Oct S, 1923 



The DKnoit AgricnhiBwl AlMxaalioa Record 



Evans- 



I 



No Action By Commission 

 As Tax Situation Gets Hot 



The Madison county Board 

 of Review confesses that valua 

 tjons on farm lands are higher 

 than on city and town proper- 

 ty, the Montgomery Board uses 

 the argument that it can not 

 reduce valuations of farm lands 

 for the reason that it promised 

 large corporations it would not 

 make a reduction of over fifteen 

 per cent, and in the mean time 

 the State Tax Commission has 

 not announced what it intends 

 to do. 



In short this brings the tax 

 situation up to date. 



Three weeks after the hearings 

 beforak the State Tax Commission 

 at Springfield, September 5 and 

 6, no action has been announced 

 bT the Commission. 



At that time ;he Illinois Agri- 

 cnltural Association aslied (or ro- 



I assessments in ,the seven counties 

 o( Kane, DuPage, Madison, Ver- 

 milion, Cass, Montgomery and 

 Marion. The Commission pro- 

 mised that it would order reas- 

 sessments in all of these counties 

 if the Boards of Review did not 

 equalize valuations of city and 

 farm property of their own ac- 

 cord. 



Following is the letter sent to 

 the county Boards of Review by 

 the Commission following the 

 Springfi^d hearing: 



CoatmlAalon Letter 



"Complaints having been filed 

 witli the State Tax Commission by 

 the Iliinois Agricultural ASBOCla- 

 tloki. and a hearing held thereon, 

 we desire to call your attention to 

 the matters presented. Upon the 

 hearing of this complaint, it was 

 charged that in^ualities in val- 

 uations for assessment between 

 classes of property in your county 

 existed, with special reference to 

 the valuations of real property in 

 your county, which it is charged 

 are not properly equalized with 

 other classes of property and as 

 between different taxing districts. 



"Section 1 of Article 9 of the 

 Constitution of Illinois and the 

 Statutes passed in pursuance there- 

 of, require that all property shall 

 be so valued for assessment as to 

 equitably distribute the tax burden. 

 ,The fourth and fifth paragraphs of 

 Section 35 of the Revenue Act of 

 1898 direct and empower the Boardv 

 ot-Jteview in each county to equa- 

 lise individual assessments and also 

 equalize classes of property in their 

 respective counties, so that the rule 

 of uniformity of assessed values 

 prescribed by the Constitution may 

 be obtained. 



"Subdivision 1 of Section 2 of the 

 Act creating the Tax Commission 

 is mandatory and directs that the 

 Tax Commission "Shall direct and 

 supervise as provided by this Act, 

 the assessment for taxation of all 

 real and personal property in this 

 State to the end that all assess- 

 ments of property be made rela- 

 tively just and equal." 



"Considerable evidence was in- 

 - troduced at the hearing in support 

 of the complaint of the Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural Association and their 

 representatives requested that the 

 State Tax Commission issue an 

 order for the reassessment of the 

 real property in your county. 



"Realizing the burden -of expense 

 which would be imposed upon the 

 taxpayers of your county and the 

 consequent delay which would re- 

 sult from an order for reassess- 

 ment as outlined above, we urge 

 you to malce every possible effort 

 to adjust such Inequalities as exist 

 between individual properties in 

 your county and between classes 

 of property and especially the real 

 property, to the end that your final 

 certification of values may repre- 

 sent as nearly as possible an equit- 

 able distribution of assessed val- 

 ues as between the several classes 

 of property in your county. 



"It is neither the desire nor the 

 purpose of the Tax Commission to 

 attempt to Invade the province of 

 your duties, or the exercise of your 

 Judgment under oath of office in 

 the performance of your duties, but 

 we respectfully urge your co-op- 

 eration to the fullest extent in con- 

 sideration of these complaints that 

 they may be equitably adjusted and 

 further action rendered unnecss- 

 sary." 



The Cass county board of Re- 

 view immediftely made adjust- 

 ments 'in valuations. Since that 

 time, no other one of the seven 

 counties has announced any ac- 

 tion, and Tip to the time of going 

 to press, the State Commlssinn 

 has not intimated how soon it 

 would take action. 



IWadison Confessas 



The Madison county Board of 

 Review did not show up at the 



first bearing, however, made ar- 

 .rangements for a later hearing, 

 Thomas Williamson, IT. S. Attor- 

 ney for the southern Illinois Dis- 

 trict represented the Madison 

 Board. 



In that hearing Chairman Pearl 

 Smith of the Madison Board ad- 

 mitted that valuations on city 

 and town property are no^as high 

 aa,„^luations on farm lands. He 

 saidthat the tax rate is so- high 

 in towns and cities that it would 

 be an imposition to increase the 

 valuations on a level with farm 

 lands. He stated that farm lands 

 were valued at about 60 per cent 

 of their real value while city and 

 village property was valued at 40 

 to 45 per cent of their real value. 



State Commissioner Malone 

 asked Mr. Smith If any consid- 

 eration bad been given to the 

 reason why the tax rate was so 

 high in cities. The question was 

 not answered) . 



The other two members of the 

 Madison Board stated they agreed 

 wi^ Chairman Smith that farm 

 land valuations are higher than 

 city property. 



Montgomery Comes Back 



At this second hearing, two 

 members of the Montgomery 

 Board of Review, who did not 

 come to the first hearing, ex- 

 plained their reasons (or not 

 equalizing. A letter was read 

 into the record written' by the 

 Mayor of Litchfield in which he 

 said that Litchfield property Is 

 inflated from 25 to 40 per cent. 

 It was stated that the Mayor is 

 also in the real estate business. 



Promised Corporations 

 A second argument used by the 

 Montgomery Board for not equa- 

 lizing (arm land -values was the 

 fact that the Board had agreed 

 with the large corporations of the 

 county that it would not make a 

 greater reduction in farm lands 

 than fifteen per cent. 



Clay Changes Mind 



In the last issue of the Record 

 It was stated that the Clay Coun- 

 ty Board of Review bad an- 

 nounced their intenton of reduc- 

 ing farm land values 25 per cent 

 and increasing Flora real estate 

 nine per cent. The cut made by 

 the board on farm lands amounts 

 to 8.6 per cent and the increase 

 on Flora real ^estate 6.5 per cent. 



With this change farm lands of 

 Clay county are valued on a basis 

 of 50 per cent of their actual 

 values and Flora property at only 

 40 per cent of Its sales value. 



'Co-op Marketing— The Golden 

 RuU'oj Agriculture" 



That Is tke name of the aew 

 book pnhllnhed under the la- 

 ■IkbU of the .American Farm 

 Bureau Pederatitfa. 



It tells the atory of the de- 

 velopment of growers* co-op- 

 eration in Americn. It Is a 

 picture bobk of the eo-opcra- 

 tlve niarltetln^ moTement. It 

 presents the farts sn they ex- 

 ist. Every person interested 

 In co-operative msrketing will 

 flad value In this new book. 



In sise and material con- 

 tslBed, It Is e^aal to hooks 

 selllBK for tvrlee the eost,. The 

 price is «1.4>0 -ponf-pald. Head 

 your order to the Aiherleaa 

 Farm Bnreaa Departlnent of 

 laforalatloa, S8 K. ^frashlac- 

 ton St- Chleasoi or to f^ablle- 

 Itr Departneat. tlllaols Afri- 

 ca Itnral Assoclatloa. 



Overcharged On 

 Freight Bills? 

 Write To I. A. A. 



Farm bureau members are re- 

 quested to send any freight bills 

 on .which they feel they have 

 been overcharged to the I. A. A. 

 Transportation Department. This 

 applies to both carload and less 

 than carload shipments of inbound 

 and outbound shipments. 



The department finds that many 

 farmers have been incorrectly 

 charged. This is particularly true 

 on shipments of ground phos- 

 phate rock and agricnltural lime- 

 stone. In a great many Instances 

 the agents at smaller stations are 

 unfamiliar with the freight rates 

 and in many cases do not have 

 the proper tariff to determine the 

 correct rate. 



All freight bllU sent tn wUl be 

 handled promptly. 



A.F.B.F. Committee 

 To Work Out 1923 

 Program of Work 



A Steering Committee charged 

 with the duty of working out a 

 program of work for the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation for 

 next year, was elected at a meet- 

 ing of the Executive Committee 

 held in the A. F. B. F. offices, 

 September 22. This Committee 

 will report back to the Executive 

 Committee and to the annual con- 

 vention to t>e held in Chicago, 

 December 10 to 13. 



The Committee is composed of 

 Wm. H. Settle of Indiana, Frank 

 App of New Jersey. John K. Or*- 

 of Texas and John F. Burton of 

 Utah. 



P««e 3 



AT EL PASO 



UERE'S the new phosphate 

 *^ storage plant of the Ei Paso 

 Co-operative Phoaphate Company 

 In Woodford county. It hat a ca- 

 pacity of. 600 tons. The picture 

 shows the plant In process of con- 

 struction. ~ 

 I lili 



EtPaso Farmers' 

 Phosphate Plant 

 Near Completion 



The new phosphate storage 

 plant at EU Paso, Woodford 

 county, is practically completed, 

 states J. R. Bent, Director of the 

 I. A. A. Phosphate-Limestone De- 

 partment. It has a capacity of 

 600 tons and is the property of 

 the El Paso Co-operative Phos- 

 phate Company, an association 

 composed of leading farm bureau 

 members in the vicinity of El 

 Paso. 



Both of the Tennessee phos- 

 phate quarries under contract to 

 supply rock phosphate through 

 the I. A. A. are running at fall 

 capacity, according to Mr. Bent. 

 The department Is keeping abreast 

 ef all orders and can fill new 

 orders promptly. 



Heary Coaaty Live Stoek Shipper* 



received 12,187.24 as their share of 

 the 80 per cent refund declared by 

 the Chicago Producers. 





Producers Report 

 Success At New 

 Evansville Agency 



The Evansville (Ind.) Produc- 

 ers Commission Association, the 

 twelfth agency to open under the 

 plan of the National Live Stock 

 Producers Association, is hand- 

 ling a proportionate share or 

 about one-third of the business 

 on that market, although it only 

 opened fol' business on September 

 1, states F. M. Simpson, General 

 Manager of the National Lire 

 Stock Producer's Association. 



The Evansville market is a 

 small gne. serving nearby coun- 

 ties in Indiana, Kentucky and 

 Illinois: There are three com- 

 mission firms operating on the 

 market now, including the Pro- 

 ducers. ! 



Membership is free to live 

 stock shipping association or 

 (arm bureau members. Others 

 may obtain membership by pay- 

 ing' a five dollar fee. Anyone 

 may consign to the agency, but 

 only members are eligible to the 

 refund. 



Formation of the' new co-op- 

 erative was made possible by the 

 backing of state and county farm 

 bureaus of Indiana. Kentucky and 

 Illinois. The principal Iliinois 

 counties tributary to the market 

 are White, Gallatin, Wabash and 

 Edwards. ' L. L. Pinnell. New 

 Haven, Gallatin couQty, repre- 

 sents Illinois on the board of 

 directors of the agency. 



DANGER AHEAD IN 

 PACKER REQUEST 

 FDR mm CUT 



Would Eliminate Eastern 

 Buyers From Chicago 

 Market ^ 



MORE MEMDERS 

 GIVE REASONS 

 FORJENEWING 



"I renewed my membership in 

 the farm bureau because I believe 

 that it is slowly but surely bring- 

 ing good results to the farmer." 

 states J. a G. of Menard county. 

 "If we do not stand by the bu- 

 reau in its struggles, we cannot 

 expect it to succeed." 



This !( one of the replies that 

 the Record received from farm 

 bureau members in many counties 

 of the state as to their reasons 

 (or renewal of men^bership. 

 Here's some more of them: 



"I consider it a farmer's duty 

 to join an association that is try- 

 ing to help him in his dally tasks. 

 It be will seek the assistance of 

 his farm adviser along with the 

 corps of assistants of the state 

 university and the benefits of 

 legislation secured by the state 

 and national farm bureaus, and 

 will make use of the same, the 

 money paid for membership is 

 well invested." Thus writes E. 

 T. B. of Marion county. 



Two Big Reasons 



R. M. G., Winnebago county, 

 has many reasons for supporting 

 organized agriculture and he tells 

 the Record two which he consid- 

 ers sufficient to warrant his mem- 

 bership. 



"First, I want to be identified 

 'With any movement which aims 

 to uplift and advance the farmers' 

 interests, and second, I believe 

 that indirectly I more than re- 

 ceive the amount of my member- 

 ship fee," says Mr. G. 



Monay Well Spent 



"Every farmer should be a 

 farm bnreau member," states J. 

 E. H. of Sangamon county, "be- 

 cause it is money well spent and 

 It comes back tenfold. Where 

 there is union there Is power!" 



F. B, of Coles oonnty sees in 



Oh thje grounds that eastern 

 live stock buyers will be forced 

 out of Chicago and other western 

 markets,! which ■ will ; eliminate 

 competitjon to tke disadvantage 

 of live ^tock producers, the Illi- 

 nois Agncuitural Association has 

 interveoid against interior Iowa 

 packers in a case before the In- 

 terstate I Commerce Commission 

 asking r^r freight rate rejections 

 on- freahj meats and other pack- 

 ing hott^ products moving east. 

 Interirfr Iowa packers asked 

 for an jeastem freight rate on 

 dressed jmeats the same as the 

 nve stotk rate, and on other 

 poking house prdducts, 75 per 

 cent of I live stock rate*. Swift 

 and Wilson packing companlee 

 filed a ^parate complaint asking 

 for similar reductions which Iowa 

 packers jmay receive. Other big 

 packers ; intervened along with . 

 smaller |companies, some on be- 

 half of |the original complainants 

 and soc^e on behalf of the de- 

 fendants^ 



Eastern packers oppose the 

 freight reduction, western pack- 

 er6 favor it and packers doing - 

 business in both east and west 

 are taking a neutral position. 

 Objtwtloas 

 The flutstandlag contention of 

 the IlUnlolB Agricultural Associa- 

 tion is that these reductions 

 would njake it impossible tor the 

 eastern packer to buy In the Chi- 

 cago mai-ket and would thus elim- 

 inate colmpetitioa. That the ac- 

 tivity of eastern packing interests 

 is a v<ry desirable competl^ve 

 factor In Chicago, is shown by the 

 fact th4t an average of 20 per 

 cent of live stock on the Chicago 

 market goes east. Lower prices 

 to the Producer caused by elimi- 

 nating ^is competition would re- 

 flect to all markets of the coun- 

 try. ' 



A. A. at Hearings 

 Qnasey. Director of the 

 Transportation Department, says 

 that packers have not asked for 

 increases in rates on live stock 

 rates. However he Is ' not sure 

 that ai increase would not be 

 asked Tor if organized agrit^l- 

 ture was not represented. The 

 Transpi irtatlon Department ap- 

 peared at hearing June 14 and 

 Septem >er 12. and again at New 

 York, October 8. 



L. J. I 



The 



RADIO PROGRAM 



Farm Bitreau radis pro- 

 fram ir>m Sution KYW, Chicaeo. 

 8:61 P. M. is as follows: on Sept. 

 9: "Tlie Farmer's Wagon," by 

 James |l. Howard, former presi- 

 dent oi the A. F. B. F. and talk 

 by A. H. Simpson of the Relations 

 Departiient, A. P. B. F. On Sept.. 

 16, C.| V. Gregory, editor of 

 Prairie Farmer, will speak, ^v.. 



organized agriculture the only 

 hope tpT farmers but be desires 

 more pt-ogress it his sapport is to 

 be secured again. 



Saysl Mr. B.: "I renewed my 

 membet^hip in the agricnitaral 

 organisation because I was for it, 

 knowiqg that it is our only hope. 



but if 



it doesnt make more pro- 



gress I y the time my three years 



are up 

 again.: 



•-•r 



ilv-:il 



I don't think I wUi renew 



IMI^ 



