April S, 1924 



The Illinois Agrieiiltiiral AModation Record 



Pte7 



T Member of Congress Should 

 be Equitable, Sound and Fair'' 



(CoBtiDued from page 6) 



ber of the public would be heard 

 to say that he could not afford to 

 pay more and no Informed farmer 

 would make a statement like this. 

 We can only conclude that these 

 farmers were not informed or, 

 more likely, were misinformed as 

 to the nature, the purpose, and the 

 effect of the bill. 



Should Follow Right Coarse 

 You ask what a member of 

 Congress is to do when two agri- 

 cultural organizations — equally 

 important and equally interested 

 — reach such absolutely different 

 conclusions. We think you are 

 in no real doubt as to what he 

 should do. He should follow that 

 course which is right, equitable, 

 sound and fair. He should con- 

 sider the greatest good to the 

 greatest number so long as that 

 can be accomplished without in- 

 justice to a minority. Under these 

 circumstances, we most certainly 

 do think that we havq a right to 

 "demand that a member of Con- 

 gress from Illinois shall unequiv- 

 ocally and actively support and 

 vof| for the McNary-Haugen bill." 

 ifou ask whether we yill not be 

 in an equivocal position due to the 

 fact that we have advised farmers 

 to restrict wheat acreage, if the 

 McNary-Haugen bill passes and 

 raises the price of wheat? We 

 have given no such advice. The 

 McNary-Haugen bill is not a law 

 and it was not a law when such 

 advice may have been given by 

 others and if many Congressmen 

 are minded as you seem to be, it 

 will never be a law. 



We have already answered your 

 questiop as to whether the Mc- 

 Nary-Haugen bill would put the 

 government in the grain business. 

 The answer is "No," and for the 

 reasons stated. 

 I Is It a Precedent? 



Your next question becomes in- 

 appropriate since you say that if 

 It does put the government into 

 the grain business, should it not 

 engage in other kinds of business? 

 We shall not, however, attempt 

 to escape the query that was in 

 your mind. You mean that if the 

 government removes this ancient 

 l.iequity of the farmer, should it 

 not, as occasion arises, be ready 

 to do a similar thing for others? 

 In other words, is this not a bad 

 precedent? 



The precedent was established 

 when we enacted the tariff — and 

 omitted the farmer fro»n protec- 

 tion. The bill merely rectifies the 

 omission. It is not a precedent. 

 It is a sequel. It is not even the 

 first sequel. The immigration law 

 gave labor its protection but left 

 agriculture still out in the blasts 

 of a wintry world. So far as we 

 know, this is the last breach in the 

 protective wall. It is a breach 

 that must be closed — not in favor 

 of agriculture but in favor of the 



, whole United States, and in com- 

 mon Justice to the farmer. 

 Simple Jnstice 

 But even if there- were other 

 classes equally prejudiced, is a 



r precedent of simple justice some- 



. thing to be avoided? If there be 

 another segment of our popula- 



- tion equally sinned against, the 

 suggestion that their wrongs 

 should also be righted is no argu- 



I' ment against righting this great 

 wrong. 



Not long ago Industry asked 

 'the right to combine for export 

 trade. It t^as granted instantly. 



It has long been the custom for 

 industries to sell in export at less 

 than domestic prices. Agricul- 

 ture seeks no greater or different 

 privilege. The precedents are 

 all behind us. There is no other 

 class in like case with agriculture. 

 The McNary-Haugen bill closes 

 the last gap in our protective out- 

 works and rights the last great 

 wrong. 

 No More Socialistic Than TarUI 



You ask if this proposition is 

 not socialistic and then amuse 

 yourself with another array of 

 straw men — this time Russian 

 Bolshevist. The bill is no more 

 socialistic than the tariff. Per- 

 haps that is paternalistic or 

 communistic but, having thus 

 launched into Bolshevism in favor 

 of y^ of our people at the expense 

 of the other third, what kind of 

 good faith is it to refuse exactly 

 the same protection to the other 

 J4 on the plea of "individual- 

 ism"? 



Who has the cynical audacity 

 to say that what is the sound 

 foundation rock of our economic 

 policy for New England is com- 

 munism for the agricultural por- 

 tions of Illinois? 



Farmer Bears E.v|>enses 



But this bill does not "put the 

 government into business," it does 

 not "interfere with business." It 

 permits a corporation to combine 

 farm products for export sale just 

 as the Edge and the Webb bills 

 now permit industry to combine. 

 The government then does noth- 

 ing but give the corporation its 

 sanction. It creates no govern- 

 mental bureau or department. It 

 permits the agricultural corpora- 

 tion, organized in the only way it 

 can be organized, to go into the 

 market and buy and sell, thus cor- 

 recting an insufferable condition. 

 The government as such does 

 nothing. The farmer pays every 

 cent of expense and bears every 

 risk of loss. 



Scant .Attention to AfBrmative 



This completes a categorical re- 

 ply to every one of your ques- 

 tions. The aflQrmative arguments 

 for this bill are doubtless in your 

 hands but your letter indicates 

 that they have had scant atten- 

 tion from you. It further indi- 

 cates that the arguments of the 

 opposition have received an en- 

 thusiastic reception at your hands. 

 Every one of them that has yet 

 appeared parades through the 

 pages of your letter with a great 

 deal of sound and fury. 



Not once in your entire screed 

 do you refer to the beneficial re- 

 sult of this bill to the farmer. Not 

 once do you suggest any alternative 

 measure to alleviate iiis condition 

 although you are very emphatic in 

 your recognition of that condition. 



No Argnment or Evidence 



You call the McNary-Haugen 

 bill revolutionary, destructive of 

 all our present systems of ex- 

 change, marketing, and involving 

 the possible destruction of the 

 present markets for farmers, and 

 you say it may result in untold 

 injury to an industry which is now 

 almost prostrate. Yet you do not 

 support any one of these conclu- 

 sions with a shadow of argument 

 or evidence. Since these are the 

 only real conclusions we find most 

 of your letter containing only in- 

 terrogations — we can not escape 

 the suspicion that your chief con- 

 cern is with the system of ex- 

 change and marketing which have 



Edgar County Now 

 Getting Packers' 

 Premium On Hogs 



Edgar county is now one of the 

 26 counties in the United States 

 upon the federal accredited list 

 as being practically free from 

 bovine tuberculosis. To get on 

 the accredited list requires that 

 all cattle in the county pass two 

 annual or three semi-annual tests 

 with less than one-half of one 

 per cent of reactors. 



All hogs from Edgar county 

 sold on terminal markets in car 

 lots are now receiving a 10-cent 

 premium over the selling price, as 

 promised by the meat packers. 

 Frank Trogden of Vermillion 

 shipped the first load of hogs to 

 Chicago that received the pre- 

 mium. He received $7.65 percwt., 

 the top of the market, and after 

 the sale he was given a check for 

 over $15.00 as the 10 cents per 

 cwt. premium on 60 head of hogs. 



It is estimated that the total 

 cost of eradicating T. B. in Ed- 

 gar county was $11,500, and this 

 will be returned by the premium 

 on about 700 carloads of hogs. 

 Edgar county started this eradi- 

 cation work in July, 1921, and 

 completed it in about two _years. 

 In the first test on about 14,000 

 cattle, 2.25 per cent reacted and 

 in the second test in February, 

 1923, .2 of one per cent reacted. 



brought the farmer to his present 

 situation. 



Ho|>e .\rgnment8 Not Wasted 



Perhaps our conviction of the 

 inequity of opposition to this bill 

 drives us too far in our thought, 

 pained from perusal of your letter, 

 that your mind is no longer open 

 and that the arguments herein 

 advanced are wasted on you. We 

 trust that such is the case. We 

 haie endeavored to weigh both 

 sides of this question in a judg- 

 matical frame of mind. 



We have come to the conclusion 

 that the essential principles of the 

 McNary-Haugen bill are absolutely 

 sound In economics and that the 

 opposition is unsound, that It 

 springs rather from grievances than 

 from argument, and that from this 

 basic fact it results that no man 

 can advocate the opposition with- 

 out finding himself mired In a mo- 

 rass of evasions, sophistries and 

 deceits. 



In conclusion, I Wish to say that 

 I do not pose as an expert on 

 technical matters involved in this 

 bill and I believe it proper to 

 here acknowledge my indebtedness 

 for the able and conscientious as- 

 sistance freely given by those 

 versed in the technical matters in- 

 volved and by the proponents of 

 this measure. 

 Kesimndlng to Pleas (or Help 



I know the condition of agri- 

 culture and realize my responsi- 

 bilities well enough to respond to 

 the pleas for help by men in 

 this great industry. I would be 

 derelict in my duty if I ignored 

 the justifiable and insistent de- 

 mand for some relief from Con- 

 gress or any other possible source. 

 It would be unpardonable if the 

 Association I have the honor to 

 represent did not use every means 

 at hand to give you and others 

 in positions of authority the com- 

 posite judgment of agricultural 

 leaders in the state. 



The people of this state expect 

 from me fair consideration of agri- 

 cultural problems and proposed 

 remedies. I am equally as sure 

 they have a right to expect the 

 same from you. 



Yours very truly, 



S. H. Thompson. 



All Committeemen 



of I. A. A. for 1924 

 Named and Approvea 



The complete personnel : of 

 standing committees for the asso-^ 

 elation to serve during this year, 

 as announced by President Thomp- 

 son and approved by the execu- 

 tive committee, follows. In each 

 case, the first-named in each com- 

 mittee is the chairman. 



Finance: F. D. Barton, Cor- 

 nell; Earl C. Smith, Detroit; W. 

 H. Moody, Port Byron. 



Legislative: F. D. Barton, Cor- 

 nell; H. E. Goembel, Hooppole; 

 A. C. Everingham, Hutsonville. 



Dairy: Jacob Olbrich, Harvard; 

 Henry McGough, Maple Park; C. 

 H. Rehling, Breese. 



Livestock: Geo. F. Tullock. 

 Rockford; Samuel Sorrells. Ray- 

 mond; J. E. Lingenfelter, Law- 

 renceville; L. R. Marchant, Gales- 

 burg. 



Fruit and Vegetable: Curt An- 

 derson, Xenia; J. Vernon L#ess- 

 ley, Sparta; A. O. Eckert, Belle- 

 ville; J. W. Lloyd, Urbana; Guy 

 C. Beauman, Tunnel Hill. 



Poultry: C. E. Bamborough. 

 Polo; Lyle Funk, McLean. 



Phosphate- Limestone: Stanley 

 Castle, Alton; H. T. Marshall, Se- 

 rena; Frank' I. Mann, Oilman; 

 Melvin Thomas, Charleston. 



Grain: H. E. Goembel, Hoop- 

 pole; A. R. Wright, Varna; I. A. 

 Madden. Springfield; W. A. Mc- 

 Neill, ChandlervlUe. 



Information: R. F. Karr, Iro- 

 quois-; J. M. Beckett, Blue Mound: 

 L. O. Wise, Morrison. 



Organization: Earl C. Smith, 

 Detroit; J. H. Checkley, Lincoln. 



Insurance: CTiauncey B. Wat- 

 son, DeKalb; R. F. Karr, Iroquois; 

 Geo. F. Tullock, Rockford. 



Educational: J. L. Whisnand, 

 Charleston; A. C. E>eringham. 

 Hutsonville; E. W. Rusk, Carlin- 

 ville. 



T. B. Eradication: A.R.Wright, 

 Varna; Geo. Hunt, Woodstock; 

 Wm. E. Hedgcock, Peoria. 



CREAM PRODUCERS 

 ORGANIZING ASS'N 

 IN FORD COUNTY 



I. A. A. Advising On Organization; 

 Also Assisting With Proposed 

 ' Creamery At Prophetstown 



Choose Thompson 

 As Member of Car 

 Service Committee 



President S. H. Thompson of 

 the I. A. A. nas elected as a 

 member of the executive commit- 

 tee of. 17 of the Mid-west Re- 

 gional Advisory Board of the Car 

 Senice Division, American Rail- 

 way .\ssociation, at a meeting of 

 the board in Chicago, March 27. 

 With President Hearst of the 

 Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. 

 Mr. Thompson will represent the 

 interests of farmers upon the 

 committee. 



"The purpose «f this board," 

 states L. J. Quasey, director of 

 the I. A. A. Transportation de- 

 partment, who took an active 

 part in the meeting, "is to form 

 a common meting ground be- 

 tween shippers and rjlilroads for 

 the better mutual understanding 

 of local transportation require- 

 ments, to analyze transportation 

 needs in its territory and to as- 

 sist in anticipating car require- 

 ments." 



Mr. Quasey states that farm 

 organizations are adequately rep- 

 resented upon the various com- 

 modity committees, such as live- 

 stock, grain, fiuits and vege- 

 tables, and dairy products. 



The Mid-west Regional Advis- 

 ory Board has for its territory, 

 Iowa, most of Illinois and Wis- 

 consin and the western part of 

 Indiana. 



Cream producers of Ford coun- 

 ty are organizing a collective 

 bargaining association with a 

 membership agreement submitted 

 by the I. A. A. Dairy Marketing 

 department. At a meeting called 

 by the Ford County Farm Bu- 

 reau in Paxton. March IS, A. D. 

 Lynch of the department, met 

 with the 18 members of the or- 

 ganization committee to discuss 

 plans of organization. The asso- 

 ciation plans to manage its owe 

 cream bu>ing stations at Paxton 

 and Gibson City and will con- 

 tract for cream sales with some 

 large cream buyer. 



."Cream producers have become 

 dissatisfied with the low and 

 greatly fluctuating prices paid by 

 the cream stations in Ford coun- 

 ty," Mr. Lynch states. "They 

 want an organization of their 

 own so that they will get fair 

 prices. A survey shoi^ed that 

 local prices paid for butterfat in 

 Paxton were practically always 

 below the Chicago butter prices. 

 They have not, followed the Chi- 

 cago butter market at all rea- 

 sonably. 



"It was interesting to note 

 that the day of the cream pro- 

 ducers' meeting, the stations paid 

 considerably higher for butterfat 

 than had been their custom. 

 \t Pr«|»lietJitown 



Mr. Lynch met with farm bu- 

 reau meml)ers in the vlcinit}' of 

 Prophetstown, Whiteside county, 

 oa March 22 to discuss jrith 

 them the organization of a co- 

 operative creamery there. He 

 advised them that the\' should 

 have the production of at Jeast 

 l,D0O cows to insure a profitable 

 enterprise. 



Farm bureau officers are now 

 making a sur\'ey of the territory 

 to report back at a future meet- 

 ing upon the possibilities for a 

 creamery. Marketing of eggs by 

 the cooperative creamery is also 

 contemplated. 



Twelfth District 



Meet Discusses 

 Relief Measure 



Every cousty in the 12lh dis- 

 trict was represented at a con- 

 ference called by executive com- 

 mitteeman Geo F. Tullock held 

 at Aurora, March 20. The Mc- 

 Nary-Haugen bill now before Con- 

 gress was endorsed and each 

 county was asked to urge Ita 

 Congressman to support this bill. 

 This action was taken after a long 

 discussion. President S. H. Thomp- 

 sdn of the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association explained the bill. 



A committee of three, consist- 

 itm of Henry Park of DeKalb 

 county. H. T. Marshall of LaSalle 

 county and F. E. Longmire of 

 Grundy county, was appointed to 

 otiganize the district more thor- 

 oughly for the purpose of actinc 

 as a district unit on 1. A. A. 

 problems rather than each eoaaty 

 acting alone. 



Mr. Tullock believes that the 

 district conference Idea is well 

 worth while. It Is planned to 

 hold three other similar meet- 

 ings during the 7ear in the IZtb. 

 district 



