THE 1. A. A. RECORD 



Page Five 



Pro- 

 opera- 





Sam H. Thompson 



Sam Thompson Calls 



Hoover Agricultural 



Statement Heartening 



If A Better Way Can Be Found To Solve 

 Problem We'll Support It 



QUOTING freely from the campaign 

 speeches of President-EIect Hoo- 

 ver and calling special attention to 

 his promise to "call a special session 

 in order that we might speedily ar- 

 rive at a determination of the ques- 

 tion before the next harvest" Sam 

 H. Thompson, president of the Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation de- 

 clared that this 

 statement is the 

 most heartening 

 thing that has hap- 

 pened since we 

 waged our battle 

 for equality for 

 agriculture. 



"At last the 

 agricultural prob- 

 lem has become 

 the nation's prob- 

 lem," said Mr. 

 Thompson. "We 

 have always con- 

 tended and now 



contend, that the American policy of 

 protection should be made just as 

 effective for agriculture as it has been 

 for industry and labor, and thus as- 

 sure the farmer an American price 

 for the products of his labor, al- 

 though it may be necessary to sell a 

 portion of that product abroad. 



We Will Cooperate 



"It is well known that we have 

 sponsored and supported the meas- 

 ures that we sincerely felt would 

 achieve that purpose, but now, with 

 the forthcoming administration offer- 

 ing a broad program that will give 

 agriculture the benefits of the pro- 

 tective system and achieve for agri- 

 culture a place on a basis of equality 

 with industry, labor and finance, it 

 would seem wisdom, on our part, that 

 we hold ourselves in readiness to con- 

 sider on their merits such measures 

 as will be advanced from time to 

 time, and that we should allow oppor- 

 tunity for the best minds in America 

 to study this program, because we are 

 told in the Good Book that 'in a mul- 

 titude of counsel there is wisdom.' 



"If after mature thought and de- 

 liberation, a better way has been 

 found that will do this job, then we 

 should support the better way and see 

 that it is enacted into law. This is 

 of such vital importance to the wel- 

 fare of thirty million farm people 

 first, and to the nation as a whole, 

 that the way it is accomplished is in- 

 significant in comparison to the im- 

 portance of having it done well and 

 effectively." 



Tax Gathering Proposed 



Mr. Thompson's speech, which 

 dealt largely with the present eco- 

 nomic situation in agriculture, the 

 ever changing problems brought on 

 by chang^ing habits and new alig^i- 



:£»saK&s&a;£»s»£»EfiK^a!;j3s(£«»K{id 



i 



g Keeping Christmas a 



THERE is a better thing tharj 

 the observance of Christ-- 

 mas Day, and that is, keeping 

 Christmas. Are you willing to 

 forget what you have done for 

 other people, and to remember 

 what other people have done 

 for you; to ignore what the 

 world owes you, and to think 

 what you owe the world; to 

 put your rights in the back- 

 ground, and your duties in the 

 middle distance, and your 

 chances to do a little more 

 than your duty in the fore- 

 ground; to see that your fellow- 

 men are just as real as you 

 are, and try to look behind their 

 faces to their hearts, hungry 

 for joy; to own that probably 

 the only good reason for your 

 existence is not what you ar« 

 going to get out of life, but 

 what you are going_ to give to 

 life; to close your book of com- 

 plaints against the manage- 

 ment of the universe, and look 

 around for a place where you 

 can sow a few seeds of happi- 

 ness — are you willing to do 

 these things even for a day? 

 Then you can keep Christmas. 

 — Henry Van Dyke. 



ments, was highly commended by 

 journalists, observers, and delegates 

 attending the convention. 



Mr. Thompson quoted freely from 

 the National Industrial Conference 

 Board report. He stressed the need 

 for a new deal on taxation and assess- 

 ment of taxes according to ability to 

 pay. He stated that the Federation 

 expects to inaugurate an effective 

 nation-wide campaign for the equal- 

 ization of taxes in the coming year. 

 To this end a conference of dele- 

 gates from each state will be called to 

 consider this question early in 1929. 

 He dwelled at lengrth on the goal of 

 the Farm Bureau program which in 

 the last analysis is better farm homes 

 and a satisfactory standard of living 

 for the countryman. 



Champaign Market 



Sells $366,667.07 



The total sales of the farmers mar- 

 keted at Champaign during 1928 

 amounted to $366,667.07. Among the 

 farm commodities sold direct to con- 

 sumers were chickens, geese, butter, 

 eggs, sausage, other meats, pastries, 

 fruits, and vegetables. 



F. B. F. Stands By 

 Former Policies But 



Pledges Cooperation 



Resolutions Adopted With Little Impor- 

 tant Discussion 



A STRONG resolution reiterating 

 the faith of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation in its previous 

 policies with reference to surplus con- 

 trol legislation, but expressing a will- 

 ingness to cooperate with President- 

 EIect Hoover in any plan he proposes 

 that promises to make the American 

 protective system apply to agricul- 

 ture, was passed without a dissenting 

 vote on the last day of the American 

 Farm Bureau convention, held \n 

 Chicago last week. 



There were two major resolutions; 

 ' one dealing with the question of a 

 national policy for agriculture, the 

 other with the tariff. Since both are 

 of particular importance they are pre- 

 sented in detail as follows: 



A National Policy for Agriculture 



I "The control of agricultural sur- 



; pluses is the dominant economic 

 question which faces us at the pres- 

 ent time. This problem has become 

 a national issue and is not of concern 

 alone to agriculture, 

 t "We reiterate the principles for 



! which we have striven in the past to 

 remove the effects of surpluses which, 

 by imposing upon us a world price 

 rather than an American price and 



j by making the tariff largely without 

 benefit to the producers of farm 

 crops, have in the past and will in the 

 future, if continued, make it impos- 

 sible to maintain the American stand- 

 ard of living upon our farms. 



"The questions of surplus control, 

 seasonal and otherwise, for their 

 proper solution require that the en- 

 tire crop be brought under the regu- 

 lation of efficient marketing and dis- 

 tribution which is too g:reat a task 

 for our present cooperative com- 

 modity marketing associations of 

 themselves to accomplish. Failures 

 in cooperative marketing have oc- 

 curred mostly because it has proven 

 to be difficult and in most cases im- 

 possible to acquire control of the 

 whole crop. This has resulted in a 

 small part of the crop, produced by a 

 ismall fraction of the total producers, 

 being required to bear the burden of 

 Surplus control and distribution for 

 the entire production; and has made 

 It impossible to require all portions of 

 the crop to share in the cost o^ bring- 

 ing the crop into the American Pro- 

 tective System. Tariffs on farm 

 Tops, however, are not substitutes 

 for surplus control legislation, and 

 he partially ineffective on crops 

 vhich produce surpluses. Neither 

 does acreage regulation, by govem- 



tental mandate or by voluntary agree- 

 ent, guarantee control of surplus. 

 "Legislation must be adopted to 

 make the tariff effective on surplus 

 producing crops using cooperative 

 marketing associations as the instru- 

 (Continued on page 7) 



