Volume 4 



\ FABMk 



^^I dO ;j,ir 



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



No. 11 





VOTE "YES" ON THE TAX AMENDMENT, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 



Peek Raps Hoover- 

 Mellon Policy Of 

 Industry Expansion 



Sets Forth Present Position of 

 Agriculture With Relation 

 To Other Industries In Re- 

 port. 



Now — before election — i« tlie 

 time for candidates from agri- 

 cultural states, to be made to 

 understand that their duty lies 

 first to the economic interests of 

 their constituents, and secondly 

 to their political parties. It may 

 be said that this is a sectional 

 Stand. If so it has been forced 

 upon US by the sectional position 

 already taken by the industrial 

 East. The need is for men in 

 Congress who have vision enough 

 to see the problem and having 

 seen it, to rise above the crack 

 of the party whip in working 

 courageously for its solution. 



Ceo. N. Peek.; 



If the Hoover-Mellon policy of 

 expanding exports means anything, 

 it means the def- 

 inite s u b m e r- 

 gence of agricul- 

 ture. 



This is the 

 warning sounded 

 by the Executive 

 Committee of 22 

 of the North 

 Central States 

 Agricultural Con- 

 ference, George 

 N. Peek, chair- 

 man, in a recent 

 bulletin setting 

 forth the present position of agri- 

 culture with reference to other in- 

 dustries in our national life. 



Our national policy as it relates 

 to agriculture does not fit present 

 conditions, states the report. But 

 instead of statesmen who can see 

 its failure we have at the head of 

 the administrative affairs of the na- 

 tion men who are aggressively push- 

 ing a program of favoritism to in- 

 dustry that will not only continue 

 but must inevitably increase the 

 disadvantage not only of the farm- 

 ers' position, but the position of all 

 those great sections of the United 

 States which are priinarily agri- 

 cultural. 



Different Now 

 When a surplus agricultural pro- 

 duction was necessary to repay 

 foreign investors in the United 

 States and to buy what we must im- 

 port, our national policy of expand- 

 ing agriculture upon an export basis 

 worked admirably. When our 

 greatest national test came it was 

 our surplus agricultural production 

 that fed the Allies and decided the 

 issue of the World War. But the 

 international balance shifted as a 

 result of the war. We have the 

 gold. The rest of the world owes 

 us. These facts inevitably limit 

 the volume of exports, both indus- 

 trial and agricultural, from the 

 United States. Our wheat, corn, 

 pork, cotton and sometimes beef 

 can bring the farmers only the price 

 which foreign buyers will pay for 

 what is left after the domestic need 

 is satisfied. This condition is cruci- 

 fying agriculture. It is directly 

 due to our past policy of agricul- 

 tural expansion, and to the develop- 

 ment of the protective system. 

 <To be continued.) 



The Way to Better Representation 



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SPECIMEN BALLOT 



CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BALLOT 



Proposed Amendment AdHing Section 14 to Article IX of the 



Conititution of the State of lUinoii 



This proposed amendment imposes no new taxes. It effects no ezistinK exemptions 

 from taxation. The provisions concerninR the "two-thirds" vote (contained in the pro- 

 posed Section 14) applies only to such future tax and exemption lefirislation as may be 

 pursuant to, that is "under the authority of this section." It does not apply to past 

 legislation, nor to such future legislation as may be under the general powers of the 

 General Assembly nor as may be only under one or more of the old thirteen sections. 

 The rates under new methods of taxation authprized by the amendment will require a 

 two-thirds vote. The proposed amendment peCmits two-thirds of the members of the 

 two houses to adopt methods of taxation, free from limitations in the present Constitu- 

 tion, adopted fifty-five years ago, which now prevent an equitable adjustment of the 

 burdens of taxation. For this reason the two houses of the General Assembly propose 

 this amendment to the people. 



HERE'S HOW TO MARK IT 



More Forces Rally to Support of 



Tax Relief Proposal As Campaign 



For And Against Draws To A Close 



If Public Is Alive to Present Intolerable Condition of Our 

 Tax Laws, Friends of Amendment Say It Will Get Needed 

 Majority. 



AS THE campaign to pass the re\ienue amendment draws 

 tq a close, the only organized opposition to it comes 

 from the State Chamber of Commerce whose members are 

 far from unanimous in endorsing the stand of its president 

 and officers, the Illinois Manufacturers Association, and the 

 Chicago Tribune. 



During the past two weeks, the situation in Cook county 

 has been greatly improved. The press has rallied to the sup- 

 port of the amendment. The Evening American, the Herald- 

 Examiner, the conservative Chicago Daily News, the Evening 

 Post, and the Daily Journal have come out either with strong 

 editorial endorsements or comments friendly to the tax meas- 

 ure. The city Club voted 4 to 1 in favor and the Chicago Fed- 

 ' eration of Labor endorsed it. 



But the opponents of tax amend- 

 ment have on their side the apathy 

 and inertia of the public, a, power- 

 ful ally. The results of the elec- 

 tion on Nov. 2 will tell whether 



Method For Figuring 

 Majority Votes Explained 



By John C. Wation 



The language of the Constitution- 

 al provision relating to amendments 

 has caused a 

 widespread be- ! 

 lief that the I 

 proposed taxi 

 amendment, to ' 

 be adopted,' 

 must receive a j 

 vote in excess 

 of one-half of 

 all of the votes \ 

 cast for mem- 1 

 bers of the Gen- ' 

 eral Assembly. 



J. C. W.tMO. J^ig ^jjgj jg gj.. 



roneous. In 1917 (281 111. 17), the j 

 Supreme Court, two justices dis- 

 senting, held that a proposed 

 amendment, to be adopted, must re- 

 ceive a vote in excess of one-half of 

 the combined vote of all candidates 

 for the office for which the highest 

 number of votes is cast. \ 



The Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion believes that every qualified 

 elector should vote both upon can- 

 didates for office and upon ques- 

 tions of public policy. In every 

 election, however, many qualified 

 electors do not vote. In this respect 

 the coming election is not likely to 

 be any exception. This situation of- 

 fers an unusual opportunity for sup- 

 porters of the amendment to do very 

 effective work for it. 



If people cast no other ballot, 

 they ought to vote upon so import- 

 ant a question of public policy as 

 the tax amendment. Under these 

 circumstances a vote will count 

 more for it than when the person 

 casting it also votes for candidates 

 for office. For he will increase the 

 total number of votes for the 

 amendment without increasing the 

 vote of all candidates for any office. 



If any person votes for candi- 

 dates, but fails to vote on the 

 amendment, his failure to vote on the 

 amendment will have the same ef- 

 fect as if he had voted iMpunst it. 



the forces working to give the leg- 

 islature an opportunity to revise 

 our antiquated tax laws have suc- 

 ceeded in breaking down the bar- 

 rier of disinterestedness, shown 

 heretofore by so man} pr-ople in im- 

 portant issues that affect their wel- 

 fare. 



DowBstate Support 

 Downstate, the proposal has re- 

 ceived minor consideration in the 

 press, although most editors who 

 have studied the amendment and 

 undei^tand it have come out with 

 strong editorials in support. A 

 few have taken their information 

 from profligate literature bearing 

 false witness against the proposi- 

 tion, but from no source has there 

 been any defense offered to the 

 present intolerable tax situation. 



The tax amendment, neverthe- 

 less, has attracted more attention 

 than either of the other two issues 



1 on the little ballot. The referendum 



' on modification of the federal pro- 

 hibition act which drew headlines 

 in the metropolitan dalles several 

 months ago is almost forgotten. 

 The drys feel confident of a vic- 

 tory here, and the wets are hope- 

 ful that the vote will result in an- 

 other entering wedge to separate 

 the country from Volsteadism. 



Another Referendam 



The referendum to lease the 

 state-owned Illinois and Michigan 

 Canal has received little attention. 

 The general opinion seems to be 

 that the old canal is no longer use- 

 ful as such and should be filled in 

 so the space it occupies can be 

 leased to private parties f6r build- 

 ings and other purposes. 



The Illinois Agricultural Associ- taxes. The pending amendment 

 ation has distributed more than permits an income Ux in lieu of 

 75,000 "Truth About Tax Relief" property taxes. 



folders through the county farm 2. ci.i.ifi<:.tioi> wouM i.«i»it .. unfair 

 bureaus. The Tax Relief Commit- burden to be throi™ on re«l ntate or other 

 tee made up of representatives of «!"«» »< property, 

 the organizations working for the Answer — The present taxing sys- 

 amendment likewise has issued 70,- tem not only permits, but compels 

 000 booklets explaining the proposal 1 an unfair burden on real estate, 

 and answering charges of the op- 1 Classification is necessary to pre- 



President Smith 

 Urges Affirmative 

 Vote On' Amendment 



To all those «rho favor a fair 

 and equitable tax •ystem, I have 

 no xt^^milMacy in recomnendiitt 

 that they not only vote for, but 

 actively support in every legit- 

 imate way, all eflFort* put forth 

 to secure passage of the Revenue 

 Amendment to the Constitution 

 to be voted on November 2. 



Careful consideration of this 

 proposal durinc recent months 

 has caused the lines to be tightly 

 drawn between those favoring 

 and those opposing the Anomd- 

 ment. 



It discloses thet the opposition 

 is largely made up of those who, 

 under the present tax system. 

 are escaping in a large measure, 

 theif due proportion of the tax 

 burden, vrhilc those vrho have 

 unquestionably been bearing an 

 unjust proportion of this burden 

 are most actively supporting this 

 proposal. 



The farm and home owners, to 

 a large degree, make up the 

 latter class and we earnestly 

 solicit not only the affirmative 

 vote of the farmers of Illinois, 

 ' but all those srho favor a mod- 

 ern and fair division of the cost 

 of government. 



vent double taxation, as for ex- 

 ample, of property and income from 

 property, or of real estate and 

 mortgages thereon. 



S. The amendment would rive the Levis- 

 Isture unlimited power to increase tsxei,. 



Answer — The General Assembly 

 Answer — The amendment pro- now has unlimited power to in- 

 vides for no tax not now permitted crease taxes. The amendment granU 

 I by the Constitution. The General it no right which it does not now 

 Assembly now has the power to ?s- have except the power to equalize 

 tablish an income tax, but such a the burden and adjust the taxing 

 tax must be in addition to property 1 (ContisoMi on coi. t. pace s.) 



ponents. 



Answers To Charges 



Following are answers to some 

 of these charges: 



1. The amendment provides for an in- 

 come tax in addition to other taxes. ' 



