Hm IBinois Acricuhural AwocmHou Reeord 



Jdy|l6. 10231^ 



^.^'toHlOied twice a nvoin^ by th« 

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«M Soa 

 nilnala. 



' Aericulturafo 



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«M S«ath Deartorn'Sireel. I'huaeB. 



Edited by Ss'ewS ruWicItjr 



lent, 1* J. Morvlroa*, Director. 



^^try a«"-«»<>lnd~dhis8'"'w»Her OcV 

 ' 10. 1>21. aO t»e p»st offteie at Cbl-^ 

 caKo. Illinois, iiader the act or 

 March 3. 1879. Acceptance loi mail- 

 ing at special rat^ of postage pro- 

 vided for in Section 1103. Act of 

 October 3^ 1917, authorlied Oct >1, 

 H2V 



The Individual membership fee -tit 

 the nilnois Agricultural AsM<!Ia- 

 t.on la Ave dollars a year.^'^Thla 

 fee Includes payment of tort cents 

 fo. elibacription to the Illinois Ag- 

 rlcultnral Association Record. 



OFFICERS 



President, S. H.' Thompson. Qnlncy. 

 Vice-President, A. O. Eckert. Belle- 



Treamrer, R. A. Cowles. Blooming- 

 Secretary, Geo. A. Fox, Sycamore. 



ton. ' 



EXECtrm-fe COMMITTEE 

 By Congressional Districts 



11th— Henry McOough. Maple Park- 

 J2th — a. F. Tttllock. Rockfortl. 

 13th — C. E. Bamborough, Polo. 

 14th — W. H. Moody. Port Byron. 

 15th — H. E. Goembel. Hoopole. 

 ISth — G. E. Kedei:, Mendota. 

 17th — F. D. Barton, Cornell. 

 Igth — C. R. Finley. Hoopeston. 

 15th — D. J. Holterman. Sadorus. 

 JOth— Earl J. Smith, Detroit. 

 21rt — E. L. Corbin. CarllnvlUe. 

 22nd — Stanley Castle, Alton. 

 2lrd — Carlton Trimble. Trimble. 

 S4th — Curt Anderson. Xenla. 

 JSth — Vernon Lessley, Sparta. 



Directors of Departments, 



I. A. A. Office 



General Offlce and" Assistant to Sec- 

 retary. J. D. Harper; Field Organlj- 

 atloo. 1 C. Sailor; Organization Pub- 

 licity, a. E. Metzger; News Public- 

 ity U J Montross: Transportation, 

 L. J. Qilasey; Statistics, J. C. Wat- 

 son; Finance. R. A. Cowles; Fruit 

 and Vegetable Marketing. C. B. 

 Durst: Live Stock Marketing, C. A. 

 Stewart; Dairy Marketing. A. D. 

 Lynch. Phosphate Limestone, J. K. 

 Bent. Legal. Newton Jenkins. 



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Loss Caused by 

 Delay in Transit; 

 Adjastedby I. A. A. 



Delay in transit of 

 cattle shipped by F. 



a car of 



■W. Case, 



.' DeKalb, causad 'heary sbrinkage. 



extra feed expense, and loss due 



to a drop in th& marltet. 



Mr. Casi took the matter Up 

 with the Transportation Depart- 

 ment of the I. A. A, An investi- 

 gation followed, the claim was 

 found to be i justified, and the 

 complainant vfas mailed a check 

 'of J 8 3. 3 2 to cover his loss. 



In acknowledging receipt of 

 tbe cbeck, Mrl Case concluded as 

 follows, "The I. A. A. is doing 

 great work tot the farmers along 

 this line (tranisportation) as well 

 »s many otheBs." 



Justi anotheit sample, of I. A. A. 

 ■aenric^! ' ] 



Report of U. S. Grain Growers, Inc. 



The board of directors of the 

 TJ. " S. Grain Growers, Inc., Bub- 

 miUed to tbe Mid-West States 

 Xlomniittee the following report, 

 w^ich was accepted: 



Gentlemen: ' 



Your Board of Directors of the 

 U. S. Grain Growers. Inc.. respect- 

 fully present herewith Ita statement 

 and report* 



Himtory- Briefly reviewing: the 

 events which lead up to the format' 

 tion of the X3. 8. Grain Growers, 

 Inc., probably the greatest under- 

 taking in national co-operative 

 marketing by any organization, and 

 the event* that have transpired 

 since the organization: On July 23 

 and 24. 1930, at the suggrestibn and 

 invitation of the Anwrican Farm 

 Bureau Federation, a representa- 

 tive group of grain producers, rep- 

 resentatives of farmers' organiza- 

 tions from many parts Of the 

 United States, met at a national 

 get-together marketing conference 

 at Chicago. Out of this conference 

 there came into being the Farmers' 

 Marketing Committee of Seventeen. 

 This committee was selected and 

 appointed by the then president of 

 the Americftji Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion. James. R. Howard, and was 

 composed of representatives from 

 various farrti organizations, the U. 

 S- Department of Agriculture, and 

 others interested In the subject. 



During tike proceeding of the Sec- 

 ond Annual Meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation held 

 In Indianapolis, Indiana, In Decem- 

 ber. 1920. the following endorsement 

 was given the Farmers' Marketing 

 Committee of Seventeen: 



"We endorse the work being done 

 by the P'armers* Marketing Commit- 

 tee of Seventeen and approve the 

 demand which they have made that 

 the grain exchanges he opened to 

 co-operative commission companies, 

 and demand a similar prtvll«^ge for- 

 the live stack co-operative commis- 

 sion companies from the live stock 

 exchanges." 



Nearly seven months were spent 

 In an exhaustive study and survey 

 of co-operative grain marketing by 

 this committee. Statisticians and 

 investigators from the Federal 

 Trade Comttilssion and the TJ. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture assembled 

 and compiled valuable data that 

 might be relied upon, for the ready 

 information of the committee. 



Months of careful study and effort 

 gradually developed the marketing 

 plan of thfe Committee of Seven- 

 teen — "a National Farmers' Co-op- 

 erative Marketing Company"," rec- 

 ognizing capital only as a servant, 

 remunerating it for Its servlcs value 

 only and proposing to return to tlie 

 producers the proceeds of his toil in 

 proportion to his patronage, i 



The matter of drafting bjr-laws 

 and preparing membership con- 

 tracts was I left in the hands of a 

 committee 6t lawyers who were re- 

 tained to dr.aw up these documents 

 In accordance with the plan which 

 the committee had formulated. 



On February 17. 1921. tiie plan 

 of the Committee of Seventeen was 

 announced. Then followed the na- 

 tional ratification conference at Chi- 

 cago, April 6, 7. and 8, at which 

 time and plac^ were called {ifflclal 

 delegates from farmers' organiza- 

 tions in the 23 grain states. The 

 original rebort and plan of the 

 Farmers' Marketing Committee of 

 Seventeen was In that meeting 

 unanimously adopted. The delegates 

 immediately thereafter elected a 

 board of t^Menty-one (21) directors, 

 who proce'eded with the organiza- 

 tion of the national co-operative 

 marketing Company, and on April 

 16. 1921. the U, S. Grain Cirowers. 

 Inc.. was duly incorporated under 

 the laws of Delaware. 



On June !23. 1921. the Executive 

 Committee of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation In regular meet- 

 ing .further< approved and endorsed 

 the IT. S» Grair. Growers; Inc., in a 

 motion carried approving U. S. 

 Grain Growfcrs. Inc.. and urging the 

 mem^bers of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation, the. County and 

 State organizations to get hehlnd 

 the movemq^l. "^ 



Again, at Atlanta, Georgia, dur- 

 ing the proceedings of the -'Third 

 Annual Meeting of the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation held in 

 November, _J921. a motion w»s -of 



FruiY Marketing 

 Plans Placed in 

 Charge of Leeper 



A. |B- .Leepsr, manager of the 



Illinol* Fruit Exchange, has been 



hired by the 1. A. A. to devote 



thre» !!o'.;rtl!s time to the comple- , ^.. ^„.., . 



tion of fruit and vegetable mar-f fered and carried In a meetinsr ot 

 ' • the Executive Committee of the 



keting plans which C. E. Dural^ 



had uBder Way at the time of hia 



resignation on July 1. j 



The work will include further 

 organisation in the Illinois Fruit 

 Exchange during the summer as 

 well as a thonough survey of the 

 fruit situation , in Illinois to aid in 

 the reorganization of the Ex- 

 change, whose contracts . expire 

 this year. 



An assistant will be secured by 

 the Exchange to handle tbe fruit 

 shipments during the time that 

 Mr. Leeper is out of the offlce. 



The World'* Dairy Congress 

 will hold Its opening sessions at 

 Washington on Oct. 2 and 3, will 

 adjourn " to Philadelphia for Oct. 

 4, and then continue at Syracuse, 

 N. Y. with the National Dairy 

 cJhow 



. ,pct. B-xa 



American Farm Bureau Federation 

 reaffirming the motion m^de In the 

 June meeting, re- pledging confi- 

 dence in the plan of the U. S. Grain 

 Growers. Inc., and pledging the 

 best efforts of the organization In 

 aiding U. S. Grain Growers, Inc.. 

 in every legitimate way financially, 

 and, further,' directing- that the 

 President be authorized to appoint 

 a committee to assist In working 

 out with the Grain Growers, plan of 

 immediate ftnancing. 



The first annual convention of 

 the U. S. Grain Growers, Inc., was 

 hel4 in Chicago. Jtfarch 21. 22,-''23 

 and 24. It developed during the 

 meeting' frein the reports offered 

 by its officers that the corporation's 

 business affairs \vere financially In- 

 volved. ■ Its then current bills pay- 

 able were discovered to be greatly 

 out of line with current receivable, 

 and with over $200,000 of the cor- 

 poration's aotes maturing in tl»«- 

 next approaching months. Its sole 

 source of income was derived from 

 membership fees, viitli Axed beavy 

 overhead charges to oe piet cur- 

 rently. 



The efforts of the corporation to 

 actually be^in marketing grain for 

 Its membersnip were blocksd by the 

 unfriendly attitude of the grain 

 trade generally and the exchanges. 

 together with its approaching in- 

 •oW«nt coiiditlon. 



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So that up until the enactment 

 into law of the new Capper-Tinchec 

 Bill and subsequent decision of the 

 U. S. Supreme Court sustaining that 

 law.' has it been possible for U. S. 

 Grain Growers. Inc.. as Such, and 

 In Its own name, to attenipt to 

 carry out its marketing program. 



Rfr-organlscd. After its notes had 

 matured and were past^ due. and 

 the c(>rporation became insolvent, 

 because of its inability to meet 

 these and other obligations, and or- 

 ganization work had practically 

 ceased, again, the Farm Bureau 

 Federations sponsored the U. S. 

 Grain Growers, Inc.. in effecting Us 

 reorganization. A special meeting 

 of the Mid-West State Farm Bu- 

 reau Federationswas called at Chi- 

 cago .on May 13. 1922. for the pur- 

 pose« of considering the condition 

 of the U. S. Grain Growers. Inc. 

 At that meeting, a committee from 

 the group, consisting of E. H. Cun- 

 ningham. W. S. Hill, and John Cov- 

 erdate was selcted and appointed 

 and was authorized and empowered 

 to assemble the claims of the cred- 

 itors — arrange, if possible, by agree- 

 ment with the then present officers 

 and directors of U. S. Grain Grow- 

 ers, to reorganize and save the cor- 

 poration. To this committee was 

 pledged Individually and collect- 

 ively the support of the Farm Bu- 

 reau Federations present. It Is 

 well known to you that this com- 

 mittee's efforts were successful. The 

 claims of the creditors of U. S. 

 Grain Growers. Inc., were In great- 

 part assembled, Its commercial 

 claims were compromised and set- 

 tled, and Its overhead and operating 

 expenses were reduced to the min- 

 imum. Its office has been modestly 

 maintained, partly through securing 

 liquidation of membership notes 

 owing the corporation and paqtly 

 through the financial support given 

 It by the American Farm Bureau 

 Federation. 



Its Board of Directors and Ofla- 

 cers. with one exception (the va- 

 cancy filled in the board) today are 

 the same men whom you selected 

 and appointed — drafted to the cor- 

 poration in the name of organized 

 agriculture — In the hope of making 

 good the promises and obligations 

 of U. S. Grain Growers. Inc., made 

 to its members and Its creditors 

 (largely composed of Farm Bureau 

 members. Farm Bureaus and Farm 

 Bureau Federations) ; also in the 

 name of organized agriculure. 



Your Committee invited and re- 

 quested Mr. Frank Wetmore of Chi- 

 cago, Mr. Bernard M. Baruch of 

 New York and Mr. Alex. L.egge of 

 Chicago, to serve U. S. Grain Grow- 

 er*, Inc., in an advisory capacity, as 

 members of a regularly constituted 

 committee for that purpose. These 

 gentlemen accepted the earnest re- 

 quest of your committee to serve 

 organlzeu agriculture and so asso- 

 ciated themselves in that capacity 

 with the insolvent corporation — 

 also' In the name of organized agri- 

 culure. The Advisory Committee 

 have, without reservation, already 

 given of Its services and have re- 

 affirmed their desire at this time to 

 continue to serve organized agri- 

 culture in this capacity. 



Again, during the meeting of the 

 executive committee of the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation held 

 in Chicago on December 5th. 1922. 

 the following motion was offered 

 and carried: ■• 



"Mr. Smith moved: That we re- 

 affirm our support of the U. S. Grain 

 Growers. Inc., and direct the offi- 

 cers to assist it In every way with- 

 in our means. Seconded by Burton. 

 Carried." 



Had It been, deemed possible at 

 the time of the reorganization of 

 the U. S. Grain Growers, Inc., to 

 market grain directly in the name 

 of "U. S. Grain Growers, Inc.," in 

 the then Immediate future, no doubt 

 your committee woyld have care- 

 fully considered at that time the 

 funding of the floating debts. Such 

 action was deferred for the time 

 being. 



Grain Fntarea Ai^t Smtahied. 

 However, since the Supreme Court 

 iof the United States has sustained 

 by decision the new "Capper-Tin - 

 Cher Bill" or "Gi^ain Futures Act," 

 the subject of funding Ite debts 

 land rendering solvent the corpora- 

 tion has received active attention. 

 Careful study of the "Grain Fu- 

 tures Art" discloses the fact that 

 U. S. Grain Growers. Inc. ._ conforms 

 iexactly to the requirements of th*' 

 law as to a co-operative marketing 

 organization — >en organization law- 

 fully forqjed of producer members 

 and affirmatively that "any duly au- 

 thorized representative of any law- 

 fully formed and conducted co-op- 

 erative association of producers 

 having adequate financial responsi- 

 bility, which is engaged In cash 

 f^rain business— ^shall be admitted 

 to membership on the Exchange of 

 any contract market." It is, there 

 fore, agreed by the Executive 

 Committee, fcts advisory committee 

 «f the corporation and its counsel, 

 that if the debts of the U. S. Grain 

 Growers. Inc., can be funded and 

 a reasonable amount of Initial 

 capital subscribed. conditioned 

 upon fhe funding of the corpora 

 tion's debts, and thereafter paid in 

 to the corpdration. that the corp 

 oration may become solvent there- 

 by and capable of doing a general 

 grain marketing business, and ai 

 such, may be admitted under pro 

 visions at — the Grain Futures Act 

 and the rules of the Exchange, to 

 market grain, through Its duly 

 authorized representatives. 



With this view in mind, the 

 Executive Committee of the U. S 

 Grain Growers, Inc., and Its Sec 

 retary, have been permitted and 

 have carefully surveyed and 

 studied, through association with 

 their advisory committee and legal 

 counsel, the immediate problems 

 Involved. Which are reported here 



The Advisory Committee select- 

 ed by your Mid-West States Com- 

 mittee has been consulted with and 

 their advice accepted on all mat- 

 ters and the problems isvolved 

 pertaining to policies of business 

 and finance. General counsel for 

 the corporation, .Fred S. Ji^ckson of 

 Topeka, Kansas, has been conferred , 

 with personally and through cor- 

 respondence, as well As the general 

 counsel for the Corporation Trust 

 Company on legal matters pertain- 

 ing to the immediate problems pre- 

 sented, and In the absence of Mr. 

 Jackson, at the request of tbe Ex- 

 ecutive Committee of the corpora- 

 tion, and through mutual arrange- 

 ments with Mr. Jackson, Mr. Don- 

 ald Ktrtpatrick has rendered the 

 committee an in Valuable senrlce. 

 The Executive Committee have tak- 

 en the precautiOin to send Mr. Kirk- 

 patrick, acting as their legal coan- 

 sel. to the State of Delaware, in 

 order to ascertain definitely and 

 fully the necessary legal require- 

 ments to be complied with and the 

 changes contemplated. 



The proposed changes herewith 

 presented have the full and final 

 approval In principle of tooth our 

 Advisory Committee referred to and 

 our legal counsel. 



Pandlng the IndebtmiiMs. U. S. 

 Gmin Growers, Inc. It is proposed 

 that U. S. Grain .Growers. Inc., avail 

 itself of exactly the same means, of 

 funding its ' Indebtedness as em- 

 ployed by Industries In re-organisa- 

 tion; namely, that It offers in ex- 

 change or substitution, certain Is- 

 sues of Debenture Bonds for claims 

 held by creditors against the cor- 

 poration. This involves preferably 

 the amending of the charter of the 

 corporation In certain minor de- 

 tails, so as to permit the Issuance 

 of bonds — Which may be done with 

 perfect propriety. 



The proposed bonds are to be Is- 

 sued In such form or forms, and 

 amount or amounts, and upon such 

 terms and conditions- finally, as ap- 

 proved by the Board of Directors 

 of the corporation. A statement 

 covering the proposed bond issues 

 is presented In greater detail l!>y 

 counsel, and made a part of this 

 report. 



The indebtedness of the corpora- 

 tion when so funded would remove 

 it from its present situation of In- 

 solvency and render it capable of 

 functioning and earning profits, so 

 .that it might pay the interest upon 

 its Debenture Bonds, and from time 

 to time call and redeem a part 

 such Issues; finally retiring all 

 the bonds In their entirety— dis- 

 charging in full the obligations of 

 the corporation, made In the name 

 of organized agriculture to.»ita cred- 

 itors. 



**lmd«clBK New Capital Into the 

 Corpormtton. It Is further proposed 

 that new capital be induced to In- 

 vest In certain <ather issues of De- 

 benture Bonds of the corporation, 

 for the purpose of rendering the 

 corporation financially responsible 

 In Its conduct of a gener3-l grain 

 marketing business for its member- 

 ship. Further reference to this 

 ^particular bond issue is Included in 

 the report of counsel, to which ref- 

 erence has already been made. 



It should be stated that subscrip- 

 tion to this class of Debenture 

 Bonds would be conditioned strictly 

 upon the funding of the debts of 

 the corporation, and with other 

 proper protective measures provid- 

 ed. 



Chlcairo Board of Trade GoMfers 

 With. The Executive Committee of 

 the corporation have conferred per- 

 sonally with representatives of the 

 Chicago Board of Trade, and sub-' 

 mlt for your proper Information a 

 letter, under date of June 16. 1923, 

 directed by your Executive Commit- 

 tee to Mr. John J. Stream. Pre»i - 

 dent of the Chicago Board of Trade, 

 propounding to that body certain 

 questions relating to meeting the 

 requirements of the Exchange, not 

 in confilct with the Grain Futures 

 Act, as to financial responsibility^ 

 as follows: 



"June 16. 1923. 

 "Mr. John J. Stream, 

 "President, Chicago Board of Trade, 



Chicago, Illinois. 

 "Dear Sir: 



"At the direction of the executive 

 committee of the U. S. Grain Grow- 

 ers Inc., and in line with sugges- 

 tions made at our conference with 

 your Messrs. Mauff and Fones on 

 June 14, and I am sutmntfting: our 

 request In writing for infprmation 



ti 



as -to the desired course of proced- 

 ure to secure membership repre- 

 sentation on the Chicago Board of 

 Trade in behalf of th^ U. S. Grain 

 Growers, Inc. * 



"The U. S. Grain Growers. Inc.. is 

 a non-stock, non-profit association . 

 of producers, organized under the 

 laws of Delaware for the purpose 

 of marketing the grain of Its mem- 

 bers co-operatively; that Is. the cor- 

 poration is without capital stock 

 and Its non-profit character Is In- 

 tended to limit it to the handling 

 of grain originating from its own 

 membership. 



"Being without capital stock we . 

 would like particularly to know 

 how your requirements as to finan- 

 cial responsibility should be, met. 

 We, of course, ■want to mak« such 

 financial arrangements as will 

 leave no ground for doubt In the 

 minds of Board of Trade members 

 and in the minds of our own cus- 

 tomers as to financial responsibil- 

 ity and would undertake to make 

 available such amount of cash cap- 

 ital and place tt in such form as to 

 guarantee our credit and perform- 

 ance of contracts made on the Chi- 

 cago Board of Trade to the same 

 extent that would be furnished by 

 unimpaired capital stock If we w^ere 

 a capital stock corporation. 

 ' "Assuming that we should em- 

 ploy as our representative some 

 person who Is now a member In 

 good standing of the Chicago Board 

 of Trade, or should employ some 

 person able fo qualify for member- 

 ship on the Exchange, could we be 

 permitted to use our name as a 

 principal In trades by either one of 

 the following suggested arrange- 

 ments: 



"1. The underwriting of our con- 

 tracts made on the Chicago Board 

 of Trade by some other member, 

 firm or corporation having financial 

 responsibility adequate to cover 

 both their own volume and ours — 

 or the undertaking on the part of 

 sueh other member, firm or corpo- 

 ration to finance our grain handling 

 operations. 



"2.. By causing to be placed in 

 escrow with some responsible bank 

 or trust company In the city of Chl- 

 ^go a sum of money In Liberty 

 Bonds or like securities guarantee- 

 ing eur credit and financial respon- 

 sibility for contracts made on the 

 Chicago Board of Trade. 



"3. The undertaking by a respon- 

 sible surety to insure and guaran- 

 tee our credit and financial respon- 

 sibility for grain transactions and 

 contracts made on the Chicago 

 Board of Trade up to some stipu- 

 lated amount. • 



"We are unable at this time to 

 furnish any reliable estimate of the 

 number of cars of grain we would 

 handle In this market during the 

 course of a year. However, we 

 would be glad to have you consider 

 our possible maximum volume of 

 business at twenty-five cars per 

 week, it being understood that in- 

 creased busines* will be met with 

 increased finances from time to 

 time. . 



We' appreciate greatly your ex- 

 pressed desire to have this letter 

 in such form that you .could take 

 early action on our proposal, and 

 we would request that'lf you should 

 note any particular matters of In- 

 formation that are not cp.vered by 

 this letter you will call our atten- 

 tion to them at once so that we may 

 furnish additional data. 



"Very truly- yours, 

 U. S. GRAIN OnOWERS. INC. 

 By J. M. Mehl. 

 Secretary and Acting Treasurer." 



Our (;ommunica.tion was immedt- 

 aCely referred to the Board of Di- 

 rectors of the Chicago Board of 

 Trade; by the Board of Directors 

 jointly to the Executive. Member- 

 ship, Legal Advice and Rules Com- 

 mittees, and by this Joint commit- 

 tee to their attorney. The opinion 

 of the attorney was not received 

 in sufficient time to enable' action 

 by the Board of Directors at th£ir 

 last meeting, '"^'e have been as- 

 sured, however, that the attorney 

 definitely approved our proposition 

 No. 1 alcove and we have assurance 

 that the'corporation can be admit- 

 ted to membership representation 

 under the Grain Futures, .Act. 



DeparttBFHt of AgricaJture Con- 

 united. On May 24, our secretary 

 submitted to the Department" of Ag- 

 riculture a letter Requesting the De- 

 partment's view on a number of 

 (Continued on'page 3) 



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We can quote you rates oti"^ 

 farm products to any poiAt 



,-' Transportation Departmeot, 

 -, Illinois Agricultural Association. 



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