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Volume 4 



Issued Every Month for 63,000 Thinking Fanners — December, 1926 



No. 12 



lOWDEN TO ADDRESS FARM BUREAU CONVENTION, CHICAGO, DEC. 6-7-8 



Nation 's Eye On 

 Assembly In View 

 of Farm Depression 



EvI C. Smitb 



South and Grain 

 Belt Unite At St. 

 Louis In Epoch- 

 Marking Assembly 



3500 Word Declaration of Prin- 

 ciples Heralds National Ac- 

 ceptance of Policy for Sur- 

 plus Control. 



''p HE agricultural South and the 

 -'- Grain Belt joined hands in a 

 solemn pact to 

 unite for their 

 economic welfare 

 at an epoch- 

 .. ,^ ni niarking meeting 

 * ^BTfc in St. Louis on 



^^^ Nov. 16-17. 



Unity of 

 thought and ac- 

 tion was the key- 

 note of this im- 

 portant meeting, 

 and before the 

 delegates from 

 t w e 1 V e I states 

 went home a farmers' Declaration 

 of Principles had been drawn up 

 and adopted without a single dis- 

 senting voice. It was a great day 

 for American agriculture. It was 

 the first time in history that repre- 

 sentatives from two great sections 

 of the country united in a pledge 

 to hold iovp fnr agriculture above 

 political faith in the great fight for 

 a common cause. 



Smith Chairman. 



Earl C. Smith, president of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association, 

 was chairman of the program and 

 arrangements committee that 

 framed the 3,500 word "bill of 

 rights." 



The Declaration of Principles, 

 too lengthy to reproduce here, asked 

 for the assistance of commerce, in- 

 dustry, finance, and labor in map- 

 ping out a constructive program but 

 it expressed disfavor with move- 

 ments for farm relief initiated inde- 

 pendently of farm organizations. 

 It reaffirmed the faith of farm lead- 

 ers in surplus control legislation, the 

 equalization fee, and a Federal 

 Farm Board with broad powers. 

 Muscle Shoals, the tariff, coopera- 

 tive marketing, farm blocs, and a 

 plea for unity of agricultural in- 

 terests regardless of political affilia- 

 tion were named in the statement. 



South Hard Hit. 



The immediate cause for this 

 meeting that brought farm leaders 

 from all the great agricultural 

 states is the dilemma of the cotton 

 glower, and the continued depres- 

 sion in farm prices throughout the 

 grain and livestock areas. 



With an 18,000,000 bale crop of 

 cotton selling now for only 12% 

 cents per pound, or nearly six cents 

 per pound below the cost of produc- 

 tion, the South is facing hard times 

 and possible bankruptcy. 



Southern leaders point out that 

 a small surplus of 2,000,000 bales 

 of cotton reduced the value of the 

 crop $760,000,000. When the U. 

 S. Dept. of Agriculture put out its 

 first crop estimate cotton was sell- 

 ing for 18 cents per pound. But 

 only a few weeks later when returns 

 showed a crop of approximately 

 18,000,000 bales, the bottom of the 

 market dropped out and cotton fell 

 to 12 cents per pound. 



Unnecessary Loss. 



B. W. Kilgore, president of the 



O. L. Hatch Elmer Willisms E. E. Brown 



Seven thousand people saw Elmer Williams, 1925 national champion cornkusker, successfully defend 

 his title against 14 dark horse candidates in the T hird Annual State Corn Husking contest sponsored by 

 Prairie Farmer and the Stark County Farm Bureau near Elmira in Stark county on Nov. 12. Wil- 

 liam's record at 28.83 bushels husked in one hour and 20 minutes compares with his record of 35.76 

 bushels made last year which still stands as the world's record. 



The contest went off smoothly under the direction of O. L. Hatch, president of the Stark County 

 Farm Bureau, and farm adviser E. E. Brown. The people of the Elmira Community club provided 

 helpers and lunch. The 15 contestants had all been selected at county contests conducted by the farm 

 bureaus of Piatt, Livingston, Mason, McLean, Moultrie, Montgomery, Knox, McDonough, Mercer, Han- 

 cock, Marshall-Putnam, Rock Island, Ford and Stark. 



Williams lost the Mid-West contest at Fremont, Nebr., the following week to Fred Stanek of Iowa 

 ^rho brought in a net load of 27.07 bu. The Nebraska corn ^ras lighter and the husks were much tighter 

 about the ears thus giving book buskers the advantage. 



Exposition and Old Time Farm 

 Dance New Features This 

 Year. 



Among other speakers sched- 

 uled for the three-day program 

 are; 



Magnus Alexander — Prcs. Na- 

 tional Industrial Conference 

 Board, N. Y. 

 Robert S. Pack — Pres. National 

 Electric Light Ass'n., Minne- 

 apolis. 

 Dr. B. W. Cilgore — Pres. Amer- 

 ican Cotton Growers* Ass'n. 



Dr. Carl C. Taylor Dean and 



director. North Carolina Agri* 

 cultural College. 

 S. J. Duncan Clark — Editor Chi- 

 cag< Evening Post. 



American Cotton Growers Ass'n, 

 the great cooperative of the South 

 figures that 6,000,000 bales of cot- 

 ton could have been bought at the 

 going price of $60 per bale for 

 $360,000,000, and the crop would 

 still have given the grower $400,- 

 000,000 more than he stands to re- 

 ceive under existing conditions. 



The real problem of agriculture 

 is to prevent the overwhelming de- 

 pression in prices, created by small 

 surpluses. 



This was the central thought of 

 every speech made in the conven- 

 tion. 



"Surpluses are necessary if the 

 world is to be fed and clothed," de- 

 clared Gov. Lowden repeatedly, and 

 time after time he presented facts 

 and illustrations using the corn, po- 

 tato and cotton crops of successive 

 years to show how the smaller crop 

 invariably is worth more than the 

 larger crop. 



Stabilisation Possible. 



"Surpluses can be controlled and 

 prices stabilized," declared Lowden. 

 He cited the Brazilian government's 

 mass selling of coffee, and the Eng- 

 lish government's curtailment of 

 rubber offered to foreign trade, as 

 examples of price stabilization. 



Lowden reaffirmed his conviction 

 that a Federal farm board with 

 broad powers could stabilize prices, 

 remove surpluses from channels of 

 trade, and assess the cost equally 

 among all producers of the com- 

 modity. 



"I'm satisfied," declared Lowden, 

 "that' the present distress among 

 cotton growers of the South could 

 have been averted by a Federal 

 farm board, which could have main- 

 tained a price of 18 to 20 cents per 

 pound for cotton." 



Illinois was well represented at 

 the gathering by farm bureau mem- 

 bers, farm advisers, and county and 

 state executive officers from every 

 section. Dr. Tait Butler, editor of 

 the Progressive Farmer, the South's 

 great farm paper, presided. 



The happiest moment of a fail- 

 ure's life — quitting time. 



Gas Tax and Income 

 Tax With Exemptions 

 May Be New Proposals 



Legislative Committee Adopts 

 Policy Against Any Increase 

 in Taxes to Farmers. 



Frank Barton, 

 the legislative 



4 DETERMINED stand a«:ainst 



■^ any kind of legislation that will 

 increase taxes 

 to farmers or at- 

 tempt to saddle 

 any additional 

 burden on farm 

 property will 

 form the founda- 

 tion for the legis- 

 lative program of 

 the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Associa- 

 tion in the com- 

 ing legislature. 



This was the 

 policy adopted by 

 committee, Frank 

 Barton, chairman, which met in Chi- 

 cago recently to outline its plans for 

 the coming year. 



Gas Tax Discussed. 



While specific legislation to be 

 supported by the Association was 

 not considered in detail, a gas tax 

 with the "in lieu of" feature which 

 assures that such a tax will replace 

 a portion of the county road -and 

 bridge tax, in equal amount, will 

 undoubtedly get the Association 

 backing. "The Association will be 

 against such a tax that adds to the 

 farmers' burden. 



Incensed at the defeat of the tax 

 amendment proposal, the committee 

 urged that the Association continue 

 its efforts toward keeping alive the 

 general tax relief committee of 

 state organizations that it may con- 

 tinue its campaign of education. 



Income Tax Recommended. 



As one step toward getting the 

 public interested in a new taxing 

 system, the enactment of a state, 

 income tax law with sufficiently higl^ 



(Continue<1 on cul. 3. pai^c 4. ) 



Eastern Policy of 

 Exploiting Farmer 

 Condemned by Peek 



Declare Farniers' Job to Pro- 

 duce Cheap Foods to Aid 

 American Industry and Ex- 

 ports. 



(Continued from last month.) 

 The farm debt has more than 

 trebled and the actual exchange 

 value of farm lands has de- 

 clined 20 per cent during the past 

 15 years. There is continuing in 

 this country on a vast scale a redis- 

 tribution of wealth away from the 

 farms into the cities — from those 

 who have produced it to those who 

 have not. 



Hoover and Mellon say in sub- 

 stance that American farmers must 

 provide the food and raw material 

 for American industry and labor at 

 prices no high^ than foreign manu- 

 facturers and labor pay. Why? 

 In order that American industry 

 may export manufactured goods in 

 competition with Europe. 

 ' In other words Hoover and Mel- 

 lon and all they stand for are push- 

 ing as America's new policy toward 

 agriculture, the proposition that it 

 is the American farmer's duty and 

 place to produce and sell here at 

 home just as cheaply as does the 

 Russian t>^asant and the South 

 American peon in Europe. 



Their aim is to develop the capa- 

 city of the United States to compete 

 for world markets with industrial 

 expqrts. They suggest that to make 

 this possible the American farmer 

 must provide the basic materials on 

 the same level as the foreign indus- 

 trialists are supplied. They hope 

 the American farmer can do this 

 and maintain his standard of living 

 by superior and increasing efficiency 

 in production and distribution. If 

 he cannot that is his hard luck; no 

 matter what happens to him he must 

 make it possible for our industrial 

 exports to continue. 



Lower Wages Result 



To apply this same reasoning 



(C«ntinued on ool. 4, pare 4.) 



4^.:.,ri 



FRANK O. LOWDEK, Illi- 

 nois' war governor and 

 champion of agriculture, will 

 be the key-note speaker at the 

 annual meeting of the Amer- 

 ican Farm Bureau Federation, 

 Chicago, Dec, 6-7-8. Gov. 

 Lowden's address will be made 

 on Wednesday moiiiing, Dec. 

 8, when agricultural leaders 

 from everj' state in the Union 

 will assemble for the most rep- 

 resentative farm gathering 

 ever held in the United States. 

 A varied program with speak- 

 ers representing .several ^schools 

 of thought on agricultural re- 

 lief is promised. 



The Eighth Annual 'Meeting 

 which takes place the aecood week 

 in December will 

 find the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau 

 more firmly en- ^^ 

 trenched in its \ 

 position as first , ' 

 i n agricultural 

 America, than at 

 any previous 

 time since its 

 formation. It wiil 

 j find at the helm, 

 I Sam Thompson, 



"Our Sam," a Frank O. Lowdm 



vigorous thinker 



and fighter for agriculture who 

 came up through the ranks from a 

 farm to farm membership cam- 

 paigner to his present position. 



Country Dance Monday. 



An old-fashioned countrj' dance 

 the first night of the convention, a 

 banquet in the Grand Ballroom of 

 the Hotel Sherman on Tuesday 

 night, and the First National Farm 

 Bureau Agricultural Exposition are 

 new features. 



The A^icultural Exposition will 

 display a cross-section of farm bu- 

 reau activities, cooperative market- 

 ing, and commercial institutions 

 that supply fkrmers' needs. The 

 entire mezzanine floor of the hotel 

 has been engaged for the exhibits. 



On Friday and Saturday preced- 

 ing the convention, a hom« and 

 community traisinK school will be 

 held. 



The meeting this year will un- 

 doubtedly have greater significance 

 and will present a group with more 

 unitj- of thought and spirit than at 

 any previous time. 



