THE NATION: The Farmers' Decision

From the narrow stubbles of Vermont to the vast fields of Kansas, U.S. wheat farmers last week filed into courthouses one-room schools, community meeting halls and country stores to make a decision. The question they faced was one of both principle and pocketbook. Should they accept stern federal control of wheat production in return for high price supports, or should they take their chances in a free market?

Only about half of the eligible farmers voted, but their decision was clear-cut: for Government marketing quotas 361,000; against, 53,000. To throw the'quota machinery...