Pa«e 8 



Th« IlTinois Agricultural Asaociation Record 



January S, 1924 



$2,000,000 Cut in Taxes Through Organization 



TAX VALUATIONS 

 GET GENERAL CUT 

 OF JEN PER CENT 



1 «. A. wni Continue Tax Work 



in Many Other Tasks to Be 



Done, Says Watson 



id spite of the fact that equaliza- 

 tion of valuations of farm land in 

 I 1923 has not 



I ^^^^^^ gone more than 

 ' ^^^^^^^k' half as far as 



^^^H should have 



^^^^^^^^, gone, is prob- 



m^^^^m able that the de- 



fJK^^^^r crease taxes 



^^^^^^P^ on land owners 



TT^^^^^^L this winter will 



^^Ak ^^^^m amount to 



^■k-^^^B least $2,000,000, 



Ij: C. W.BOB according to 



John C. Watson, 



Ditector of Taxation and Statistics 



for the I. A. A. 



This is the encouraging news that 

 comes at the end of a year of hard 

 work on the farm tax problem. 

 10 Per C^nt Decrease 

 The total reduction in assesi^ed 

 valuations of land from 1922 to 1923, 

 is nearly $106,000,000, or about a 

 10 per cent decrease, Mr. Watson 



states in his annual report. If this 

 reduction were all reflected in de- 

 creased taxes, it would mean a cut 

 of $4,000,000, Mr. Watson states. 

 However, increased tax rates, par- 

 ticularly for schools, are likely to 

 oflfset the effect for 40 or 50 per 

 cent of the reduction. 



Most all of Illinois knows the 

 story of how investigations were 

 carried on in 56 counties to find the 

 actual values of farm lands and 

 city property and how the assessed 

 vaiues were compared with the ac- 

 tual] values to see if they were as- 

 sessed on the same basis. And then 

 how this information was taken 

 first to county boards of review 

 aVid later to the State Tax Commis- 

 sion. 



Fatore Program 



"The department proposes to con- 

 tinue its efforts to secure equaliza- 

 tioA in counties where any serious 

 ineqiialities throw an unfair burden 

 on farm land," Mr. Watson says. 

 "In many counties assessments of 

 farm animals are at a much higher 

 percentage of their actual values 

 than is true of city property, or in 

 a g6od many cases even of farm 

 land. Some very substantial de- 

 creases in such valuations have been 

 made this year. Further adjust- 

 ments in the valuations of personal 

 property should be secured through 

 the assessors next spring. Unless 

 it is made by assessors, it is not 

 likely to be made at all. 

 Tax Laws 



"Questions of constitutional and 

 statirtory changes to make the rev- 

 enue laws fairer to farmers and 

 other tax payers are becoming in- 

 creasingly important in Illinois 

 The department proposes to give 

 careful consideration to such ques- 

 tions, and to continue gathering in- 

 formation on the working and ad- 

 ministration of our present revenue 

 laws.. 



Tax Expenditures 



"Taxpayers of the state are en 

 titled to information in a form they 

 can understand about expenditures 

 of tax money. At t)resent they do 

 not have such information. Where- 

 ever public funds are spent ineffi- 

 ciently, extravagantly or dishon- 

 estly ,| high taxes will be. levied. 



Just Like Pulling 

 iTeeth! 



No, the farm bureau doesn't 

 claim all the credit for the 

 decrease of $2,000,000 in farm 

 taxes of 1923. It is possible 

 that some decrease might 

 have been made without or- 

 ganized agriculture taking any 

 hand in it at all. 



But a large nnmber of 

 county farm bureaus and the 

 I. A. A. Taxation Department 

 knows that a lot of that reduc- 

 tion came like pulling teeth. 

 Do your own guessing of how 

 much reduction farmers 

 would have received if con- 

 tinual study and work had 

 not been centered on this 

 problem by the farm bureau. 



ISSUE TAKEN WITH 

 PRESS STATEMENT OF 

 TAX COMMISSION 



Watson Says Body For(ot AU About 



Ciiy lot Increase; Count 



Reductions Twice 



Mr. Kelker Is 



New Assistant 



to Secretary 



The I. A. A. office has handled 

 18,000 outgoing telephone calls, 

 1,250 long distance calls and has 

 sent out 1,400 

 telegrams in the 

 year 1923, re- 

 ports J. H. Kel- 

 ker, Assistant to 

 the Secretary, 

 who was em- 

 ployed by the 

 Association No- 

 vember 1. 



During the 

 J. H. Kdker year, 19,602 



typewritten let- 

 ters were sent out and 27,788 

 pieces of first class mail received. 

 The addressing section which keeps 

 up the list of 70,000 names and mails 

 the Record, the multigraph section, 

 the stock room and filing work all 

 come under the direction of Mr. 

 Kelker. There are 1 1 persons em- 

 ployed in these lines of work. The 

 real truth of the matter is that this 

 department does everything that 

 does not come under some other 

 department of the .\ssociation, in- 

 cluding everything from making ar- 

 rangements for meetings to order- 

 ing Farm Bureau signs. 



Arthur Says Club 

 IVork Is Great; 

 Enjoyed Banquet 



"1 am writing to thank you for 

 the fine banquet that was given to 

 us boys and girls," says Arthur 

 Manock, Peoria County, boys' pig 

 club champion of Illinois, in a let- 

 ter to the I. A. A. "It sure was a 

 fine get-together. I enjoyed hear- 

 ing our I. A. A. leaders speak and 

 also to meet them. 



"We belong to the 1. A. A. and 

 the Peoria County Farm Bureau. 

 This is an organization that every 

 farmer ought to belong to. If it 

 had not been for the farm bureau, 

 1 expect I would never have heard 

 of club work until it would have 

 been too late. As it is, I have had 

 three successful years. It is work 

 that has been an education in itself. 

 I am a club booster forever and 

 ever." 



'A proper system of checks on 

 expenditures, of auditing, and of 

 analyses promotes efficiency, econ- 

 omy and honesty in handling public 

 funds. There can be little doubt 

 that the greatest opportunity for 

 reducing tax levies lies in this direc- 

 tion. The department proposes to 

 give this subject as much attention 

 is its other duties permit." 



In his annual report, John C. 

 Watson, of the I. A. A., points to 

 more holes in the press statement 

 issued by the State Tax Commis- 

 sion, in which they tell about de- 

 creased valuation of farm land. 



In addition to the error, as Mr. 

 Watson calls it, of counting the 

 $68,000,000 land reduction made in 

 1922, twice, the Commission forgot 

 all about the increased number of 

 lots and new buildings when telling 

 about the big increase made in val- 

 uations of city property. 



In explaining increases in town 

 and city lots the statement released 

 by the Commission reads: 



Statement of Commission 



"During the same period of two 

 years (1920 to 1922), town and city 

 lots have been increased $28,173,463 

 by the boards of review, and this 

 year the increase in town and city 

 lots has been $7,960,416, making a 

 total increase in the valuation of 

 town and city lots of $36,133,879. 

 This increase fairly represents the 

 normal increase on the number and 

 value of town and city lots." 



In reply, Mr. Watson says, "Any- 

 one who knows anything about the 

 great increase in the value of city 

 real estate in the last three years 

 will take issue with the deductions 

 in the last sentence quoted above. 

 The number of new lots assessed in 

 the state increased 56,706 from 1920 

 to 1922. The value of new improve- 

 ments on lots is not known but 

 it ran into hundreds of millions of 

 dollars. In Chicago alone, the esti- 

 mated cost of buildings for which 

 permits were issued in 1920 and 

 1921 was more than $204,000,000. 



Does Not Consider Value Increase 



"The increase in assessed valua- 

 tions of town and city lots in the 

 two years was a very small fraction 

 of the value of new property. It 

 takes no account whatever of the 

 enormous increase in the value of 

 lots and improvements already as- 

 sessed in 1920. The same comment 

 applies to the assessments for 1923 

 of 29,752 new lots and new improve- 

 ments on lots in the 99 counties, 

 exclusive of Cook, Lake and La- 

 Salle. The increase of $7,960,591, in 

 assessed valuations of all lots and 

 improvements thereon in these 

 counties* is inadequate to represent 

 the increase in new property alone." 



/. A. A. Has Standard Milk 

 Marketing Contract in Use 



Much Serum Secured 

 Through Purchasing 

 Committee Contract 



C. A. Stewart, Director of Live 

 Stock Marketing Department, served 

 as secretary of the Illinois Serum 

 Purchasing Committee during 1923. 

 Others on the Committee were 

 Farm Advisers J. H. Lloyd, L. R. 

 Marchant, J. R. Shinn, and F. E. 

 Fuller. 



As a result of the committee's 

 work, 31 counties contracted for 

 18,000,000 CCS. of serum and virus 

 from a commercial serum plant at 

 75 cents per hundred ccs. Up to 

 December 1, a total of 17,117,000 

 ccs. of this contract had been con- 

 sumed. Several other counties were 

 also given aid in serum purchasing. 



A standard milk marketing con- 

 tract for use when Illinois dairy- 

 men desire to form co-operative 

 dairy market- 

 ing associations 

 has been 

 worked out by 

 the I. A. A. this 

 year, according 

 to the report of 

 A. D. Lynch, 

 Director of 

 Dairy Market- 

 ing. 



It is iY>w be- 

 ing used by the 

 A. D. Lmcb Rock Island 



Co-operative Dairy Company and 

 tlie Vita Gold Dairy Products Com- 

 pany, Freeport. 



"This marketing contract departs 

 from others chiefly in that provision 

 is made to penalize the man who 

 produces a surplus as against the 

 man whose production is uniform 

 by paying a less price for the excess 

 production than the fluid milk 

 price," states Mr. Lynch. 



"The period of low production is 

 determined conclusively by the com- 

 pany and is based upon its period 

 of least receipts. The provision is 

 intended to influence production 

 toward more uniformity with more 

 equity to individual producers than 

 usually provided for. This con- 

 tract was worked out after consid- 

 erable discussion with officers of the 

 I. A. A. and with the advice and as- 

 sistance of the association's attor- 

 neys." 



Investigational Work 

 The Dairy Marketing Department 

 finSs that a very important step in 

 the organization of a co-operative 

 dairy enterprise is the pre-organiza- 

 tion or investigational work to find 

 if there is ample demand for its 

 services and a reasonable assurance 

 that it will succeed, states Mr. 

 Lynch. 



"The department finds it neces- 

 sary at times to advise dairymen not 

 to begin the business they might 

 have in mind and for which they 

 believe a need exists," Mr. Lynch 

 says. 



Examples Given 

 "In Union County, for example, 

 a survey with the local farm bureau 

 was made in the interests of get- 

 ting a condensary into the county. 



After an investigation of the coun- 

 ty's dairy development and future 

 possibilities, cow testing associations 

 and cream shipping organizations 

 were suggested as the present need." 



However in Decatur, Macon 

 Coiinty, the department found a city 

 of nearly 50,000 of good purchasing 

 power without a dependable milk 

 supply. Over 100 individuals and 

 siuall dealers were found to be ped- 

 dling raw milk. The conclusion 

 was reached that there existed on 

 this market an opportunity for a 

 co-operative milk distributing asso- 

 ciation on the part of dairymen who 

 deliver milk and others in order to 

 standardize their product and mer- 

 chandise it according to approved 

 business practice. 



Good Year for Dairymen 



"The dairy industry has gone 

 through a satisfactory year in many 

 ways," concludes Mr. Lynch in his 

 report. "The price of butter has 

 ruled from 8 to 10 cents higher than 

 In 1922. The market has been par- 

 ticularly free from excessive fluctua- 

 tion. There is indication of a larger 

 disappearance of dairy products into 

 consumptive channels judging from 

 repbrts of the large primary and 

 consuming markets. 



"The price of fluid milk around 

 the large population centers is gen- 

 erally lower throughout the country. 

 High prices for fluid milk evidently 

 have stiijiulated dairymen to patron- 

 ize such markets more extensively. 

 It is apparent that production Jias 

 increased in the Chicago territory 

 and some dairymen already feel 

 that lower prices will be in order 

 unless they associate more effec- 

 tively in an orderly marketing plan. " 



ll 



Fruit Co-op mil 

 Reorganize Under 

 Marketing Act 



Officers and members of the Illi- 

 nois Fruit Exchange are looking 

 forward to the organization of a 

 number of new units this winter, 

 states A. B. Leeper, Manager. 

 Never has the interest of the grow- 

 ers in co-operative marketing been 

 as great as it is at present, he says. 



Decision has practically been 

 reached that the fruit exchange will 

 get a new charter and incorporate 

 under the new Illinois Co-operative 

 Marketing Act. This will mean 

 that the reorganized exchange will 

 take over by contract the crop the 

 present organization will have and 

 will organize all new units under the 

 co-op" act. 



As soon as arrangements are 

 made for such incorporation, the ex- 

 change expects to engage in an ex- 

 tensive membership campaign under 

 the direction of the Fruit and Vege- 

 table Marketing Department of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association. 

 Many requests are already on file 

 for this organization work wSich 

 will be started early in January, Mr. 

 Leeper states. \ 



it Pays to Check 



Over R. R. Rates, 

 Department Finds 



All railroad tariffs on agricultural 

 products are kept on file in the 

 office of the Transportation Depart- 

 ment of tl^e I. A. A. Every time 

 there is a supplement or a reissue, 

 the department carefully checks 

 them over to ascertain any changes 

 in rates that concern the farmer. 



In an instance that took place the 

 latter part of the past year, the de- 

 partment found that the new ruhng 

 on mixed shipments of live stock as 

 ordered effective by the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission on Septem- 

 ber 28, had not been made effective 

 by the Chicago, Burhngton & 

 Quincy Railroad on IlHnois traffic 

 until November 1. 



The matter was taken up with the 

 management of the railroad. It ap- 

 pealed to the Illinois Commerce 

 Commission for authority to refund 

 all overcharges on mixed shipments 

 that moved between September 

 28th and November 1st. 



Up to the present time, the 



f'ransportation Department has filed 

 ver 40 claims amounting to ap- 

 proximately $300 with the C. B. & 

 for these overcharges. 



f 



EMPLOYMENT SERVICE 



, The I. A. A. Dairy Marketing 

 Department conducts an employ- 

 ment service for organizations de- 

 siring managers, superintendents, or 

 other employes, says the annual 

 report of A. D. Lynch, director. A 

 list of available or prospective men 

 is kept on file and from it' boards 

 of directors get in touch with pros- 

 pects and the department aids them 

 in conducting interviews with men 

 in whom tiiey are interested. 





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