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THE ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION RECORD 



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To advance the purpose for which the Farm Bureau was organized 



namely, to promote, protect and represent the business, economic, political MAY 1937 



and educational interests of the farmers of Illinois and the nation, and ' 



to develop agriculture. VOL. 15 nO. 5 



Publubed monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 cittioo «t l»Ol Wtst Washington Road. MendoU, 111. 

 EdJtoriil Offices, 508 So. Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. 

 Entered as second class matter at post office, Mendota, 

 Illinois, September 11, 1956. Accepunce for mailing 

 at special rate of postage provided in Section 412, Act of 

 Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Oct. 27, 1935. Address all 

 communications for publication to Editorial Offices. Illinois 

 Agricultural Association RECORD, 608 So. Dearborn St., 

 Cnicago. The individual membership fee of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association is five dollars a year. The fee 

 includes payment of fifty cents for subscription to the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association RECORD. Postmaster: 

 Send notices on Form 3578 and undeliverable copies 

 returned under Form 3579 to editorial offices, 608 S. 

 Dearborn St., Chicago, III. 



Editor and Advertising Director. E. G. Thicm ; AssisUnt 

 Director and Ass't. Editor, Lawrence A. Potter. 



Illinois Agricultural Association 



Greatest State Farm Organization in America 



OFFICERS 



President, Earl C. Smith Detroit 



Vice-President, Talmage DeFrees Smithboro 



Corporate Secretary, Paul E. MathiaS Chicago 



Field Secretary, Geo. E. Metzger. Chicago 



Treasurer, R. A. CowLES _ Bloomington 



Ass't Treasurer, A. R. Wright Varna 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 



(By Congressional District) 



1st to 11th E. Harris, Grayslake 



12th E. E. Houghtby, Shabbona 



13th _ Leo M. Knox, Morrison 



I4th _ Otto Steffey, Stronghurst 



15th M. Ray Ihrig, Golden 



I6th Albert Hayes, Chillicothe 



17th C. M. Smith, Eureka 



18th Herman W. Danforth, Danforth 



19th Eugene Curtis, Champaign 



20th K. T. Smith, Greenfield 



2 1st Dwight Hart, Sharpsburg 



22nd - A. O. Eckert, Belleville 



23rd Chester McCord, Newton 



24th _ Charles Marshall, Belknap 



25th .August G. Eggerding, Red Bud 



DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS 



Comptroller - R. G. Ely 



Dairy Marketing Wilfred Shaw 



Finance R- A. Cowles 



Fruit and Vegetable Marketing H. W. Day 



Legal and General Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Live Stock Marketing _ Ray E. Miller 



Office _ C. E. Johnston 



Organization _ G. E. Metzger 



Produce Marketing F. A. Gougler 



Publicity George Thiem 



Safety C. M. Seagraves 



Taxation and Statistics J. C. Watson 



Transportation-Claims Division G. W. Baxter 



Young Peoples Activities Frank Gingrich 



ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS 



Country Life Insurance Co Dave Mieher, Mgr. 



Farmers' Mutual Reinsurance Co...J. H. Kelker, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Auditing Ass'n F. E. Ringham, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Mutual Ins. Co...A. E. Richardson, Mgr. 



Illinois Agr. Service Co Donald Kirkpatrick, Secy. 



Illinois Farm Supply Co L. R. Marchant, Mgr. 



Illinois Fruit Growers' Exchange... .H. W. Day, Mgr. 



Illinois Grain Corporation..Harrison Fahrnkopf, Mgr. 



Illinois Livestock Marketing Ass'n...Ray Miller, Mgr. 



Illinois Milk Producers' Ass'n Wilfred Shaw, Mgr. 



Illinois Producers' Creameries.... F. A. Gougler, Mgr. 



J. B. Countiss Sales Mgr. 



MAY. 1937 



GEORGE THIEM, Editor 



0AM AND LOCK NO. 5! 

 in Ohio River at Golconda. 



The proposal of a $1,500,000,000 

 Federal appropriation for unemploy- 

 ment relief next year and another 

 deficit in 1938 doesn't sound like 

 we are getting on top of this prob- 

 lem of balancing the budget. No 

 fair-minded person wants to balance 

 the budget at the expense of starving 

 destitute people; yet there is plenty 

 of evidence all around us to sup- 

 port the belief that it's easier to "go 

 on relief" than to work for a living. 



There is the story of the candy 

 store clerk who refused to perform 

 the tasks assigned by her employer. 

 "I don't have to do that kind of 

 work, my folks are on relief" ; was 

 the ultimatum delivered by the em- 

 ployee. The feeling by many WPA 

 workers that they have a vested right 

 in their jobs ; that they have no need 

 for seeking private employment 

 promises to continue indefinitely. 

 The relief business has made it in- 

 creasingly diflFicult to get competent 

 farm and domestic help. The "Un- 

 cle Sam will take care of us, we don't 

 have to work" attitude is all too 

 prevalent. 



Having said this, let us hasten to 

 add that it's much easier to criticise 

 than it is to get in there and do a 

 better job yourself. We have a lot 

 of sympathy for the fellow who is 

 "on the spot" trying. Throwing 

 rocks at the other fellow's glass 

 house is a popular sport these days. 

 But a more definite shift toward en- 

 couraging able-bodied persons to get 



"on their own" as quickly as possible 

 and not be too insistent on the wage 

 so long as it means a living seems 

 to be in order. This may mean less 

 WPA and more shifting to a straight 

 subsistence dole but the ends may 

 justify the means. 



A somewhat dismal outlook for 

 the big cities and the future home 

 market for farm products is seen by 

 Dr. O. E. Baker of the USDA as 

 a result of the declining birth rate. 

 There was a steady rise in the birth 

 rate up to about 1920 according to 

 Baker. Since then the rate has fallen 

 steadily and rapidly. Dr. Baker re- 

 ports that there is a substantial short- 

 age of young children in the schools 

 compared with the number 15 years 

 ago; that this shortage coupled with 

 the marked downward trend in the 

 birth rate will both work together 

 in 20 to 30 years to reduce our pop- 

 ulation rather rapidly. 



Another startling disclosure is that 

 approximately two-thirds of the pap- 

 ulation in our cities in the next 50 

 years must come from the farm. 

 The number of unmarried persons, 

 childless couples, and those with 

 only one or two children is increas- 

 ing. Large families are on the down- 

 grade except in the South and South- 

 east. The birthrate in Dixie among 

 both Whites and Blacks continues 

 high, leading the country by all odds. 



The depression and feeling of in- 

 security, coupled with the growing 

 demand for a higher standard of 

 living and a college education for 

 every boy and girl are important 

 causes of the declining birth rate. 

 The birth rate is lowest among pro- 

 fessional and business groups, high- 

 est in the order named among em- 

 ployed agricultural workers, farm 

 tenants, and farm owners. The high 

 birth rate in the South which is 

 largely rural accounts for the fact 

 that farmers lead all groups. Pro- 

 fessional people such as doctors, law- 

 yers, writers and teachers are not 

 reproducing rapidly enough to main- 

 tain themselves. — E.G.T. 



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