I li Ij 1 M OI 



CULTURAL A 



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Volume 4 



Issued Every Month for 63,000 thinking Farmers — February 1, 1926 



No. 2 



EARL SMITH OF PIKE COUNTY IS NEW 1. A. A. PRESIDENT 



Eleventh Annual Meeting Proves Largest 

 And Beat One Ever Held; Delegates O. K. 

 General Princif^ies of Dickinson Measure 



Convention Elects 

 Three New Members 

 Tol. A. A. Committee 



Members of 20th, 22nd and 

 24th Congressional Dis 

 tricts Nominate New Men 

 for Executive Committee 



Clim*. Marihall 



Three new men were elected to 

 the executive committee of the as- 

 sociation at the 

 close of the an- 

 nual meeting 

 held at Cham- 

 paign - Urbana, 

 Jan. 21 and 22 

 They are : Chas. 

 Borgelt to repre- 

 sent the 20th 

 congressional dis- 

 I trict in place of 

 Earl C. Smith; 

 I Frank Oexner to 

 succeed Stanly 

 Castle of the 

 22nd district 

 and Chas. Mar 

 shall as successor to Curt Ander 

 son for the 24th district. 



Chas. Marshall was born in the 

 Blue Grass district of Kentucky. 

 Forty-two years ago he moved to 

 Mason county, 111., where he took 

 up a farm near Belknap and has re- 

 mained a tiller of the soil to the 

 present day. By following the live' 

 stock and grain principle of agri- 

 culture Mr. Marshall h^Sj developed 

 his holdings until he now Owns 2600 

 acres of land and manages 1000 

 acres of adjoining territory. 



Marshall An Active Worker 



When the Johnson County Farm 

 Bureau was organized Mr. Mar- 

 shall became a leader in organiza- 

 tion work and has served on the 

 executive committee since its ori- 

 gin. Three years ago he was 

 elected to the office of county pres- 

 ident which he now holds together 

 ^th a position on the board of di- 

 rectors of the Illinois Cotton Grow- 

 ers Co-operative Association. Mr. 

 Marshal is commissioner of the 

 Lower Cache River Drainage Dis- 

 trict, director in the First National 

 Bank of Vienna and president of 

 the board '> of directors of the 

 Vienna Firm Loan Association. 



Coming from Kentucky, Mr. Mar- 

 shall is a descendent of the late 

 Thos. Marshall, former vice presi- 

 dent of the United States, and like- 

 wise of Chief Justice Marshall, for- 

 merly of the supreme court. 



"Chas. Borgelt gives more time 

 to farm bureau work than any 

 farm bureau 

 president in the 

 state." That is 

 the reputation 

 Mr. Borgelt 

 holds with ihis 

 neighbors and 

 members of the 

 Mason County 

 Farm Bureau. 

 Mr. Borgelt lives 

 in Havana and 

 owns and man- 

 ages a half sec- 

 tion of land just 

 outside of the 

 city where he 

 grows acres and acres of alfalfa. 

 Besides the Havana farm he oper- 

 ates another one in Fulton county 

 just across the county line. 



Mr. Borgelt has served as presi- 

 ident of the Mason County Farm 

 Burean since its organization and 

 is a strong disciple of farm organ- 

 ization and the production princi- 

 ples advocated by the University of 

 Illinois. - He is also a partner in a 

 grocery store located in Havana. 

 (Continued on page 4, Col. 3.) I 



Frank Oexner 



"OUR SAM" DONATES 

 CUP 



"To the Farm Burelu having the 

 best information service to members 

 and general public," is a part of 

 the engraving on this sterling silver 

 loving cup which Sam H. Thomp- 

 son is personally donating as a 

 farewell affair^ Mr. Thompson 

 thinks the fundamental require- 

 ment of a good farm bureau mem- 

 ber is that he be well posted on 

 the activities of his organization. 

 From this it follows, Mr. Thompson 

 thinks, that each county Farm Bu- 

 reau and the state and national 

 bodies should develop the very best 

 possible information service. 



A committee is to be selected by 

 President Thompson soon which will 

 take care of the details. It will be 

 given to the lucky county at the an- 

 nual meeting in January, 1927. 

 When won three times by one Farm 

 Bureau, it shall become its perma- 

 nent possession. 



Jardine Defines His 

 Position on 8 Points; 

 Tosses Some Bouquets 



Secretary Tells 1,700 Dele- 

 gates and Visitors That 

 Surplus Problem Underlies 

 Whole Farm Situation 



Secretary Jardine, speaking be- 

 fore some 1,700 people at the 

 Thursday luncheon during the I. A. 

 A. annual meeting, hit seven points 

 before coming to the one in which 

 Illinois farmers are principally in- 

 terested — the surplus. This was his 

 eighth point. 



At the outset, however, the Sec- 

 retary made some statements con- 

 cerning the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation which should kindle the 

 pride of every member of the asso- 

 ciation who has placed his faith and 

 financial backing into it. Said he: 



(Continued on page 3, Col. 4.) 



Lowden Talks Surplus 

 Amid Hearty Cheering 

 at Annual Convention 



Says Federal Farm Board 

 Could Stabilize Farming 

 Like Federal Reserve 

 Board Stabilized Banking. 



Former Governor Lowden, speak- 

 ing before the largest assembly ever 

 gatheced at an annual meeting of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 — some 2,300 people — was received 

 with a tremendous ovation and 

 scarcely a minute passed during his 

 hour of discourse without general 

 applause and cheering. 



In introducing "Farmer" Low- 

 den, President Thompson said that 

 Lowden knows farm oroblems from 

 actually bumping ii^ them, that 

 he has been next to the soil for a 

 long time and that he has been con- 

 sistent in his attitude toward na- 

 tional legislation for farmers. 



Prond of I. A. A. 



"I am proud of the Illinois Agrri- 

 culture Association," Mr. Lowden 

 said. "When I am in other states 

 I point out the achievements of the 

 I. A. A. as examples of what farm- 

 ers can do by organizing. 



"And I ho{ife that under the new 

 leadership of Sam Thompson, the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation 

 will become as effective in its field 

 as the I. A. A. has been." 



* * « 



Lowden had prepared a written 

 address, but he tossed it away and 

 did not refer to it excepting when 

 he needed certain statistics. 



Lowden's talk was especially sig- 

 nificant -because he gave the view- 

 point endorsed and followed by the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association on 

 the relation of the export corpoTa- 

 tion idea and the co-operatives. The 

 association's viewpoint was reflect- 

 ed in the endorsement of the gen- 

 , eral principles of the Dickinson bill 

 later in the day. Lowden has also 

 given a similar endorsement of the 

 Dickinson bill, and even Secretary 

 .tardine has stated, and repeated it 

 alfthe annual meeting, that the 

 Dickinson bill contains substantial 

 ground for agreement. 



• * • 



; Dickinson Bill ^rosents Feasible 

 Plan 



In the Dickinson bill is pro- 

 posed a federal farm board with 

 power to segregate abnormal sur- 

 pluses, through co-operatives if they 

 be sufficiently represented in the 

 given surplus commodity, but if co- 

 operative machinery is insufficient, 

 the board would encourage the or- 

 ganization of co-operatives, and in 

 the meantime use existing facilities 

 for quickly skimming off the sur- 

 plus in order to preserve the Amed- 

 can price for the share of the crop 

 consumed in America. 



* * * ■• \ 



Lowden*s theme was the surplus 

 problem and reiterated his sugges- 

 tion of a federal farm board, as is 

 now incorporated in the Dickinson 

 bilL 



Lowden Wants Federal Farm 

 Board 



His idea is that a federal farm 

 board could operate in farm prod- 

 uce similar to the federal reserve 

 board in adjusting nation-wide cred- 

 it facilities for the industrial world. 



Acting through co-operative 

 groups representing certain crops, 

 such a farm board, Lowden said, 

 might expect to prevent the ruin- 

 ous over-production which, from 

 time to time confronts agricultural 

 producers "turning the surplus of 

 the very essentials of life from a 

 burden into a blessing." 



(Continued on page 3, Col. 2.) 



Of the Seven Evon-Numbered Districts Which Were Due 

 for Electing Executive Committeemen, Four Re-elected 

 and Three Chose. New Representatives. 



THE tenth anniversarj' of the formation of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Aasociation wa.s celebrated at the annyal 

 meeting in Champaign-Urbana, Jan. '21 aid 22- with 

 the biggest birthday party of any of the association's eleven 

 annual events. ^ j 



For at some of 'the sessions as many as 2,300 people 

 were in attendance, and the trekking to the University from 

 the farms in 92 counties was so heax-y that the railroad 



sorry they 



oUr new leader 



Meet your new president! 



Here's what his home folks tell 

 about him and, after all, home folks 

 know a man best. 



He was born in Pittsfield, Pike 

 county, Feb. 19, 1886. His father 

 was a college professor at Macon. 

 In 1907 President Smith moved on 

 the f|irm and has been there ever 

 since. Mary Sanderson, a farm girl, 

 was his bride. .They wete married 

 in 1909. 



The 160 acres upon iwhich the 

 Smith's now live is only a mile and 

 a "halt from Mrs. Smith'b girlhood 

 home. This 160 was obtained by 

 Smith's grandfather by grant from 

 the government and has been in the 

 famUy since then. In addition to 

 this 160, there are 388 more acres, 

 making the home farm of 548 acres 

 which Smith lives on anid actively 

 operates. In addition, $mith has 

 the active management of 578 

 acres. 



Local People Give Him Their 

 Responsibilities 



Smith has been a member of his 

 home school board at Detroit for 

 12 years and has been chairman of 

 the board of the Christian church 

 for seven. After passage of the 60 

 million bond issue, a mass meeting 

 of the citizens of Pike county chose 

 him as one of seven to look after 

 the county's interest in tjiat issue. 

 When the 100 million bond issue 

 »;as passed, a similar meeting se- 

 lected him for the same capacity. 



Smith joined the Farm Bureau 

 in the original organization and be- 

 came vice-president in 1921, presi- 

 dent in 1922 and was elected by the 

 20th Congressional district, com- 

 prising nine I. A. A. counties, to 

 the I. A. A. executive committee for 

 the years 1923-24-25. He has been 

 a member of the finance commit 

 tee of the I. A. A., an important 

 Post. 



officials were not 

 given fare-and-a-half 

 round trips. 



Earl 



New 



Smith 

 Chief 



Chief amoag all 

 business done by 

 the delegates was 

 the election of 

 Earl C. Smith of 

 Detroit, Pike 

 county, as presi- 

 dent to succeed 

 "Our Sam" 

 Thompson, who 

 now wields the 

 gavel of the ci«.. R. Finhr 

 American Farm 



Bureau Federation. As a result of 

 friendly campaigns conducted by 

 friends, three men were nominated 

 — Earl C. Smith, Frank U. Barton 

 of Cornell, Livingston countv, and 

 B. H. Taylor of Rapatee. Kulton 

 county, in the order named. 



Smith received 126 votes. Barton 

 64 and Taylor 3. Immediately after 

 announcement of the outcome of 

 the balloting, Barton jumped to the 

 floor and moved that the election be 

 made unanimous for Smith, which 

 was done. 



"This thing is- bigger than Smith 

 or me or any personalities," Barton 

 fervently declared, "and I want you 

 men who thought I was t( to sup- 

 port Smith to-the last ditch." 



Finlejr Is Viea-President 



Chas. R. Finley of Hoopeston, 

 Vermilion county, a former execu- 

 tive committeeman, was elected 

 vice-president over W. C. McQueen 

 of Elgin, Kane county, 95-69, in 

 an equally sportsmanlike Competi- 

 tion. 



Even-numbered Congressional dis- 

 tricts were the ones which fell due 

 at this meeting for election of new 

 executive committeemen. Districts 

 12, 14, 16 and IS re-elected their 

 men. District 20, formerly repre- 

 sented by President Earl C. Smith, 

 elected Charles Borgelt of Havana, 

 Mason county. District 22 put in 

 Frank Oexner of Waterloo, Monroe 

 county, to succeed Stanly Castle of 

 Alton, Madison county. Charles 

 Marshall of Belknap, Johnson coun- 

 ty, succeeds Curt Anderson of 

 Xenia, Clay county, for the 24th 

 district. These men hold office for 

 two years and at the next annual 

 meeting odd-numbered districts will 

 be due for elections. 



■+;■ - 

 Earl's a OiscipU of Saas 



_After his- election. President 

 Smith, who is known as a disciple 

 of Sam Thompson, made the fol- 

 lowing statement: 



"I have be*n a hearty supporter 

 of the policies of the past adminis- 

 tration and contemplate no changes 

 at this time." 



The I. A. A. meeting was sched- 

 uled by the University of Illinois 

 as a feature of ite annual Farmers' 

 Week, which was also acclaimed a 

 tremendous success. 



(Continued on page 4, CoL 8.) 



