Page 4 



The Ofinou AgricoHar*! Ajtodation Record 



July 19, 1924 



Illinois Boys Defeat English In Dairy Judging 



MURPHY KEYNOTES 

 CONFERENCE; PEEK 

 MADE PRESIDENT 



Committee Representing All 

 Major Rural Organization* 

 Will Direct Campaign 

 I For Equality 



(Continued fron 



parfp 1 ) 



farm adviser; Hugh H. Hastings, 

 ChlJlicothe, vice-president, Mar- 

 shall-Putnam County Farm Bu- 

 reau; Simon C. Moon, Towanda, 

 president. McLean County Farm 

 Bureau and Charles R. Finley, 

 Hoopeston. president, Vermilion 

 County Farm Bureau. Mr. Bar- 

 ton was chairman of the creden- 

 tials committee and Mr. Ever- 

 ingham was chairman of the 

 steering committee. 



R. A. Cowles, the I. A. A. 

 treasurer, was elected tempo- 

 rary secretary of the organiza- 

 tion meeting and was later made 

 secretary of tte American Coun- 

 cil of Agriculture. George N. 

 Peek, formerly president of the 

 Moline Plow Company, Mollne, 

 and a member of the Rock 

 Island County Farm Bureau and 

 our Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, was elected president and 

 Carl Gunderson, Mitchell, South 

 Dakota, vice-president. John R. 

 Mitchell, S t . 

 Paul, a former 

 member of the 

 Federal Re- 

 serve Board, 

 was made 

 treasu r- 

 e r. Frank W. 

 I M u r p h y , 

 Wheaton, Min- 

 ^^^ ^^1 nesota, whom 

 ' .^^HA ^^H many Illinois 

 I f a r m bureau 

 members will 

 remember a s 

 Kobnt A. cmtIm j ,, ^ speaker 



tor the McNary-Haugen bill at 

 meetings held at Rock Island, 

 Springfield, Danville and Bloom 

 ington..was made chairman of the 

 executive committee. He deliv- 

 ered the keynote address of the 

 confer- 

 ence. George C. 

 J e w e 1 1, Spo- 

 kane, Washing- 

 t o n, general 

 manager of the 

 American 

 Wheat Grow 

 e r s" Associa 

 tion. Inc.. who 

 was 'chairman 

 of the confer- 

 r i n g leaders, 

 and who was 

 the uno6f1cial 



leader in t h e ^""^ *• '«■"''"' 

 recent McNary-Haugen bill fight 

 at Washington, D. C.. is ex officio 

 member of the executive commit- 

 tee, as is also R. A. Cowles, the 

 members of which follow: 



L. J. Tabor, master, National 

 Grange, Columbus, Ohio; Chas. 

 Barrett, president. Farmers' Edu- 

 cational Cooperative Union of 

 America, Georgia; O. E. Brad- 

 fute, president. American Farm 

 Bureau Federation, Xenia, Ohio; 

 John G. Brown, president. Na- 

 tional Livestock Producers Asso- 

 ciation, Monon, Indiana; Wm. 

 Hirth. Missouri Farmers' Asso- 

 ciation, Columbia, Missouri; Chas. 

 E. Hearst, president, Iowa Farm 

 Bureau Federation. Des Moines. 

 Iowa; Mark A. Woods, chairman. 

 State of Nebraska Committee for 

 Promotion of the McNary-Haugen 

 bill, Lincoln, Nebraska; C. H. 

 Hyde, vice-president. Farmprs' 

 Union, Alva, Oklahoma; John D. 

 Miller, New York; Wm. J. Brown, 

 president, American Wheat Grow- 

 ers, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.; 

 George E. Lambert, Equity Co- 

 operative Exchange. St. Paul, 

 Minn.; Frank W. Murphy, Com- 

 mittee for Promotion of the Mc- 

 Nary - Haugen bill, Wheaton, 

 .Minn.; George E. Duis, president. 

 North Dakota Wheat Growers, 

 Grand Forks. North Dakota. The 

 above list Is incomplete, chairman 

 Jewett having not completed the 

 appointment of the full commit- 

 tee as this RECORD goes to press. 

 ] George N. Peek, as president 

 of the American Council of Agri- 



address of 1 



m 



culture. made the following 

 statement for the RECORD at 

 Chicago the first of the week: 



"The purpose of the American 

 Council of Agriculture is to se- 

 cure the enact- 

 ment by Con- 

 gress of n^ces- 

 s a r y remedial 

 legislation t o 

 create equality 

 for agriculture 

 with industry 

 and labor un- 

 der the princi- 

 ples of the Mc- 

 Nary - Haugen 

 bill defeated in 

 the last Con- 

 gress. 



"The subject f^"' ^- »*•** 

 is fundamentally economic rather 

 than political and we are deter- 

 mined it shall not become the 

 football of partisan politics. Re- 

 publicans, Democrats and Pro- 

 gressives have all included agri- 

 cultural planks in their platforms 

 which ostensibly propose to se- 

 cure equality for agriculture 

 The Council, in its St. Paul meet- 

 ing, passed a resolution urging 

 reward to those members of the 

 last Congress who supported the 

 McNary-Haugen bill without re- 

 gard to party label and urged 

 that the following pledge be ex- 

 acted from all candidates for 

 Congress whether in House or 

 Senate: 



" 'In the event of my nomin 

 ation and election, I hereby 

 pledge myself to vote for and 

 faithfully support legislation that 

 will give equality to agriculture 

 with industry and labor in liner 

 with the spirit of the McNary- 

 Haugen bill.' 



"The Council further went on 

 record that it would not ask for 

 any privileges for agriculture 

 from Congress that the aggres- 

 sions of other classes or agencies 

 do not force upon it, believing 

 that in the end the nation must 

 stand or fall upon the unselfish- 

 ness of its classes, and of its in- 

 dividuals. 



"The Council fully appreciated 

 the possible effect of its action 

 upon political parties but agri- 

 culture is determined to have 

 equality with industry and labor 

 and we are therefore rather fol- 

 lowing than creating precedent. 



"The Council will make its 

 temporary headquarters with the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association, 

 Transportation building, Chica- 

 go." 



Although all the farm organ- 

 izations represented had many 

 points in common, and although 

 in general harmony was para- 

 mount, in some instances, espe- 

 cially when the resolutions com- 

 mittee was in session, there was 

 evidence of considerable back- 

 bone among many of the repre- 

 sentatives, all of which was said 

 to be indicative of healthy 

 thought. 



Secretary Wallace was com- 

 mended for his earnest and per- 

 sistent support of the McNary- 

 Haugen bill. Also, a resolution of 

 sympathy was sent to President 

 Coolidge in condolence over the 

 loss of his son. 



Following is a partial list of 

 the more important national or- 

 ganizations which were repre- 

 sented and the corresponding 

 representatives: 



American Farm Bureau Fed- 

 eration by Gray Silver. 



American Wheat Growers As- 

 sociation. Inc.. by William J. 

 Brown, President, and George J. 

 Jewett, general manager. 



National Live Stock Produc- 

 ers Association, by John Brown, 

 l^resident, and James R. Riggs. 



National Producers Alliance, 

 by O. P. Reese, special repre- 

 sentative. 



National Grange, by E. A. Ec- 

 kert, executive committee. 



Farmers Educational and Co- 

 operative Union of America, W. 

 C. Landson, natibnal lecturer. 



LONG FIGHT OVER 

 PITTSBURGH PLUS 

 NEARS A VERDICT 



One of the Longest Cases in 

 History; Expect Final Deci- 

 sion From Commission 

 ThU FaU 



Since January 3, 1924 the Ill- 

 Mo Dairy Company at East St. 

 Louis has received cream from 

 829 patrons at 243 shipping 

 points in Illinois and Missouri. ' 



The final argument in the five- 

 year fight over the Pittsburgh 

 Plus controversy was reached by 

 the Federal Trade Commission 

 when it met June 23 and 24. 

 The concluding stage in this long 

 drawn out law suit marked the 

 ciimax of one of the most re- 

 markable economic investigations 

 ever conducted in this country. 



Farmers, manufacturers and 

 other business interests look now 

 to the final decision of the com- 

 mission, expecting a report fa- 

 vorable to western business in- 

 terests. Much of the testimony 

 and argument against the Pitts- 

 burgh Plus steel pricing system 

 was furnished by the counsel 

 for the Commission, of which 

 Sam H. Thompson, president of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion is a member, and the Asso 

 elated States Opposing Pitts 

 burgh Plus, which is a group of 

 western states whose legislatures 

 have appropriated funds amount- 

 ing to 155,000 to fight this prac- 

 tice. The Illinois Agricultural 

 Association has taken a stand 

 against "Pittsburgh Plus" be- 

 cause its practice costs Illinois 

 farmers thousands of dollars 

 each year. 



Argued In 1919 



A formal application for a 

 complaint against the U. S. Steel 

 Corporation and the so-called in 

 dependent companies was made 

 in September, 1919. The case 

 was argued in December, 1919, 

 and by a vote of three to two the 

 uomniission denied the applica- 

 tion the following June. 



In September, 1920, an appli- 

 cation for a rehearing was grant- 

 ed ana the case was argued again 

 in December, that year. In 

 April. 1921, the commission 

 granted the application by a vote 

 of three to two, thus reversing 

 its first decision. 



Since then John W. Bennett, 

 special examiner for the commis- 

 sion, has been taking testimony 

 In the Pittsburgh Plus case. 

 Scores of cities have been visited 

 and hundreds of business men^ 

 both In and out of the steel 

 industry have been questioned on 

 the matter. The examiner's re- 

 port containing over 350 pages, 

 strongly denounced the Pitts- 

 burgh Plus practice and upheld 

 the stand taken by the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation and 

 the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, both of which have been 

 active in the fight against the 

 Pittsburgh Plus practice of pric- 

 ing steel. 



Price DLscrimination 



The report was submitted last 

 March, following which volumi- 

 nous briefs and arguments were 

 offered by counsel for the com- 

 mission. Karl E. Steinhauer; H. 

 G. Pickering, of Superior, Wis- 

 consin, counsel for the Associat- 

 ed States Opposing Pittsburgh 

 Plus and George H. Spear and 

 Charles P. Craig, on behalf of 

 the city of Duluth. Comprehen- 

 sive briefs were also filed by the 

 counsel for the U. S. Steel Cor- 

 poration. 



The case was argued in the 

 recent trial by Steinhauer and 

 Pickering against the Pittsburgh 

 Plus practice and for the cor- 

 poration by Richard V. Linda- 

 bury and W. E. Corlett, of New 

 York. 



Decision In Fall 



The attorneys for the corpora- 

 tion denied the charge that the 

 famous Pittsburgh Plus practice 

 of pricing steel involves price 

 discrimination against customers 

 or that it is economically or le- 

 gally unsound. Their argument 

 was almost entirely a technical 

 legal defense. attempting to 

 prove that Section 2 of the Clay- 

 ton Act, and Section 5 of the 



Federal Trade Commission Act, 

 which are the statutes relied 

 upon by the defendants, are not 

 applicable to the case. 



Argument for the commission 

 and the Associated States Op- 

 posing Pittsburgh Plus main- 

 tained that existing laws are suf- 

 ficient to remedy the injustice 

 cauKd by the present system of 

 steel pricing. They insisted that 

 discrimination against eastern, 

 western and southern manufac- 

 turing centers results from the 

 practice while the steel corpora- 

 tion Interests near Pittsburgh 

 are thereby safeguarded. 



It is considered likely that the 

 Federal Trade Commission will 

 hand down the final decision 

 parly this fall at the latest. The 

 vote of Charles W. Hunt of Iowa, 

 who was recently appointed to the 

 commission, may have a deciding 

 influence In the outcome of the 

 case. He has been aligned with 

 ai,rirultural Interests and is ex- 

 pected to vote against the Pitts 

 burgh Plus system since it is 

 represented that this practice has 

 resulted in excessive prices of 

 farm implements. 



WHITESIDE COUNTY 

 BOYS WIN CONTEST 

 OVER BRITISH TEAM 



Defeat English Dairy Judges 

 By 96 PoinU and Get 

 London Daily Mail 

 ■ Trophy 



\ thousand Kendall county 



people attended the annual sum 

 mer picnic of Kendall County 

 Farm Bureau at He^gren's Park, 

 June 26. BasebaS games in 

 which Lisbon Center walked on 

 Big Grove and Kendall defeated 

 Bristol, and horseshoe contests 

 won by Wilbur Harnly and Ed 

 Frlce were the big athletic events 

 of the day. 



Sam H. Thompson, president 

 of the I. A. A. and Senator H 

 C. Kessinger spoke In the after- 

 noon urging closer cooperation 

 and predicting more prosperous 

 times for the agricultural Indus 

 try. 



The United States Department 

 of Agriculture has recently cre- 

 ated a Bureau of Dairying to 

 handle all dairy problems relat- 

 ing to the government. 



According to a govemment sax- 

 vey the number of pigs in the 

 United States now is 20 per cent 

 less than a year ago. 



The Chicago Producers Com- 

 mission Association is offering a 

 125 bonus to Boys' and Girls' 

 calf club contestants who market 

 through their association before 

 January 1. 1925, a calf weighing 

 1,000 pounds or over. This 

 means an additional 2H cents 

 per pound besides the usual high 

 price paid for such calves. The 

 Chicago Producers are also going 

 to give a banquet to all calf 

 club winners who attend the In- 

 ternational Livestock Exposition 

 next fall. The St. Louis Produc- 

 ers are promoting a similar con- 

 test for boys and girls who mar- 

 ket 1,000 pound calves through 

 their association. 



Anticipating a recommenda- 

 tion by the Tariff Commission to 

 reduce the duty on sugar the 

 American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion passed a resolution at its 

 meeting last month urging that 

 tariff on sugar beets be not dis- 

 turbed. This action was taken 

 on the grounds that it would 

 work a hardship on western su- 

 gar beet growers and prove to 

 be a handicap to southern cane 

 growers. Similar action was tak- 

 en by the Minnesota Farm Bu- 

 reau. 



Tlie recent appropriation for 

 T. B. testing by Hancock county 

 brings the total to 58 counties 

 in Illinois. 



The Pro<lucers' Commission 

 Comimny of Indianapolis recent- 

 ly held an "open house" for the 

 farm advisers In their Illinois 

 territory, showing them through 

 the packing plants and explain- 

 ing how the livestock is handled 

 nt the terminal markets. 



The iHipulation of the United 

 States increased 1.943,000 in 

 192 3, making a total population 

 of 112,826,000 on January 1, 

 1924. 



The Wliiteside county boys' 

 dairy judging team, representing 

 America, triumphed over the 

 British team in the International 

 contest at Hayward Heath, Eng- 

 land, July 11. The American 

 contestants — Harold Gaulrapp. 

 Rock Falls; Donald Williams, 

 Sterling and Elwjm Folkers, Ster- 

 ling — won over the team from 

 England by 96 points and were 

 awarded a gold trophy by the 

 London Daily Mail. Last year 

 the trophy was won by high 

 school boys from Maryland. 



The Whiteside team earned the 

 right to represent the United 

 States when they out-judged 20 

 other teams in the National 

 Boys' Dairy Judging contest at 

 Syracuse, New York,, last fall. 

 They had previously won the 

 state championshp at Springfield. 



During the six-weeks trip, 

 which the boys have taken with 

 their coaches, L. O. Wise, farm 

 adviser of Whiteside county, and 

 C. S. Rhode, dairy extension 

 specialist at the University, they 

 have visited the best dairy herds 

 in America and England, as well 

 as points of historical interest. 

 They will visit the livestock 

 breeding districts of Scotland, 

 England, France and Jersey and 

 Guernsey Isles before returning 

 to America. 



Tendency of Prices 

 Is Back To Normal 



The discrepancy existing be- 

 tween the prices of farm prod- 

 ucts and general commodities has 

 been gradually growing less for 

 almost a year, according to a 

 price review prepared recently by 

 the research department of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion. Farm prices for the past 

 two months have on the average 

 been steady to strong while the 

 general price level has declined 

 slightly. 



. The general trend of prices on 

 farm products has been upward 

 since last Deceral>er, the index 

 number In May being 121 on 

 the 1913 base compared to the 

 December number of 116. Whole- 

 sale prices have in general de- 

 clined, the figure tor last Sep- 

 tember being 154 compared to 

 147 for May, 1924. The spread 

 between farm products on the 

 farm and at the terminal mar- 

 ket has also narrowed percept- 

 ibly. 



Listen In! 



A. A. Radio Program 

 For August, Over 

 K. Y. W. 



Central Standard Time 7:20 



August 1 — "The Agricultural 

 Situation and the Farm Bureau 

 Program," by R. A. Cowles, 

 treasurer of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association. 



August 19 — "What's Doing in 

 Illinois," by H. C. Butcher, Di- 

 rector, I. A. A. information de- 

 partment. 



August 26 — "Eradicating Tu- 

 berculosis in Illinois." by M. H. 

 Petersen, Director, I. A. A. tu- 

 berculosis eradication depart- 

 ment. 



August 29 — "The Farmer and' 

 Rail Transportation," by L. J. 

 Quasey, Director, I. A. A. trans- 

 portation department. 



