December 20, 1923 



The minoU Agricoltural Atociation Record 



ff. 





500 At Fifth Meeting of . 

 American Farm Bureau 



O. E. Bradfute of Xenia, 

 Ohio, was tmanimonsly. re-elect- 

 ed President of the American 

 Fafm Bureau Federation at the 

 fifth annual meeting in Chicago, 

 December 10, 11 and 12. J. F. 

 Reed of Minnesota was elected 

 Vice-President. President S. H. 

 Thompson of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association was elected 

 a member of the executive com- 

 mittee from the central section. 

 Nine new members were elected 

 to the executive committee of 



twelve. 



About 500 peo- 

 ple were present 

 at the meeting, 

 rhirty-four states 

 «rere given voting 

 privilege, based 

 on the paid up 

 membership. II- 

 linois and Iowa 

 I stood highest in 

 I number of voting 

 I directors, each 

 ' having five. Ohio 

 _ was entitled to 



Re-elected *our voting di- 

 rectors and all other states bad 

 three or less. 



nUnois Active 

 On two difflerent occasions IIU- 

 noia took part in the national 

 convention. On Tuesday after- 

 noon John C. Watson of the I.A.A. 

 addressed the meeting on the sub- 

 ject of taxation a« a farm bureau 

 project. On Wednesday evening 

 voting directors of Illinois made 

 a plea for passing a resolution en- 

 dorsing the National Wheat Grow- 

 ers' Advisory Committee of which 

 Frank O. Lowden is chairman. 



The resolution also endorsed 

 the work of the A. F. B. F. co- 

 operative marketing department In 

 the formation of the National 

 Wheat Committee and instructed 

 the marketing 'department to work 

 in close harmony with the wheat 

 committee. The resolution was 

 reported to the convention without 

 recommendation. 



Thompson For Actton 

 Walton Peteet talked in favor 

 of the resoln- 

 tion. S. H. 

 Thompson made 

 a motion that 

 the resolution 

 be adopted. In 

 talking tor the 

 resolution M r. 

 Thompson said 

 that mid-west 

 farm bureaus 

 and American 

 Farm Bureau 

 had been work- 

 ing on the grain 

 marketing prob- 

 lem for three 

 years. He said that the resolution 

 adopted by the mid-west commit- 

 tee and approved by President 

 Bradfute had been accepted as the 

 grain marketing policy, for the 

 A. F. B. F. 



The mid-west resolution called 

 for a national grain marketing 

 plan, based on state organizations 

 with contracts and pooling. Pend- 

 ing the organization of the na- 

 tional plan, the resolution commit- 

 tee approved the selling plan sub- 

 mitted by the U. S. Grain Growers, 

 Inc., the same to be merged into 

 or supplanted by the national 

 plan when it was ready to begin 

 operation. 



Most Go Forward 

 "Our people expect us to go for- 

 ward on the problem of grain mar- 

 keting," Mr. Thompson said. "We 



cannot continually pass up <this 

 important question." 



Secretary George A. Fox of the 

 I. A. A. stated that he wished 

 those who objected to the resolu- 

 tion would take the responsibility 

 of offering a substitute resolution 

 that would settle the question of 

 grain marketing. 



The resolution was referred to 

 the new executive committee with 

 power to act. Immediately after 

 this action, Mr. Peteet resigned 

 as marketing director. 



New Board 



The executive committee is 

 made up of three representatives 

 from each of the four sections, 

 west, south, east and central sec- 

 tions. Following are the mem- 

 bers of the new executive commit- 

 tee by sections: 



Weetera Itettea 



A. C. Rardlaon California 



Frank Evans Utah 



C. E. Gibson Colorado 



• SoHthent 8cjetl«m 



E. P. CohlU Maryland 



E. O. O'Neill Alabama 



W. D. Ferris Texas 



Baatera Sectfoa 

 Q. M. Putnam . . . New Hampshire 



P. M. Smith New York 



S. M. Buckingham. .Connecticut 

 Ccmtial SceUvB 



C. E. Hurst Iowa 



8. H. Thompson Illinois 



Ralph Snyder Kansas 



O'Neill, Putnam and Smith are 

 the only members of the commit- 

 tee re-elected. 



Secretary Asked to Quit 

 At the December 8 meeting of 

 the A. F. B. F. executive commit- 

 tee. Secretary John Coverdale was 

 asked to resign. 



The new executive committee 

 meeting on December 13 had not 

 employed a secretary ,up to the 

 time of the Record going to press. 



COUNTIES ASK FOR 

 EQUALIZED VALUES 



(Continued from pace 1) 



Speaker Points 



Out Economies of 

 Deep Waterway 



"It costs 25 cents per hundred 

 pounds to ship grain by rail from 

 St. Louis to Baltimore, 18 cents 

 per hundred to ship from St. Louis 

 to New Orleans by rail, and 11 H 

 cents from St. Louis to New Or- 

 leans by water." 



This statement was made by 

 Theodore Brent of the Mississippi 

 and Warrior Service, a govern- 

 ment agency. He was speaking 

 at a luncheon for those Interested 

 in the Chicago to the Gulf water- 

 way project, at the A. F. B. F. 

 annual meeting. It was attended 

 by several I. A. A. leaders and 

 Geo. A. Fox presided at the meet- 

 ing. 



S. H. Thoapsoa 



On Committee 



producers Make 

 $84,000 Profit 

 First 11 Months 



Joe Fulkerson, former execu- 

 tive committee member of the 

 I. A. A. and now director of the 

 East St. Louis Producers' Com- 

 mission Company, tells the Record 

 that the earnings of the agency up 

 to December first of this year is 

 about $84,000, twice as much as 

 the full year of 1922. "Be sure 

 to tell your readers that this earn- 

 ing will not mean a larger divi- 

 dend than last year," Mr. Fulker- 

 son said, "because business of the 

 company is nearly double the last 

 year!" 



This earning is in the face of 

 the fact that the Producers' com- 

 mission charge was 20 per cent 

 lower than other firms on the mar- 

 ket, during the last two montlia. 



Following are listed the coun- 

 ties where wide inequalities of 

 valuations between classes of 

 property exist. The figure oppo- 

 site each county is the per cent 

 of reduction necessary to place 

 farm land valuations on the same 

 basis with city and town lots. 

 These reductions are necessary on 

 the present valuations of farm 

 lands within the county. 



RcdvctloB 

 Camtr M t c e ss a ry 



Cass 15%to20% 



Clay 10* 



Champalcn 10% 



DuPace 10% 



Kane >0% 



Madison »% 



Marlon *0% 



Montgomery !'% 



Peoria H* 



Vermilion 10* 



The Cass county reduction is on 

 farming land only. Land belong- 

 ing to duck hunting clubs is val- 

 ued even lower than city and town 

 lots. 



Many other counties testified 

 that farm land valuations now on 

 an equal basis with city property, 

 or close to it, and they asked that 

 all classes of property be treated 

 the same if the State Commission 

 raised or Ibwered the values set 

 by county* boards of review, tor 

 state tax purposes. 



In 54 counties there has been 

 no change in valuations of city 

 property for 21 years, Mr. Wat- 

 son told the Commission. "For 

 six years you have not touched 

 the values of city property. We 

 maintain that it Is not fair where 

 all classes of property are assessed 

 on the same basis to equalise one 

 class of property without equallx- 

 Ing all." 



Bailroads liOw 



A valuation of only 28 per cent 

 is made on the 1500 miles of rail- 

 roads on the lines of the Nickel 

 Plate, Lake Erie and Western, and 

 Toledo, St. Louis and Western in 

 Illinois, Mr. Watson said, based 

 on the appraised value placed on 

 these roads by engineer's employed 

 by the Guarantee Trust Company 

 of New York for the purpose of 

 issuing securities on the proper- 

 ties. 



In answer to this argument, Os- 

 car Carlstrom, acting chairman of 

 the Commission, said that it was 

 his belief that some allowance 

 must be made when railroads are 

 in a bad financial condition or 

 are on the verge of bankruptcy. 

 He said that if railroads had to 

 discontinue business it would 

 mean a loss to every community 

 through which the road runs. 



"What are you going to do 

 about the valuations on these 

 farms where their owners are go- 

 ing bankrupt?" asked Mr. Wat- 

 son. Mr. Carlstrom said that he 

 did not know. 



Conntiea Represented 



The counties represented at the 

 hearing were Monroe. Livingston, 

 Taxewell, Macoupin, Franklin, 

 Adams, Kendall, Coles, Mason, 

 Woodford, Morgan, Henry, Clay, 

 Winnebago, Pike, Marshall, Stark, 

 Rock Island, Johnson, LaSalle, 

 Putnam, Gallatin, Effingham, 

 Brown, Randolph, McDonough, 

 Moultrie, DeWitt, Will, Sangamon, 

 Kane, DuPage, VermilioB, Cass, 

 Montgomery, Madison, Peoria, St. 

 Clair, Champaign and Christian. 



On 



Z. R. Bent, director of the 

 Phosphate-Limestone department, 

 has called a state-wide meeting at 

 the Chicago office, Jan. 9 and 10, 

 to discuss the agricultural lime- 

 stone situation and problems. 



II I - -^ 



U.S. Grain Growers 

 Handling Grain 0) 

 The Chicago Market 



The U. S. Grain Growers, Inc., 

 announced on November 28 that 

 it was ready to handle grain on 

 the Chicago market. Since that 

 date several cars of grain have 

 been consigned to the concern. 

 Officials of the organization report 

 that the grain which has come in 

 has been unsolicited, no active 

 work having been done to date 

 to secure shipments. 



The co-operative has filed an 

 application for membership on the 

 Chicago Board of Trade, which 

 had not been acted upon as the 

 Record went to press. With the 

 application, a surety bond of $50,- 

 000 was filed, guaranteeing integ- 

 rity of its contracts made on the 

 Board. A one million dollar line 

 of credit has been contracted for 

 by the U. S. Grain Growers, Inc. 



Pa«*S 



GRAIN MEN WANT 

 ACCOUNTING SYSTEM 



(Continued from page 1> 



business its own way, an advan- 

 tage was seen in comparing costs. 

 There was need for strengthening 

 the weaker elevators. 



This body was convinced that a 

 worthwhile plan could be worked 

 out. However, it wanted to get 

 the support and co-operation of 

 the Farmers Grain Dealers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



Commltteee ' ' ■ • 



The original committee of presi- 

 dents and managers of elevators 

 is composed of Homer W. Bell. 

 Manager of the Watseka i^armers' 

 Elevator Company; G. E. Mellen, 

 Manager of the Mason Farmers^ 

 Elevator Company; D. J. Holter- 

 man. President of the Sadorus Co- 

 operative Elevator Company; and 

 L. A. Null, President of the Blan- 

 dinsville Farmers' Elevator Com- 

 pany. 



This group asked in the follow- 

 ing representatives of the Grain 

 Dealers' Association to consider 

 the project: President Fred A. 

 Mudge of Peru; Secretary Law- 

 rence Farlow of Bioomington; Di- 

 rector Herman Danforth of Wash- 

 ington; H. M. Wood of Delavan 

 and Fred Stout of Ashkum, Presi- 

 dent of the Managers' Association. 



Homer Bell Says 

 Accounting Will 

 Give Protection 



Hdmer W. Bell, Manager of Wat- 

 seka Farmers' Grain C^ompany, is 

 of the opinion that something along 

 the line of a uniform system of 

 accounting and auditing as recom- 

 mended by the Illinois Farmers' 

 Oraln Dealers Association and the 

 L A A, for- co-operative elevators 

 ta absolutely necessary to the per- 

 manent success of the moveiqent 



"It should give the same means 

 of protection to the investors in 

 stock of these companies and their 

 patrons that the state bank exam- 

 ination gives to banks,*' writes 

 Mr. Bell. "The very fact that ele- 

 vators belong to this branch of the 

 association and have an audit at 

 least four times a year and supers 

 vision at all times, should give 

 them financial standing in their 

 communities equal to that of state 

 or national banks. 



'No co-operative elevator in the 

 state can afford to be without this 

 service. The cost of this senrlce 

 should be slightly more than that 

 of a prolonged audit at the end of 

 the fiscal year." 



WALLACE FAVORS 

 BOARD OF TRADE 

 AND PACKER LAWS 



If Their Claims of Efficiency 



Are True, Official Confirmation 



WiH Help, Not Hinder 



Henry Wallace. Secretary of Ag- 

 riculture, had many good things 

 to say about the packer and stock- 

 yards act and the futures trading 

 act, designed to regulate the big 

 packer and the board of trade, at 

 the fifth annual meeting of the 

 A F. B. F. 



"Producers and conaamers should 

 have the opportunity te know abont 

 these agencies." said Mr. Wallace. 

 "Nobody knew the amount of fu- 

 ture trading going on. The C^p- 

 per-Tlncher act is giving ns the 

 answer and In a few years we will 

 know if thad is a fair way to deter- 

 mine grain prices. 



"The packer stockyards act for- 

 bids unfair practices, unfair to pn> 

 dacer and consumer. Among other 

 things it requires packers and oth- 

 ers to keep Jieir books and records 

 In such a way as to fully and coi^ 

 rectly disclose all transaction*. 

 The packers seem to think it is 

 none of our business how their 

 books are kept Now they propose 

 to appeal to the courts to keep us 

 from knowing the truth. What is 

 there they do not want ns to know? 

 If what they have claimed in the 

 past as to their efficiency of their 

 methods, and the reasonableness of 

 their costs and profits is true, tlren 

 official confirmation would help 

 them, not hurt. 



"(Congress has deemed the pack- 

 ing business vested with public" in- 

 terest and subject to ■upervisioB 

 as such. The packers' books are no 

 more sacred than the books of 

 iHtnks which we examined in the 

 most thorough way." 



The farm bureau worked bard 

 for these two regulation laws. 



Central Illiriois 

 Bureaus Organizing 

 For Baseball 



At a wild duck supper given at 

 Virginia by the Cass County Farm 

 Bureau basel>all team, November 

 27, ftepe were taken toward the 

 formation of a county farm bu- 

 reau baseball league in central 

 Illinois. Representatives from 

 Morgan, Sangamon, and Macoupin 

 counties were present and indi- 

 cated their support , while farm 

 advisers of Mason, Menard, and 

 Logan counties have given approv- 

 al. 



A committee was appointed to 

 make plans tor organisation and 

 eligibility rules and as soon a* 

 various counties have organized 

 teams and selected managers, a 

 meeting will be called to make a 

 schedule of games for next sum- 

 mer. 



This committee is composed of 

 Geo. R. Cline, Virginia;' E. W. 

 Rusk, Macoupin county adviser: 

 E. L. Corbin. I. A. A. executive 

 committeeman from Macoupin 

 county; I. A. Madden. Sangamon 

 county adviser; and J. H. Check- 

 ley, Logan county adviser. 



Interest in farm bureau base- 

 ball teams was started when games 

 were played in connection with 

 the farm bureau picnics of Menard 

 and Cass counties in 1920 and 

 1921, according to Farm Adviser 

 Dickenson, Cass county. 



During the summers of 192S 

 and 1923, Cass county farmers had 

 A team which played other teams 

 In the vicinity. 



