December, 1930 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Five 



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Farmer Grain Dealers 



Hold *^onvention, Chicago 



"Rump" Meeting Also Held, Passes 

 Meaningless Resolution. 



THE National Farmers Grain Deal- 

 ers' Association meeting in Chicago, 



. December 1, 2 and 3, adopted a reso- 

 lution to support the efforts of the 



, Federal Farm Board and the Farmers 



. National Grain Corporation so long as 

 local ownership and control of farm- 



' ers' elevators is safeguarded. The whole 

 spirit of the meeting was friendly to 

 co-operative grain marketing as repre- 



• sented by the Farmers Mutual and the 



' regionals in the various states. 



While the national meeting was going 

 on in the Sherman Hotel, a "rump" 

 meeting, composed of a half dozen anti- 

 co-operative propagandists who run 

 around the coimtry specializing in mis- 

 representation, held a meeting in the 

 Great Northern Hotel. A small group 

 of followers and curiosity seekers at- 

 tended the sessions. 



The main object of this group is to 

 stay close enough to the legitimate 

 farmer's elevator leaders to exercise in- 

 fluence in stopping the rising tide of 



. co-operative grain marketing in the ter- 

 minals. It is believed by many that 

 these propagandists are using whatever 

 influence they may have gained by past 

 or present connections with farm or- 

 ganizations in the interest of certain 

 grain commission men who have a sel- 

 fish interest in heading off successful 

 co-operative marketing. 



The Farmers Grain Dealers' Associa- 

 tion is not paying one cent, according 

 to statements by its officers, toward 

 subsidizing this group. At a recent 

 directors' meeting it called a halt on 

 the use of its name by a second vice- 

 president who set himself up at an office 

 in Bloomington and used the name "Illi- 

 nois Farmers Grain Dealers* Associa- 

 tion" presumably to give an official air 

 to propaganda sent to farmers' elevators 

 in an effort to discourage the establish- 

 ment of effective terminal co-operative 

 marketing for Illinois farmers. 



This group which has no standing 

 with the National Farmers Grain Deal- 

 ers^ Association passed a meaningless 

 resolution demanding that an amend- 

 ment to the Agricultural Marketing 

 Act be passed making it mandatory 

 that the Federal Farm Board recognize 

 loans on grain without the requirement 

 that grain be pooled when sold. It is 

 difficult for anyone familiar with the 

 Marketing Act to understand the basis 

 for such a resolution when there is 

 notlung in the Act or in the present 

 setup of the Farmers National Grain 



Corporation requiring that grain be 

 pooled when sold. 



The National Farmers Grain Dealers' 

 Association elected the following offi- 

 cers: President, W. C. Horn, Castalia, 

 Ohio; vice-president, L. E. Webb, 

 Dodge City, Kansas, a director in the 

 Farmers National Grain Corporation; 

 secretary, W. H. Thompson, Ft. Dodge, 

 Iowa; and assistant secretary, J. A. 

 Shorthill, son of the former secretary, 

 J. W. Shorthill, Omaha, Nebraska. 



A Champion for Dobbin 



. ■'• ^ ' 



Editor, I. A. A. RECORD: 



"Your headline on the back page of 

 one of your issues was "Know Your 

 Oil as Well as Your Soil." Then you 

 propose to be trying to help the farm 

 depression. 



"The principal thing that causes the 

 farm depression of today is the horse 

 industry being lost to the farmers and 

 replaced by machinery. Power farming 

 may be a saving on large farms where 

 machinery can be used advantageously. 

 But how much less per bu. are farmers 

 required to take for their grain, etc., by 

 buying gas and oils and throwing all 

 they raise on a depressed market? They 

 cannot feed hay, corn and oats to the 

 tractors and trucks. . . . 



"Every horse off the farm is a bean 

 in the pot of overproduction. How 

 many millions annually did the farmers 

 receive for horses from 1910 to 1920 

 which were sold to cities and towns be- 

 sides their feed? I received applications 

 to buy shares in a co-operative oil com- 

 pany in Illinois. The thing that would 

 boost farm prices most would be $1 

 gasoline. And that is inevitable. Then 

 some want gas for 5 c if they can get 

 it. Give them 5 c gas and wheat will 

 be under 50c in no time. 



"When it is all summed up as I see 

 the future there will be more machin- 

 ery and a decline in prices until the 

 population increases enough to consume 

 what has been and is being lost through 

 the consumption of the horse industry. 

 This condition is a saving to the cities 

 but a loss to the farmers. If you pro- 

 pose to help the farmers I think there 

 are some thoughts in this letter that 

 would be of advantage to them if they 

 would co-operate." 



Dr. W. E. Poole, Kirkwood, Mo. 



:%/■(■ 



Better Plan to Attend the 



I. A. A. and Other Annual 



Meetings, Springfield, 111., 



January 28, 29, 30 



^nOope 



THE Sangamon County Farm Bu- 

 reau baseball team entertained at a 

 rousing banquet in Springfield (Laurel 

 M. E. Church) Wednesday night, Dec. 

 10. Delegates from Cass, Logan, Mor- 

 gan, Montgomery came, swelling the 

 crowd to more than 100. Manager 

 Harry Sweet presided. Speakers were 

 Ray Schalk, famous old White Sox 

 catcher, now Chicago Cubs coach, who 

 gave an interesting, rapid-fire talk on 

 big league experience; George Thiem, 

 State League secretary; John Stout, dis- 

 trict chairman; Rep. Michael Bray, 

 Litchfield; Chas. S. Black, state vice- 

 president; Farm Advisers Ed Bay, Guy 

 Husted, J. H. Checkley, Alden Snyder; 

 also Bob Drysdale, sports editor, Illinois 

 State Journal; L. R. Welk, team man- 

 agers and others. 



A new feature of the coming Farm 

 and Home Week, January 12 to 1^, 

 at the University of Illinois, will be 

 a daily coaching class taught by Coach 

 Lundgren in the finer points of base- 

 ball. One hour each afternoon will 

 be devoted to the science of playing 

 this well known game. 



Players on the teams in the Illinois 

 Farm Bureau Baseball League are in- 

 vited to attend. They should take 

 along a fielder's glove, old clothes, or 

 a baseball uniform, and tennis or base- 

 ball shoes. Balls and bats and other 

 necessary equipment will be furnished 

 by the University of Illinois. . ... 



Coach Lundgren is well known to 

 Illinois baseball fans. He assisted in 

 organizing the State League, and has 

 appeared at a number of meetings and 

 baseball banquets. 



Lundgren played on the famous Chi- 

 cago Cubs team from 1902 to 1909. 

 In 1905 he was third pitcher in the 

 league, in 1907 the fifth. 



After leaving professional baseball he 

 coached at Princeton and Michigan be- 

 fore going to Illinois in 1920. 



Approximately 7S attended a banquet given 

 the McDonough county state championship 

 Farai Bureau team at Macomb on November 29 

 by the McDonough County Farm Bureau. 



Charles S. Black of Jacksonville, vice-presi- 

 dent of the State Farm Bureau League and L 

 A. A. director, presented the silver trophy given 

 by the Illinois Agricultural Association. Mana- 

 ger E. W. Runkle accepted the trophy on be- 

 half of the McDonough county team. 



Both Mr. Black and T. H. Brockman of 

 Jacksonville, former professional baseball player 

 with the Cleveland Indians, were among the 

 speakers. 



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