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The niinoM Agrtculhiral AModation Record 



July 19, 1924 



Ililjl NOBS 



jAcp^TURAL. ASSOCIA^ 



RECOR 



IS jm 



Published twice a month by the Illlnoii Agricultural 

 Auoclation, (01 South Dearborn Street. Chlcaso, Illinois. 

 Edited by Department of Information, H. C. Butcher, 

 Director. 



Entry as second class matter Oct. 10. 1921, at the post 

 office at Chicago. Dlinois. under the act of March 3, 1879. 

 Acceptance for mailing at special rates of postage pro- 

 vided for in Section 1103. Act of October 3, 1917. author- 

 ixed Oct. 31, 19 31. _^_^ 



The individual membership fee of the Illinois Arglcul- 

 tural Association Is five dollars a year. This fee Includes 

 payment of fifty cents for subscription to the Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural Association Record. 



\ OFFICERS ~-:- 



I PrMldcnt. S. H. Thompson, Qnincy. 

 i Vice-President, C. B. Watson. DeKalb. 

 Treasurer, R. A. Cowles, Bloomington. 

 [ Secretar}', Geo. A. Fox. Sjcamore. 



1 EXEOUnVG COMMITTEE 



By Coni^resslonal Districts 



11th Jacob Olbrlch, Harvard 



12th G. F. Tullock, Kockford 



13th C. E. Bamborough, Polo 



14th W. H. Moody, Port Byron 



ISth.... J H. E. Goembel, Hooppole 



.16th .A. R. Wright, Varna 



17th F. D. Barton, Cornell 



18th R. F. Karr, Iroquois 



igth J. L. Whitnand, Charleston 



20th Earl C. Smith, Detroit 



21it Samuel Sorrells, Raymond 



22nd Stanley Castle, Alton 



23rd J. E. Llngenfelter, Lawrenceville 



24th Curt Anderson, Xenia 



26th Vernon Lessley, Sparta 



I Directors of Departments 



I. .'\. .\. Office 



General Office and Assistant to Secretary, J. H. Kelker; 

 Organization, G, E. Metzger; Information, H. C. Butcher, 

 Transportation, L. J. Quasey, Statlatics, J. C. Watson; 

 Finance, R. A. Cowles; Fruit and Vegetable Marketing, 

 A. B. Leeper; Live Stock Marketing, C. A. Stewart; 

 Dairy Marketing, A. O. Lynch; Phosphate-Limestone, 

 J. R. Bent; in charge Poultry and Egg Marketing, F. A. 

 Gougler; special representative on Tubeixulosis Eradi- 

 cation, M. H. Petersen. 



Reaolutiona ot "The American Council of 



Agriculture" Adopted at itt St. Paul 



Meeting, July 12 



Declaration ot Purpote 



Be It Resolyed by this conference that there 

 should be created an American Council of Agricul- 

 ture. Its chief object shall be to make it possible 

 for the existing agricultural organizations of what- 

 ever character and similar organizations which may 

 be brought into being, to speak with one voice and 

 through a united leadership wherever and when- 

 ever the general well being of Agriculture is con- 

 cerned, whether in the realm of legislation, whether 

 in harmonizing methods of marketing or other or- 

 ganized effort, or in militantly championing those 

 policies and principles which have made ours the 

 greatest, the best and freest government on earth 

 and which, as a heritage infinitely precious from 

 the Fathers, it- is the solemn diitj' of all citizens 

 to preserve and defend against selfish or misguided 

 aggression from whatever quarter. 



Throughout the centuries the well being of Agri- 

 culture has been synonj-mous with the well being 

 of civilization and nations have most frequently 

 risen and fallen, not through the prowess or weak- 

 ness of marching legions, but a^'those who tilled the 

 soil were happy and frugally prosperous, ofcs they 

 became victims of economic wrong, neglect and dis- 

 content. From the beginning of our own Republic 

 it has been freely admitted that Agriculture con- 

 stitutes its great "basic industry" and not merely 

 in the light of Worldihistory but from its tremen- 

 dous contribution to our national wealth in days 

 gone by, we believe this to be profoundly and in- 

 controvertibly true — and so believing, it shall be 

 the purpose of the American Council of Agricul- 

 ture to promote and defend the broad welfare of 

 Agriculture under any and all circumstances and 

 by gnch means as appear to it honorable and effec- 

 tive. For speaking in general terms, unless the dol- 

 lar that the farmer receives for his toil shall pos- 

 sess as great purchasing power as the dollar which 

 the other organized forces of society exact from 

 him, then certain ruin will ultimately overtake 

 Agriculture. And inevitably that ruin will involve 

 the ruin of industry and seriously menace the well 

 being of those who labor in shop and factory for 

 their dail.v bread. And hence the task which the 

 Council has solemnly undertaken is a beneficent 

 and unselfish one which cannot succeed without 

 leaving in its wake a greater degree of assured hap- 

 piness throughout the length and breadth of the 

 land. 



Therefore and to the end that those who read 

 may the more fully understand the spirit of its 



purposes, the Council desires to here record that 

 in the days to come it will not ask for any privi- 

 leges for Agriculture in Congress or elsewhere that 

 the aggressions of other classes or agencies do not 

 force upon it. And we give this voluntary assur- 

 ance, not as a truce to wholesome class rivalrj', 

 but because in the end the nation must stand or 

 fall upon the unselfishness of its classes and of its 

 individuals — upon whether or not all of us, as 

 classes or as individuals, are willing to "live in the 

 sweat of our faces" and "do unto others as we 

 would be done by. ' ' And those who proceed upon 

 any other theory, whether as a class or as indi- 

 •v^duals, are but sowing the wind and in the years 

 to come their children will reap a harvest of drag- 

 ■ o|i"s teeth. For no class or individual can become 

 the beneficiary of economic wrong or favoritism 

 without subtracting from the sum total of the Na- 

 tion's happiness — and the Nation's happiness, the 

 assurance that the laborer, whoever he may be, is 

 "worthy of his hire," the safeguarding of this 

 privilege should be the solemn objective of all gov- 

 ernments and of all fair-minded citizens. And that 

 these ideals may ever actuate those who shall be 

 <-ommi.s8ioned to exercise the authority of this coun- 

 cil so long as it remains a constructive force, this is 

 tlie ardent hope of those who have prayerfully 

 brought it into being. In these premises we should 

 constantly bear in mind that our task is not merely 

 to compel even handed justice for those who toil in 

 the fields and feedlots, but that there devolves upon 

 us a still higher duty — the duty of so employing 

 the hosts of Agriculture that those venerable and 

 time-tried institutions of government which have 

 served us so well in the past shall be handed down 

 unharmed to the generations of the future. 

 Part I ot General Retolutiont 



We recommend the creation of a National Agri- 

 cultural Council to do that which shall be necessary 

 and advisable to secure the enactment by Congress 

 of the legislation embodying the principles of the 

 McNary-Haugen bill and thus secure for American 

 agriculture equality with industry and labor. 



Second : That the delegates present and partic- 

 ipating in this conference shall act temporarily as 

 such agricultural council with full power until the 

 annual meeting of the Council. 



Third : That such Council shall be composed 

 of five (5) representatives chosen by each National 

 farm or commodity organization and by one (1) 

 representative chosen by each of all other agricul- 

 tural associations and agricultural cooperative com- 

 modity associations in the United States. 

 Retolutiont 



Generally speaking, we desire to earnestly direct 

 the following statement to the farmers of the 

 United States: 



Profoundly serious as are the existing conditions 

 confronting agriculture, yet candor compels us to 

 confess that the farmer shares in the responsibility 

 for their existence, because in days gone by he 

 apparently forgot that "God helps him who helps 

 himself" and did little to protect himself and his 

 fellow farmers against the forces which determine 

 his living and production costs. With industry 

 and labor, organization has always come first, while 

 with the farmer it has been considered a secondary 

 matter and it is therefore not surprising that he 

 should find himself the victim of the organized 

 forces which surround him on ever}- side. 



We heartily endorse the efforts of farmers in 

 forming cooperative marketing associations and 

 urge the faithful adherence to their membership 

 contracts, as they are the essence of cooperation 

 and bring into being the necessary in.strumentality 

 for permanent and successful marketing of farm 

 commodities. 



We desire to go on record in favor of orderly 

 marketing of grain through farm controlled cpop- 

 erative agencies throughout, and in this connection 

 recommend that the speculative buying of grain 

 by farmer elevator companies be discouraged. 



We also desire to recommend a greater harmony 

 of purpose and action in the operation of coopera- 

 tive livestock commission companies at the various 

 stockyards in which premises such splendid prog- 

 ress has been made during the last two years, and 

 in which activity nothing except needless and fool- 

 ish friction can defeat our almost complete control 

 of livestock movements in the near future. In this 

 connection, we also earnestly urge all carload feed- 

 ers throughout the country to henceforth consign 

 all their livestock to a cooperative commission com- 

 pany, and even so, we recommend the immediate 

 establishment of a farmers' livestock shipping asso- 

 ciation at all points where such associations are not 

 in operation at this time and where the movement 

 of livestock justifies such agencies. Let us remem- 

 ber with reference to both grain and livestock that 

 our first objective should be the undisputed control 

 at the earliest possible moment, of the central grain 

 and livestock markets — for this control is over- 



whelmingly vital to the successful operation of pro- 

 ducers' contracts as applied to these commodities. 



In the coming national election we recommend 

 rewarding those who supported the McNary- 

 Haugen bill in Congress without the slightest re- 

 gard to the party label and we also recommend that 

 the following pledge be exacted from all candidates 

 for Congress, whether in the House or Senate : 



In the event of my nomination and election, I 

 hereby pledge myself to vote for and faithfully 

 support legislation that will give agriculture equal- 

 ity with industry and labor and in line with the 

 spirit of the McNary-Haugen bill. 



Supplemental Resolution* 



Be It Resolved : That this conference and organ- 

 ization here represented express their appreciation 

 of the signal service rendered by the Department 

 of Agriculture under the sincere and able leader- 

 ship of Henry C. Wallace. 



Whereas: Equality for agriculture with indus- 

 try and labor embraces all agriculture, and where- 

 as, in the last Congress, the McNary-Haugen bill 

 did not receive the support of the cotton states 

 generally. 



Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved : That the Coun- 

 cil give special consideration to the problems sur- 

 rounding the cotton producers and to this end in- 

 vite their friendly cooperation. 



Resolved: That this conference and the organi- 

 zations here represented express their deep grati- 

 tude to Mr. George C. Jewett for his courageous, 

 capable and untiring efforts in behalf of the Mc- 

 Narj'-Haugen bill. ' 



Resolved: That the Secretary be instructed to 

 have the proceedings of this conference printed for 

 distribution among the various farm organizations 

 and attending delegates. 



Resolved: That this conference express to the 

 St. Paul Association of Public and Business Affairs 

 and to the Press of St. Paul its deep appreciation 

 and sincere thanks for the hearty support they 

 have given the McNary-Haugen bill and for the 

 courtesies extended to this conference throughout 

 its session. ; i 



State-Wide Projects Take Time 



A negotiating committee or individual that deals 

 with state-wide projects scrapes against many un- 

 charted rocks and sometimes becomes stranded 

 along the journej^ to accomplishment. The nego- 

 tiations which have been under way by the phos- 

 phate-limestone department and its advisory com- 

 mittee for several months have been striking ob- 

 stacles. That department has been serving farm 

 bureau members, among its other duties, to obtain 

 recognition of the county farm bureaus by a spe- 

 cial price from the producers on limestone to 

 members. This plan, one under which some county 

 farm bureaus are now furnishing limestone to 

 members under agreements with two or three com- 

 panies, provides that each and every company that 

 agrees to the plan returns 10 cents a ton to the 

 county farm bureau which sent in the order. This 

 10 cents a ton is rebated to the county farm bu- 

 reaus at the end of each month and the county 

 organizations usually return the money to the 

 members who bought the limestone, thus lowering 

 the price of limestone to members by 10 cents a 

 ton. Non-members that order through the county 

 farm bureaus do not receive the rebate; it stays 

 with the county organization. This is the plan 

 which the phosphate-limestone department has 

 been attempting to get subscribed to by the lime- 

 stone producing companies. 



There are 15 or 20 limestone producing compa- 

 nies that are leaders in the production of agricul- 

 tural limestone. They naturally are competitors; 

 some are commercial enemies. Here are 94 farm 

 bureau counties, each with slightly different con- 

 ditions, some with widely different limestone needs, 

 and others with wide divergence of viewpoints. 

 When any state-wide negotiating committee under- 

 takes to work out a program in the interest of the 

 state as a wboler-one that is fair to both sides 

 and still beneficial to the farmer, a gigantic prob- 

 lem arises. 



It takes time, patience, faithfulness and a clear, 

 unbiased knowledge of facts, both from the con- 

 sumer and producer viewpoints, and a willingness 

 on the part of county farm organizations, farm ad- 

 visers and the members themselves to achieve suc- 

 cess in any state-wide project. All must stick to 

 the conceded fundamentals ; some must drop little 

 and irrelevant personal opinions and others must 

 see over trivial details in the interest of combined 

 strength and uniformity of action. But if the 

 fundamentals are right, any plan eventually will 

 go across. 



Lack of space makes it necessary to leave out 

 the Liars' Comer this time. 



L. J. « 



