Fundamentals

Not for purposes of investigation but for purposes of research, not for curing an emergency but for preventing recurring emergencies is the board which President Coolidge named last week. It has no official powers nor obligatory duties. Its purpose is to find out and to recommend what steps may be taken to prevent and forestall agricultural depression such as has overtaken the country during the past two or three years.

The creation of this board to seek out "fundamentals" was a campaign promise of the Republican candidates. General Dawes recommended it "to do for agriculture what the Experts' Commission did for Reparations."

To begin with, the President named eight men on the board and signified that they were to begin operations at once. Here is the personnel:

Former Governor Robert D. Carey of Wyoming.

O. E. Bradfute, former President of the American Farm Bureau Federation; Xenia, Ohio.

Charles S. Barrett, Chairman of the National Board of Farm Organizations; Union City, Ga.

Louis J. Taber, Master of the National Grange; Barnesville, Ohio.

Ralph P. Merritt, President of the Sun Maid Raisin Growers; Berkeley, Calif.

W. C. Coffey, Dean of the Dept. of Agriculture and Director of the Experiment Station of the University of Minnesota; St. Paul, Minn.

Fred H. Bixby, President of the American National Live Stock Association; Long Beach, Calif.

R. W. Thatcher, Director of the Experiment Stations, N. Y. State College of Agriculture; Geneva, N. Y.