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I. RECORD 



THE seriousness of the problem of 

 relieving the poor in Illinois is 

 shown by the following facts: 



1. Nearly $370,000,000, not including 

 Federal work relief, has been spent in 

 Illinois for relief and its administra- 

 tion in the four years ending January 

 31, 1936. Of this huge total the Federal 

 government supplied more than 70 per 

 cent, the State less than 25 per cent, in- 

 cluding both bond issues, and local 

 public funds less than five per cent. 



2. Relief expenditures today are at 

 or near their highest point, in spite of 

 an increase in the Illinois industrial 

 employment index from about 50 per 

 cent of normal In January, 1933, to 

 nearly 75 per cent in January, 1936. The 

 number of families and persons on re- 

 lief or on Federal WPA jobs, are still 

 near the high point of the depression. 



3. The Federal Government has de- 

 clared its intention of cutting down its 

 appropriations for work relief and 

 forcing all relief of unemployables on 

 the states and localities. Any long con- 

 tinued allocation of huge Federal grants 

 for relief whether by the W. P. A. or 

 otherwise appears exceedingly doubtful. 



Relief Policies 



In the past four years, the State has 

 enacted relief legislation and provided 

 funds therefor only as one emergency 

 after another has arisen. No policies 

 have been adopted for the administra- 

 tion of relief so as to damage as little 

 as possible the self-respect of the des- 

 titute. This was probably unavoidable 

 for the first year or so when relief 

 demands were rapidly increasing and 

 the need was acute for speedy action 

 in relieving distress. 



Mindful of the danger in this situa- 

 tion, the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion was the first to urge the necessity 

 of requiring reasonable and uniform 

 local taxation and responsibility for re- 

 lief. For this purpose it sponsored the 

 Lantz bills which passed the regular 

 session of the General Assembly in 

 1933, but were vetoed. 



The position of the Association at 

 that time has been amply sustained 

 by subsequent developments. Pressure 

 by communities and recipients of re- 

 lief for "easy" State and Federal funds 

 has gone far to create the pauper atti- 

 tude not only in many people but also 

 in some counties and communities. 



JUNE. 1936 ■'■■■'■ •■'•'; i;-'";., 4 •'/.'■:' 



By John C. Watson 



There has been an evident tendency 

 for counties and communities to evade 

 their responsibility for relief; for em- 

 ployables to. prefer a lower standard of 

 living either on relief funds without 

 work or on Federal work funds without 

 adequate labor therefor. 



Some such persons refuse any jobs, 

 or better paying private jobs requiring 

 more work. Both industry and agricul- 

 ture have noted the increasing trend 

 in this direction. 



Hickman-Lantz-Finn Bills 



To offer a constructive plan to im- 

 prove such conditions, the Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural Association again sponsored 

 a series of five bills in the present sec- 

 ond special session of the General As- 

 sembly, containing most of the pro- 

 visions of the Lantz Bills of 1933 and 

 one important new provision. After 

 many delays. Senate Bill No. 10, the 

 last of this series, finally became law 

 on May 12, when it was filed by the 

 Governor with the Secretary of State. 



This series of bUls, introduced early 

 in January by Senators Hickman, Lantz 

 and Finn, passed the Senate on January 

 29th. The first four passed the House 

 in February, and were approved by the 

 Governor early in March. Passage of 

 the Lyons-O'Neill Act in February, 

 abolishing most of the powers of ;the 

 Illlinois Emergency Relief Commission 

 after May 1, necessitated amendment 

 of Senate Bill No. 10 in the House. As 

 amended, it passed the House early in 

 March but concurrence by the Senate 

 with the House amendment was de- 

 layed by absence of some of its sup- 

 porters and the recess of the General 

 Assembly from March 6th to April 21st. 

 Concurrence by the Senate was finally 

 secured on April 28th. 



These measures, which become ef- 

 fective July 1. are designed to secure 

 greater uniformity in taxing power for 



relief. The Acts just passed transfer 

 responsibility for relief from each 

 supervisor-governed county to each 

 township therein and from Cook Coun- 

 ty to each of the outlying townships 

 therein and "to the City of Chicago, 

 which has no townships. The huge staff 

 of relief workers employed by the Illi- 

 nois Emergency Relief Commission will 

 be disbanded as such on July 1. 



In each down-state commission- 

 governed county, responsibility for re- 

 lief will remain as now with the county 

 board. The bUls give every township, 

 the City of Chicago, and every down- 

 state commission-governed county a 

 uniform relief tax rate of not over 30 

 cents on each $100 of assessed valua- 

 tions. 



They empower each township to call 

 a special town meeting, and the City 

 Council of Chicago to hold a special 

 session in July. 1936, for the purpose 

 of levying such taxes for this year. 

 Commission-governed counties can 

 make such levies in their reeular Sep- 

 tember meetings. The p»-oceeds of levies 

 for relief cannot legally be used for any 

 other purpose. 



A New Policy ■ 



Senate Bill No. 10 contains a highly 

 important new policy which provides 

 that after September 30, 1936, no State 

 relief funds shall in any fiscal year be 

 allocated to or for any relief taxing dis- 

 trict unless it has first levied taxes on 

 property therein for relief requiring the 

 maximum tax rate permitted without 

 referendum. 



This provision is intended to end se- 

 rious evasion of county or local tax 

 levies for relief. For several years prior 

 to 1935, Cook County and a few of the 

 commission-governed counties down- 

 state, having no special tax rates there- 

 for, levied little or no taxes to provide 

 relief for their own destitute outside 

 of institutions. Such counties have re- 

 ( Continued on page 8) 



On July 1 Illinois Townships and Localities 

 Take Over the Job of Administering Relief. 

 Here Is the I. A. A.'s Record on Relief Legis- 

 lation Together with Some Interesting Facts 

 Every Farmer Taxpayer Should Have— Editor. 



