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THE I. A. -A. RECORD 



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Poyg Three 



PASSES BEYOND 



Ckarles R. Pinley 



ALL Illinois mourned the sudden 

 ^passing of Charles R. Finley, who 

 died from an unexpected heart attack 

 on Saturday morning, Nov. 26, at his 

 home in Hoopeston. 



Mr. Finley rose to prominence in 

 Illinois agriculture shortly after the 

 re-organization of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association at Peoria in 1919. 

 He was one of the group that pledged 

 $300 each to see the Association 

 through the strenuous days of reforma- 

 tion when it became established as the 

 greatest state agricultural organiza- 

 tion in the country. » 



Previous to that time, Mr. Finley 

 led in org^anizing the Vermilion County 

 Farm Bureau which he served as presi- 

 dent for six years. In 1921 he was 

 elected to represent the eighteenth 

 congressional district on the Executive 

 Committee of the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association. He was re-elected in 

 1922 and 1923, and in 1926 was elect- 

 ed vice-president of the Association in 

 the annual meeting at Champaig^i. 



He assumed an important role in 

 the activities of the Association and 

 served on the Finance Committee dur- 

 ing his incumbency. 



Mr. Finley was born at Rossville on 

 September 6, 1857 and spent his en- 

 tire life in Vermilion county. After 

 graduating from the Hoopeston High 

 School in 1886, he entered the Na- 

 tional Normal School at Lebanon, 

 Ohio. After graduating from that in- 

 stitution, he returned to Vermilion 

 county and taught school for several 

 years before he married and started 

 farming. His good judgment and abil- 

 ity was early recognized in his home 

 community where he became a director 

 and later president of the Grant Town- 

 ship Mutual Fire Insurance Co., which 

 position he held until his death. 



Mr. Finley gave his life toward de- 

 veloping and improving the 400 acre 

 Meadowbrook Farm south of Hoopes- 

 ton where he lived until last spring, 

 when he moved to town. He was a 

 leading proponent of Dr. Hopkins' sys- 



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tem of permanent soil fertility. Nom- 

 inated as a Master Farmer last spring, 

 Mr. Finley placed third high in the 

 state but was declared ineligible be- 

 cause he moved off the farm shortly 

 before being scored. 



Locally, he was active in the Meth- 

 odist Church, in the Masonic order at 

 Hoopeston, at Danville, and in other 

 social and fraternal groups. 



Mr. Finley was well known through- 

 out the state because of his long as- 

 sociation as a director and officer in 

 the I. A. A. News of his passing came 

 as a shock to his associates at head- 

 quarters of the Association where he 

 had vifeited only a week before his un- 

 timely death. His quiet, good-natured 

 conservatism and unfailing good hu- 

 mor made him popular and highly re- 

 spected. He was recognized as* an ag- 

 gressive farm leader of the finest type. 

 H\s interest in the affairs of organized 

 agriculture and the Association con- 

 tinued until the last. 



The Association sent flowers in token 

 of its sorrow and respect. Frank D. 

 Barton, vice-president, represented the 

 organization at his funeral held on 

 Nov. 30 at Hoopeston. j • 



At the regular meeting of the Execu- 

 tive Committee Dec. 9 the following 

 resolution was adopted and forwarded 

 to Mrs. Finley, Margaret A. Finley, 

 his daughter, and Marion R. and Watts 

 Finley, his two sons: 



WHEREAS: It has been the will of 

 Almighty God, who in his providence 

 does all things well, to remove from 

 earthly activities Chas. R. Finley ofi 

 Hoopeston, Illinois, former Executive 

 Committeeman of the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association from the Eighteenth 

 District during the years 1921, 1922 

 and 1923, and Vice-President of the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association dur- 

 ing the year 1926, a trusted leader, a 

 friend of those in need, an exemplary 

 citizen, a staunch* friend of the farmer 

 and of every effort put forth for the 

 raising of the standard of living on the 

 farm. •'. -^ : V'-^v.-- \-- : ■ f ' 



gE IT RESOLVED: That we, the 

 Executive Committee and officers of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association, in 

 regular session assembled on this 9th 

 day of December, 1927, do hereby 

 testify our sincere respect for him and 

 that we express our deep sympathy to 

 the family of the deceased in their af- 

 fliction and mourn with them the loss 

 of one whose friendship we prize and 

 whose life was replete with many good, 

 kind deeds. 



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 

 That these resolutions be made a part 

 of the records of the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association and that a copy of 

 the same be mailed lo the family of 

 the deceased. 



; \ .. 



John C. Watson 



^- 'lH-i|- 



Pulaski Officials In 



-- ■ j Tax Hearing Dec. 13 



I. A. A. and Farm Bureau Figures Show 

 Discrepancy in Tax Valuations 



RB. Endicott, ^A. J. Shoenborn, 

 • John C. Watson, and Donald 

 Kirkpatrick represented the Pulaski 



County Farm Bu- 

 reau and the IIU- 

 nois Agricultural 

 Association rer 

 spectively in a 

 hearing before the. 

 Illinois Tax Com-> 

 mission on Tues- , 

 day, Dec. 13, re- 

 garding tax in- 

 equalities in Pul- 

 aski county. 



Representing the 

 taxing districts of • 

 the county were 

 the county clerk, 

 the county judge, 

 and a local attorney. The hearing 

 was called in behalf of equalizing tax 

 valuations between various classes of 

 property and taxing districts. 



Tests of valuations made by Mr. 

 Watson over a period of 15 months 

 beginning Jan. 1, 1926, revealed that 

 there was a marked lack of uniformity 

 in assessed valuations. Farm lands it 

 was shown were assessed on the aver- 

 age about 18 per cent higher than 

 the average of city lots and other real 

 estate in the municipalities of the 

 county. In Mound City, however, the 

 records revealed that valuations were 

 higher even than farm lands. 



County Officials Willins 



The county officials on the basis of, 

 a study of more recent sales, refi^sed 

 to admit the inequalities charged. 

 They expressed their willingness to 

 comply with the law and make any 

 adjustments which seemed necessary 

 according to the facts. They were 

 fearful of making any changes be- 

 cause of the expense involved, and the 

 extremely low total valuations in the 

 county. 



The Commission requested that the 

 I. A. A. and Farm Bureau represen- 

 tatives meet with the county officials 

 without delay and go over the records 

 of sales and assessments in an effort to 

 agree on the needed adjustments. f[ 



Watson's figures which were com- 

 piled from all usable records of sales 

 from Jan. 1, 1926, to April 1, 1927. 

 showed that farm lands were assessed 

 at 52.12 per cent of their fair cash 

 value whereas in the municipalities as 

 a whole the assessed valuations aver- 

 aged only about 42.50 per cent of 

 their fair selling values. ^'t , ; 



The U. S. Bureau of Mines recently let 



a contract for drilling its fifth potash test 

 well. The location of the well is on Harris 

 Bros, ranch in Crockett county. Texas. 



Drilling will be done with cable tools to 

 the top of the potash-bearing salts, a depth 

 of approximately 1,190 feet. After the salU 

 are encountered, the diamond drill will be em- 

 ployed. The well will be sunk to a total 

 depth of about 2.M0 feet. 



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