample we were obtaining would be of greater number, in sufficient

time.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you intend to tell us the technique of your survey?

Mr. BENSON. Yes; I thought I should do that. However, this bigger survey is in process now, so for all purposes the survey being presented today must be considered a test, or a preliminary survey.

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