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Illinois A^cultural Associatm 



RECOI^D 



nibUilwd BKnthlr b7 the lUIiiott Atrlcultural Anociatlon >t 124 So. nrth St.. Htnhill. HI.: Edltoriil Ofllcet. eog So. Drailiom St.. Chieuo. m. antcnd M Mnod- 

 c."9« matUr at post-offlce ct MartfaaU, 111., June 16, 1930, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of poctage provided In Section 41S, 

 Act of Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Oct. 27. IDi."). ,Vdtiress all communications for publication to Editorial Offices. Illinois .\erii-ul'urt(l .\>s<K'iation Record. COS So. l>earbom St., Chicago 



Number 9 



September, 1930 



Volume 8 



I. A. A. Stf tes Stand on 



Revenue Amendment 



K 



A Statement of Position Relative to 



the Proposed Amendment to the 



Revenue Article of the State 



Constitution, Adopted K-y 



the Board of Directors, 



,' .: Illinois Agricultural ., ■ 



Association Sept. 



12,1930. 



AFTER carefully considering all 

 available information about the 

 revenue amendment and its probable 

 effect, if adopted, the board of direc- 

 tors of the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation herewith presents a statement 

 setting forth its position and recom- 

 mendation to the membership. 



The amendment is greatly changed 

 from the carefully considered provi- 

 sions recommended by the Revenue In- 

 vestigation Commission which were en- 

 dorsed, in spirit and purpose, by sev- 

 eral state-wide organizations, including 

 the I. A. A. Most of the changes were 

 brought about by amendments intro- 

 duced and urged by Chicago legislators. 

 With no time adequately to consider 

 the probable effect of such changes, 

 they were accepted by most of the leg- 

 islators from down-state districts in the 

 belief that otherwise no amendment 

 could secure the two-thirds vote nec- 

 essary for submission. 



The proposed amendment would not, 

 of itself, set up any new system of reve- 

 nue. It would remove certain restric- 

 tions now imposed on the General As- 

 sembly, and would impose some new 

 restrictions. The most important pro- 

 posed changes are analyzed below to 

 show not only what they would per- 

 mit or would not permit, but also their 

 probable effect on the revenue system 

 of the state. 



Classification of Property 



Adoption of the amendment would 

 give the General Assembly full power 

 to classify property except that all real 

 estate other than mineral lands and 

 land devoted to reforestation would be 



READ carefolly the analyisiH of 

 the Proposed Revenne Amend- 

 ment in the colnmn to the left. 

 It will help yon to vote Intelli- 

 gently in the comins November 

 lection. 



Needs of Agriculture 



Cited by Sam Thompson 



kept in one class. Such power to 

 classify property could be used in 

 either or both of two ways. First, any 

 class or all classes of property could be 

 exempted from taxation on the basis of 

 value in order to impose taxes on some 

 other basis such as inconic, The Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association has long 

 been in favor of using classification in 

 this way. Or, second, property could 

 be divided into different classes, with 

 different standards of value or different 

 tax rates, or both. 



If the amendment is adopted, there 

 can be lo doubt that the General As- 

 sembly will be strongly urged to classi- 

 fy intangible property separately in or- 

 der to tax -t or 'tj: value at low rates. 

 In other states, the taxar.on of intangi- 

 bles, such as stocks, bonds, notes, mort- 

 gages and money, at low rates, us'oally 

 between one-fourth and one-tenth of 

 the rate applied to real estate, has never 

 prevented extensive evasion or produced 

 more than a very small percentage of 

 the total revenues. There is no reason 

 to believe that it would be administered 

 with any greater success in this state, 

 where at least one-half of the house- 

 holds, most of them in Cook County, 

 completely evade taxation not only of 

 intangible but even of tangible per- 

 sonal property. The Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association has long opp>o$ed this 

 use of classification. Low-rate taxation 

 of intangibles would not save real estate 

 from increasingly confiscatory taxes. 



Distribution of State Taxes 



Adoption of the amendment would 

 remove the present restriction which 

 prevents the General Assembly from 

 imposing any taxes upon municipal cor- 

 porations (by which is meant any tax- 

 ing districts except the state), or the 

 inhabitants or property thereof, for the 



{CotitinueJ on l>agc 6) 



Speaks at 19th District Picnic, 

 Urbana, Aug. 27 



BARGAINiN .♦ power in the sale of 

 farm cqunT.odities, credit at low- 

 er rates, tax equalization, and lower 

 cost production were cited as outstand- 

 ing needs of the American fanner by 

 Sam H. Thompson, president of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation, in 

 addressing the 19th district Farm Bu- 

 reau picnic at Urbana on August 27. 

 A large audience estimated at 5,000 to 

 5,000 gathered in Crystal Lake Park 

 to hear the speaker. 



"Other groups have succeeJed much 

 better than the farmer in passing on 

 their increased expenses of doing busi- 

 ness to the consumer," said Mr. Thomp- 

 son. "The cost of doing business has 

 increased tremendously in the last 2$ 

 years, and all this has been reflected in 

 the prices farmers must pay for the 

 things they need. The farmer's costs 

 of production also have increased dur- 

 ing this period. But we have not been 

 successful in adding that increased cost 

 to the price of our products. Our only 

 hope for doing so, in obtaining a rea- 

 sonable profit on our production lies in 

 organization." 



Home Ownership Costly 



Mr. Thompson referred to the presi- 

 dent's recent conference on home own- 

 ership. "Home ownership," he said, "is 

 constantly decreasing. We are becom- 

 ing a nation of renters both on the 

 farm and in the city. Obviously this 

 is a bad thing for our civilization, and 

 the cause is largely due to our anti- 

 quated taxing system. One of our 

 great national needs is a better plan for 

 distributing the tax burden among all 

 the jjeople." It was revealed at the 

 president's conference on home owner- 

 ship that people who buy homes today 

 are paying an average of more than 8 

 per cent for the money borrowed to 

 acquire them. 



ii 



