Editorial 



A Good Idea 



THE monthly un t meetings started bv Herman W. Dan- 

 forth and his neighbors at Danforih in Iroquois coun- 

 ty several months ago is worthy of emulation. 



"We all need to know more and have a be;ter under- 

 standing of what's going on in agriculture." Danforth and 

 his associates decided. "We need to develop our young 

 men and women for leadership. Let's get togther at least 

 once a month and talk things over. Let's think more about 

 the big problems affecting farmers." 



So they called a meeting. About 50 to 60 came out. Each 

 month attendance increased. Last month there were 250 

 men and women, young, middle-aged and old aV the meet- 

 ing. 



"What Does the Farmer Want." "What Stands in the Way 

 of Him Getting What He Wants." "How is the Farmer's Tax 

 Dol'ar Spent," "What About Farm Surpluses and Prices." 

 These are some of the topics that have been handled, not 

 by outside speakers, but by men and women who live 

 around Danforth. 



The meetings are planned. The speakers are encouraged 

 to prepare their material. Danforth took a couple of young 

 men to the county courthouse at Watseka where they spent 

 a whole day learning where the tax money goes. These boys 

 absorbed a lot of information and presented it at the unit 

 meeting. Many farmers who have been paying taxes all 

 their lives heard for the first time the details of how the 

 funds they pay are apportioned among the various offices 

 and public institutions. 



The policy at the Danforth unit meetings is to select a 

 new chairman each month. Young people are g'ven instruc- 

 tions on how to conduct a meeting. There is entertainment, 

 too. The meetings are open to all. The same opportunity to 

 get acouainted. promote thinking and understanding, and 

 to develop leadership exists in every community. Let's take 

 advantage of it. 



State Crop Control Launched 



WiTH six million more acres in corn this year and 

 10 per cent fewer farm animals, favorable weather 

 promises to bring lower feed prices. Market fore- 

 casters are predicting cheaper corn in the fall if we have a 

 normal yield in 1936. 



The soil conservation program undoubtedly will do what's 

 expected of it — shift more acres into grass and help hold 

 the gains made toward parity prices under the AAA. But 

 many farmers believe that more direct action in limiting 

 crop acres is necessary. In the southeast tobacco growers 

 have taken the hint of the Supreme Court. They have 

 launched a plan to control acreage through state compacts. 

 The four states involved are Virginia, the two Carolinas 

 and Georgia. They produce the bulk of a certain grade 

 of tobacco. 



The Virginia legislature already ^as passed a law penaliz- 

 ing the farmer severely who grows more than his quota. 

 Each grower mu<;t have a state certificate to make legal 

 his sale of tobacco. Buying or scllng contrary to state law 

 subjects the offender to penalties equal to several times 

 the value of the tobacco. 



Ten per cent of the state's tobacco producers can petition 

 for a referendum. If one-third or more of the growers 

 disapprove the restriction, the program for the next year 



would be dropped. If any state drops out for one cause 

 or another the laws of the other states for controlling acre- 

 age would be suspended. 



North Carolina and South Carolina are expec'cd to pa^*; 

 similar legislation. In Georgia the Governor fought ihe 

 AAA and is reported against the state crop control plan. 

 Co-operation this year in Georgia may be dependent upon 

 voluntary action through the growers' association. 



By passing the Kerr Bill, Co-nUFess has complied with 

 the U. S. constitutional provision that "No state shall, with- 

 out the consent of Congress, enter into agreement or com- 

 pact with another state." 



This experiment will be watched with interest by farm- 

 ers everywhere. It may become the model for similar ac- 

 tion in the corn-belt states if such action proves necessary. 

 Crop control did more for the tobacco growers than any 

 other group of farmers. It advanced prices from around 

 seven cents to 27 cents a pound. No wonder they are for it. 



It Makes a Difference 



IF you want the facts about the value of a co-operative 

 creamery in getting the producer more for his butter- 

 fat, just read the papers. The Quincy Heral.'-Whig of 

 Nov. 15. 1935 contains the following interesting information: 

 Towns Station Prices for Butterfat 



Monroe City, Mo No. 1 cream 26c No. 2. 24c 



LaBelle. Mo No. 1 cream 30c No. 2. 28c 



The Illinois Producers Creameries price at the farm that 

 day was 32c for butterfat. There is no competition from a 

 co-operative apparently, in the section of M'ssouri quoted 

 above. 



At Bourbon, Indiana on Jan. 4, 1936 the station price for 

 butterfat was 27c. The Chicago 90 score market that day 

 was 33 ''2C. Illinois Producers Creameries were paying at 

 the farm 33c. 



Last fall the Producers Creamery of Carbondale held its 

 first annual meeting. A number of Kentucky cream pro- 

 ducers attended the meeting. On that day they reported 

 the prevailing station price was 5c under the price paid at 

 the farm by the Producers Creamery. Kentucky has no co- 

 operative creameries. 



Had Illinois Producers Creameries been operat'ng in 1922 

 and 1023 when butterfat prices were substantially higher, it 

 would have paid the producer 5c more per pound butterfat 

 than the state average for Illinois that year. Th's estimate 

 is based on the spread in country prices las' yf>ar between 

 what the co-operative paid and the 90 score Chicago mar- 

 ket price. It pays to co-operate. 



23 Per Cent Tax 



MORE than 23 cents of every dollar collected by the 

 Wabash Valley Service Co. from sales last year 

 represented state and federal taxes. This a.stonishing 

 fact was revealed by Manager Morris Crandall at the an- 

 nual meeting of the company a short time ago. On sales 

 of $245,687.33 the taxes amounted to $57,308.34. State and 

 federal taxes on motor fuel comprised the bulk of the total, 

 but the state occupational or sales tax and the federal tax 

 on lubricating oil also contributed. The tax money is used 

 largely for roads, unemployment relief and th°ir adminis- 

 tration, and for state government. 



34 



A. A. RECORD 



