Agriculture in the 59th 

 General Assembly 



By Ihe Legislative Committee 



\' THE Session of the General As- 

 sembly just closed. 1.838 bills were 

 introduced. All of these were 

 t; sufTicicnt attention by ropre- 

 iitives of the I. A. A. to determine 

 •iher they alTected agriculture. If 

 liills were not of particular inter- 

 I) agriculture, as for instance, bills 

 mg to practice and procedure in 

 courts, the I. A. A. 

 did not take any 

 position on the 

 measures. 

 Particular atten- 

 j, J^j^t^M ''"" ^^'^s given to 

 >> ' jl^^^B^H '^ ' ^ ' ^ relating to 

 ta.xation and tax 

 increases. Repro- 

 senlatives of the 

 Assoc 1 a t I o n ap- 

 peared, in com- 

 : L E MATHiAs mittee. against nu- 

 merous bills which 

 lid have increa.sed property taxes. 

 • -I of the.se measures were either 

 .: . ■nded. failed to seciu'c favorable 

 iiinittoe recommendation, or were 

 '..lily defeated. 



However, .several such measures 

 ' I re enacted. Counties of less than 

 I'lO.iMH) population were authorized to 



■ '.> a s|X'cial tax of .5e and counties 

 : l>etween lOO.OOO and .500.000 popu- 

 ■ ' >n a special tax of 3c on the hun- 



•'ie<i dollar as.ses.scd valuation for 



Biind relief jiurposes. Also the tax 



"I ihe Mothers" pension fund was ex- 



:rpted from the County general levy 



■■'ureby permitting the levy of an ad- 



iiUonal tax for Mothers' pens'on pur- 



)'i.-^es. The school law was amended 



perriiit non-hish school districts 



poti referendum to increase their tax 



• I" from 50c to 75c. The I. A. A. rep- 



•scntatives appeared in opposition to 



il of tliese measures but were not 



■iccessful in preventing their pas.sage. 



\' one time the House committee 



■ '•tod to recommend a 50c increase by 

 nferendum in the non-high school 

 iistrict tax rate but the increase was 



'i''ld to 25c largely through the efforts 

 'I the representatives of the I. A. A. 



"The General As.sembly authorized 

 various governmental bodies to issue 

 '.'onds and in many cases these bonds 

 "ay be issued without referendum un- 

 less the voters in the district affected 



petition for a referendum. Counties 

 of less than 2()().0(>0 populati(jn are 

 authorized to is.sue bonds at any time 

 prior to January 1. 1936 to pay claims 

 incurred prior to July 1. 1935. This 

 bond i.ssue. in any amount not exceed- 

 ing the constitutional limitation, i.- 

 without referendum except upon peti- 

 tion of 20'~f of the voters of the coun- 

 ty filed within twenty days after pub- 

 lication of notice of intention by the 

 county board, a condition very diffi- 

 cult if not impo.ssible to meet. Similar 

 power to issue bonds was given s'-hoil 

 districts. 



In general it may bo said tliat the 

 attitude of the members of the General 

 Assembly towards tax increases and 

 bond issues without referendum has 

 been changed considerably from the 

 attitude in the 1931 and 1933 sessions. 

 In these sessions a large majority of 

 the members in general .seemed to be 

 opposed to all property tax increases 

 and to all down-.state bond issues with- 

 out referendum. This is no longer true. 

 Repeal of Township Taxes f<»r Poor 

 Relief 



The Federal Government has ap- 

 propriated four billion dollars to pro- 

 vide work relief for all employable 

 persons until January 1. 1937. and has 

 given notice that each State must pro- 

 vide the funds necessary and withm a 

 few months must assume relief of all 

 unemployable persons therein. To 

 meet this requirement the Illinois 

 General As.sembly amended the Re- 

 tailers Occupational Tax Act by in- 

 creasing the tax one cent from Jul\' 1. 

 1935. until January 1, 1937. The in- 

 crease in the tax will probably provide 

 about S33.000.000 in th'- period of 

 eighteen months during which it will 

 be in effect. It is believed that this 

 amount will be ample to orovide for 

 ;ill unemplovables in the State until 

 January 1. 1937. 



The Federal and State legislation 

 described above renders all 1935 levies 

 by townships for poor relief largely 

 needless. To meet this situation, bills 

 were passed abating all such levies for 

 1935 except for obligations incurred 

 prior to July 1. 1935. and repealing the 

 authority of townships to levy such 

 taxes. These measures should save tax- 

 ( Continued on page 6) 



B W. TILLMAN 



Who's Who Among 



The Farm Advisers 



A lot of WiltlT lut.s U.>1K' OVl'l" lh'.» 



(l;iin sinif B'li W. Tilliiian tixik over 

 the reins as f;irm iiflviser in St. Clair 

 county 16 year.- ;i«o During thos;' IG 

 years there have Ijeen many ehaiiges 

 in agriculture, in cxtensim work, iii 

 the Farm Bu- 

 r e a U ser\'iee 

 program, and in 

 t h e economic 

 status of farm- 

 tTs. Rfn has 

 succe e d e <l in 

 adjusting him- 

 .■iclf to these 

 fhances without 

 losing hi.< en- 

 ihu.>.iasm for 

 and bf'licf in 

 t h e ultimate 

 •.'alvation a ii d 

 siicct'ss of farm- 

 ing as a Ihisi- 

 ness through farmer co-op-.-ralion. 



"Directing and ct>ntroMing the dis- 

 tnljution of farm products c»>upled 

 witli improved quality and control of 

 nroduction will t(» a l.irge <h'gree tie- 

 termine whether or not farmcr.s iif 

 America will take their place and 

 maintain a standard of living com- 

 parahle to th.it of workers m industry 

 and commerce." he s^ivs. 



"The joh of co-operative marketing 

 IS hut one of many w*hich can t)*- coii- 

 ehided successl'ully through a strong 

 central or^ani/ation like the Farm 

 Bureau Cit-op^'iating with the stal ■ 

 agricultural colleges and the U S. D.- 

 partment of .\griciilture. Such iin oh- 

 ject is a long sought one on the part 

 of farmers and is at last tardily hv- 

 iiig achieved." 



Ben Tillman undoiibt dly develop<'d 

 the vigor and drive ho puts iiiti his 

 work and his tenacitv in sticking to it. 

 Is captain of the University of Mis- 

 souri football team nearly 2.S years ago. 

 Reared on a 16lt acre grain and live- 

 stock farm near Jeff- rson Citv. Mo., 

 where he was horn 0-.tol>er 26. IWS. 

 Tillman attended the local public 

 schools and normal aca<lemy before 

 enrolling at the state agricultural 

 coUeg- in Columbia. 



He taught school, served as fixitball 

 coa'.-h and later bvciime a spLH-ialist ir 

 agiuultiir;d extension W()rk wi*h Xh*- 

 v. S D. A Ix'foro taking up his new 

 work in St. Clair county. II;. He also 

 serv<'d for a number of y-ars as cap- 

 tain in the Mis.souri National Guard 

 B. W. lakes an active interest in 

 civic, church, and community affairs 

 in St Clair county. Ho is a trustee 

 and elder in thr Presbyterian church 

 of Belleville, a Mason, and a memb'T 

 of his County Grange. He has been 

 honored by his colleagoes as ■ resident 

 of the state farm advisers association. 

 The Tillmans have one child a 

 daught'ir. Ben savs he gets along 

 well without .smoking or drinking but 

 has a weakness for football and 

 bridge. 



I want to congratulate you on Ihe steady 

 improvement you are making in the I. A. A. 

 RECORD. This is a splendid publication. — C. 

 E. Johnson, Iroquois county. 



RECORD 



\UGUST. 1935 



" S 



