•XII 'BUBQjn > 



'STOUTITI J° AaiGjaATun 



I 



IIICUL.T 



CIA 



Volume 2 



Ituied Every Other Saturday — November 22, 1924 



Nimber 23 





4 



UKE COUNTY FARM 

 BUREAU DOES SOME 

 RIGID RETRENCHING 



54 Members Pledged To Clean 



Up $3,200 Shortage — 



They Did 



Three years ago the Farm Bu- 

 reau in Lake county was In a bad 

 way financially, in spite of the 

 fact that it is one of the oldest 

 farm bureau units in this state. 

 Today it is one of the strongest 

 Farm Bureaus In Illinois, and is 

 financially stable. 



The Lake County Farm Bu- 

 reau is no exception to the rule 

 that back of most worth-while 

 institutions there Is a period of 

 pioneering that has made later 

 prosperity possible. The story 

 there centers around 54 members 

 of the Farm Bureau who had the 

 faith and confidence to sign their 

 names on the dotted line of an 

 agreement in guarantee thereby 

 assuring the financial security of 

 their Lake County Farm Bureau. 

 A Little Past History 



It was in the (all of 1921 

 when they came abruptly up 

 against a serious shortage of 

 funds. How it came about that 

 the Lake County Bureau owed 

 the I. A. A. $3,200 on unpaid 

 memberships already collected 

 isn't of concern now. And 

 whether the deficiency accumu- 

 lated through mis-management, 

 was resultant of the hard times 

 following the World War or 

 what not — that is history, long 

 since set down in the hazy past 

 by the loyal members of the 

 Lake County Farm Bureau. 



Their signed-up membership 

 at that time was around 1,250, 

 the paid-up membership around 

 600. Therein lay the "why" of 

 their Inability to meet a $3,200 

 obligation to the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association. Theirs was 

 an organization long on quantity 

 but short on quality. It is far 

 different today. 



"We didn't really have the 

 membership we thought we had," 

 reflected H. E. Flood, who was 

 president of the Lake County 

 Farm Bureau back in 1921. 

 Took Bull By His Horns 



Realizing the unfairness of 

 the 650 signed but non-paying 

 members in not carrying their 

 just share of the load in their 

 county Farm Bureau, as well as 

 in avoiding payment of dues to 

 the state association, the execu- 

 tive committee of the Lake Coun- 

 ty Bureau "took the bull by the 

 horns" and determined to wipe 

 out the aggravating $3,200 short- 

 age. 



A general meeting of the mem- 

 bers was called by President 

 Flood and a committee appointed 

 to confer with I. A. A. officers. 

 At a Joint conference the situa- 

 tion was reviewed from the be- 

 ginning. Together they laid 

 plans (or making a genuine 

 clean-up of the entire affair, 



"Low as the morale of the 

 Farm Bureau at that time now 

 seems," said Mr. Flood, "we had 

 and still have a lot of mighty 

 loyal members in our Farm Bu- 

 reau. Our members now are 

 quality members." 



Dug Into Their Pockets 



And to illustrate his point he 

 related how at one time, during 

 the war, 24 men attached their 

 names to three notes of |5,000 

 each, advanced toward purchas- 

 ing a carload of sugar, and bow 

 they dug into their pockets to 

 square up the $800 loss which 

 came when sugar dropped 10 

 cents a pound while they waited 

 for it to be delivered. 



These same loyal members, in 

 a local way, got behind the 

 clean-up on back dues. Alto- 

 gether they collected $1,500, 

 (Continued on pace 4, column t.) 



Beg Your Pardon! 



In the last Recoid the dates 

 of the I. A. A. annual meeting 

 were printed as Jan. 16 and 17. 

 It should have been 15 and 16. 

 Please maice the change on 

 your calendar if you have 

 marlced the former ones up. 

 if not. better Jot down the 

 correct ones. 



In speaking of the annual 

 meeting, attention should be 

 directed to the rule passed by 

 the executive committee In its 

 meeting of Nov. 7. pertaining 

 to Section 2. Article III of the 

 constitution of the Illinois A(c- 

 ricuitural Association. This 

 rule was passed to regulate 

 the number of delegates from 

 each county Farm Bureau. 



The rule follows: 



"No credit to be allowed for 

 collections reported made for 

 the current year for which 

 remittances are not made be- 

 fore the close of the fiscal 

 year. 



"No credit to be allowed, as 

 heretofore, for amounts re- 

 ceived between close of fiscal 

 year and date of annual meet- 

 ing. 



"Credits allowed shall never 

 entitle a county to represen- 

 tation in excess of actual 

 membership," 



I.A.C.A. Membership 

 Nears Century Mark 



The latest membership figure (or 

 the Illinois Agricultural Co-opera- 

 tives Association, the farmers' co- 

 operative auditing company, is now 

 A^ and promises to go over 

 U*\ the 100 mark within a few 

 *'*' days, if Organization Direc- 

 tor Vaniman's prediction holds 

 good. 



The most recent membership 

 contract to be received was that 

 of the DeWItt County Farmers' 

 Fire Insurance Company, the 

 first Insurance company to sub- 

 scribe for the audit service. Since 

 NoV. 1 seven Farm Bureaus, four 

 farmers' elevator companies and 

 one dairy co-op have sent In 

 their contracts. 



Meanwhile the work of making 

 audits goes on, according to Geo. 

 R. Wicker, general manager. The 

 46th examination is now in prog- 

 ress and a large number of ex- 

 aminations have been scheduled 

 for December. 



Farm Bureau Prexy 

 On Farm Commission 



O. E. Bradfute, president of 

 the American Farm Bureau Fed- 

 eration, has been named by Cal- 

 vin Coolidge, President of the 

 United States, as a member o( 

 an Agricultural Conference Com- 

 mittee o( nine members ap- 

 pointed to study the questions of 

 farm legislation. This committee 

 is to complete its study and re- 

 port back to the present Con- 

 gress. The first meeting was 

 scheduled for Monday, Nov. 17, 

 at the White House. 



Those invited by the President 

 to serve are: 



Robert D. Carey. Careyhurst. Wy- 

 oming, former governor. 



O. E. Bradfute, president of the 

 A. P. B. P. 



Chas. S. Barrett, chairman. Na- 

 tional Hoard of Farm Organizations, 

 Union City. Pennsylvania. 



Louis J. Taber. Master of the Na- 

 tional Grange. Columbus. Ohio. 



Ralph P. Merrltt, president. Sun 

 Maid Raisin Growers. Fresno, Cali- 

 fornia. 



R. \V. Thatcher, director of the 

 New York Experiment Stations, Ge- 

 neva, New York. 



W. C. Coffey, Dean of the College 

 of Agriculture and director of the 

 Experiment Station of the Univer- 

 sity of Minnesota, St. Paul. 



Fred H. Blxby. president. Amer- 

 ican National Live Stock Assocatlon. 

 Long Beach. California. 



William M. Jardlne, president. 

 Kansas Agricultural College. Man- 

 hattan. Kansas. 



J. C. WatsoM 



Watson Represents 

 Farmers' Interests 

 On Tax Conunittee 



The Illinois Educational Commis- 

 sion has called together representa- 

 tives of civic, professional and 

 trade organiza- 

 tions within the 

 state for the 

 purpose of con- 

 si d e r i n g the 

 problems of 

 revenue and tax- 

 ation with par- 

 ticular reference 

 to the proposal 

 of an amend- 

 ment to the con- 

 stitution of Illi- 

 nois. 



A subcommit- 

 tee of eight was appointed to be 

 responsible for a rejwrt on the prob- 

 lem to the larger group of repre- 

 sentatives. On this subcommittee 

 the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion is represented by John C. Wat- 

 son, director of the department of 

 taxation and statistics. 



it Is thought that whatever pro- 

 posal is made by the subcommittee, 

 of which Mr. Watson is a member, 

 will have the general support of 

 most of the civic, professional and 

 trade organizations, thus assuring 

 good possibilities of passage by the 

 legislature. 



Want Wat«on In Missouri 

 The Missouri Farm Bureau Feder- 

 ation has requested the assistance 

 of John C. Watson, director of tax- 

 ation and statistics, in a tax hear- 

 ing before the Missouri State Tax 

 Commission on Dec. 16. Missouri 

 hopes to follow the trail of the 

 I. A. A. in tax reduction. 



Spread Your Butter Thicur 



Preacher For A.F.B.F. 



Reverend John Acbeson, well 

 known farm bureau minister of 

 Princevllle, Peoria county, has 

 been invited by President Brad- 

 (ute of the American Farm Bu- 

 reau Federation to deliver the 

 invocation address at the annual 

 A. F. B. F. me«tine of Dec. 8, 9 

 and 10. 



I.A.A.I To Breakfast 

 Illinois Boys and 

 Girls In Chicago 



"Last call for breakfast!" 

 This is the call that will usher 

 about 75 Illinois farm boys and 

 girls into a breakfast entertain- 

 ment Dec. 3, given them by the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association 

 officials when they come to Chi- 

 cagOi to attend the International 

 Live Stock Exposition. 



Last year the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association entertained the 

 70 boys and girls of Illinois who 

 earned trips ta the big Chicago 

 stock show as rewards for su- 

 perior club work. 



Souvenirs will be given. 



New Members In Iroquois 



Under the direction of Fred 

 Halm and H. L. Hough, the re- 

 organization of Iroquois County 

 Farm Bureau Is going forward in 

 good shape. Old members are 

 signing up and many new mem- 

 bers are enrolling. 



A series of community meet- 

 ings have been held in several 

 townships in the county. Several 

 reels of farm movies and talks 

 by Iroquois men and representa- 

 tives of the I. A. A. feature these 

 meetings at which no solicita- 

 tion for membership is made. 



The purpose of these meetings 

 is merely to tell the public the 

 aims of the Farm Bureau and to 

 show the past accomplishments 

 of the organization. 



EXECUTIVES PREVAIL 

 UPON SAM THOMPSON 

 FOR SECRETARY POST 



Illinois now has a 500-pound 



butter fat cow club. It was or- 

 ganized by the College of Agri- 

 culture co-operating with county 

 Farm Bureaus and dairy herd 

 improvement associations. 



IJLA. Urge. "Our Sajn" De- 

 spite Hit Hesitancy — 

 His Name Up 



Following President Coolldge's 

 invitation to all state farm bu- 

 reaus asking -* 

 for each 

 state's recom- 

 miendation for 

 the next sec- 

 retary of ag- 

 rifculture, the 

 I. A. A. ex- 

 edutive c o m- 

 ndttee p r e- 

 vailed upon 

 President Sam 

 H. Thompson 

 fdr his per- 

 mission to rec- 

 ommend h i s 

 name to Pres- 

 II e n t Coo- 

 lidge. Kaai Tkeaipwiii 



President Thompson hesitated, 

 and in hesitating, as he, hlm- 

 seQf. later said, "one who hesi- 

 tates is lost,"- l)ecame the candi- 

 date of the I. A. A. for the na- 

 tion's most important agricul- 

 tural post. 



Unanimous indorsement was 

 accorded him. The executive 

 committee then took steps to 

 bring his name before PreBideni 

 Coolidge. 



The action of the executive 

 committee urging President 

 Thompson for the agricultural 

 post was kept secret for several 

 days, it being the desire not to 

 create an impression that the 

 lUinois Agricultural Association 

 wishes to force a "favarite son" 

 into the limelight. 



His name has now t>een 

 brought to President Coolldge's 

 attention. 



Bom On Farm 



President Thompson was born 

 oo a 40-8cre farm in Gilmer 

 township, Adams county, Aug. 

 ife, 1863. He was the' youngest 

 of a family of five children, 

 tiree girls and two boys. He 

 grew to manhood on this farm 

 and was educated in the local 

 Piiblic school, attending school 

 until 21 years old. He married 

 Miss Lemmie Dickhut four years 

 later and the same year pur- 

 chased an go-acre farm (or tl6 

 an acre, going in debt (or the 

 entire amount. Four boys and 

 three girls were born to the 

 Thompsons while on this (arm, 

 five of whom are now married 

 and living on farms in the same 

 tueigbborbood. Two are still at 

 tUoDie, though the youngest is 

 now in his last year in the ag- 

 ricultural college of the Uni- 

 i-ersity of Illinois. 



Mr. Thompson has been OB- 

 glaged in grain and live stock 

 ftirming nearly all his life. He 

 bias acquired adjoining land to 

 bis first 80-acre (arm until now 

 be has a SOO-acre farm'. 



Tax Collector at 22 



Mr. Thompson began taking 

 part in public affairs when he 

 became a tax collector at 22 

 years. He held local, township 

 and county offices. He was a 

 commissioner for nine years, 

 supervisor six years, elected to 

 the General Assembly in 1916, 

 kecame active in farm bureau 

 Irork In 1915. He has been one 

 Of the state's strongest advocates 

 (or organization of farmers. 

 "Sam" was active in the orga- 

 nization of the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association in 191 T and of 

 the American Farm Bureau Fed- 

 eration a year later. He served 

 as an executive committeeman 

 (or the 20th Congressional dis- 

 trict for three years. 



In that capacity he was chair- 



(Contlnued on page 4, column 2.) 



