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■■:y,,,::_,,,,:,^,, The 



ntinois Agricultural Association 



RECORD 



Volume I 3 



June, 1935 



Number 6 



16,000 at Peoria Vote Approval 

 of AAA and Amendments 



Secretary Henry A. Waflace Compares Opposition To 



Blind Samsons Pulling Pillars Prom Temple of 



Our National Life 



(See pictures pages 14-15) 



THE country knows now how 

 Illinois farmers feel about crop 

 adjustment, the AAA amend- 

 ments and processing taxes if they 

 didn't know it before. 



This is the important thing 

 about the state-wide meeting of 

 approximately 16,000 Illinois farm- 

 ers in Peoria May 20. The spon- 

 taneous response to the call that 

 went out by telegram to every 

 Ck)unty Farm Bureau in the state 

 on Thursday for a meeting the fol- 

 lowing Monday exceeded all ex- 

 pectations. It amazed the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture who said, "I 

 wish the President were here. It 

 would be a revelation to him." 



Peoria's large armory was 

 packed to capacity. Every one of 

 the 8,000 seats was occupied, hun- 

 dreds of others stood in the en- 

 trances and lobby, and careful ob- 

 .servers stated that there were just 

 as many in and about the loud 

 speakers and tent outside and on 

 the streets as were jammed into 

 the building. 



Many were disappointed at not 

 getting in to see and hear the 

 speakers but with rain threaten- 

 ing an outdoor meeting was too 

 great a risk. 



The corn loan meeting in the fall 

 of '33 in the same city was a rec- 

 ord-breaker for Illinois but this one 

 undoubtedly surpassed all prece- 

 dents for size of farm gatherings 

 in the corn belt, if not in the na- 

 tion. A general rain the day be- 

 fore which kept many from corn 



planting, was a big factor in swell- 

 ing the attendance. 



President Earl C. Smith who was 

 in good form set the stage and 

 sounded the keynote of the session 

 in a vigorous review of the issues 

 now facing farmers. Calling atten- 

 tion to the widespread campaign 

 of opposition and endless flow of 

 money being used to defeat the 

 AAA amendments and repeal the 

 Adjustment Act itself, he said that 

 the mass meeting was called to 

 give the farmers of Illinois an op- 

 portunity to express their point of 

 wew and answer the attacks of op- 

 ponents of the farm program. 



Indirectly referring to unsup- 

 ported charges by certain news- 

 papers that the farmers march on 

 Washington the week before was 

 inspired and financed by the agri- 

 cultural adjustment administra- 

 tion, he asserted that farmers who 

 came to Peoria in response to the 

 call of the I. A. A. paid their own 

 way. He praised Illinois congress- 

 men for their fine support of farm 

 legislation and predicted that Illi- 

 nois would deliver more votes for 

 the AAA amendments than any 

 other state. 



"This assemblage is in no wise 

 called to put pressure on Illinois 

 congressmen to vote for the AAA 

 amendments," he said. "We have 

 every reason to believe every down- 

 state congressman and several 

 from Qook county will support the 

 amendments when they come up 

 for vote." ■.■■■: / 



Secretary Wallace was given a 

 warm welcome after his introduc- 

 tion by Mr. Smith who after refer- 

 ring to the attacks, criticisms, and 

 name-calling hurled at the Secre- 

 tary, said "I know of no man more 

 kindly in nature, more honest of 

 heart, and more sincere in his 

 pronouncements." 



There are two things farmers 

 need to get justice. Secretary W'al- 

 lace said in his informal talk de- 

 livered without manuscript. You 

 must be on guard and have the 

 right kind of a president. "Vm not 

 talking politics. It's just as easy to 

 get the wrong kind of a Democratic 

 president as the wrong kind of a 

 Republican president." 



It's perfectly possible, he con- 

 tinued, to have farm conditions 

 worse than they were in 1932 if we 

 do not stop importing gold, if we 

 do not loan money abroad, if we d<> 

 not increase importations of indus- 

 trial commodities, if we dp not 

 keep the Agricultural Adjustment 

 Act in force, and if we have ordi- 

 nary weather. 



"The adjustment program is be- 

 ing attacked from two sources. On 

 the extreme left are the radical 

 boys who are out to raise hell. 

 They know what Marx and Lenin 

 wrote and said and they are per- 

 fectly clear about what they want 

 done. They want to change the 

 form of government and institute 

 their own. Then on the extreme 

 right are the big fat boys, fine up- 

 standing Christian gentlemen, 

 many of them. They call them- 

 selves conservatives. They also 

 know what they want, are perfect- 

 ly sure about it. They are not in- 

 telligent enough for their own 

 good. They want immediate prof- 

 its. They are looking at this thing 

 from the short time point of view 



