Page Four 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



on crops of which we prodnce a nor- 

 mal surplus. 



The Republican Convention at Kan- 

 sas City rejected the resolution known 

 as the minority farm plank, presented 

 and advocated by organized agricul- 

 ture. The Democratic Convention at 

 Houston a short time later adopted a 

 farm plank which frankly recognized 

 the cardinal principle sought by farm- 

 ers, namely that of spreading the cost 

 of handling burdensome crop surpluses 

 over each unit of the commodity bene- 

 fited. However, it did not commit the 

 party definitely to the manner in which 

 this principle was to be made effective. 



Commitments of Presidential candi- 

 dates mean more than party platforms. 

 We have learned this by experience. 

 We, therefore, have followed with in- 

 terest and concern the expressions of 

 the nominees on agriculture. You will 

 find them elsewhere in this publication. 

 As these statements which appeared in 

 the acceptance and campaign speeches 

 of the candidates came to our atten- 

 tion, we compared them with our pro- 

 gram for a solution of the farm prob- 

 lem, the program which was twice 

 passed by a bi-partisan vote in the 

 69th and 70th sessions of Congress. 



We have given full credit for the 

 commendable expressions and commit- 

 ments in the acceptance speeches of 

 both Secretary Hoover and Governor 

 Smith. We also pointed out what each 

 candidate had failed to say by way of 

 specific pledges in recognition of the 

 agricultural problem. We sought to 

 make our comments square with the 

 policy and program organized agricul- 

 ture has heretofore supported. In do- 

 ing this, we followed our adopted pol- 

 icy of rejecting inadequate substitutes 

 and standing for what we believe is 

 best. 



The disposition of Illinois farmers 

 to break away from party lines and 

 vote for those candidates whose rec- 

 ords and agricultural commitments are 

 most satisfactory denotes constructive 

 and sound thought. Our greatest hope 

 toward electing fair and friendly pub- 

 lic officials and law-making bodies lies 

 in this direction. The records of can- 

 didates for Cong:ress and the State 

 legislature who served in the 70th 

 Congress and in the last General As- 

 sembly were published in the March 

 issue, which we asked you to save for 

 future reference. We have purposely 

 gathered all this material in one issue, 

 and we again repeat our policy so as 

 to remove any misapprehension or mis- 

 understanding in the minds of our 

 members. 



Ponder carefully the expressions, 

 commitments and records of all candi- 

 dates for public office. Again we re- 

 peat, we endorse no candidate. We 

 merely present their records and ask 

 you to gro to the polls and vote for the 

 candidate, who in your judgment, will 

 best serve agriculture. 



THE REPUBLICAN FARM PLANK 



In 1920 onlj about hmlf of the 

 qualified men anil women voted. Help 

 beat that record at the polls on Nov. 6. 



AGRICULTURE 



(Adopted at Kansas City, June 14, 

 1928) 



THE agricultural problem is nation- 

 al in scope and, as such, is recog- 

 nized by the Republican party, which 

 pledges its strength and energy to the 

 solution of the same. Realizing that 

 many farmers are facing problems 

 more difficult than those which are the 

 portion of many other basic industries, 

 the party is anxious to aid in every 

 way possible. 



Many of our farmers are still going 

 through readjustments, a relic of the 

 years directly following the great war. 

 All the farmers are being called on 

 to meet new and perplexing conditions 

 created by foreign competition, the 

 complexities of domestic marketing, 

 labor problems, and a steady increase 

 in local and state taxes. 



The general depression in a great 

 basic industry inevitably reacts upon 

 the conditions in the country as a 

 whole and cannot be ignored. It is a 

 matter of satisfaction that the desire 

 to help in the correction of agricultur- 

 al wrongs and conditions is not con- 

 fined to any one section of our coun- 

 try or any particular group. 



Achievements Cited 



The Republican party and the Re- 

 publican administration, particularly 

 during the last five years, have settled 

 many of the most distressing problems 

 as they have arisen, and the achieve- 

 ments in aid of agriculture are prop- 

 erly a part of this record. The Re- 

 publican congresses have been most re- 

 sponsive in the matter of agrricultural 

 appropriations, not only to meet crop 

 emergencies, but for the extension and 

 development of the activities of the 

 department of agriculture. 



The protection of the American 

 farmer against foreign farm competi- 

 tion and foreign trade practices has 

 been vigorously carried on by the de- 

 partment of state. The right of the 

 farmers to engage in collective buying 

 and cooperative selling as provided for 

 by the Capper-Volstead act of 1922 

 has been promulgated through the de- 

 partment of agriculture and the de- 

 partment of justice, which have given 

 most valuable aid and assistance to 

 the heads of the farm organizations. 



The treasury department and the 

 proper committees of congress have 

 lightened the tax burden on farming 

 communities, and through the federal 

 farm loan system there has been made 

 available to the farmers of the nation 

 $1,850,000,000 for lending purposes at 



a low rate of interest, and through 

 the intermediate credit banks $665,- 

 000,000 of short term credits have 

 been made available to the farmers. 



Rural Free Delivery 



The post office department has sys- 

 tematically and generously extended 

 the rural free delivery routes into 

 even the most sparsely settled com- 

 munities. 



When a shortage of transportation 

 facilities threatened to deprive the 

 farmers of their opportunity to reach 

 waiting markets overseas, the presi- 

 dent, appreciative and sensitive of the 

 condition and the possible loss to the 

 communities, ordered the recondition- 

 ing of shipping board vessels, thus re- 

 lieving a great emergency. 



Last, but not least, the federal 

 tariff commission has at all times 

 shown a willingness under the provi- 

 sions of the flexible tariff act to aid 

 the farmers when foreigni competition, 

 made possible by low wage scales 

 abroad, threatened to deprive our 

 farmers of their domestic markets. 

 Under this act the president has in- 

 creased duties on wheat, flour, mill 

 feed and dairy products. Numerous 

 other farm products are now being in- 

 vestigated by the tariff commission. 



We promise every assistance in the 

 reorganization of the marketing sys- 

 tem on sounder and more economical 

 lines and, where diversification is 

 needed, government financial assis- 

 tance during the period of transition. 



The Republican party pledges itself 

 to the enactment of legislation creat- 

 ing a federal farm board clothed with 

 the necessary powers to promote the 

 establishment of a farm marketing 

 system of farmer-owned and con- 

 trolled stabilization, corporations or 

 associations to prevent and control 

 surpluses through orderly distribution. 



We favor adequate tariff protection 

 to such of our agricultural products 

 as are affected by foreign competition. 



We favor, without putting the gov- 

 ernment into business, the establish- 

 ment of a federal system of organiza- 

 tion for co-operative and orderly mar- 

 keting of farm products. 



The vigorous efforts of this admin- 

 istration toward broadening our ex- 

 ports market will be continued. 



The Republican party pledges itself 

 to the development and enactment of 

 measures which will place the agri- 

 cultural interests of America on a 

 basis of economic equality with other 

 industry to insure its prosperity and 

 success. 



