Four Principles of 

 Organization 



Listed By President Smith In Address To Mid-West Farm 

 Bureau Conference 



FOUR basic principles of organiza- 

 tion were outlined by President Earl 

 C. Smith before the recent Mid-west 

 Farm Bureau Conference in Chicago. He 

 listed first "ideal or purpose," secondly, 

 "set-up or structure," third, "policies and 

 control which must come from the in- 

 dividual member up and never from the 

 top down," and fourth, "adequate finance 

 and capable leadership." 



"It is my belief that the pioneers in 

 the Farm Bureau movement largely con- 

 ceived the ideal and fully intended to 

 achieve that ideal in an organization 

 structure that afforded an opportunity 

 for vocal expression of the individual 

 member. They expected to provide ade- 

 quate finance and to develop leadership 

 equal to the task. 



"Too much credit (annot be given 

 those largely responsible for the organ- 

 ization of the Farm Bureau," he said, 

 "although in many respects the organiza- 

 tion has failed to take advantage of its 

 opportunities. It is never too late to 

 correct mistakes or plug holes as they 

 become apparent. That is a responsi- 

 bility of the present leadership of the 

 Farm Bureau. 



"We see on every hand so-called farm 

 organizations springing up, sponsored 

 by what I many times fear are selfish 

 groups striving for prominence and lead- 

 ership, but with little thought to the 

 service to be rendered. Such organiza- 

 tions can not succeed. We should learn 

 from these experiences to place greater 

 emphasis upon the township or commu- 

 nity organization as the cornerstone of 

 the whole Farm Bureau movement. 



"To the extent that cross-current of 

 thought of community, township and 

 county groups finds expression through 

 delegate representation with votes based 

 on membership in state and national 

 meetings, do we develop true democracy. 

 With such expression coming up from 

 the community and township can we 

 announce to the nation that the policies, 

 program, and leaders of our national or- 

 ganization fully represent the majority 

 viewpoint of a great membership insti- 

 tution. 



"Possibly the greatest weakness of 

 farm organizations generally has been 

 the inadequate manner in which finances 

 to meet the opportunities and require- 



SEPTEMBER, 1935 ,.:.:::: 



ments of organization have been pro- 

 vided. 



"If an organization is founded upon 

 the ideal of service its response with 

 service can only be commensurate with 

 its financial possibilities. Were I to 

 present a hypothetical set-up for an ideal 

 farm organization I would shock you 

 with the membership fee requirements I 

 would recommend. It would certainly be 

 an amount equal to meet the problems 

 with which farmers are confronted, to 

 give them full and active representation 

 wherever their interests are involved. 

 Such service representation would carry 

 the organization around the council 

 tables of every county, in all states and 

 in the Nation. It would require the best 

 technical marketing advice, the best of 

 legal, economical and statistical talent 

 available. Farmers should have an of- 

 f'cial organ equal to the best in the coun- 

 try. Only by providing adequate finance 

 can these problems be met and solved." 



Approximately 200 bond issues and 

 about 150 different corporations and gov- 

 ernment units are represented in the in- 

 vestment portfolios of the various or- 

 ganizations. These include mostly Fed- 

 eral. Municipal, Utility and Railroad 

 Bonds aggregating for the parent or- 

 ganization and the associated companies 

 more than $5,000,000. 



It is the policy of the Investment Com- 

 mittee and the Board of Directors not to 

 invest heavily in any one issue. Pur- 

 chases vary from $6,000 up to $20,000 

 or more per issue, and such investments 

 are approved only after a thorough study 

 has been made with the use of the best 

 investment and financial services avail- 

 able, furnishing information about the 

 financial position, earning power, past 

 record and future prospects of the vari- 

 ous companies and government units. 



The care with which investments have 

 been made has been well repaid. The 

 holdings of all companies are high grade. 

 —Editor. 



Financing for Permanency 



(Continued from page 10) 

 Investment Committee which includes 

 the president, treasurer, counsel and 

 chairman of the Finance Committee. 



Editor Comments On 



Earl Smith Address 



(Continued from page 9) 

 ly coming out of the mess it is in. 



"The President's $4,800,000,000 work 

 bill is supposed to break the log jam 

 I will predict at this time that it will 

 not do it. This is supposed to la.st from 

 eighteen to twenty-four months. When 

 that is spent, they can raise another fund 

 that will far exceed this one, possibly 

 double it, and they cannot budge the 

 jam until they recognize the farmers" 

 problems and analyze the figures of this 

 article." . . 



A. R. Wright, assist- 

 ant treasurer and chair- 

 man of the Investment 

 Committee. Close to 

 200 bond issues and 

 about ISO corporations 

 and units of govern- 

 ment are represented 

 in the investment port- 

 folios of the state-wide 

 organizations o w ne d 

 and controlled by Illi- 

 nois Farm Bureau mem- 

 bers. 



