How Illinois Senators and Congressmen 

 Voted on the AAA of 1938 



National Legislation 



The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 

 1938 which passed the House Feb. 10, 

 1938 by a vote of 263 to 135, and the 

 Senate Feb. 14 by a vote of 56 to 31, is 

 the result of efforts launched by the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation, 

 with the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion and other State Farm Bureaus co- 

 operating, to enact a more permanent 

 crdp surplus control program. 



Early in 1937 it was realized by the 

 general farm organizations that the 

 Soil Conservation Act of 1936 was not 

 adequate to protect the producers of 

 basic farm crops against heavy sur- 

 pluses and ruinous prices. A general 

 conference was had in Washington at 

 the call of the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 where principles of a permanent farm 

 program were agreed upon. 



The American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion assumed leadership in outlining 

 the principles of a program which 

 early in the spring of '37 were written 

 into a bill. Hearings were had on this 

 measure in midsummer when President 

 O'Neal of the A. F. B. F., President 

 Smith of the I. A. A. and others warned 

 that prospective bumper crops, especial- 

 ly corn and cotton, demanded that con- 

 gress give immediate attention to the 

 enactment of an effective plan to pre- 

 vent a collapse of prices. 



At that time farm prices were com- 

 paratively high. Little heed was given 

 to the warning and congress adjourned 

 without taking action on the Pope- 

 McGill bill, which contained the prin- 

 ciples of legislation sponsored by the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation. It 

 was agreed both in the House and 

 Senate, however, that when the con- 

 gress convened, farm legislation would 

 be the first order of business. Mean- 

 time, the Senate authorized a sub-com- 

 mittee of the Committee on Agricul- 

 ture to hold hearings throughout the 

 agricultural regions of the country to 

 learn the sentiments of so-called dirt 

 farmers on farm legislation. 



One such hearing was held at Spring- 

 field,. 111. the latter part of October, 

 1937 where farmers of Illinois ex- 

 pressed overwhelming sentiment for 

 the principles of the Pope-McGill bill. 

 Similar sentiment was expressed at 

 Other hearings in the corn belt, north- 

 west, and west. 



At the special session of Congress 

 called by President Roosevelt in No- 

 vember, 1937 the farm bill became the 



Vote In The 

 Primaries April 12 



In line with its long-established 

 policy authorized and directed by 

 the board of delegates in annual 

 convention, the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association publishes herewith the 

 voting records of members oi the 

 Illinois General Assembly, also the 

 vote oi Illinois Congressmen and 

 senators on the Agricultural Adjust- 

 ment Act of 1938. 



Many oi these legislators are can- 

 didates for oiiice in the primaries on 

 April 12. The Association urges its 

 members to study carefully the in- 

 formation published in this issue oi 

 the RECORD and to actively support 

 for nomination and election those 

 representatives and senators, both 

 in the State Legislature and Con- 

 gress, who by their records have 

 proved themselves worthy oi the 

 coniidence oi iarmers. 



It must be remembered that farm 

 people represent only a minority oi 

 the population and that only through 

 united thought and action at the 

 polls, which places the interests oi 

 agriculture above parties and per- 

 sonalities, can iarmers hope to 

 mointain iair representation in law- 

 making bodies. 



first order of business. .Soon after con- 

 vening, the House Committee on Agri- 

 culture recommended a bill which was 

 not satisfactory to the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation. The Senate Com- 

 mittee recommended the Pope-McGill 

 bill with minor amendments which had 

 the support of the Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion. The bills which were quite dis- 

 similar in their more important pro- 

 visions but similar in their expressed 

 purpose, were referred to a conference 

 committee where differences were com- 

 posed after lengthy consideration. A 

 compromise was finally reached that 

 in the main was satisfactory to Farm 

 Bureau leaders. 



During this period the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association through its presi- 

 dent and general counsel were active 

 at Washington conferring with mem- 

 bers of the conference committee and 

 urging removal of objectionable pro- 

 visions in the committee report and 

 the inclusion of provisions to make it 

 more workable and effective. 



The I. A. A. made known its support 

 of the conference bill to Illinois con- 

 gressmen and 22 votes were secured for 

 the bill from Illinois. 



Only three representatives voted 

 against the measure, namely. Ralph 



Church, Evanston, 10th district; 

 Chauncey Reed, West Chicago, 11th 

 district; and Noah Mason, Oglesby of 

 of the 12th district. 



Those voting FOR the measure are: 

 Leo E. Allen, Galena, 13th district; 

 Chester Thompson, Rock Island, I4th 

 district; Lewis L. Beyer, Quincy, 

 15th district; Everett M^ Dirksen, 

 Pekin, I6th district; L. C. Arends, Mel- 

 vin, 17th district; Jas. A. Meeks, Dan- 

 ville, 18th district; Hugh M. Rigney, 

 Arthur, 19th district; Scott Lucas, 

 Havana, 20th district; Frank W. Fries, 

 Carlinville, 21st district; Edwin M. 

 Schaefer, Belleville, 22nd district; 

 Laurence F. Arnold, Newton, 23rd 

 district; Claude V. Parsons, Golconda, 

 24th district; Kent E. Keller, Ava, 25th 

 district. 



Also voting FOR the bill are : Arthur 

 W. Mitchell, Raymond McKeough, 

 Edw. A. Kelly, Harry P. Beam, Adolph 

 J. Sabath, Thos. J. O'Brien, Leonard 

 W. Schuetz, Leo Kodalkowski, Jas. Mc- 

 Andrews, all of Chicago. 



Congrcssmen-at-large, Lewis M. 

 Long, Sandwich, and E. V. Champion, 

 Peoria, did not vote on the bill but 

 were recorded as "general pairs." 



Both United States Senators, J. Ham- 

 ilton Lewis and William H. Dieterich 

 voted FOR the bill. 



Enjoy the RECORD 



Manhattan, Illinois. 

 March 14, 1938. 

 We enjoy reading the Record and looking 

 at the many pictures. With the present is- 

 sue we (my father and myself) were espe- 

 cially interested and concerned about your 

 fine article "What Cattle Feeders Think of 

 the New AAA" because that meant us. 



The opinions and experiences of the 

 feeder-men visited were pertinent and much 

 appreciated. 



B. J, Baskerville and son 

 Will County, III. 



Clinton County Farm Bureau will 



celebrate its 20th anniversary at Carlyle 

 high school, April 20, with a pageant 

 presented by 70 members of the county 

 rural youth group, according to Farm 

 Adviser C. E. Twig^. 



The first Farm Bureau meeting in 

 the county was held October 20, 1917. 

 It was organized on November 24, 1917, 

 with 410 members. 





Moved; Jack Howlett, organization 

 director for Fayette County Farm 

 Bureau since June, 1937, to Iroquois 

 County Farm Bureau, March 21. 



L A. A. RECORD 



