THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Fifteen 



29. 



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44 



L. A. Williams 



First Year Record of 



Country Life Cited 



Manager L. A. Williams Talks to 



First Agents* Conference 

 "rpiHE record established by the Coun- 

 X try Life Insurance Company in 1929 

 so far as I know is unprecedented in the 

 field of life insurance," Manager L. A. Wil- 

 liams told some 400 agents and visitors at 

 their first conference held in Springfield on 

 Jan. 29. "When Illi- 

 nois farmers placed 

 on the books of their 

 company a total of 

 $22,372,000 of paid- 

 for life insurance in 

 one year at $10 per 

 thousand less for the 

 first year than the 

 average competitor 

 in the closest field," 

 he said, "they accom- 

 plished what old ex- 

 perienced life insur- 

 ance men said could not be done. The out- 

 standing life insurance actuary of the mid- 

 dle west, L. A. Glover of Chicago, has ad- 

 vised us that our first year cost and over- 

 head was $10 per thousand less than the 

 average of 16 companies in our class, that 

 is, having $10,000,000 to $40,000,000 of 

 insurance in force. Country Life did this 

 with practically all new and inexperienced 

 agents, wrote not a single dollar's worth of 

 term insurance, nor touched one dollar of 

 its original surplus. 



It Can Be Done 



"You will remember a year ago that 

 much criticism was directed against the 

 Farm Bureau for entering the life insur- 

 ance field. Many ventured prophecies to 

 the effect that dire consequences would re- 

 sult from this action. They predicted that 

 farmers would be sadder but wiser within a 

 short time. The fact that this great co- 

 operative insurance program has succeeded 

 beyond the dreams of its founders and to 

 the amazement of the life insurance fra- 

 ternity, is the answer of Illinois farmers to 

 the doubting Thomases. The results speak 

 for themselves. Nearly $23,000,000 of in- 

 surance taken by Illinois farmers in their 

 own company in the first year of its exist- 

 ence is their reply to the time-worn 

 prophecy, "it can't be done." The project 

 succeeded because there was a place for 

 this company. No first-year record of any 

 company ever organized in America, nor 

 anywhere else, approaches that of the Coun- 

 try Life Insurance Company. 



80 Counties Organized 

 "Today we have an agency force organ- 

 ized in more than 80 counties. It is true 

 that many of our agents are comparatively 

 inexperienced in the selling field, but we 

 have one tremendous advantage. The heart 

 of Country Life differs from that of other 

 insurance companies because of the enlisted 

 sympathy and sentiment of nearly 60,000 



Illinois Farm Bureau members for making 

 available sound production at low cost. 

 Every life insurance estate created for 

 farmers means greater guaranteed farm 

 wealth. There is no more certain way of 

 guaranteeing the safety of the farm home 

 and estate for the children and grandchil- 

 dren of those who are now tilling the soil. 



"Country Life Insurance Company is a 

 great humanitarian enterprise unselfishly 

 devoted to the future welfare of Illinois 

 agriculture. It seeks to perpetuate the 

 ownership of farms by men who till the 

 soil. Its broad program includes education 

 for farm children as good as that enjoyed 

 by the children in our towns and cities. 

 It provides a definite plan for guaranteeing 

 the payment of the farm mortgage, for 

 heading off bankruptcy, and the passing 

 of farm ownership to non-resident land- 

 lords. 



Uses Established Machinery 



"The Country Life Insurance Company 

 is owned and controlled by those who hold 

 membership in the county Farm Bureaus of 

 Illinois and the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation. The company is using the ma- 

 chinery already established by this great 

 state-wide organization to serve its mem- 

 bers as well as other farmers who are not 

 fortunate enough to be members. 



"The heart of Country Life is strong 

 because of its human and unselfish motives. 

 It surpasses all other companies in its ideals 

 of economy in production. It is insepara- 

 bly bound to the ideals of the Farm 

 Bureau — to gain for farmers equal privilege 

 and protection in the world's markets with 

 that of industrial and other groups." 



Women Want Running 



Water in Farm Home 



Many Speakers Address Conference 

 at Springfield 



A DISCUSSION of running water in 

 every farm home, the chief interest 

 for the moment of the Illinois Home 

 Bureau Federation, featured the recent 

 women's conference held Jan. 30 during 

 the I. A. A. convention at Springfield. 



"Our program is built upon the theory 

 that running water is possible and within 

 the reach of every farm and small town 

 home," said Mrs. Henry Mies, newly elected 

 president of the state Home Bureau. Mrs. 

 Homer R. Johnson, retiring president who 

 made the chief presentation of this topic 

 related some of her personal experiences 

 in getting conveniences installed in an old- 

 fashioned farm house. 



Women Must Demand 

 "Running water in every farm home in 

 McLean county has been the aim of our 

 Home Bureau since its organization," she 

 said. Running water brings satisfaction 

 to the family. Every home should have at 

 least a sink, drain, force pump and pitcher. 

 Women themselves, are often to blame for 

 lack of conveniences in the farm home, 



said the speaker. They are not aggressive 

 enough in demanding conveniences in the 

 home equal to those installed about the 

 farmstead. \ 



The running water' project will be con- 

 tinued over a five year period. The women 

 want every county Farm Bureau to cooper- 

 ate. It was pointed out that a woman 

 carrying water an average distance for a 

 family of five in one year walks 30 miles, 

 and does enough work to plow 10 acres of 

 land and lift 27 to 3 D tons besides. | 



Home Should Train 



Miss Attie Souder, extension specialist 

 from Urbana, said that the aim of the home 

 is to train its members to play the game of 

 life. She asserted that the home must be 

 democratic. She presented statistics reveal- 

 ing that city women spend much more 

 time on children's care and in purchasing 

 and planning than farm women. Miss 

 Souder said that among 733 -farm homes 

 visited in McHenry county, only 86 had a 

 complete water system, 5J2 had a pump 

 and sink, and in 289 it was necessary to 

 carry water from the Well outside. "Own- 

 ers do not appreciate that running water 

 will bring better tenarjts," she said. 



Other speakers who addressed the women 

 briefly were Earl C. Smith, who extended 

 greetings and a welcome from the I. A. A., 

 Samuel R. McKelvie, member of the Fed- 

 eral Farm Board, who stated that sympa- 

 thetic understanding of the farm problem 

 by women was important, and Dean H. W. 

 Mumford of the University of Illinois who 

 among other things said that we often lose 

 sight of the finer things in life because we 

 are compelled to put so much attention on 

 economic affairs. 



Radio Talk Helps 



Mrs. LaFayette Funk, Jr., of McLean 

 county gave a detailed explanation of a 

 simple installation of running water. Mrs. 

 Funk stated that five sink and force pump 

 installations were made in her vicinity as a 

 result of a talk by Mrs. Johnson over WLS 

 on this subject. The force pumps and sinks 

 cost from $6.50 up. 



Mrs. Arthur Sabin of Tazewell county 

 talked about personal experiences in mod- 

 ernizing the farm home. Mrs. Harry Rief- 

 steck of Champaign county discussed the 

 electrically operated water system. 



Following an interesting talk by Law- 

 rence A. Williams, manager of Country 

 Life Insurance Company, in which he urged 

 life insurance as a safe and sound invest- 

 ment as well as a protection to farm women 

 and the farm home, Mrs. W. F. Coolidge, 

 Macoupin county, moved that the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association be solicited to co- 

 operate during the coming year in the 

 "running water in every farm home" 

 project. The motion was seconded and 

 carried unanimously. 



Approximately 200 attended the confer- 

 ence held TTiursday afternoon in the Palm 

 Room, Abraham Linco n Hotel. 



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