$100,000,000 Counh-y 

 Life Goal for 1936 



»-. 



'SC 



In case anyone attending the lAA 

 annual meeting in Decatur made the 

 mistake of considering the Country Life 

 conference an annual meeting too their 

 error can be well understood. To the 

 casual outsider, meaning those other 

 than general agents, special agents and 

 officers of the company, the affair had 

 the .same character as all other meet- 

 ings. But let it be said here that Coun- 

 try Life is holding its annual birthday 

 Round-Up In Springfield at the Abra- 

 ham Lincoln Hotel on February 20 and 

 21, 1936. Them's facts from the lips of 

 none other than L. A. Williams, man- 

 ager of Country Life. 



To get back to Decatur, the Country 

 Life conference more or less started 

 the parade of company meetings on Wed- 

 nesday, January 29th. With no outside 

 speakers, the meeting swept along 

 through the morning covering subject 

 after subject in shipshape order. None 

 of the talks by staff members extended 

 beyond the allotted fifteen minutes, and 

 the show was closed by Larry Williams 

 who, deviating from life insurance de- 

 livered a stirring and eloquent talk on 

 the road agriculture must follow on its 

 journey back to prosperity. 



The program was sprinkled with 

 variety. Dave Meiher and Clarence Rani- 

 ler, field men for Country Life, spoke 

 briefly, yet pointedly on the methods and 

 procedure to be used in 1936 in realizing 

 the Country Life goal of $100,000,000 of 

 insurance in force by June 1936. Howard 

 Reeder, actuary, explained charts which 

 .«ihowed the position of Country Life in 

 relation to other leading life insurance 

 companies. Dr. John Boland. medical 

 examiner, took the highly technical sub- 

 ject of mortality and proper selection 

 of risks and explained with charts and 

 figures how Country Life ha^ achieved 

 its remarkable record of picking good 

 ri.sks. 



In the evening 288 Country Life 

 agents sat down to the annual General 

 Agents Club banquet. New officers 

 were elected who immediately took 

 charge of the meeting. They are Presi- 

 dent William C. Linker, Whiteside Coun- 

 ty; Vice-President Charles W. Homan. 

 Crawford- Jasper counties; Secretary and 

 Treasurer Ben Roth, McLean county. 

 Special honors were paid to the 129 

 agents who had made their quotas dur- 

 ing the year. Larry Williams acted .is 

 toastmaster of the banquet and started 

 the evening's talks by bidding goodbye 

 to the outgoing president. Palmer Robin- 



son, of Henry county. Robinson de- 

 livered an excellent reply and was fol- 

 lowed by Wm. C. Linker, the new presi- 

 dent. Other talks were given by Ber- 

 nard Mosier. Russell Graham, Chas. 

 Masching, Chas. Homan and Ben Roth. 

 The Pawnee Four furnished entertain- 

 ment and at the end, Clifford Jessen of 

 DeWitt county popped up with his Clown 

 Legionaire Band. This feature was to- 

 tally unexpected and as with most un- 

 expected things went over with a bang. 

 E%-erybody went away from the ban- 

 quet feeling that Slo6.000.000 of life 

 insurance in force by June i;io6 wa? 

 already an established fact. 



Country Life's "Larry" WMIiams. "Don't let 

 anyone kid you about the importance of farm 

 buying power." 



Resolutions r; 



(Continued from page 29) 

 of all farm commodities in Illinois, we 

 urge all County Farm Bureaus through 

 their proper officers to aggressively 

 use their combined influence in the build- 

 ing and maintenance of that type of pro- 

 gram which will result in the largest 

 net return to the livestock growers of 

 this State. 



xxm. 



We request the officers and Board of 

 Directors of the Illinois .Agricultural 

 .Association to give careful study to the 

 effect of public auction sales upon live- 

 stock prices and upon the dissemination 

 of livestock diseases and of the effects 

 of present laws regulating the transpor- 



tation of livestock and of freight and 

 truck rates, upon livestock prices. 



XXIV. 



We believe there is an imperative need 

 for a scientific score card or gauge by 

 which farm organizations, their origin, 

 their development, their membership, 

 their affiliated relationships, their stabil- 

 ity, their leadership, their value to mem- 

 bers and prospective members, and other 

 intrinsic factors upon which claims of 

 service are predicated, may be measured. 



We believe such a composite analysis 

 of all farm organizations in the United 

 States, together with the preparation of 

 a score card or gauge by which members 

 and prospective members can themselvee ■ 

 evaluate farm organizations, would be a 

 distinct contribution to agricultural edu- 

 cation, an instrument of great value to 

 the farmers of the nation, and a definite 

 asset to farm organizations which ar« 

 able to meet the criteria specified by : 

 the measurements applied. 



An analytical study of this type, to- ' 

 gether with the measurements upon 

 which such a study should be made, has 

 been needed for many years. Particular- 

 ly is there need for such an evaluation in 

 times of economic emergency, in times 

 of changing conditions, and in periods 

 when important legislative measures in 

 the interest of agriculture are being pro- 

 po-sed and weighed. 



To be of utmost value to the farmers 

 of the nation, and to the general public, 

 such an analysis or investigation, to- 

 gether with the preparation of the base* 

 by which proper measurements may be 

 made, should be directed by a completely 

 disinterested and eminently qualified 

 person, or persons, or institution, or in- 

 stitutions. The results of such survey 

 or investigation, together with a de- 

 tailed description of the methods em- 

 ployed in conducting the study or 

 studies, should be made completely avail- 

 able to the general public, and given the 

 widest possible public dissemination. 



We, therefore, urge the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation to find the 

 proper person or persons, or institution, 

 or institutions, which, in the judgment 

 of the ' Board of Directors, are most 

 eminently qualified to conduct such a 

 study and to prepare such a measure- 

 ment gauge, and to request that the 

 analysis be made as rapidly as possible. . 



XXV. 



We deeply appreciate the fine hos- 

 pitality and courtesy extended ut 

 throughout the convention by the Macoa 

 County Farm Bureau, the Macon County 

 Home Bureau, the Association of Com- 

 merce, the Mayor, School Board, 

 Churches, Press and the citizens of Deca- 

 tur and are grateful for their contribu- 

 tion to the success of this annual meet- 

 ing. 



FEBRUARY. 19.36 



