

CULT 



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Volume 4 



Issued Every Month for 63,000 Thinking Farmers— October 1, 1926 



No. 10 



1,000,000 VOTES FOR THE TAX AMENDMENT IS AIM NOV. 2 



A Wet Trip With The 

 Comborer Thru Ohio, 

 Michigan and Canada 



500 Attend International Con- 

 vention at Detroit Last 

 Week. 



By the Editor 



Essex and Kent counties, On- 

 tario, Canada have reduced their 

 corn acreage 60 per cent already 

 and promise a further reduction 

 of 10 to 20 per cent next year as 

 a result of the European Corn- 

 borer. The borer came 65 miles 

 westward this year into five 

 counties in Northeastern Indiana 

 and almost across the state of 

 Michigan to Kalamazoo. . Can 

 the Corn Belt stop the corn- 

 borer? Read the story of this 

 dangerous insect and what is be- 

 ing done to keep the borer out of 

 Illinois corn fields written by the 

 Editor following a trip to the 

 devasted area in Ohio, Michigan 

 and Ontario. 



Can the Middle West stop 

 the European co rn b o r e r? 

 This is the question and this 

 the problem that brought 

 more than 500 farmers, en- 

 tomologists, editors, scientists, 

 deans and professors, federal 

 investigators, reporters, bank- 

 ers, and officials from many 

 walks of life to Toledo, De- 

 troit, and on into Essex and 

 Kent counties, Ontario, Can- 

 ada on Sept. 23, 24, and 25. 



I was astonished when I clambered from 

 my berth at Toledo after an all night ride 

 through the rain to find so many important 

 men gathered to do homage to His Majesty, 

 a little, white, in&igniticant looking grub of 

 foreigrn parentage. 



At the Fort Meigs Hotel, where we gather- 

 ed early Thursday morning in a driving 

 raioi boots and rubbers, raincoats, caps and 

 rubber hats, were being sought in prepara- 

 tion for the wet drive through the infested 

 Ohio and Michigan territory between Toledo 

 and Detroit. 



An International Gatherinf 



A doctor of zoology from Germany with 

 his short mustache, goatee and professional 

 air, lent an international aspect to the 

 gathering. The Canadians, of course, were 

 there en masse. I was particularly inter- 

 ested in a light silk raincoat impregnated 

 with rubber worn by the young German 

 professor. It was equipped with a hood to 

 j)ull over his hat so that when properly ad- 

 justed, the wearer was as snug and safe 

 from the elements as a turtle in his shell. 



The coat weighed only a few ounces and 

 could be carried conveniently in one's pocket. 

 Herr Professor told me he paid 90 francs 

 for it in Switzerland, which at the normal 

 rate of exchange is |20, our money. 



The bus trip to Monroe was uninteresting 

 although ample opportunity for getting ac- 

 ■ quainted with men who had been on former 

 trips through the comborer territory pre- 

 sented itself. Our bus carried about 30 men 

 hut the hum of their conversation scarcely 

 could be heard above the tattoo of the down- 

 pour on the roof of the car. 



Our first stop was in Lucas county, Ohio 

 where we saw a field approximately 75 per 

 cent infested. It was yellow dent corn 

 planted May 20. From the road the corn 

 did not look as bad as I had expected. The 

 stalks were still green and nearly all up- 

 standing, although the growth was stunted. 

 There were plenty of ears, two to three per 

 stalk, but they were smaller than our better 

 Illinois corn, and upon closer examination, 

 we found the infested ears were considerably 

 .damaged. Much of the corn was loose on 

 (Contjnved on col. 8. page 4.) 



Determined to Do Something About It 



f^aso aJehb/2. 



V. Vaniman. 



42 Counties Join In 

 Fire Protection Week 

 To Stop Farm Losses 



By VERNON VANIMAN 



FORTY-TWO farm bureaus arc 

 cooperating in Farmers' Fire In- 

 surance Week or 

 Farm Fire Pro- 

 tection Week. 

 Each farm bu- 

 reau will hold at 

 least one meeting 

 in the county 

 during the week 

 of October 18 to 

 23 when it will 

 discuss the why 

 and wherefore of 

 farm fires and 

 how to safeguard 

 the county 

 against fire losses 

 For the past seven years in Ill- 

 inois there has been a gradual in- 

 crease in the number of fires and 

 also in the total loss. The number 

 of fires have increased from 14,052 

 in 1920 to 18,049 in 1926 and the 

 losses have increased from $16,552,- 

 248 in 1920 to $27,112,084 in 1926. 

 These are for the fiscal years ending 

 June 30th. 



Exceed All Records 



For the fifth consecutive year the 

 fire losses of the nation have exceed- 

 ed the half billion mark. This has 

 been an ascending scale of several 

 millions per year. 



In 1921— $485,000,000 

 In 1922— $506,000,000 

 In 1923—^535,000,000 

 In 1924— $548,000,000 

 In 1925 — $570,250,000 

 These are the figures recorded by 

 the Actuarial Board of the Fire 

 Underwriters which is America's 

 official clearing house on such infor- 

 mation. 



The annual sacrifice of life in the 

 U. S. by fire still runs around 15,000. 

 Each county will have the total 

 number of fires and the fire loss for 

 the past six years. The statement 

 is made that 75 per cent of the fires 



(Continued on col. 5, page 3.) 



Revenue Amendment 

 Criticisms Answered 



Here Are Replies to Principal 

 Objections to Constitution- 

 al Reform Sought. 



By JOHN C. WATSO^ 



1. The pending antendment is 

 objected to because it permits the 

 establishment of a tax on income. 

 Some persons have even said that its 

 approval will establish such a tax. 



Approval of the amendment will 

 establish no tax. It will permit no 

 tax not now permitted by the consti- 

 tution. The General Assembly now 

 has the power, by a bare majority 

 of each house, to enact an income 

 tax, but any such tax would be with- 

 out exemptions, and without proper 

 deductions of taxes on income of 

 property from taxes on the property 

 itself. The pending amendment per- 

 mits the General Assembly, by a 

 two-thirds vote of the members 

 elected to each house, to enact a tax 

 on income, with such exemptions as 

 it may deem proper, and with proper 

 adjustments so that both income 

 from property and the' property it- 

 self will not be taxed. • 



2. The amendment is objected to 

 by some people becarcse it permits 

 classification of property for tax-, 

 ation. 



The power of classification is 

 necessary for proper adjustment of 

 the burden of taxation. For ex- 

 ample, if an income tax is enacted, 

 double taxation both of property and 

 of income from property^ as shown 

 above, can be avoided «nly if the 

 General Assembly has the power to 

 classify. It is highly desirable also 

 that mining property be taxed on 

 its output, rather than on its value, 

 and that the same principle be fol- 

 lowed in the taxation of real estate 

 which is better adapted to forestry 

 than to any other purpose. The 

 present Constitution does not permit 

 the taxation of property on its out- 



Endorsement and Active Support By 



Labor and Other Groups Throughout 



State Assures Passage Is Prediction 



Amendment Must Have a Majority of Votek Cast to Win. 

 Opposition Tries to Befog Issue. Joint Committee Report 

 of General Assembly Answers Criticisms. 



ONE million votes for the revwiue amendment to the 

 Illinois constitution at the polls Nov. 2. This is the 

 igoal of the organized groups pledged to support of 

 the tajx amendment that will empower the state legislature, 

 if passed, to revise our antiquated tax laws. 



Following the unqualified endorsement of the tax amend- 

 ment by the Illinois Federation of Labor at their recent an- 

 nual meeting held at Streator positive assurance was held 

 out by leaders in the movement that the amendment would 

 receive the needed majority of votes cast. 



Supporting the Tax 

 Amendment 



ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL 



ASSOCIATION 



ILLINOIS FEDERATION OF 

 LABOR. 



ILLINOIS BANKERS' ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



ILUNOIS FEDERATION OF 

 WOMEN'S CLUBS. 



ILLINOIS LEAGUE OF WOM- 

 EN VOTERS. 



ILLINOIS STATE TEACHERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



ILLINOIS FARMERS' INSTI- 

 TUTE. 



ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION OF 

 REAL ESTATE BOARDS. 



PRAIRIE FARMER. 



ILLINOIS FARMER. 



MOST OF D W N S T A T E 

 PRESS. 



put. If does not permit taxation in 

 such a way as to encourage reforest- 

 ation. 



Classification might well be used 

 also in the taxation of automobiles. 

 Few counties get more than 60 per 

 cent or 70 per cent of their automo- 

 biles on the assessment books. Cook 

 County does not assess more than 

 five or six per cent of its automobiles 

 and trucks. If classification were 

 permitt^, the property tax on mo- 

 tor vehicles could easily and surely 

 be collected with the motor license 

 fees. ' 



3. Some people object to the 

 pending amendment on the ground 

 that the legislature cannot be trust- 

 ed with the power it wotild give. 



The Amendment gives the General 

 Assembly no power which it does not 

 now have except to adjust the bur- 

 den fairly between different sources 

 of taxation and different tax payers. 

 The objection here quoted is not a 

 valid argument against the amend- 

 ment, but so far as it is based on 

 fact, is rather an argument for the 

 election of better members of the 

 General Assembly. 



4. Somewhat similar is the ob- 

 jection that the pending amendment, 

 if approved, will give the GeneraJ 

 Assembljf^iinlimited power to raise 

 taxes. 



The General Assembly now has 

 unlimited power to raise taxes. It 

 has full power over the basis of 

 valuations and within the last 

 twenty (20) years has twice raised 

 the basis of valuations. Except in 

 the total for county taxes it has un- 

 limited power over all tax rates. 

 The present Constitution limits the 

 total tax for county purposes to 75 

 cents on the hundred dollars of as- 

 sessed valuations. It limits the Gen- 

 eral Assembly on no tax rate for any 

 other purpose. By raising the basis 

 of valuations to actual values, the 

 General Assembly, under the pres- 

 ent Constitution, could increase the 

 county tax as well as other taxes 



Marked proer«s.) was m*ie by A. C. Ever- 

 inKham durinir the past four weeks in form- 

 jnR an orKanization to every county to work 

 for votes on the amendment. 



"By the end of October we will have 

 reached every county in the state." de- 

 clared Everinnham. "and by that time we 

 will have an effective state onraniiation with 

 farmers, bankers, labor, real estate men, 

 teachers, and civic leaders from every ptiaae 

 of business life supportinjr the tax amend- 

 ment throuc^h active county and townahip 

 units. 



"This is the icreatest leftislative interest 

 we have at the present time." said John L. 

 Walker, labor president before their annual 

 meetinE in Steeator two weeks airo- 



, Will Help You 



"Here la one piece of legislation sve cea 

 conscientiously help you put over." dedared 

 Victor A. Olander. secretary of the lUinaia 

 Federation of Labor in speak inir to a rep- 

 resentative of the Illinois Asricultural As- 

 sociation last week. "We are for it un- 

 qualifiedly because its riirht. not becauae we 

 expect to ret any particular economic ed- 

 xantace out of it." * 



Opposition from the spokesman for the 

 Illinois Manufacturers' Association is dwindl- 

 ing down to a desultory fire by means of 

 questions deeiKned to befoff the voter and 

 cloud the real issue as to whether or «ot 

 the legislature is to be riven authority by 

 a two-thirds vote to work out a revision and 

 a more equitable adjustment of the tax 

 burden. 



The purpose of the amendment is stated 

 very clearly in the report of the Joint Com- 

 mission on Constitutional Amendment of the 

 B4th General Assembly. Here it is in full : 

 To the PFOptc of Illinois: 



At the reneral election to be held on the 

 second day of November, 1926, you will be 

 cahed upon to adopt or reject an amendment 

 addinr Section 14 to Article IX of the Con- 

 i^titutton of Illinois. 



Purpose of Proposed Amendmoat 



The purpose of this proposed amendment 

 is to permit the General Assembly of this 

 State to employ other methods of taxation 

 than those now provided by the institution. 

 The ammdmrmt. it»ttf tgtablishet nc taxes. 

 The Constitution of Illinois now requires 

 that all property be taxed ,uniformly in pro- 

 portion to its value. Under present condi- 

 tions it has prox'ed impossible to value 

 (Continued on col. 4, pace S.) 



about five fold. It could increase all 

 tax rates except that for county pur- 

 poses without any limit. 



There is no danger that, under the 

 pending amendment, the General As- 

 sembly would tax any or all persons 

 out of business. Nobody wants any 

 such tax. Under the present Consti- 

 tution the General Assembly has al- 

 most no other source of taxation ex- 

 cept tangible property, chiefly real 

 estate. The real danger is that 

 taxes on this kind of property will, 

 as in fact they are already doing, 

 more and more rapidly approach the 

 full producing power of such prop- 

 erty. This means confiscatisn of 

 values of property, especially prop- 

 erty which cannot shift its taxes 

 to others to pay. 



•i- 



