^ EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



CBy Caacnuiaaal Districts.) 



IM <o llKl WUIUm Webb, Rout* One, JoUM 



tltli G. F. TuUock, Rockford 



13th dk I CB.Bamb(irau(h, Polo 



14th ....W.H.Moody, Port Byioci 



ISth .1 B. H. Taylor, RarotM 



16th i A. R. Wri(ht, VaiTU 



17th F. D. Barton. ComcU 



ISth ; R. F. Karr, Iroquoia 



'. IMl ^.J. L. Whianand. Charleston 



120th .r. i Earl C. Smith, Detroit 



21st .Samuel Sorrella, Raymond 



22nd , Stanly Castle, Alton 



2W .,. W. L. Cope, Salem 



24th ; Curt Anderson. Xenia 



. 2Sth , R. K. Loomis. Makanda 



mmmmmmmBS 



OFFICERS 



Preaidant, S. H. Thomamm 



Vice-Pmidcnt, H. E. Go«b«l 



Trcaaurer, R. A. Cowlcs 



Secretary, Geo. A. Fox 



I liLiINOlS 



CULTURAL ASSO CIA 



RECORD 



Qidncr 



Hooppolc 



. Bloominston 

 . . . . . Sycamore 



#iH 



To mdwmnc€ tht purpote for trhich the Farm Bureau vos organ- 

 iM*d, namely', to promote, protect and represent the buHneta, 

 ecortomic, tocial and educationat Interettt of the farmert of 

 llHnoU and the nation, and to develop atricutture. 



DDtBCTORS OF DEP^TMBNTS 



Co-opentlsc Ac«untli« G«>. R. WIeker 



Daily Marketing vJ- P-Jr'™* 



Finance R. A. Cowies 



Ftuit and VecetabU Marksthw A. B. Leeper 



General Office „ . . J. H. Kelker 



Gr^Marfcetins Chester C. DstIs 



Information Harry C. Butcher 



Le^ Cotinsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Use Stock Marketlns Wm. E. Hed«cock 



Organisation G> B. McCsgcr 



Phosphate-Limestone J. R. Bent 



Poultry and E(g Marketiiw F. A. Gouglcr 



Taiatlon and Statistics J. C. Watson 



Transportation L. J. Quasey 



Pubhrfifd n-piy other Saturday at 404 North. Wesley Ave., Mount Morrii, Illinoi., by the Illinois Agricultural AiMoeiation. Edited by Department of Information, Harry C. Butcher, Director 608 South 

 Dearborn Street, Chicaao, Illinoi.. Entered as K-rond^clam mailer October 20, 1925 at the pet office at Mount Morri., Illinoi.. under the Act o( March 3, 1879. a. a bi-wM-kly Acceptance for mailiM at .pe^i.1 

 rate of poBlaxe p^..^id^for ili.'V-ction 412. Act of February 28. 1925. authoriicd October 27. 1925 The individual membenihip fee of the Illinois Altncultural Aimocialion la five dollars a year. The fee include. 

 paymcr.t c.f fifty rciiia fur subscription lo the Illinoia .Vnncultural Assciation Ricord: I'oelniiuiter: In returning an uncalled for or niiswnt rupy. please -indicate kry number on address as is required by law. 



pi 



auRVjitt.maiy »tvJi*^^^^ 



A Changing Attitude? 



HE first beneficial result of the election of offi- 

 X cei-s of the American Farm Bureau Federation is 

 1 he partial change of attitude of the general public 

 i;nd the city press toward the whole agricultural 

 liroblem. Many people and interests have had it 

 brought to their senses, through events occurring 

 < luring the A. F. B. F. annual meeting, that there is 

 much more to the agricultural problem than what 

 they have liberally labelled as chronic wails. A re- 

 flection of this change of attitude is shown by the 

 editorial, "The Farmers' Just Complaint," which ap- 

 ] eared in the Chicaggo Tribune, Dec. 11 : 



"Mr. Coolitige came out to Chicago the other day to ad- 

 cress the American Farm Bureau federation, at the invita- 

 tton of 0. E. Bradfute, its president. The farmers heard 

 1 (r. Coolidge, and apparently were not much impressed by 

 I is proposals for improvine their lot. They took the first 

 opportunity to show their displeasure by refusing to reelect 

 J[r. Bradfute, who had held office for three terms. Instead 

 trey chose S. H. Thompson, whose criticism of agricultural 

 jiolicies laid down by the President was most outspoken. 



"We think it would be a grav^ error to attempt to mini- 

 r lize Oie incident. It shows clearly that an influential sec- 

 t on of the agricultural community in this country is dissat- 

 ii fied and insistent upon governmental help in fixing prices 



f crops. TTie idea takes form in a number of proposals for 

 nipre or less direct subsidies, which the President attacked 

 w ith vigor, offering substitutes. The delegates heard him and 

 w ere unconvinced. It is, perhaps, not an overstatement to say 

 tiat many of them oared so little for remedies he proposed 

 a I to be indifferent ♦" " r success or failure in congress. 



i.r on may become a -critical one for 



P'r''iul- 111 ai.d ;.: I rty. Agriculture is underpaid in 



« cc'intn to*lnv. anfl le farmers know it. They are not 



.,. ^,ty,Au. i....ii .' - ' ;ept whatever fate may offer them. 



1 hey have been airing their difficulties and asking for rem- 

 e lies ever since the post-war deflation. They have received 

 h gher tariffs on farm products and a somewhat improved 

 c edit machinery, but these measures apparently have failed 

 t( ' do all that was hoped; of them. 



"There has been little sympathetic understanding in the 

 e ist of the farmers' troubles. There seldom has been. Gen- 

 e ally speaking, the east does nothing until the farmers, 

 g laded to desperation, demand some unsound measure of 

 d rect relief, such as free silver or greenbacks, whereupon 

 tl e industrial and financial interests unite in saying no. The 

 e: St has frequently defeated the farmers' program and of- 

 f< red no substitute. .It is time the business interests of the 

 c< untry, and particularly those of this section, realized that 

 tl e prosperity of the farmers is a matter of direct concern 

 tt city dwellers. If there is no prosperity on the farms 

 tl ere can be no prosperity in the cities. 



"All this does not mean that congress should accept what- 

 ei er the farmers propose and turn it into law. That would 

 b( as un*ise as it would be to adopt every proposal made 

 bj manufacturers in their own interest. The alternative, 

 h< wever, is not inactivity. Looking at the farm question as 

 w ! do, from the center of the nation's most productive farm- 

 in ; district, we conclude that congress has been neglectful 

 o1 its duty. The men on the land will not be content 

 ar y longer with a sop, and they ought not to he. If congress 

 di approves of the fanners' own remedies it must come f or- 

 w: ird with something constructive to take their place." 



equalization fee or tax paid by the farmers them- 

 selves, on the commodities directly benefited in price 

 by the operation of the corporation which the bill 

 proposed to create. 



What the farmers want is enabling legislation to 

 put them in position to handle the surplus in the in- 

 terest of a stabilized, American price, not fixed,, as 

 far as the home market is concerned, by the low 

 costs of production in other countries. 



This is entirely in harmony with tiie resolution, 

 and the Drovers Journal's glee over the words "not 

 involving government subsidy," lacks point. 



It carries its comment further to say that advo- 

 cates of the McNary-Haugen bill never answered the 

 question of how production could be limited if it 

 were made profitable. The Journal's very statement 

 implies its own answer since it shows that what the 

 Journal is arguing against is not the McNary-Hau- 

 gen bill, or any legislation aimed at control of the 

 surplus, but a profitable price for farm production. 

 Obviously, the farmers' response to a profitable price 

 level would be the same in all cases, whether that 

 price resulted from voluntary reduction of acreage, 

 an act of God, or the segregation of the surplus as 

 provided Under the McNary-Haugen bill. 



As a matter of fact, farmers rob their land, and 

 work themselves and their families longer hours 

 than they otherwise would when farm prices are 

 generally low in order to meet their fixed charges. 



We Never Asked For Subsidy ' 



'HE Chicago Daily Drovers Journal in captious 

 comment upon the resolution adopted by the 

 Anerican Faiwi Bureau Federation, asking that 

 ajriculture be given a place of equality with other 

 in ;erests in the American protective system through 

 lerislation directed at the problem of the surplus, 

 se ;ms to find great significance in the closing phrase 

 "rot involving government subsidy." 



The Record is glad this point has been raised, 

 si ice it gives opportunity to drive home the point 

 that neither the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 n(r the American Farm Bureau Federation ever 

 asked for legislation involving direct government 

 sDbsidy. 



Contrary to the misrepresentations circulated by 

 some of its opponents, the McNary-Haugen bill did 

 not call for a government subsidy as that term isi 

 understood. The public understands a government 

 su' )sidy to mean financial payment out of the public 

 tr< asury for the benefit of sOme particular group or 

 da ss. The McNary-Haugen bill provided for » gov- 

 er iment loan, to be repaid out of the proceeds of an 



curtail nuisance taxes, particularly on auto accessories, antos, 

 trucks and forms of sales tax found to be generally objec- 

 tionable; (d) federal government should stay in the inherir 

 tance and estate tax field; (e) opposition to the abolition 

 of the gift tax; (f) tax no incomes under $5,000; (g) re- 

 duction in normal tax rates as the total reduction decided 

 upon will permit; (h) retain capital stock tax; (i) increase 

 personal exemption and decrease tax rate; (j) remove re- 

 striction of states to tax national banks; (k) retain differ- 

 ential in favor of earned income. 



Recommends immediate congressional action ion the Vestal 

 Standard Container bill which would eliminate hundreds of 

 odd-sized and unnecessary off-standard containers of fruits 

 and vegetables. ^_^ 



Demands that the administration of the national forest 

 should continue with the Secretary of Agriculture and regu- 

 lation of grazing privileges should not be placed elsewhere. 



Requests that the tariff commission make a study of the 

 cost of frozen eggs, meats and dried eggs in this country 

 and in China wift the view of increasing the tariff the fijll' 

 60% allowed under the flexible provisions of the tariff laW. 



Requests Congress to readjust postal rates to approximate- 

 ly the 1924 level, to take positive steps toward safeguarding 

 the parcel post system, and to effect a reorganization of the 

 postal service with a view to greater economy and efficiency. 



Where The A. F. B. F. Stands 



THERE were about 5,000 words of resolutions 

 passe* by the delegates at the seventh' annual 

 meeting of the American Farm Bureau. To print 

 them in full would require most of the space of this 

 Record, consequently they have been boiled down to 

 give only the gist. Copies of the official resolutions 

 may be obtained )jy writing the information depart- 

 ment of the A. F. B. F. The resolution of most inter- 

 est to Illinois members follows in full : 



We endorse the enactment of a federal law based on the 

 principle of a farmers' export corporation, providing for the 

 creation of an agency with broad powers for the purpose of 

 so handling the surplus of farm crops that the American 

 producer may receive an American price in the domestic 

 market and we instruct our officers and representatives to 

 work for the early enactment of such a law founded upon 

 sound economic policy and not involving government subsidy. 



Other offlcial pronouncements of the American Farm Bu- 

 reau Federation are: 



Approves and endorses the proposed amendment to the 

 Federal Revenue Act of 1924 making effective the exemp- 

 tion of agricultural co-operative marketing associations from 

 the payment of income tax and the filing of annual returns. 

 (The I. A. A. has been particularly interested in obtaining 

 this exemption.) 



Confirms previous resolutions in favor of deep channel 

 waterways from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, as 

 well as general improvement of navigation and power condi- 

 tions as might be brought out in a survey made by the chief 

 engineers of the United States Army. 



Approves of the services now being rendered by the gov- 

 ernment under the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 which pro- 

 vides for tjie development of shipping lines to a paying 

 basis and then selling them to citizens of the United States 

 to be operated under the American flag and under a guar- 

 antee of continued service. 



Endorses the McNary-Woodruff bill authorizing the ap- 

 propriation of $3,000,000 a year for five years and $5,000,- 

 000 a year for the succeeding five years for purchasing na- 

 tional forest lands and urges its early passage by Congress. 

 « 



Urges the complete construction and disposition of Muscle 

 Shoals for the utilization of the largest portion of the hvdi-o- 

 electric power to manufacture concentrated nitrogen fertil- 

 izers with a farmer board to pass upon the cost of produc- 

 tion, distribution and profit, assuring low cost to farmers. 



Petitions Congress to continue the co-operation with the 

 states in constructing roads as rapidly as the econdmic condi- 

 tions of the country will permit. 



Summarized its position on federal taxation by suggesting 

 that the new revenue law, now before Congress, include the 

 following points: (a) tax, at proper rates, undistributed 

 profits of corporations; (b) tax stock dividends; (c) sharply 



\ 



\-'- 



Requests Congress to enact legislation preventing the 

 importation into the United States non-adapted and worth- 

 less Italian red clover and alfalfa seed, and of .Argentinian. 

 Arabian, South African and other seed from regions of mild 

 climate, as well as a law authorizing the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture to stain by some non-injurious method all imported 

 red clover and alfalfa saed excepting Canadian-grown. 



Petitions the United States Department of Agriculture 

 and the extension service departments of the land grant 

 colleges of this country \o instruct their employees, agents 

 and teachers to lend their influence and support in teaching 

 the principles and practices of co-operative marketing and 

 assisting existing co-operative associations in their operation 

 policies and membership relations. 



Calls attention to the need for unbiased livestock market 

 news service from the cities of Detroit, Indianapolis, Pitts- 

 burgh, Cincinnati and Buffalo similar to that given from 

 other cities by the U. S. D. A. and petitions Congress to 

 include this item in the appropriation for the Department 

 of Agriculture. _\ 



Reminds the state Farm Bureaus that the question of an 

 amendment to the Federal constitution which would grant 

 power to Congress to limit, regulate and prohibit the labor 

 of persons under 18 years bf age is still before the states for 

 ratification. The American Farm Bureau unsuccessfully 

 opposed this measure in Congress and asks state Farm Bu- 

 reaus to be on watch in thefr respective states to defeat 

 renewals of attempts to get sA^ie ratifications. 



;et «<^te 

 sider iav< 



Asks that Congress consider favorably the Capper-French 

 bill, known as the truth-in-fabric measure, requiring the 

 labeling of woolen goods so as to show the amount of virjfin 

 wool, shoddy, or re-worked wool, cotton, silk or other fibers 

 which they contain. 



Recommends the creation in the Department of Agricul- 

 ture a division of co-operative marketing that will assist 

 ill an educational way the farm co-operative marketing asso- 

 ciations in this country. 



Recommends as a part of the A. F. B. F. work of 1926 

 the study of co-operative insurance as it relates t6 life, 

 indemnity, fire, automobile and liability and to submit the 

 findings to the member states for consideration. 



Endorses the proposal for a National Agricultural Day- 

 Endorses the principles of protection against introduction 

 of foreign pests and diseases through quarantines as pro- 

 vided by present laws and asks the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture to do all in his power to maintain the effectiveness of 

 such protective laws. 



Suggests the appointment of a permanent committee on 

 boys' and girls' cnib work in the A. F. B. F., including 

 representatives from the National Home and Community 

 committee, and that proper action be taken to secure more 

 club leaden. 



Recommends the appointment of & farm woman leader 

 to be placed in charge of home and eommnnity work in the 

 departnjent of organization of the A. F. B. F. and that 

 adequate money be set aside in the budget of the national 

 organization to carry on the work. 



Demands that the railroad rates on agricultural products, 

 including livestock, be restored to what they were prior to 

 the World War and that A. F. B. F. stand opposed to the 

 five per cent increase in freight rates now being asked by,, 

 western carriers. 



i 





i 



