"We want our money back!": the story of the National Farmers Process Tax Recovery Association

Abstract

During this time many processors had begun to put their taxes in special court supervised accounts. Some company officials felt in the event of a decision against the processing tax, they would be able to recover their processing taxes more quickly from court accounts than if they had been paid into the treasury. Payers of processing taxes, according to some estimates, had recently diverted some 70 percent of the processing taxes into court registries and only 30 percent of the taxes were being paid into the treasury. Some estimates of the amount of taxes impounded ran as high as $120,000,000.^ The possibility of the voiding of the AAA had been discussed within the Department of Agriculture. Department of Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace, when questioned by reporters about the possible outcome of an adverse Supreme Court decision, replied that if the Supreme Court found all or part of the AAA unconstitutional, "I have no doubt we will have something to offer." This, and other evidence suggests that officials in the Department of Agriculture had been considering alternative action if the AAA was declared unconstitutional.* In early December, the lawyers for the cotton mills and the lawyers for the federal government began their oral arguments before the Supreme Court justices.5 Two hours were allowed for each side to state their position. U.S. Solicitor General Stanley Reed presented the case for the AAA and former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, George Wharton Pepper, argued for the textile manufacturing company interests. Supreme Court Justices asked pointed questions of the lawyers. Reed was asked about