I 



Auguat 30, 1924 



The niinoU AgricuhuTml A««ocUtion Record 



I 



Pace 3 



U.S.D. A. RESEARCH 

 , REPORT JUSTIHES 

 f I.A.A. TAX PROGRAM 



Government Study In 26 State* 

 ' Show* Taxes Have Generally 

 Increased While Rents 

 Decrease 



Complete justification of the 

 taxation program of the Illinois 

 <{ Agricultural Association is shown 

 I by the following summary of a 

 j long study of the farm tax situa- 

 ' tion recently given out by the 

 United States Department of Ag- 

 riculture covering all agricultural 

 states. 



State and county real estate 



(taxes since 1920 have absorbed 

 a large proportion of the income 

 from rent on farms in various 

 parts of the United States, says 

 the United States Department of 



• Agriculture. There is reason to 

 i believe, indeed, the department 

 i says, that taxes on many of the 

 ' less favored farms have absorbed 



• all the income from rent. 



This conclusion is based on a 

 tax study made in 26 states for 

 the year 1919 and on the fact 

 . that since that year taxes have 

 generally increased while rents 

 have been reduced. Local rather 

 than State taxes are held respons- 

 ible for the greater part of the 

 burden. 



Affects All Farmers 

 It is believed the general out- 

 line sketch of the tax situation 

 revealed by the study throws 

 light on the tax problems as it 

 .; affects farmers in all parts of the 

 j country. In the southern areas 

 u studied, real estate taxes were 

 j found to have absorbed about 

 A 10 per cent of the net cash rent 

 ' from farms in 1919. In 9 North 

 Central States property taxes 

 consumed from 12 to 25 per cent 

 of the net rent in the same year. 

 In Macoupin County, Illinois, 

 . property taxes consumed 18.2 per 

 cent of the net rent in 1919. 



In Western States the ratio 

 varied from less than 10 per cent 

 in California to 38 per cent in 

 one county in Oregon. Tax ratios 

 were higher in some States where 

 no ad valorem taxes were levied 

 for the State purpose than in 

 other States where such taxes 

 were levied. 



Cash Rent Basis 



Taxes are compared with cash 



rents by the department because 



cash rents are the best available 



, index of the earning power of 



■ farm real estate. Land values 

 alone, the department points out, 



■ are not reliable indexes of tax- 

 •; paying ability because they are 

 : based not only on present earn- 

 , ing power but on anticipated in- 

 creases in earnings. Current 

 farm land earnings, in fact, are 

 usually the basis for only a small 

 part of the farm land valuation. 

 On the farms in this study the 

 rent in most cases accounted for 

 less than half the census valua- 

 tion. The rest of the valuation 

 was attributable to other factors, 



) the chief of which In most cases 

 ; probably was the expectation of 

 increased future earnings. 



Present taxing methods which 

 take land valuations without con- 

 sidering farm earnings as the 

 basis of taxation are objection- 

 able, says the department. Land 

 values, it points out, include an- 

 ticipation of future earnings 

 which may never be realized. 

 Such anticipations in any case 

 add nothing to the farmer's pres- 

 ent ability to pay taxes. Annual 

 income is usually the only source 

 from which taxes can be paid 

 As average cash rents are the 

 best index of the earning power 

 of farm real estate, the truest 

 measure of the tax burden the 

 farmer is carrying is the ratio 

 between average taxes and aver- 



• age cash rents. 



Hit Indiana Hard 



It is pointed out that 1919 

 was a favorable year for agri- 

 culture. Since then farm earn- 

 ings have declined, but land val- 

 uations on which taxes are based 

 have not declined proportionate- 

 ly. Taxes are levied without par- 

 ticular reference to land income. 

 As a result the tax burden to- 

 day is heavier than ever. A re- 

 cent survey of more than 100 

 farms of Indiana showed that the 

 ratio of taxes to rents increased 

 almost threefold from 1919 to 

 1923. 



Valuations for tax purposes, of 

 property other than real estate, 



Tlk« above facsimile of the new Itacatoac dlacovat certlfleate 

 repre«entH a aavlnic to farm barean mcaibem of at l«a«t SUO.OIMI n 

 year a<>c>ordlnKr to J. R. Beat, direetor of tke phoaphate-llmeatone 

 department, and who. In ru-operutlon with the ndviniiry committee 

 to that department conalatinfc of Stanley Caiitle. Alton, chairman; 

 H. T. Mnmhall. Serena; Frank I. Mann, t-llmnn. and Melvln Thom- 

 as, Charleaton, have succeeded la irettlns: prnctlcally all of the 

 principal limestone quarries which supply Illinois farmers to dis- 

 count limestone 10 cents a ton to farm bureau members. Rach 

 certlfleate means a 114 cash savlnic when filled la at the county 

 farm bureau ofllce and enclosed with the check to the quarry 

 company for the limestone. Illinois farm bureau meaibers are 

 now able to pocket 960,000 annually that was formerly koIum to 

 limestone producers. Orgranlaatloa ivlas airain! 



the department notes, are usually 

 based primarily on annual earn- 

 ings. Farm real estate taxes 

 which are not related to annual 

 earnings, therefore, put the farm- 

 er at a distinct disadvantage. 

 Moreover, the department found 

 that in 10 counties where taxes 

 on farm property were compared 

 with taxes on urban property, the 

 assessed valuation of urban real 

 estate was less than the capi- 

 talized annual income from that 

 property, whereas In 8 of the 

 same counties farm real estate 

 was assessed at a higher rate 

 than the capitalized annual in- 

 come. 



This fact appears to indicate 

 that farm real estate in 1920 

 bore heavier taxes than most 

 urban real estate in the counties 

 covered by the study. It is not 

 Icnown how much anticipated in- 

 come figured in the valuations of 

 the urban land. That they ^g- 

 ured to some extent, just as tl^ey 

 did in the case of farm land, 

 seems probable in view of the 

 fact that most cities are increas- 

 ing in population. Farm lands 

 apparently paid taxes on this ele- 

 ment of anticipated future in- 

 come, while urban land did not. 



AVatson Explains Situation 



Referring to the conclusion of 

 the Department of Agriculture 

 stated above, that farm real 

 estate in 1920 bore heavier taxes 

 relative to rental income, than 

 most urban real estate, J. C. 

 Watson, director of taxation and 

 statistics of the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association, points out that 

 the comparison relates only to 

 the gross rental income of the 

 two classes of property. There 

 is every reason to believe that 

 the conclusion stated was true 

 of most counties in Illinois in 

 which there Are cities ■ of con- 

 siderable size. 



If it was true in 1920, Mr. 

 Watson states, the fall in values 

 and rentals of farm lands and 

 in prices of farm products, con- 

 trasted with the sharp increase in 

 values and rentals of city proper 

 ty, has made the tax burden sub- 

 sequent to the year 1920 rela- 

 tively heavier on farm lands than 

 it was in that year. If the 

 amount of taxes levied on lands 

 and city property could be re- 

 lated to net rental income or to 

 net income. Mr. Watson points 

 out, the contrast would be much 

 worse. 



The facts brought out by the 

 Department of Agriculture amply 

 justify the taxation program of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, which is, first to secure uni- 

 formity in valuations of farm 

 and urban real estate on the basis 

 of fair cash selling values, as 

 required by present laws, and, 

 second to secure such changes in 

 the constitution and revenue laws 

 of the State as will relate taxes 

 to net income, whether from real 

 estate, intangible property, or 

 personal services. 



MRS. SEWELL LAUDS 

 AMERICAN FARMER 

 AS REHNED CITIZEN 



Eulogizes Farm Wife As The 



"Presiding Spirit of Fama 



Home — ^Wfao Has Really 



Seen Life" 



Emphasizing the fact that 87 

 per cent of those mentioned in 

 Who's Who today were born on 

 farm homes, Mrs. C. W. Sewell, 

 of Indiana, in her talk at the 

 I. A. A. picnic, praised the farm 

 home and the agricultural indus- 

 try as the basis of American 

 prosperity. 



"There is no denying the truth 

 of the statement that these lead- 

 ers in Who's Who were not the 

 result of accident, luck or magic," 

 said Mrs. Sewell. "Agricultural 

 conditions and environment 

 moulded the characters of these 

 individuals." 



Fami Develops Leaders 



"The foot of the ladder of suc- 

 cess is always crowded with those 

 who will always be followers. 

 Rural life develops leadership in 

 the character of the boy sent half 

 or quarter of a mile from all aid 

 witli three or four horses and 

 some more or less complicated 

 piece of machinery. As he plows 

 row after row of the far-reach- 

 ing battalions of corn he has 

 time to think untrammeled by 

 companion or distracting Infiu- 

 ence and a future statesman or 

 captain of finance is in the making 

 out there on a corn belt farm. 

 Hard Work on Farm 



"There are no eight hour days 



on the farm. The cropping sea- 

 sen is. in the main, a rush sea' 

 son and he does not learn to 

 listen for a whistle to begin or 

 end his day's toil. No captain 

 of finance ever came from the 

 boy who laid down his tools on 

 the stroke of the hour and this 

 fact alone explains many of the 

 87 per cent. 



"Let us not forget the presid 

 ing spirit of the farm home, the 

 wife and mother," Mrs. Sewell 

 appealed to her audience as she 

 eulogized the fami ■ wife and 

 mother. "She it is who is up- 

 holding the morale of the farm 

 family today and bolstering up 

 the tired faith of the farmer. 



Praises Country Wonutn 



"The farm woman does not 

 understand bridge or golf, but 

 the world's problems cannot all 

 be lifted by the daintily mani- 

 cured hands of women who have 

 never lifted anything heavier 

 than a bridge card or a golf 

 club. And this plain country 

 woman, with sun-bonneted little 

 lassies or blue overalled lads on 

 either side of her, is a figure of 

 national importance. She is the 

 woman who has trudged across 

 the ploughed field some stormy 

 winter night to help her sister 

 in the hour of trial. She has 

 tenderly dressed the new born 

 babe or silently, reverently com- 

 posed the limbs of the dead. She 

 has harnessed horses, milked 

 cows, learned the rude surgery of 

 the farm or carried baby lambs 

 and baby pigs into her clean, 

 warm kitchen to save them from 

 perishing: she it is who has 

 really seen life." 



The Indiana woman pointed to 

 the fact that agriculture today 

 is far from a profitable condition, 

 that 40 per cent of the farm land 

 is tilled by tenantry and that this 

 condition is driving the best 

 young men and women from the 

 farm to the city with the result 

 of a serious deficit in the estab- 

 lishment of the jjew homes which 

 are to provide the rural and city 

 leadership of tomorrow. 



Have Ridiculed Farmer 



"The farmer has been ridi- 

 culed^ and cartooned as an uned- 

 ucated, unshaven, grasping, stingy 

 individual, who wants everything 

 his own way," said Mrs. Sewell 

 as she defended the farmer. "On 

 the contrary he is quite likely a 

 refined, retiring, suitably dressed 

 business man, who works long 

 hard hours and pays his high 

 taxes and supports his church 

 and community enterprises to the 

 best of his ability, who asks no 

 exorbitant unfair advantage of 

 his government or his fellow 

 men. 



Farmer is True .American 



He is a true American and he 

 has certain rights. He furnishes 

 food and raw materials that are 

 indispensable. He has a right to 

 the cost of production plus a fair 

 profit, as any other manufac- 

 turer. He is entitled to a com- 

 fortable home with the refine- 

 ments of books, magazines and 

 music and the luxury of a bath 

 tub. to the acquiring of a com- 

 petence for old age, and to give 

 his children, whose efforts are 

 capitalized in the farm business, 

 an education and the advantages 

 they so richly deserve." 



Last Chance To Buy 



WOOL BLANKETS 



Going Feist • 



60 told since last issue of the RECORD. 



These blankets, made up for the I. A. A., are pure 

 wool, 6-lb., double blankets, 72 z 84 inches. 



Colors — Gray and White checks. Blue and White 

 checks. 



These blankets cannot be duplicated oi^ the open 

 market today. 



TO FARM BUREAU MEMBERS $11.00 



TO NON-FARM BUREAU MEMBERS . $13.00 



Send your order early, through your county Farm 

 Bureau. Cash must accompany order. These blankets 

 will be sold out inunediately. No more to be ntade by 

 the I. A. A. 



L A. A. LIVESTOCK MARKETING DEPARTMENT 

 608 South Dearborn Street, Cfaicaco 



MARSHALL-PUTNAM 

 BEATS MORGAN IN 

 CHAMPIONSHIP TILT 



Galesburg District Winners 

 Tromce Morgan County 

 Baseball Team After An 

 All- Victorious Seaaoa I - ak I 



Visitors at the I. A. A. picnic in 

 Lincoln had the opportunity to 

 witness the first Farm Bureau 

 baseball championship ever played 

 in Illinois and perhaps in the en- 

 tire United States. 



In the morning an exhibition 

 game was scheduled between Cass 

 and Logan county Farm Bureau 

 teams but Menard county substi- 

 tuted for Cass and took the small 

 end of a 14 to 2 score. The game 

 was one-sided but seired the pur- 

 pose of warming up the rooters 

 for the afternoon tussle. 



Baseball fans were in their nat- 

 ural element in the afternoon as 

 they watched Marshall - Putnam 

 Farm Bureau give Morgan county 

 a drubbing to the tune of 6 to 

 and walk off with the Illinois 

 Farm Bureau Baseball champion- 

 ship, after an all-victorious sea- 

 son. 



Ideal ItaaebaU We«thw 



With an ideal baseball setting. 

 90 in the shade and the Kun burn- 

 ing down with Intensity, l)oth 

 teams got warmed into form early 

 in the game. The Morgan boys 

 batted first and threatened to score 

 after a combination of two bungles 

 by .Marshall-Putnam inflelders and 

 two scratch bits but Halblibe and 

 his team mates settled down and 

 worked out of a hole. 



Again in the second inning Mor- 

 gan got a runner on third only to 

 have him die there as the result 

 of a fast double play, Halblibe to 

 Clausen to W. Griffith. 



The first three innings the 

 Marshall-Putnam batters faced 

 the Morgan county pitcher they 

 walked quite regularly back to 

 the bench. They bit the ball but 

 it always landed in a Morgan 

 player's hands. But true to the 

 prediction of s Marshall-Putnam 

 player the champions of the north 

 end of the state opened up a 

 barrage of hits and base running 

 in the fourth inning that resulted 

 in 3 runs. 



Score in Sixth 



After that inning the game be- 

 longed to the champions. Their 

 hits came again in the sixth inn- 

 ing when safeties meant runs. 

 The scoring ended after the sec- 

 ond onslaught of the winners 

 and for two and a half innings 

 both teams exhibited good base- 

 ball for the fans. 



MAUSHAU--1'LTXAM 



AB R H P A K 



Litchfield, of < (1 (I « 



Glenn. SB 4 16 4 1 



W. Griffith, lb 4 2 I 1« (I 11 



Wallace, c 3 2 2 1 n 



B. Criffltii. ir 4 1 1 t 



Clausen. 2b 1 1 2 2 s l 



Thompson, rf 2 n i n ii > 



Seibert. tb > 1 4 o 



Halblibe. p. 3 S 



Total 30 C 8 27 14 2 



MORGAN 



AB R H P A E 



Daniels, e 4 1 6 S 



Anderson, of 4 1) 



H. Jewsbury. If .. . . 3 2 



C. Jewsbury. 3b.. 3 1 1 l 



Fox. ss 3 



CI. Jewsbury. p... 3 1 2 f o 



\V, Jewsbury. lb.. 3 o o 12 o ii 



Hohnian. 2b 2 2 4 



Kumley. rf ■ ■ ■ 3 10 



Total 2! J 24 14 I 



Score by Innings: R H R 



Marshall-Pufm ..000 303 OOx « 8 " 



Morgan 000 000 000 3 1 



2b hits: C. Jewsbury. B. Grlffth. 

 Sfibert; Struck out by Jewsbury 8- 

 Hiises on balls, off Jewsbury. 1; Dou- 

 bl'- Playt B. Griffith to Wallace. Hal- 

 blibe. Clausen. ^V. Griffith; Hit by 

 pitched ball. Fox: Stol.n bases w 

 Griffith. 2; Passed ball. Daniels; 8»c- 

 rlflce hits. H. Jewsbury. Thompson 

 Lmplre, Jacobs. Jordan. 



Dairymen Getting 



Less Than In 1923 



Illinois dairymen, on the aver- 

 age, are receiving six cents less 

 per pound for butter this August 

 than they did in August, 1923 

 according to A. D. Lynch, direc- 

 tor of the I. A. A. dairy market- 

 ing department. Each week 120 

 dairy farmers in 44 Illinois coun- 

 ties report by mail the current 

 price of butter fat In their lo- 

 calities. This dau gives Lynch 

 a check on the effectiveness of 

 the 15 co-operative dairy aeen- 

 cies in Illinois and shows what 

 various cream buying companies 

 are paying in different localities 

 Farm bureau members receive 

 this information through their 

 county farm advisers. 



