Editor i a 1 



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Relief Back Where 

 It Belongs 



ON July 1. primary responsibility for poor relief and its 

 administration in Illinois was placed back in the laps 

 of local taxing districts. That's where it was origi- 

 nally, and that's where it belongs. Taxpayers, voters and lo- 

 cal officials are more likely to insist on utmost economy 

 in the expenditure of relief funds when they fully realize 

 that the money is coming out of their own pockets. This is 

 particularly true in rural communities where neighbors 

 know neighbors and can judge as to who is worthy of re- 

 lief and who isn't. They know who are willing workers and 

 who are shirkers. In Evanston, for example, steps already 

 have been taken to permit and, if necessary, require able- 

 bodied men on relief rolls, who were not taken over by 

 PWA. to work for their living. Chicago and some down- 

 state communities are considering a similar move. 



Under the new relief program which was sponsored and 

 vigorously supported by the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, competition among counties to "get their share" of 

 State relief funds is substantially ended. Hundreds of town- 

 ships downstate already have signified their intention of get- 

 ting along as much as possible without State aid. A total of 

 536 out of 1411 down-state townships did not apply for any 

 State aid for July. It is reasonable to assume that many if 

 not all of these will take care of their own in the future. 



The cost of administering relief should be cut substantially 

 under the new plan. The high costs of adm'nistration in some 

 communities will be abolished when local officials handle 

 the situation, or voters will know the reason why. 



Property owners in Chicago and Cook County and in 

 some down-state counties and communities are going to take 

 more interest in th:s relief problem when they start paying 

 or helping to pay the bill. When the money comes from 

 the State and the Federal government it looks like easy 

 money. But when it is raised at home that's a different 

 matter. 



Something new happened in Chicago the other day. The 

 City Council voted $5,800,000 for relief to be paid out of 

 taxes on Chicago property. Now the entire State is on the 

 same level with respect to taxation for poor relief. Each com- 

 munity must levy at least 30c per $100 valuation on property 

 before becoming eligible for State aid from the sales tax. 



The Illinois Emergency Relief Commission, which had 

 grown into a highly organized institution with 10,082 em- 

 ployees and administrative costs of $1,067,531 in April, 1935, 

 has been largely disbanded. Its function since July 1 is 

 merely that of allocating State relief funds among taxing 

 districts eligible for aid, distributing federal commodities 

 and winding up its own affairs. On July 15 this year its 

 staff numbered 1208. On August 1 it is estimated that 780 

 people will be on the payroll and by October 1, possibly only 

 250 to 300. Some of those who lost their jobs undoubtedly 

 will be taken over by the more populous cities and town- 

 ships, where officials need help in handling the relief situa- 

 tion. But many others will and should be absorbed in pri- 

 vate employment. 



Poor relief is largely a local problem. The sooner each 

 community can again assume full responsibility for its un- 

 fortunates, the better. 



Storing Crop Surpluses 



THE prospect of short crops again due to drought awak- 

 ens renewed interest in a government sponsored plan 

 of storing crop surpluses in years of plenty. There's 

 nothing new in this scheme. Joseph, as an agent of Pharaoh, 

 bought up the surplus "corn" in the land of Egypt during 

 the seven years of plenty and stored it in the cities. When 

 the famine came he doled it out, taking money, livestock, 

 and finally all the land of Egypt in exchange. Co-operative 

 crop storage with the benefits going to the many rather 

 than the few .should be an improvement over the Joseph plan. 



The success of the corn loan beginning in 1933 when 

 $120,000,000 was loaned without a dollar lost in principal 

 or interest commends the crop storage plan to more serious 

 consideration. It has the double-barreled opportunity of 

 benefiting both producer and consumer — of protecting vhc 

 farmer against ruinous prices in surplus years and the con- 

 sumer against exorbitant prices in famine years. 



In a recent address at Kansas City. Secretary Wallace 

 outlined a scheme to combine the so-called ever-normal 

 granary plan with crop insurance, collecting premiums in the 

 form of surplus grain in years of plenty and paying claims 

 when crops are killed not in cash but in corn or wheal. 



Such a plan would have to allow for the variab'lity be- 

 tween states and areas with reference to risk of crop fail- 

 ure. Maybe it wouldn't work. But livestock farmers know 

 from experience that it pays to keep a surplus of feed on 

 hand to tide them over in poor years. Surplus crop .storage 

 promises to become part of a sound national policy which 

 combined with soil conservation should contribute to a more 

 stable price level and income for American farmers. 



Steel and Agriculture 



"The present situation of our company gives reason 

 for a fuller degree of encouragement than has ex- 

 i.sted for several years," says E. G. Grace, presi- 

 dent of Bethlehem Steel in a message to the com- 

 pan.v'.s employees. 



"Our company is steadily emergintr from the hai<l 

 times of the last five years and the stockholders, 

 management and employees will emerge along with it. 



"We are now employing virtually our normal force, 

 having n payroll of about 70,000 persons, with hourly 

 wage rates at the level of our most prosperous years." 



Farmers are glad to know that conditions are better in 

 the industrial centers. Increased payrolls means a better 

 market for the farmers' products. But we might remind 

 Mr. Grace that h'ghcr farm prices had a lot to do ^vith the 

 improvement in his company. Farmers have been buying 

 steel in the form of autos. farm machinery and wire fence. 



It is interesting to note that steel production is up to 

 normal again which is about 70 per cent of capacity. Steel 

 companies don't produce to the limit and then take what 

 they can get for it. They "plow under" everything except 

 what they can sell at a profit. Imagine 70 to 80% of all crop 

 land lying idle in 1932 with farm prices fixed at 18% under 

 1929. Yet that was about the picture in the steel industry. 

 Agriculture of course is a more necessary industry than 

 steel making, but the same economic laws affecting profits 

 apply to both. Does anyone honestly believe that American 

 farmers can go ahead continuously producing to capacity 

 regardless of price without depleting their soil and capital? 

 Let the critics of crop adjustment answer. 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



