A2o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 22,1952
pei .to fai Jers, this whirlybird
and its presidential cargo was a welcome site at the Leon
Wilkinson dairy farm.
With a wave of a farm cap, President Reagan bids farewell
to the hundreds of people fortunate enough to meet him.
Block, Reagan and Wilkinson discuss the ins and outs of
dairy farming before meeting with a barnful of guests for
questions.
Reagan troops
Reagan
(Continued from Page Al)
inside a large machine shed for
their top-brass guest, several
hundred more were “permitted”
to wait in a lower pasture and
watch from across a creek the
landing of the presidential
helicopter
Meanwhile, dozens of Secret
Servicemen, state and local police
patrolled every inch of the area.
Guards could be seen atop
buildings, along the hillsides and
even among cattle.
After what seemed like hours, a
lone helicopter, large and very
military, appeared and brought
the crowd to its feet. As the doors
banged open, out jumped the White
House press corps. More than 40
people, laden with cameras,
tripods and other paraphernalia
converged on the Wilkinson
pasture like stormtroopers hitting
the beaches. Recognizing the false
alarm, the crowd settled back.
Two more helicopters arrived
within minutes of each other. They
quickly unloaded their cargo of
Marines and more Secret Ser
vicemen but again no president.
Finally, the blue sky produced
one more chopper and this time the
crowd sensed it was' the ‘real
McCoy.’ The tall dark-haired man,
looking more like a retired athlete
than a president, had an ear-to-ear
grin as he descended from the
chopper.
Reagan momentarily disap
peared in a crowd of guards and
then reappeared flanked by U.S.
Agriculture Secretary John Block
and his dairyman host Leon
Wilkinson.
The trio walked to a fenced-in
area which contained about 25 dry
cows and one small calf. While the
president joked with reporters who
were trying vainly to keep their
footing on a tilted hay wagon,
Wilkinson and Block guided the
day-old heifer to her first and
probably only presidential
audience.
“She was bom this morning,”
said Wilkinson, “and we named
her Number One Nancy.” The
president seemed pleased to meet
his wife’s namesake, but his tight
schedule prohibited him to linger
with the gentle cattle and within
minutes he was off to a large
building at the rear of the farm
where a few hundred farmers
awaited.
Upon entering the building,
*1 %
In
A day-old calf, dubbed “Number One Block assists the four-legged celebrity while
Nancy," receives a presidential greeting, farm owner Leon Wilkinson, right, looks on.
Assisting the U.S. Agriculture Secretary John
Reagan was met with a deafening
standing ovation His white shirt
and tie contrasted sharply with the
surrounding flannel and denim
workshirts and jeans As the dm
faded, the president, Block and
Wilkinson settled back on straw
bales where they would entertain
the crowd for the next 45 minutes.
“Well,” joked Reagan scanning
the crowd, “I wonder whose ten
ding the farm.” The crowd laughed
its approval Throughout the
morning, the chief executive laced
his talk with humor, which helped
the crowd stay friendly.
The president admitted that no
part of American economy has
been caught harder in a cost-price
squeeze than agriculture.
“1 have a personal example of
that,” Reagan said. "I have a
ranch of my own. Well, it’s ac
tually a hobby ranch. Since, I’m
doing what I’m doing living in
public housing in Washington I
can’t do much farming.” More
laughter.
An obliging farmer offered some
advice, “You should put on some
cows...but I don’t know if that’s a
good idea right now.”
However, Reagan showed his
serious side when addressing high
interest rates and inflation. He
explained that financial and
business leaders who have met
with the president have expressed
little optimism toward a falling
interest rate.
“It is pessimism, based on past
experience, that over the years
we’ve had seven recessions since
World War Two," said Reagan.
“And every time the government
has gone for the quick fix...ar
tificial stimulant of the money
supply, artificial government
spending.”
The result, said Reagan, has
been spiralling inflation. He did
admit that a “quick fix” had a
temporary affect on improving
unemployment.
“But it’s like trying to treat a
fever by eating a thermometer,”
the president explained.
Reagan told farmers that
bankers and other loan agencies
are pessimistic because they think
that government will follow its old
pattern of using a temporary
solution only to be followed by a
worse recession in the future.
“Well the government is not
following the old pattern,” Reagan
assured. “We’re battling to
prevent that.
“If the Congress will vote the
budget that you want, with again
the continued cut in spending,
interest rates will come down,” he
explained
One Chester County farmer
reminded the president that he was
visiting the mushroom capital of
the world. On a somber note, the
farmer also added that th* U.S
mushroom industry is being
devasted by foreign imports
The president said he is aware of
the mushroom problem and ex
plained that Secretary Block is
currently working on the
mushroom situation
When asked why U.S. farmers
aren’t competitive in the world
market, Reagan replied that while
government is not trying to run
private farms the ‘feds’ are
looking at ways to stimulate and
open up the export market.
“We’re one of the few countries
that is not only able to feed more
people per farmer than anybody
else in the world but we have a
surplus that be can sold to help out
the world,” said Reagan
In seeking solutions to the
current dairy situation, a producer
asked the president what can dairy
farmers and government leaders
do to work together to solve the
problem.
Reagan recognized the fact the
problem was produced by the
government, which is now spen
ding about |2 billion dollars this
year in support. The chief
executive briefly noted two
provisions in . Block’s proposed
emergency dairy plan.
“We are seeking legislation
which would allow the Secretary of
Agriculture to use his discretion to
set support levels,” he explained.
“We are also looking at import
levels of casern,” he noted.
The president explained that the
quarrel with the present support
program is that the government is
too rigid.
“We all recognize the problem.
You can’t take a system that has
been going on and that people have
geared themselves to and then pull
the rug out all at once.
“Fust of all nothing is going to
be done before January first. But,
this is why we want the Secretary
of Agriculture to have the
flexibility instead of this rigid
sytem that is set by legislation.”
While the president did not tell
the farmers anything new, many
seemed encouraged and sup
portive.
One young farmer told Reagan,
“I wish you were in office in 1976,
because I wouldn’t be in the fix I’m
mnow.”
His remark met with applause
from most farmers and welcome
relief from the president
(Turn to Page A2l)
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