THE I. A. A. RECORD 



'' I "IHE ideas of the national chamber of 

 ■JL commerce about the farm problem as 

 evidenced by action taken in the recent 

 convention at Washington appear to have 

 undergone decided changes since the Agri- 

 cultural Marketing Act became operative. 

 Not more than a year ago, the chamber was 

 shouting for co-operative marketing with 

 federal assistance as the way to farm relief. 

 Todiy it is for a Farm Board with clipped 

 win^, without money, and inactive except 

 to piovide information and give the farmer 

 adviie. 



In] other words the chamber now stands 

 for i "do-nothing" policy. Secretary Hyde 

 aptly named it "fat-headed self-complacen- 

 cy," content with things as they are, the 

 laissefe-faire policy. The loud wailing of 

 comtiiission men who fear the competition 

 of eiffective co-operative terminal marketing 

 associations created all the disturbance. The 

 chamber of commerce resolution thus places 

 the Organization on record as against any- 

 thinj that promises to help the farm in- 

 dustiy if it interferes with the present tolls 

 exacted by any of its members. 



There's nothing illegitimate nor criminal 

 abouf my group fighting for economic ad- 

 Tantige. Just so it is honest in doing so 

 and does not misrepresent its intentions. The 

 national chamber of commerce a short time 

 ago cjimpaigned for members among farmers 

 clam:ikng that it was doing much for agri- 

 cultujre, apparently to justify the request 

 for ct)ntributions. When it came to a show 

 downt the organization went on record 

 against co-operative marketing, and against 

 the iiterests of the farmer. 



Alixander Legge, the scrappy chairman 

 of tht Federal Farm Board bluntly told the 

 disap^inted business men, "There has been 

 consi jerable evidence the last several months 

 that lentirely too many of your members 

 were for the principle of co-operation only 

 so lorg as it didn't work." Mr. Legge and 

 Mr. P lyde made a host of fast friends among 

 American farmers when they stood their 

 ground against the selfish attacks of insin- 

 cere nen. 



Our friend and contemporary, Bill Stahl, 

 of th( Farmer's National Grain Corporation 

 descrijes the pilgrimage to Washington in 

 pictu^sque terms as follows: "Several car- 

 loads jof grain traders invaded Washington 

 a fewi days ago for the purpose of asking 

 the Farm Board, the Congress or somebody 

 to keep the farmers from shaking them off. 

 Wheii Coxey's army invaded the capital, 

 you'll (remember, it hoofed it. The more 

 modeen army, of grain traders, travels io 



parlor cars. Paid for by whom, please? 

 Why, by the grain producers, of course. 

 The grain trade's wailing that the govern- 

 ment has gone into the grain business is, of 

 course, mere camouflage. The real fear is 

 that the profits of grain marketing may get 

 into the fanners' hands. 



"The co-operative marketing movement 

 seeks to tear down no business structure. 

 If, in its development, older marketing sys- 

 tems become obsolete and pass out of the 

 picture, it is merely history repeating itself. 

 There is no sound reason why the profits 

 that come from the marketing of a product 

 should not belong to the producers of the 

 product. 



"Vast elevator and warehousing systems 

 have been built from the profits of grain 

 handling and processing. Farmer co-opera- 

 tive marketing contemplates ownership and 

 control of these systems by those who made 

 them possible. 



"Enemies of co-operative grain marketing 

 are not nearly so concerned over the chances 

 of its failure as over the likelihood of its 

 success." E. G. T. 



Franklin County Reassesses 



A REASSESSMENT of all property is 

 now under way in Franklin coimty. 

 The assessment was begun following a meet- 

 ing of the local o£Bcials with Chairman 

 William H. Malone of the State Tax Com- 

 mission who pledged the aid of that body 

 in bringing about a fair and equitable valu- 

 ation of all property. 



According to press reports the system 

 used for assessing property will be patterned 

 after that used in Cook county. Each as- 

 sessor, according to thb plan, will be given 

 written instructions so that uniformity will 

 prevail in the valuation of property. 



No reassessment will be ordered in Wil- 

 liamson county at the present time because 

 of the depressing state of finances in that 

 county following the closing of a number 

 of banks it was reported. The Franklin and 

 Williamson County Farm Bureaus together 

 with the I. A. A. appeared before the Tax 

 Commission last year asking that inequali- 

 ties in the valuation of farm lands and city 

 property be eliminated. Orders of re- 

 assessment were issued, but were later 

 rescinded when local officials agreed to re- 

 assess property in 1930. 



Soybean Marketing 



JOHN W. ARMSTRONG, of Cham- 

 paign, president of the Soybean Market- 

 ing Association, reports a membership of 

 2,187. 



A plan of merchandising the 1930 crop 

 will be announced in the near future. 



The members of the Soybean Market- 

 ing Association it is estimated will produce 

 1,600,000 bushels of beans this year to be 

 sold through the association. 



Readers' Forum 



Editor I. A. A. Record: 



I HAVE just read the new I. A. A. 

 Record. It is very attractively put up 

 and full of good information." 



J. W. Whisenand, Adviser, 

 Peoria County Farm Bureau, 



Peoria, Illinois. 



From a Railroad Man 



HAVING seen several statements and 

 arguments in the daily press by dif- 

 ferent organizations which seemed to me to 

 be detrimental to the interests of the Amer- 

 ican farmer, and being interested in the 

 farmers' welfare through the ownership of 

 some Joint Stock Land Bank stocks, the 

 thought occurred to me that it was my 

 duty to look after my own interests which 

 I could best express by joining the Farm 

 Bureau. Surely farming, our largest Ameri- 

 can industry, is entitled to some considera- 

 tion by our government. In view of the 

 taxes that the farmers pay, they are, I feel, 

 entitled to all the help our President and 

 Congress are giving them through the pres- 

 ent Farm Board. 



I paid $150.00 per share for stock in 

 the Joint Stock Land Bank, which shares 

 have dwindled to about $10.00 per share 

 through the inability of the farmer to pay 

 even the interest on the loans our bank 

 made on farm land. My viewpoint is that 

 if the farmer gets in a fairly prosperous 

 condition, my land bank stock will again 

 rise in value, and if the small investment 

 of $15.00 per year in the Farm Bureau will 

 give them my moral and financial assistance, 

 it is money well spent. The rise of $15.00 

 in one share will pay a whole year's dues in 

 the Farm Bureau. 



I am not a farm owner, nor interested 

 in any farm lands except through the 

 ownership of stock in the Joint Stock Land 

 Bank. I will write to our president that he 

 might suggest to other owners of Joint 

 Land Bank Stock that they can further 

 their best interests by joining their local 

 Farm Bureau. 



Jacob Buss, Boone county, 111. 



Mr. Buss is a railroad traiimian at Belvi- 

 dere and now a member of the I. A. A. and 

 Boone County Farm Bureau. 



A State Play Tournament sponsored by 

 the Farm Bureaus of Champaign, Kankakee, 

 LaSalie, and DeKalb counties will be held 

 at the Little Theatre of the University of 

 Illinois in Urbana at 8:00 P. M. on Friday 

 evening. May 23. 



Illinois Agricultural Mutual Insurance Co., 

 608 South Dearborn Street, 

 Chicago, III. 



This will acknowledge receipt of your letter 

 of April 21st, and your check for $48.50 cover- 

 ing the loss which I sustained as a result of my 

 car catching on fire. 



Please accept my thanks for thi9 check and 

 the prompt manner in which you adjuited this 

 claim. It is a pleasure to insure with companies 

 like yours. N. E. Dressor, Bond County, III. 



.:-.^;f:.;. 



