

EDITORIAL 



(La-i 



-^ 



The New Farm Tenancy Act 

 C"^^^ HI] lariii Security Administration rttcntly an- 

 ^ — -^ nouiutd the opening of its farm tenancy program 

 ^^ and the allocation of $9,^00.000 for loans to 

 competent tenants, farm laborers, and share croppers for 

 the purchase of farms. This amount of money, and no 

 more, will be available between now and July 1, 193.S for 

 loans at three per cent interest. News reports indicate that 

 the money will be distributed in approxim.ately .U)() coun- 

 ties in the I'nited States "according to farm population and 

 the prevalence ot tenancy as found l^y the Secretar)' of 

 Agriculture." 



The Administration has not announced which coun- 

 ties are to be inclucied in the distribution. Illinois allot- 

 ment is Ssl 1,^90, which amount would aver.ige ak)ut 

 5i. ()()() per Illinois countv. Obviously only a tew tenants 

 can expect loans to buy farms from this source. In the 

 fiscal year beginning July 1, I'MS an additional amount of 

 S2'),()()(), ()()() will I'xwme avail.ible, and thereafter S^d. 

 (>()().()()() per annum. 



The chief advantage in a loan from this new set-up 

 is the low rate of interest for a possible period of io years. 

 Only those actively engaged in farming will be eligible 

 and they must be approved by the county committee of 

 three farmers to be appointed by the government to help 

 administer the program. Preference will be given, the 

 act states, to those who ha\e good ecjuipment. some capital 

 for a down payment and a record of successful farm opera- 

 tion. But tenants and farm workers who can comply with 

 these rec]uirements will find the door already open to loans 

 trom the ledcral land banks and trom private sources. 



Worthy as is this program to decrease farm tenancy and 

 promote ownership b) those who till the soil, the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association believes that control of farm sur- 

 pluses and stabilization ot prices at profitable levels will do 

 tar more to help thritt\- tenants buy and pay for their own 

 l.irms. The problem o\ larm tenancy is inseparable trom 

 the larger oiic of ^tabilizing the value ol the f.irmers' liebt- 

 paying dollar. 



The Meat Strike 

 »()\Sl'Mr.RS on the Atlantic seaboard who recently 

 engaged in >triking .ig.unst the high meat prices 

 should look into the matter belore taking such 

 irastic action. It is well known that a larger percentage ot 

 American workers were stcadilv cm|i!o\c>.l in 192S and 

 1929 than at any time in American history-. Official gov- 

 ernment reports disclose that w.iges in the state ot New 

 ■^'ork during the first eight months of 19i^ were 20 

 percent above the standard wages in etiect during 1929. 

 The reports also disclose that the average retail cost ot 

 food during the first eight months of 193"' was only SO 

 percent of the cost in 1929; that during the same period 

 the retail value of beef was SO percent, lamb 65 percent, 

 and pork .S6 percent ot their retail cost in the a\eragc of 

 the years 192 I to 1929. 



The great mass of consumers throughout the country 

 should understand that a return to the low prices for farm 

 produce experienced in 19sl to 19s i will again result in 

 .1 isreakdt>wn in e-mployment and standard of wages. The 



34 



general imprc)\ement in business and employment experi- 

 enced during the past two years is in large part the result 

 of increased farm buying power. City people cannot enjoy 

 prosperity ver) long unless the farmer gets fair prices for 

 his products. 



City vs. Country 



y^l-IU'.'S .something for Farm Bureau community 



C^# ff club debaters this winter on the age-old c|ues- 

 _ / / tion of city versus country as a place to live. 



Arthur "Bugs" Baer writes in the Hearst papers, 

 "Today is moving day for city people who think they 

 are improving their careers by transferring uncomfortable 

 furniture to another apartment. Nobody mo\es in the 

 country on Oct. 1 and some people call farmers hicks be- 

 cause they've got sense enough to stay where they are. 

 The writer always feels a bit gruesome when he ponders 

 over the rent he has kicked torth in New York in 25 

 years. It totals $^5,000 as the crow -flies. And all we 

 have to show tor it is a collection of old latch keys that 

 we kept for spite. . . . 



"In that cjuarter of a century we have never spoken to 

 a neighbor, nor seen a landlord. W'c have developed the 

 community spirit of a porcupine with ingrown cjuills." 



Life on the farm has its problems but at least you 

 know your neighbors. Nowhere else are you so drawn 

 together by a common bond of interest in your work and 

 your community. The razzle dazzle of fast stepping cit)' 

 life with all its modern gadgets, theatres, and culture of 

 a sort, can never compensate for the love and friendship 

 between good neighbors, (aty people know it. That's 

 w hy many of them look forward to the time when they can 

 move to the country where people have time to be human. 



Farmers Are Together 



C^'^w HI: "one-gallus farmer, " to use Senator "Cotton 

 ^— ^ YA" Smith s term, is speaking and speaking in no 

 ^^_y uncertain terms, according to reports from the 

 Senate Agriculture ('ommittee hearings being held through- 

 out the country. Farmers want some assurance of fair 

 prices for their products. And to get fair prices they want 

 surplus control legislation. 



Senator McGill, in charge of conducting hearings in 

 the \orthwest, said recently at St. Paul, that farmers why 

 have flocked to hearings are almost unanimous for curtail- 

 ment ol production as a means of regulating prices. 



An observer at the hearinc in Grand Forks, N. D., 

 Oct. 12-13, reported that 100 per cent ot farmers testify- 

 ing declared that farming is national in character, that 

 agricultural adjustment can be treated only on a national 

 basis. 



riiere ma\' be some- division in the opinions of agri- 

 cultural spokesmen, but there is no substantial disagree- 

 ment .unong the rank and file of farmers themselves. They 

 know what they want. They are interested in maintaining 

 prices that will give them a fair exchange value for their 

 products when they go to town to buy. They want their 

 representatives at Washington to settle their differences 

 over ways and means of doing it. and get the job done. 



I. A. A. RECORD 



TH 



In This 



Farm Burea 

 tor Pope-M< 



Senate Coi 



Hears ni 



Famu 



Sucx;ea 

 Cooper( 



Irish Fanne; 



on Coopera 



Fixed P 



Decen 

 193 



