The President said:
As a result of conferences of the last few days, which embrace the Cabinet, members of the Farm Board, together with Presidents Thompson, Tabor and Huff of the farm organizations, I have decided to ask the governors of the states most acutely affected by the drought to meet with us in Washington next Thursday in order to consider definite plans for organization of relief. Such organization will need first to be undertaken by the states, and through them the counties, with whom the various Federal agencies can cooperate.
I now have the preliminary survey of the Department of Agriculture of the situation as of August 1st. It shows that the shortage of animal feed crops is most acute in southeastern Missouri, northern Arkansas, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, southern Ohio, Kentucky, northern West Virginia, and northern Virginia with spots of less dimensions in Montana, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska—the latter three states being the less acutely affected. I shall ask the governors of those states to attend. The feed crops in some other states are also reduced, the amount of ultimate reduction depending upon rain during the next two weeks. It may develop that we shall need to ask the governors of one or two other states also to attend. In any event, in the most acute areas we should now lay the foundation for effective local and state organization, the object of which is to prevent suffering amongst farm families deprived of support, and to prevent the sacrifice of livestock more than is necessary.
In the acutely affected area which I have mentioned there are approximately one million farm families who possess approximately 2¼ million horses and mules, 6 million cattle, and 12 million hogs and sheep. This represents approximately 12% of the animals in the country. Obviously the individual farmers in the the acute area are differently affected. Their losses run all the way from a few percent up to their entire animal feed crops. The actual numbers who are in distress will, therefore, be less than those gross figures.
Secretary Hyde has instructed the county agents to make a further more searching and definite report on the later progress of the drought and the nature of the relief that will be necessary in the different counties. We are in hopes that we shall have this information in hand ready for the meeting of the governors.
The situation is one to cause a great deal of concern, but it must be borne in mind that the drought has many affected animal feed, the bulk of the direct human food production of the country being abundantly in hand. Nevertheless, there will be a great deal of privation among families in the drought areas due to the loss of income and the financial difficulties imposed on them to carry their animals over the winter. The American people will proudly take care of the necessities of their countrymen in time of stress or difficulty. Our first duty is to assure our suffering countrymen that this will be done, that their courage and spirit shall be maintained, and our second duty is to assure an effective organization for its consummation.