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Illinois A^ctdtural Association 



RECORD 



Published monlhly br the IllinoU Ajcriruttiir;il A^sortaflon at 404 North W.'slt'y Ave.. Mrunf Morris. 111. Knfrrfd .ts peeond cla53 m.■^ttfr ;it iH>?f-.^r<? af Mount M-»rri«. Ul.. 

 Octotier 20, l92o, undt^r the Acl of Mir. 3. isry. .\i ceptancc for mailing at special rate "f po>Ia;:c prn\iilf.J in >n[ian 112. Avt of February 2S. lit-,:.-., auttxH-ir.. d O-tobt-r :!7. l»tr. 



Volume 5 



JUNE, 1928 



Number 6 



THE CORN BELT SPEAKS 



Mass Meetings Express Indignation at President's 

 Veto and Coolidge- Hoover Negative Farm Policy 



ILLINOIS, Iowa and other corn belt , 

 states gave emphasis to the west- 

 ern revolt ajrainst the administration's 

 negative farm policy following Presi- 

 dent Coolidge's second veto message, 

 in a series of great mass meetings 

 held during the past three weeks. 



Simultaneous assemblies at Spi'ing- 

 tield and Galesburg on Saturday, May 

 26, voiced the pent-up wrath of a 

 long-sutfering, patient Middle West 

 populace at the rank injustice of an 

 administration which will go down in 

 history as one controlled and motivated 

 by the narrow sectionalism of selfish 

 and industrial class interest. 



Thousands of farmers, bankers, mer- 

 chants, and business men met to de- 

 nounce the open opposition of those 

 in control of the government, to equal- 

 ity for agriculture and a square deal to 

 the West. 



All Central Illinois turned out more 

 than 3,000 strong in the Springfield 

 arsenal where the aged Joseph W. 

 P"ifer of Bloomington, former governor 

 of Illinois and civil war veteran who 

 saw the birth of the Republican Party 

 in the Middle West, made a ringing key- 

 note speech denouncing the action of 

 President Coolidge in twice refusing 

 western agriculture a seat at the table 

 of privilege. Col. Geo C. Seamen, ex- 

 tensive, landowner in Christian county, 

 was the chairman of the meeting. 



The meeting was not a farmers' 

 meeting alone. Such bankers and 

 business men as E. E. Crabtree, mayor 

 of Jacksonville, and Andrew Russel 

 from the same city espoused the cause 

 of agriculture in vigorous language. 

 John P. Stout, farmer, of Chatham 

 forcefully expressed the resentment of 

 corn belt farmers at the President's 

 harsh and unsympathetic treatment of 

 legislation painstakingly prepared dur- 

 ing a five-year effort to make the 

 tariff effective on the major farm pro- 

 ducts. 



A touch of color was added to the 



scene when a banner carrying the slo- 

 gan "We Want A Statesman for Presi- 

 dent," was hoisted in the crowd while 

 Bill Gardner of Logan county sang 

 "Who'll Carry The Banner." ' Other 

 banners carried the words, "Goodbve 

 Cal and Herhy, Hello Frank." '•• ' 



Here Are The Resolutions .; 



The resolutions adopted before the 

 close of the session set forth in un- 

 equivocal terms that "the President's 

 veto message of the McXary-Haugen 



KEYNOTER AT SPRINGFIELD 



T,^X.GOV. JOS. W. FIFER is known by his 

 ■L-' friends as "Private Joe." Born in Virginia 

 in 1840, he will celebrate his 88th birthday 

 in October. Mr. Fifer came to McLean county 

 in 1857, where his father started farming, 

 and plied his trade as bricklayer. 



Mr. Fifer is a Civil War veteran and saw 

 service with the 33rd Illinois Volunteer In- 

 fantry at the fall of Vicksburg. He was 

 wounded in action at Jackson, Miss., when 

 Sherman's forces assaulted the forces of 

 General Johnston. 



He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan Uni- 

 versity in 1868. was admitted to the bar. 

 elected to the State Senate in 1880, and later 

 was elected governor of Illinois. 



bill discloses a lack>o£ understanding 

 and genuine sympathy of the funda- 

 mental problem facing American ag- 

 riculture, by the President and his ad- 

 visers: 



"That the principles bf this leirislation 

 arc well within the limitatictns .set ff»rlh irt 

 til,' Kfpublican party's platform <if \\vl% 

 upon which the a<lmini!4traiif>n rami- into 

 power; 



"That we. the thouKands of citizens n-p- 

 rescntinir the unalterabl,. sentiment of Ceii- 

 tral Illinois in mass m«*etinj: ass<-mliU*d anil 

 rcjrardless of party frel we no lon;r»*r can 

 flepend upon party pledtres ; and wt* serve- 

 notice here and now uptm the rfsp,K-tiv«- 

 Icaders of all parties that our support will 

 iro only to those candiilates for President 

 of the United Stales who have a sympa- 

 thetic understandinir of this preat fiiiestion 

 and whfi have the initiative and couraire to 

 Bee that the benefits of trovernmental poli- 

 cies are ext^-n'leil to: all economic vrroups 

 »>f the Uniteil .States on an cijual basis; 



Nothing But Mockery 



"That the action of President C*MiliiIire in 

 vctoinc the McNary-Hauiren bill. after 

 the Congress had doixt^ its utmost to fairly 

 meet his expressed views without destroy- 

 insr the principle of the bill by removjnv: 

 the e<|uaIi7.ation fee. constitut<'s the final 

 proof that a pledite for a siiuare deal for 

 agriculture is but mockery, unless it l.c 

 administered by a ('resident who under- 

 stands and at heart desjres a fair solution 

 of the airricultural prob'i,-m ; 



"That the developments since 1^24 ha\e 

 proven: (1) That members of Conrress of 

 all political parties from all ai-ricultural 

 ifistricts are stan^lintr firmly and .-.iiira^.-- 

 ously with the farmtrs in their fii-ht for 

 equality for acriculture. (2) That party 

 lines have <lisappearc<l itv this ti'.'hi. fMi 

 That all the .-tTorts that the e\e<-ijtive 

 . branch of the troveniimi-nt has nia<le to re- 

 deem the party's pleitee to ai-ricult ;iri' haw- 

 been trivial, insincere, and not intended to 

 brinp about ai;ricultural t-«iuality. (Ij That 

 Herbert Hoover, who is Ispokesman for the 

 ■ xiKirter and profes-tioritl tradi-r in farm 

 • rops. many of whotn are his clos.-st ad- 

 \ isers on airricultural HUestions. has been 

 the (ruiiiinc influenci* with President Cool- 

 idfe in his attitude to»vard our problem. 

 (5) That hope for tihe adoption of a fair 

 national policy toward acricultiire lies onl.v 

 in the complete rei>Ufliat inn of the Coolidj.-. - 

 Hotiver leadership. 



Hoover Against Farmers 



"That in view of Mr. Hoover's well-known 

 rect»rd ai^ainst the interests <»f the farm,-r- 

 of the country and the intensely or-.,'ai]i/.--d 

 campaiirn. which he and the special interest < 

 bai-k of him are makintr to secure for him 

 the Republican nomiiuition. we call upon all 

 delet-ate-j to the RepublScan National Con- 

 vention ^o work to the end for the nomina- 

 tion of a man who is known to have a pra. - 

 tical and, sympath.tic underslandini: of ih- 

 farm problem and who ! has the initiative, 

 ability, and couraee to |see that this pn.b. 



