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CULTUMAL AS 





Volume 4 



Issued Every Month for 63,000 thinking Farmers — July 1, .;j26 



No. 7 



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WE7E JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT," REPLY CORN BET TO SENATE DEFEAT 



Cm. R. Wicker 



Over- Extension of 

 Credit Makes Hard 

 Sledding for Co-ops 



Wicker Tells Elevator Managr 

 ers to Decide on Fair Credit 

 Policy, Then Stick to It for 

 Success. 



"Adopt a credit policy for the 

 purpose of restricting credit within 

 areasonable 

 margin of safety, 

 then follow a sys- 

 tematic plan of 

 collection to keep 

 down accounts re 

 ceivable to a min- 

 imum figure." 



This is the ad- 

 vice George R. 

 Wicker, director 

 of cooperative ac- 

 counting for the 

 I. A. A., handed 

 out to 50 or more 

 farmers' elevator 

 managers at their 

 short course at 

 the University of Illinois on June 17. 

 "The interest on accounts receiv- 

 able may amount to a considerable 

 sum, and this money must be sup- 

 plied either by investment or loans 

 to accommodate the practice. A di- 

 rect interest expense results in 

 either case," he said. "The uncol- 

 lectable account is generally the re- 

 sult of an overextension of credit, 

 either as to time or amount or both. 

 But direct losses of this kind are 

 not so serious as the loss from hav- 

 ing funds tied up in non-interest 

 bearing accounts. 

 Should Safeguard Credit at Sale 

 "The time to safeguard credit ac- 

 counts is at the time of sale. Have 

 an understanding with the customer 

 when payment will be made. Then 

 follow up this understanding by 

 pressing for collection at the time 

 agreed upon. 



"The credit policy should hinge 

 upon two points: first, the amount 

 of invested capital which may be 

 safely tied up in accounts; second, 

 the ability to pay and integrity of 

 the buyer. Don't extend credit to 

 men who have not established a 

 reasonable basis for credit. Willing- 

 ness to pay should also be consid- 

 ered. An account which must be 

 collected with interest and costs 

 usually results in dissatisfaction and 

 financial loss." 



Credit Losses Serious 

 Sixty-five Illinois elevators dur- 

 ing 1925 had accounts receivable 

 totalling $463,000. Thirty-ei^ht of 

 the companies had on their books 

 $312,500 of which 48 par cent were 

 from one to 90 days old. Sixteen 

 per cent were from 90 to ISOtdays 

 and 22.6 per cent were over one 

 year old. Credit losses during the 

 year were $66,331. Credit losses 

 of the entire group were about one 

 per cent of merchandise sales 

 amounting to $1,806,000. 



The 65 elevators were divided 

 into three groups. Group 1 consisted 

 of 18 companies including those 

 which had an income of $2000 or 

 over. Group 2, comprising 16 com- 

 panies, included those which had an 

 income under $2000. Group 3 in- 

 cluded 31 companies whose opera- 

 tions resulted in a loss. The loss of 

 the latter group exceeded the gains 

 of Group 1 and 2 by $1,062.15. 



This loss was brought about 

 largely through credit losses. 

 Charge Interest on Old Accounts 

 By making accounts receivable 

 subject to interest at 90 days or 

 not later than six months, long-time 

 credits might be partially avoided, 

 suggested Wicker. The directors of 

 the company ought to go over the 

 credit accounts regularly and agree 

 on a credit policy based on their 

 knowledge of th.eir business and the 

 individual debtors. 



Who'll Take the Last Trick? 



Organiza tion Got John 

 Anderson $127.55 More 

 Than He Could Singly 



When John Anderson, of Utica, 

 Lasalle county, had two steers killed 

 on the railroad right-of-way, while 

 driving a drove to the Utica stock 

 yards, he applied to the railroad for 

 damages of $187.55. 'The crossings 

 were not protected against cattle, 

 but the railroad refused to pay more 

 than $60 for the loss. 



Anderson appealed to Farm Ad- 

 viser Walter McLaughlin who im- 

 mediately referred the case to L. J. 

 Quasey, director of transportation. 

 Quasey secured a pencil sketch 

 showing how the accident occurred 

 and again presented the claim in 

 person to the railroad for the full 

 amount. 



On June 18, the general claim 

 agent of the railroad wrote: "We 

 have now received additional re- 

 ports and I hand you herewith draft 

 and release in favor of Mr. Ander- 

 son in the sum of $187.55." 



Since June 1 the transportation 

 department of the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association has collected 11 

 claims totalling $719.64 and has 

 filed nine other claims. During the 

 same time the transportation de- 

 partment's service to the Chicago 

 Producers has resulted in the collec- 

 tion of 62 loss and damage claims 

 amounting to $1123.63, and 14 

 overcharge claims totaling $81.26 

 or a grand total of $1204.89. Thirty- 

 nine other loss and damage claims 

 and 10 overcharge claims, not yet 

 settled, have been filed since June 1. 



State Picnic Aug. 12 

 Will Show Egypt at Her 

 Best; Good Program 



Sen. McKellar Of Tennessee 

 Asked To Deliver Principal 

 Address ; Special Features 

 For Women. 



"It is my personal experience in 

 business that there is less dissatis- 

 faction on the part of the customer 

 if he understands that the company 

 has a definite credit policy and that 

 it will enforce collection when that 

 policy is violated," said Wicker. "It 

 has also been my experience in busi- 

 ness that most people, when they 

 have made a definite promise to pay, 

 will hesitate to violate their .own 

 promise. Therefore, it is quite es- 

 sential that a thorough understand- 

 ing should be had at the time of 

 sale." 



Southern Illinois h o s p i t a 1 i ty, 

 famed throughout the Middle West, 

 will be at her best when thousands 

 of cars packed with mother, dad, 

 sons, daughters, and the kiddies plus 

 the well known fried chicken and 

 layer cake roll into Mt. Vernon in 

 Jefferson county on the morning of 

 August 12. 



The I. A. A. picnic will be a great 

 gala event for all "Little Egypt" 

 and great plans for the entertain- 

 ment of the state-wide picnickers are 

 now in progress. This is the first 

 year the state picnic has gone so far 

 south, and the people from Jeffer- 

 son and surrounding counties are 

 hoping to outdo their neighbors 

 from central and northern Illinois 

 who have entertained heretofore. 



An unusual number of visitors 

 from central and northern Illinois 

 are expected because of the splendid 

 opportunity to see Southern Illinois' 

 great harvest of golden peaches, 

 said to be the heaviest crop in the 

 history of the state. 



The championship farm bureau 

 baseball game, the horseshoe pitch- 

 ing contest, the chicken and hog 

 calling contests, and other events 

 will be the principal attraction for 

 sport lovers. Mrs. Spencer Ewing, 

 president of the Illinois Home Bu- 

 reau Federation is helping to ar- 

 range an interesting program for the 

 women. The speakers for the event 

 have not been definitely chosen but 

 Senator McKellar from Tennessee 

 has accepted our invitation condi- 

 tionally depending upon the health 

 of a member of his family. The 

 cotton folks of the south are urg- 

 ing him to come. 



President Smith Reveals Inside Story 



of Broken Promises of Administration 

 In Comment On Defeat of McNary Bill 



Redoubling of Efforts to Secure Equality for Ag^iiculture 

 Will Be Outcome of Failure of Congress to Recognize 

 Need; Early Conference of Com Belt Leaders Planned in 

 Chicago. 



Note: Earl C. SnUth, ■president of the Ittinois Agricultural A «»»- ' 

 dation, was in Washington at frequent intervals in the interest of farm 

 legislation. His story which foUown describes simply yet forcefully hix 

 uncolored version of what took place in and about the White House and 

 the congressional chambers. — Editor. < 



By EARL C. SMITH ' | 



THE DEFEAT of the McNacy Bill in the Senate 39-46 

 on Thursday, June 24, does not in any way justify its 

 opponents in believing that they have put to sleep the 

 principles upon which it was founded. On 

 the contrarj', it means that when the reasons 

 prompting the opposition in their efforts are 

 analyzed and the sources from which it ema- 

 nated are fully understood, farpjers and ^heir 

 friends will rise as a unit in repudiation'^f 

 the now self-satisfied group who are respon- 

 sible for its defeat. Let's review the fight 

 and see what really happened. 



Farm leader^ of the midwest and west, act- 

 ing under instructions from their variou^>con- 

 stituents and backed by the Committer of 22 set up at 

 the Des Moines Conference, assembled in *Vashington early 



in March. They asked Congress for 

 legislation necessary to gire agri- 

 culture equality with other indus- 

 try. The need for such legislation 

 had been recognized «nd promised 

 in the platforms of both parties in 

 1924. 



Immediately after their arrival in 

 Washington, the farm representa- 

 tives called upon the President ahd 

 the Secretary of Agricultvre and 

 expressed their desire to co-operate 

 with them in bringing forth such a 

 program. Those vested with the 

 duty and responsibility of keeping 

 the pledges of 1924 had nothing 

 definite to offer, but requested the 

 farm representatives to get to- 

 gether and bring forth a specific 

 measure that would cope with the 

 situation. We were advcied bv 

 President Coolidge and Secretary 

 Jardine that they felt sure we 

 would find a sympathetic atmos- 

 phere in both houses of congress to 

 any suggestions in definite form 

 that addressed itself to the basic 

 problem confronting the industry, 

 and that in no event would they 

 embarrass a full and fair consider- 

 ation of such proposals. 



Acting upon this request, was 

 brought forth Committee Print 

 Number One or the Federal Farm 

 Board Act, which was presented to 

 the Agricultural Committee of the 

 House and was under consideration 

 there for several weeks. It gained 

 support very rapidly Omfil tkrrr de- 

 veloped strong administmtimi pres- 

 sure in opposition) to the fundamen- 

 tal principles upon which it was 

 founded. 



1927 Annual Meeting 

 Goe^ to Peoria; Had 

 Invitation to Canada 



Peoria will be the scene of the 

 next annual meeting of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association in 

 January, 1927, the executive com- 

 mittee decided at its June 11 

 meeting. Among the invitations 

 to the association was one from 

 Montreal, Canada, which, of 

 course, could not be considered 

 since the meeting is always held 

 within the state. 



Among the sales points used in 

 the Montreal invitation were: 

 "Montreal has many attractions 

 both natural and othertrifie"; 

 • * * the individual liberties 

 of the citizens have not been dis- 

 turbed and Montreal is able to 

 offer a hospitality in entertaining 

 guests, which, under existing 

 laws cannot be equalled by any 

 other city in America." 



But Peoria won. 



WashingtonCounty May 

 Have Burea u ; 208 Wan t 

 One; Need Another 100 



Two hundred and eight farmers 

 in Washin^on county, southeast of 

 St. Louis in "Little Egj-pt," have 

 signed membership agreements to 

 join the Washington County Farm 

 Bureau when it is formed. 



These farmers have been anxious 

 to complete their organization, but 

 have been advised to get at least 

 300 or 350 members before electing 

 officers and hiring a farm adviser. 



Martin Schaeffer of Hoyleton has 

 been a prime mover for a Faxm 

 Bureau in this county and has been 

 working with his neighbors towar* 

 this goal for several months. The 

 additional members are expected to 

 join within a few weeks, and if bo 

 Illinois will have another county or- 

 ganization working for a perman- 

 ent-, profitable and happy farm life. 



I feel it germane to say Aat the 

 spokesman for this opposition, Mr. 

 Fort of Kew Jersey, openly prided 

 himself that he came from a district 

 that did not have a farmer in it. 

 Counter proposals were under con- 

 sideration but none of them, we be- 

 lieve, carried the possibility of gen- 

 uine relief or in any way made pos- 

 sible the restoration of agriculture 

 to her rightful economic position. 

 The result of several weeks of 

 (Continued on page 3, col. 1.) 



