President Earl C. Smith 

 Keynotes Convention 



SENDS GREETINGS 



THE depression is cracked but not 

 broken. 



Although not entirely out of the 

 clouds, we commence to see the sun. 



Gigantic tasks lie ahead. Further in- 

 crease in farm prices until they reach 

 parity, and some reduction in industrial 

 prices, which larger production will make 

 possible, are most powerful and im- 

 portant measures of further recovery and 

 employment. 



Every thinking farmer, yes every citi- 

 zen, should assist in restoring farm prices 

 and buying power, thus hastening Na- 

 tional Recovery. 



This is the challenging statement with 

 which President Earl C. Smith keynoted 

 the convention in the opening session be- 

 fore a g:reat audience of 3,000 people in 

 the beautiful High School Auditorium at 

 Qaincy, Wednesday morning, Jan. 30. 



Tracing the progress of recovery since 

 the low of 1932, Mr. Smith said, "While 

 not desiring to be understood as criticiz- 

 ing through comparison, yet I have no 

 hesitancy in saying tltat^ the most po- 

 tent force of all efforts directed toward 

 national recovery has Been the national 

 farm program. 



"Two billion dollars increased farm in- 

 come together with a reduction of $96,- 

 000,000 in taxes on farm real estate and 

 personal property and a reduction of 

 $77,000,000 in interest on farm indebted- 

 nesa has practically all found its way in- 

 to the baying market and has been re- 

 flected in the improvement of other lines 

 of businees activity. No other effort or 

 policy of Government has been so effec- 

 tive in the improvement of general con- 

 ditionB. 



"The principle of farm conHnodity sur- 

 phia removal upon whch the Agricultural 

 Adjustment program is based was in- 

 itiated by, and for many years has con- 

 tinuously been supported by, the Farm 

 Bur^u movement. As year after year 

 of delay has been encountered in putting 

 this principle into effect, changing con- 

 ditions have naturally forced changes in 

 the manner of its application. While the 

 most destructive drought of many years, 

 coupled with a serious infestation of in- 

 sect pests greatly interfered with a uni- 

 form or^orderly application of crop ad- 

 justment programs, yet, facts only are 

 necessary to fully vindicate the sound- 

 ness of the repeated pronouncements of 

 the Farm Bureau movement when in- 

 sisting upon legislation authorizing the 

 application of farm commodity surplus 

 control. . . . 



"It should be noted that the total value 



FEBRUARY, 1»S5 



of wheat produced in Illinois in 1934. was 

 30 per cent greater than 1933; that al- 

 though the com crop was 35 per cent 

 less than in the previous year and was 

 the smallest crop in 61 years, it has a 

 total farm value of 46 per cent greater 

 than that of 1933. Even yet more con- 

 vincing evidence as to the merit of ad- 

 justed production is the fact that with 

 12 per cent less pork (live weight) reach- 

 ing all the terminal markets of the coun- 

 try in 1934 than in 1933, it had an in- 

 creased total farm income value of 45 

 per cent. . , , 



"We must now direct our efforts, and 

 I hope increasingly so, toward simplify- 

 ing, coordinating and making more 

 equitable and permanent our farm ad- 

 justment programs to the extent that 

 may be necessary to assure profitable 

 price levels in the domestic, and I hope, 

 export markets. . . . " 



Emphasizing the tremendous task of 

 the Agricultural Adjustment Administra- 

 tion in setting up and operating crop ad- 

 justment machinery, Mr. Smith said: 



National Activities 



"The Association's activities in na- 

 tional affairs during 1934 were largely 

 in the form of advice, counsel and in- 

 fluence in the administration of farm 

 laws. To a large extent, these efforts 

 were directed toward securing a greater 

 deg^e of equity in allotments, simplifica- 

 tion of requirements and procedure and 

 speeding up payment of the Govern- 

 ment's obligations to contracting farm- 

 ers. Problems connected with these ef- 

 forts are well known to the respective 

 leaders of County Farm Bureaus and 

 commodity committees. Every reasonable 

 effort has been made to serve the inter- 

 ests of contracting farmers and meet 

 their requests. 



"While I have no brief for any of the 

 mistakes that have been made or the de- 

 lays that have been encountered, yet I 

 feel it only fair to state that the prob- 

 lems with which administration officials 

 were confronted have at times seemed 

 almost insurmountable. The problem of 

 providing adequate provisions in con- 

 tracts for six million farmers of the 

 United States, the peculiar requirements 

 of commodities and commodity interests, 

 sectional views and demands, and the 

 fact that the Administration machinery 

 for the whole Agricultural Adjustment 

 program had to be provided constituted 

 a colossal undertaking. 



"I feel fully justified in saying that, 

 withqift exception, the national admin- 



FRANKLIH B. ROOSEVELT 



The following message from President 

 Roosevelt was received by President Earl 

 C. Smith and read by him to the con- 

 vention: — 



"The Secretary of Agriculture has ad- 

 vised me of the progress made in the 

 last year by your Association and has 

 given me encouraging reports of the 

 gains made in 1934 by the farmers of 

 Illinois. I hope that we as a nation can 

 go forward during the coming year in 

 the same spirit of collective effort that 

 l^s marked our past endeavours and that 

 the fruits of our labors will continue to 

 rise to more profitable levels." 



(Sigrned) Franklin D. Roosevelt. 



The convention unanimously approved 

 by rising vote the following message dis- 

 patched to President Roosevelt: 



January 30, 1936 

 Hon. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 

 Washingtoh, D. C. 



Delegates and members of the Illinois 

 Agrricultural Association, assembled in 

 annual convention at Quincy, Illinois, ex- 

 tend to you their greetings on this, your 

 53rd birthday. Your courageous leader- 

 ship has put new hope into our hearts, 

 and we will continue to join our efforts 

 with yours to increase farm prices to 

 parity, so that ag^riculture may continue 

 to lead the way to national recovery. 

 ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASS'N. 

 Earl C. Smith, President. 



istrators ahd directors of the Agrricul- 

 tural Adjustment programs and Farm 

 Credits have oeen thoroughly sympa- 

 thetic to the wishes and the demands o£ 

 farmers. It was impossible for them to 

 give the desired attention to individual 

 cases. The immensity of the program was 

 such that policies of administration were 

 of necessity general in character and at 

 times carried complications that to most 

 of us seemed unreasonable and unneces- 

 sary. 

 "Now that the administrative machin- 



