I. A. A. States Position on 

 Unemployment Relief Issues 



CHIEF developments at Springfield 

 last week on the muck discussed 

 unemployment relief situation con- 

 fronting the General Assembly was the 

 statement by President Earl C. Smith 

 setting forth the position of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association on this con- 

 troversial question. The statement which 

 was addressed to the General Assembly 

 is presented in full herewith: 



Statements recently appearing in the 

 press relative to the attitude of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association on the un- 

 employment problem and revenue for its 

 solution seem to call for a restatement 

 of the Association's position. 



Early in the present session of the 

 General Assembly, the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association stated its belief that, 

 with the possible exception of Cook 

 County, a system of work relief should 

 be adopted immediately and that such 

 work relief should be largely provided 

 by affording employment in the con- 

 struction and improvement of second- 

 ary (or farm-to-market) roads and city 

 and village streets. 



The Association proposed that one- 

 half (^) of all gasoline tax funds (un- 

 committed for bonds and interest) be 

 used for this purpose. It was also con- 

 templated that the amount of the occu- 

 pational and liquor tax funds over and 

 above requirements for general state 

 purposes be appropriated for work relief. 

 It then appeared that the total of such 

 revenues, when made available by the 

 State, would be matched by Federal 

 funds in at least twice the amount of 

 state funds. By using the total of these 

 revenues to finance a constructive work 

 relief program, the Association believed 

 such a program would not only provide 

 a reasonable opportunity of livelihood 

 to the unfortunate unemployed, but 

 would result in improvements of lasting 

 benefit to the public. 



Since the statement of its position by 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association, the 

 Federal Work Relief Bill has been 

 adopted by Congress and announcement 

 made by Federal Relief authorities that 

 Illinois must assume responsibility for its 

 unemployables, and that three million 

 dollars ($3,000,000) per month was the 

 requirement placed upon the State for 

 this purpose. 



Many members of the Legislature and 

 apparently some members of the Illinois 

 Emergency Relief Commission seem to 

 be uncertain as to the amount of money 

 necessary to care for the unemployable 

 persons in Illinois. It is recognized that 



the $36,000,000 requirement placed upon 

 the State by the Federal Government is 

 equivalent to $800 annually per unem- 

 ployable family on the relief rolls. Ap- 

 parently, it has been assumed that ad- 

 ditional revenue must be supplied to 

 meet this federal requirement without 

 fully appraising the ability of the state 

 to meet the situation with present reve- 

 nues. 



We are informed that present local 

 levies recently made in the 84 counties 

 under township organization for thi.s 

 purpose exceed amounts formerly levied 

 and are estimated to approximate from 



I. A. A. Review On WLS 

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Tune in each Friday noon at 

 12:30 on WLS and hear the lAA 

 review of current legislation and 

 legislative action in the General 

 Assembly at Springfield. The 

 lAA is co-operating with Prairie 

 Parmer and WLS in bringing im- 

 portant up to date information to 

 the Illinois radio audience. 



The third of the series of talks 

 was delivered by George Thiem, 

 Editor of the RECORD Friday. 

 April 19. A number of requests 

 for copies of manuscripts have 

 been received. 



I. A. A. legislative representa- 

 tives including John C. Watson, 

 Paul E. Mathias, and K. T. Smith, 

 I. A. A. director, of Greene coun- 

 ty, are in Springfield each week. 



six to seven million dollars per year,, 

 while in the other counties of the State, 

 similar authority and responsibility of 

 this character has not been authorized 

 by law. 



The Association has for years insisted 

 that uniform responsibility for taking 

 care of the unfortunate unemployables 

 should be placed upon all counties of the 

 State. It still adheres to this position. 

 The Association insists, however, that if 

 additional taxes are to be imposed upon 

 all citizens and counties of Illinois that, 

 before doing so, either uniform respon- 

 sibility must be placed upon all counties 

 to levy upon property for the purpose 

 of taking care of their respective desti- 

 tute citizens, or the present law placing 

 this responsibility upon the 84 counties 

 under township organization, should be 



repealed. Equity and justice demand 

 such immediate action by the General 

 Assembly of Illinois. 



The Association has never failed to 

 recognize the extent of unemployment 

 that exists and the responsibility of all 

 citizens gainfully employed to those 

 more unfortunate who because of no 

 fault of their own are unemployed. The 

 Association has never questioned the 

 responsibility of the wealth and the in- 

 come of all citizens through the orderly 

 and economical processes of Government 

 to provide a reasonable opportunity of 

 livelihood for the unfortunate unem- 

 ployed who are physically able to work, 

 or to feed and shelter those who are 

 physically or mentally incapacitated. It 

 has and will continue to resist the steady 

 encroachment upon either the wealth or 

 income of the citizens of the state by 

 those who are able to work, but who 

 refuse to work. 



The Association continues to insist 

 that this responsibility cannot and will 

 not be properly discharged until full and 

 proper information covering the condi- 

 tion of the State's finances and its abil- 

 ity to meet the situation are fully ex- 

 plained to the public. Arbitrary demands 

 by Federal or State governments, or 

 both, for more revenue cannot and will 

 not be satisfactorily met in the absence 

 of this information. 



The Association is forced to recognize 

 that annual receipts from the occupa- 

 tional and liquor taxes are approximate- 

 ly $46,000,000 as compared to approxi- 

 mately $23,000,000 from levies upon 

 property during the years immediately 

 preceding the enactment of these tax 

 measures. While it also recognizes that 

 some extraordinary expenses have been 

 met from this apparent surplus of re- 

 ceipts, it is also recognized that over 

 and above these expenditures, there ap- 

 pears to be available a substantial sur- 

 plus which, if used along with uncom- 

 mitted ga.soline tax revenues, would pro- 

 vide a formidable fund to establish and 

 administer a constructive work relief 

 program. ^ ^ 



The Association is prepared to present 

 to the Illinois General Assembly amend- 

 ments to present statutes, which would 

 have the effect of requiring the State 

 Relief administrative body to use a sub- 

 stantial portion of all its revenues for 

 providing a constructive work relief pro- 

 gram throughout the State in line with 

 the Association's suggestions to the Gen- 

 eral Assembly early in this session. 

 These bills would also provide definite 

 liberalization of the present requirements 

 of the State Highway Department, so 

 that the cost of bmilding secondary roads 

 might be substantially reduced. The en- 

 actment of these amendments will have 

 the effect of providing labor through the 

 (Continued on page 5, Col. 2) 



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I. A. A. RECORB 



