January 3, 1925 





The Illinois A^cuhoral Association Record 



Pag* 3 



products 



IMPROVE FARMERS' 

 ECONOMIC CONDITION, 

 LIFE STANDARD: FOX 



Addresses Nation's Land Econ- 

 omists; Stresses Co-operation 

 With Industry, Commerce 



Speaking on "The Platform of 

 Organized Agriculture" before a 

 group of the 

 nation's f o r e- 

 most land econ- 

 omists in s e s- 

 sion at Chica- 

 go, Dec. 29, 

 under the aus- 

 pices of the 

 American Farm 

 Economics As- 

 sociation. Geo. 

 A. Fox, I.A.A. 

 secretary, first 

 said that there 

 are many 

 abuses to the 

 term, "organ- 



Geo. A. Fox 



Ized agriculture." 



"Agriculture consists of the 

 farms and the farmers producing 

 products," said Mr. Fox. "The 

 business of each of these units 

 of production involves many 

 problems, some of which are 

 common to all. Many of these 

 problems can be met more ef- 

 fectively by collective action and 

 some of them can only be solved 

 by united effort. Wherever and 

 however farmers unite to serve 

 the interests of these groups by 

 collective or group action, we 

 have organized agriculture. 



Gives Reason for Organizing 



"The underlying purposes of 

 organized agriculture is to im- 

 prove the farmers' economic con- 

 dition and his standard of liv- 

 ing." said Mr. Fox. "He is not 

 interested in the higher wages 

 for labor unless it will result in 

 better returns for his own labor. 

 He is not interested in greater 

 reward for managerial ability un- 

 less he may also share in pro- 

 portionately larger returns for 

 his own managerial ability. He 

 is not interested in large returns 

 on capital investment unless he 

 is included with other capitalists. 

 The farmer is a laborer, a man- 

 ager and a capitalist. This com- 

 bination, plus the environment 

 with which he is surrounded and 

 limited, creates a distinct group 

 interest which is peculiar to agri- 

 culture and which must not be 

 compromised, which should never 

 be confused with the interest of 

 other groups, or the interest of 

 the general public." 



Mr. Fox suggested to the econ- 

 omists that the activities of or- 

 ganized agriculture must of 

 necessity be limited strictly to 

 the welfare of the farm group. 

 These activities will be found to 

 be largely economic in character. 

 He stated further that much ef- 

 fort has been fruitless because of 

 a tendency of some farm organ- 

 izations to engage in almost 

 every activity under the sun, and 

 to a lack of self reliance, that is, 

 failure to rely on farmers them- 

 selves for leadership and finan- 

 cial support. He stated that 

 singleness of purpose, develop- 

 ment of leadership among farm- 

 ers, and financial independence 

 are necessary parts of a sound 

 policy. 



He also stated that one of the 

 largest jobs of farm organiza- 

 tions today is to co-operate with 

 industry, commerce, labor and 

 the general public for the mutual 

 benefit of all, but agriculture 

 must be on its toes continually 

 to guard its own interests. 



The program of procedure that 

 has been found most practical in 

 the experience of Mr. Fox was 

 outlined by him as follows: 



"Many programs of work of 

 farm organizations have gone on 

 the rocks. Many efforts have 

 been made to correct evils that 

 never existed. Many attempts 

 have been made to make gold 

 out of brass. The basis for any 

 activity is intelligence. A sur- 

 vey of every problem and need is 

 the first step. Formulation of a 

 course of procedure based upon 

 facts, experience, and sound rea- 

 son follows. With this sort of 

 a background, initiative ahd 

 freedom of action in the interest 

 of the group to be served, will 

 yield results. A part of this 

 program is well supplied by 

 other agencies. Our educational 



FOUR DISTRia MEETS 



(Continued from page 1, col. 4) 

 tion at Galesburg. These were 

 held at Edwardsville, Springfield, 

 Morrison and Galesburg, Dec. 15, 

 17, 18 and 19, respectively. 



At Edwardsville the meeting 

 was largely devoted to considera- 

 tion of the annual meeting of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion and was based upon a per- 

 sonal recital of events by Stanley 

 Castle of Alton, executive com- 

 mitteeman for the 22nd district. 

 Inter-relation of the Farm Bu- 

 reau and closely allied organiza- 

 tions, grain marketing and com- 

 munity organization were among 

 the other questions discussed. 



Advocate Withdrawal 

 Sangamon, Macoupin, Mont- 

 gomery and Christian county rep- 

 resentatives, the counties which 

 embrace the 21st district, met at 

 Springfield. A resolution was 

 passed expressing that district's 

 attitude toward the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation. It fol- 

 lows: 



"Whereas, the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation has adopted a 

 grain marketing: policy which Is 

 contrary to our Ideas of co-operative 

 marketing:, and 



"Whereas, the nilnols Asrlcul- 

 tural Association has after a thor- 

 ough Investigation adopted resolu- 

 tions condemning this grain mar- 

 keting policy, holding that it is not 

 only non-co-operative but that it 

 stands in the way of a co-operative 

 grain marketing program for Illi- 

 nois, and 



"Whereas, there have been other 

 evidences that the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation has not repre- 

 sented the interests of the farmers 

 of Illinois, therefore be It 



"Resolved, that we do not favor 

 continued support of the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation under its 

 present administration, and that our 

 support be withdrawn until such 

 time as the constitution of the A. F. 

 B. P. is changed so that control of 

 the organization Is entirely vested 

 In farmer members who maintain 

 regularly organized county Farm 

 Bureaus controlled by their farmer 

 members, and 



"Be it further resolved, that we 

 direct an executive committeeman. 

 Sam Sorreiis, to use his best efforts 

 to secure action favorable to this 

 resolution by the executive commit- 

 tee of the I. A. A." 



Whiteside, Lee, Ogle, Carroll, 

 Stephenson and Jo Daviess repre- 

 sentatives talked over current 

 problems at Morrison. Legisla- 

 tion, taxation, co-operative live 

 stock marketing, local co-opera- 

 tion and organization were the 

 high lighU. 



At the 15th district meeting at 

 Galesburg Dec. 19, B. H. Taylor, 

 president of the Fulton County 

 Farm Bureau, was supported to 

 be executive committeeman for 

 that district when the election 

 occurs. 



institutions and our government- 

 al departments can and do ren- 

 der valuable helg. They are 

 very necessary agencies to the 

 program of organized agricul- 

 ure. They are, however, the 

 creation of all the people repre- 

 senting the common interests of 

 all the people. To make intelli- 

 gence available, to free it from 

 prejudice, and give it the Im- 

 petus necessary for practical ap- 

 plication, is probably the most 

 important part of the program. 

 Organized agriculture'' does this 

 thing." 



Economic .Adjustment EssentUl 



A third suggestion made by 

 Mr. Fox dealt with economic ad- 

 justment. He said that the prob- 

 lem of agriculture is to perpetu- 

 ate production on the established 

 farms of the country and to in- 

 sure thereon a standard of liv- 

 ing which will foster and con- 

 tinue a class of citizenship in 

 keeping with national security. 

 The best lands of the nation are 

 under cultivation. They have an 

 established investment value to 

 the owners. The welfare of the 

 industry requires confidence In 

 the stability of this capital in- 

 vestment. 



In closing he stated: "If 

 agriculture's goal is to preserve 

 and perpetuate the food produc- 

 ing resources of our agricultural 

 lands, to sustain the investment 

 value of our farms and to insure 

 an intelligent and contented ru- 

 ral population, the business op- 

 erations of the farm must be 

 reasonably prosperous. I am not 

 willing to accept nor to acqui- 

 esce in the theory that industry, 

 labor, and agriculture cannot 

 thrive and prosper side by side. 

 If the American people do not 

 accept the challenge to establish 

 equality for agriculture and 

 prosperity foe all its essential 

 groups, they have met the first 

 great defeat in our country's 

 history." 



65S832 



Membership Is On 



Increase In Illinois 



Tlie membership of the I. \. 

 X. which took such a tumble 

 during the great de])re.ssion 

 has hit the bottom and i.>< on 

 the upward swinR. .According 

 to the figures of G. E. Metz- 

 ger, I. A. A. organisation di- 

 rector, farmers are coming 

 back Into the fold who with- 

 drew during the depression. 

 There is a steady trickle of 

 voluntary memberships all 

 over the state, mostly from 

 farmers who drop in the farm 

 bureau office and sign up with- 

 out being solicited. 



Reveal Consumption 

 Butter SiAstitute; 



Lynch Scores Users 



"There is no substitute for 

 dairy butter." 



So declares A. D. Lynch, I. A. 

 A. dairy marketing director. A 

 survey just completed under his 

 direction, on the consumption of 

 so-called "butter substitutes" 

 among city and rural families 

 throughout Illinois, in co-opera- 

 tion with farm advisers in 33 

 counties, reveals surprising fig- 

 ures as to the amount of oleo 

 and similar vegetable fats act- 

 ually consumed by city and coun- 

 try dwellers in these counties. 



Farm families are almost as 

 great offenders in the use of 

 substitutes for dairy butter as 

 city people, the marketing expert 

 discovers. According to the farm 

 advisers consulted, average esti- 

 mates indicate that farm people 

 eat 2.81 pounds of oleo per fam- 

 ily per year, compared with 2.94 

 pounds for their city cousins, 

 over the same period of time. 



"The farmer, especially the 

 dairy farmer, who buys butter 

 substitutes in place of genuine 

 butter is competing against bis 

 own industry," asserts Lynch. 

 "Every pound of oleo bought 

 gives a market to the South Sea 

 Islander for his cocoanuts and 

 takes the sale of so much butter 

 away from some Illinois dairy- 

 man. 



"In addition to that the user of 

 substitutes is deprivng himself 

 and his family of the health-giv- 

 ing vitamines which genuine but- 

 ter alone can yield." 



EXECUTIVES DISCUSS 

 RELATIONS A.F.B.F. 



The special meeting of the 

 I. A. A. executive committee on 

 Dec. 19 resulted in the appoint- 

 ment of a sub-committee to 

 draw up a resolution stating the 

 administration's viewpoint on the 

 relationship of the I. A. A. and 

 the American Farm Bureau Fed- 

 eration. 



Due to the storms which 

 played havoc with train service 

 and communication, R. F. Karr. 

 18th district; Earl C. Smith. 20th 

 district; Stanley Castle. 22nd 

 district; and Vernon Lessley. 

 25th district, were unable to at- 

 tend. J. E. Lingenfelter. repre- 

 senting the 23rd district, was de- 

 tained because of sickness. 



The meeting was a closed one 

 and was given over to discussion 

 of the I. A. A. relationship with 

 the national organization. The 

 sub-committee will submit its 

 resolution to the executive com- 

 mittee when it holds its next 

 regular meeting, Jan. 9. 



Buys a Newspaper 



r. E. Charles, assistant in the 

 information department since 

 June, has bought a half interest 

 in a newspaper in Republic, Kan- 

 sas, and has left the ranks of 

 the I. A. A. to take up his own 

 W. G. N. 



Gerald Jenny, an agricultural 

 graduate of the University of 

 Wisconsin, took Mr. Charles' 

 place, starting December 29. Mr. 

 Jenny has been writing news of 

 the Badger school for press serv- 

 ices. 



Mercer County Farm Bureau 



has been conducting a "rat 

 drive," distributing 800 pounds 

 of poison in all parts of the 

 county free of charge. 



PLANNING BIG TIME 



(Continued from ptft 1, col. 1) 



made for farm bureau folks. The 

 Champaign County Farm Bureau 

 and the Champaign Chamber of 

 Commerce are taking care of all 

 details. 



meet old 

 convention. 



Old friends 

 friends during 

 The Inman ho- 

 tel will be headr 

 quarters and 

 the scene of 

 much farm bu- 

 r e a u hilarity. 

 Tiie University 

 cake-eaters will 

 have to take a 

 back seat while 

 the farm folks are there. "There'll 

 be a hot time in the old town 

 tonight" and "Hail, hail, the 

 gang's all here" will be first on 

 the song list. 



President 'Thompson will open 

 the convention, and, following 

 the custom of 

 other years, 

 will turn over 

 the executive 

 management to 

 A. C. Evering- 

 ham of Hutson- 

 vilie, a mem- 

 ber- of the I. A. 

 legislative 

 committee, and who is right at 

 home presiding at I, A. A. annual 

 meetings. Then wil| come Sec- 

 retary Fox's report telling the 

 who, what, where, why, , when 

 and how the I. A. A. did thus- 

 and-so during the past year. 

 Then Treasurer Cowles will hold 

 the floor with his financial re- 

 port fresh from the auditors. 



Following the day's events will 

 be a banquet in the First Metho- 

 dist Church. 



>->' 





HtfUM f,trnft\ «M dtfcri 



'4Min the Form Burou lilie'. 



,/ 



Plcntif «1 acti«fi 

 tnurAcr wcn«s 



The Marshall-Putnam bureau 



is holding an all day school for 

 hog raisers Jan. 6. A representa- 

 tive of the University of Illinois 

 will conduct the school. 



the only hall 

 large enough to 

 hold the great 

 group. A .play- 

 let by the Men- 

 ard County 

 Farm Bureau 

 will feature the 

 banquet enter- 

 tainment. Ac- 

 cording to the 

 press agent of 

 the show, which 

 is titled "The 

 Redemption of 

 Hiram Home- 

 brew." the stu- 

 pendous p r o- 

 duction opens 

 to the tunes of 

 "Three O'clock 

 in the Morn- 

 ing" and the 

 actual time is 

 said to be that 

 of the organi- 

 zation of the 

 Menard County 

 Farm Bureau 

 on N o V. 15. 

 1919. Time of 

 first scene is 

 3 A. M. The 

 playlet goes in- 

 to, deep^t trag- 

 edy and Emerges 

 at spots with 

 lightest c o m- 

 edy. Hiram is 

 "a gin" the 

 Farm Bureau 

 and has a hard lot at home. 

 Romeo, the hired man. fails in 

 love with Merry Homebrew, the 

 villian's daughter, and they elope. 

 There's a hot chase for the 

 elopers and then — attend the an- 

 nual meeting and find out. 



There will be a fine brand of 

 oratory when Ckas. J. Brand of 

 the United 

 States Depart- 

 ment of Agri- 

 culture gives 

 those present 

 a practical econ- 

 omists' V i e w- 

 point on the 

 farmers' trou- 

 bles. Mr. Brand 

 has the facts as well as the ora- 

 tory. And after Mr. Brand talks, 

 there'll l>e t|ie annual election of 

 officers. 5 



After the^tlection the business 

 of the conv^tion will continue, 

 problems will^«^ »^ ^j,. 

 b e pondered «, «^^ W tcsk 

 and possibly '^^ "* lS? 

 solved, d i s a- ''^ 

 greements will '^ 

 arise and argu- _:: 

 meots will no ^ 

 doubt ensue, 

 but when It's 

 all over, and 

 ever>'one is off for home, the old 

 farm bureau spirit of co-opera- 

 tion will be there stronger than 

 ever. 



FIRST ANNUAL MEET 

 OF I.A.C.A. SET FOR 

 14TH, IN CHAMPAIGN 



Win Review Growth and De- 

 velopments of Past Year; 

 Elect Officers for Next Yesu- 



Gm. B. Wkker 



The first annual meeting of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Co-opera- 

 tives Associa- 

 tion is to be 

 held in Cham- 

 p a i g n . on 

 We d n e s d a y. 

 Jan. 14. A re- 

 view of the 

 business of the 

 past year, elec- 

 tion of ofBcers 

 and a program 

 including a d- 

 dresses by sev- 

 e r a 1 leading 

 authorities on 

 c o - o perative 

 auditing are 

 scheduled. 



The co-operatives association 

 was organized last spring under 

 the direction of the I. A. A. and 

 has since functioned as a co-op- 

 erative accounting department of 

 the I. A. A. The organization 

 was incorporated early in June 

 and at that time elected the fol- 

 lowing officers to serve until the 

 first annual election: Henry Mc- 

 Gough. Maple Park, president; 

 L. P. McMillen. Rock Falls, vice- 

 president; and H. J. Shafer. Illi- 

 opolis; O. B. Goble. Charleston, 

 and Geo. L. Potter. Pontiac, di- 

 rectors. 



The auditing association is the 

 first of its kind ever organized in 

 Illinois. Its purpose is to provide 

 agricultural co-operalives with 

 expert auditing, accounting and 

 business advisory service at act- 

 ual cost. Much of this service 

 parallels that of bankers' clear- 

 ing bouses. 



Senice Filling A Need 



That this service has been wel- 

 comed by managers and directors 

 of co-operalives is shown by the 

 steady growth in membership. 

 From the start last June it., has 

 grown to the present membership 



mof 117. This growth is 

 largely due to the field 

 work of V. Vaniman, who 

 has been meeting with the di- 

 rectors of farmers' co-ops since 

 last summer, explaining the pur- 

 pose of the ser\ice. 



The roll of member co-ops now 

 includes 53 farmers' elevators. 

 39 county Farm Bureaus, nine 

 live stock shipping associations, 

 three live stock terminal market- 

 ing agencies, three supply com- 

 panies, one seed company and 

 one fruit associatitm. 



Sixty Bu8ines.«ei> Audited 



The accounts of more than 60 

 co-ops have been examined by 

 Geo. R. Wicker, general man- 

 ager, and his staff of accountants 

 Fifty of these are complete and 

 the others are to be finished -at 

 the close of their fiscal years. To 

 handle the auditing with greater 

 efllciency, a Springfield branch 

 office was opened last September, 

 with J. W. King in charge. 



The meeting at Champaign will 

 be called to order at 10:00 A. M. 

 by President McGongh. The re- 

 port of Manager Wicker covering 

 operations of the I. A. C. A. be- 

 tween June 1 and Nov. 30, 1924, 

 will follow, after which F. ,£. 

 Ringham, assistant manager, inll 

 report on the 60 field exaifnhia- 

 tions that have been made. 



To Dig Into Fundjunentals 



At the afternoon session. Geo. 

 E. Frazer, consulting accountant 

 for the I. A. A., will talk on "The 

 Status of the Illinois Agricultural 

 Co-operatives Association under 

 the Federal Revenue Act." Dr. 

 C. L. Stewart, professor of eco- 

 nomics at the University, will talk 

 on "Comparative Statistics is Op- 

 eration of Co-operatives Associa- 

 tions." 



The field organization work of 

 the Co-operatives Association will 

 be covered by Mr. Vaniman. 

 Prof. H. H. Baily, of the account- 

 ing department of the University, 

 will speak on "Accounting Needs 

 of Co-operatives Associations." 

 Election of officers and other 

 business will follow. 



