ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION RECORD 



To advance the purpose for which the Farm Bureau was organized 

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

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

 to develop agriculture. 



JUNE 

 VOL 16 



1938 

 NO. 6 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation at 1501 West Washington Road. Mendota. 11. 

 Editorial Otfices, 608 So. Dearborn St.. Chicago. 111. 

 Entered as second class matter at post office. Mendota, 

 Illinois. September 11. 1956. Acceptance for niailing 

 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.. 

 Chicago. The individual membership fee of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association is five dollars a year. The fee 

 includes payment of fifty cents for subscription :o the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association RECORD. Postm?5ter : 

 Send notices on Form 3578 and undeliverable copies 

 returned under Form 3579 to editorial offices. 608 S. 

 Dearborn St.. Chicago. III. 



Editor and Advertisinu Director. E. G. Thiem ; Assistant 

 Director and Asst. Editor. Lawrence A. Potter. 



Illinois Agricultural Association 



Greatest Stale Farm Organization in America 



OFFICERS 



President, Eari 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 llth E. Harris, Grayslake 



12th E. E. Houghtby, Shabbona 



13th Leo M. Knox, Morrison 



14th Otto Steffey, Stronghurst 



15th .M. Ray Ihrig, Golden 



I6th Albert Hayes, Chillicothe 



17th C. M. Smith, Eureka 



18th W. A. Dennis, Paris 



19th Eugene Curtis, Champaign 



20th K. T. Smith, Greenfield 



2 1st Dwight Hart, Sharosburg 



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 



Field Service Cap Mast 



Finance R. A. Cowles 



Fruit and Vegetable Marketing H. W. Day 



Legal and General Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Live Stock Marketing Sam F. Russell 



Office C. E. Johnston 



Organization G. E. Metzger 



Produce Marketing F. A. Gougler 



Publicity George Thiem 



Safety _ C. M. Seagraves 



Soil Improvement John R. Spencer 



Taxation and Statistics J. C Watson 



Transportation-Claims Division G. W. Baxter 



Young Peoples Artivities Frank Gingrich 



ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS 



Country Life Insurance Co Dave Mieher, Sales 



Manager; Howard Reeder, Home Office Mgr. 

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



Illinois Agr. Auditing Ass'n C. E. Strand, Mgr. 



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



Illinois Agr. Service Co Donald Kirkpatrick, Secy. 



111. Farm Bureau Serum Ass'n S. F. Russell, Secy. 



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



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



111. Grain Corporation Harrison Fahrnkopf, Mgr. 



III. Livestock Marketing Ass'n Sam Russell, Mgr. 



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



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

 J. B. Countiss Sales Mgr. 



GEORGE THIEM, Editor 



""Don*! pay no allrntion lo ib« ii|[T>-^AIf jii»i Muck il up 

 thrrv lo krep \\*t morninx »un oul of hi> bedroom.** 



"^ 



URAL Youth on Re- 

 lief" is the title of a 



_ new WPA study which 



reports that in October 1935 there 

 were 625,000 young men and wom- 

 en on relief in rural communities. 

 This number does not include CCC 

 boys nor families being helped by 

 WPA jobs and the Resettlement Ad- 

 ministration. It means, we take it, 

 that 625,000 young people were on 

 the dole, able-bodied youth presum- 

 ably, who could if they would or 

 were forced to, work enough to earn 

 their board and lodging. 



Whether or not the government is 

 doing these young folks a service by 

 starting them out in life on a "hand- 

 out" and the notion that they can 

 eat without working is, to say the 

 least, a debatable point. The idea 

 of rural youth on relief, unknown in 

 other days, seems revolting. When 

 you look around and learn how 

 many successful men and women 

 have been "on their own" since the 

 age of 15, 16 and 17, you wonder 

 if all this is necessary. 



Training and education at govern- 

 ment expense to fit young men and 

 women for useful employment can 

 be defended. Such a program should 

 be encouraged. But putting able- 

 bodied young folks on relief, as we 

 usually think of it, can have nothing 

 but dire consecjuences. It sounds 

 too much like encouraging young 

 people to consider relief as a career. 



One may argue that it's a different 

 world today than it was 20, 30, or 

 40 years ago. So it is, but there 

 were periods of depression then, too. 

 There were years when factories were 

 shut down, when farm products if 

 saleable at all, brought little cash. 

 But in such periods there was no 

 state and federal relief and little 

 local government relief. Men went 

 from farm to farm and from house 

 to house asking for work, something 

 almost unheard of today. Neigh- 

 bors and relatives shared with the 

 less fortunate. In the larger cities 

 charities supported by private funds 

 aided many, and few, if any star\'ed. 



Today government relief is big 

 business in America. Special ses- 

 sions of state legislatures, much of 

 the time of Congress are required to 

 debate the question and find new 

 ways of raising money. Where will 

 it all end? Growing signs of im- 

 patience show that the tax-paying 

 public is not satisfied to continue the 

 present system indefinitely. How 

 solve the problem and reduce the 

 load.' 



Absolute control of relief and re- 

 sponsibility for raising funds should 

 be placed on local taxing districts. 

 Full publicity of relief rolls to pre- 

 vent fraud is another step that 

 should be considered. Taxpayers are 

 entitled to know who the persons are 

 they are helping support. For the 

 able-bodied more drastic action than 

 has yet been tried. There is a broad 

 demand for willing and competent 

 farm and domestic help that pro- 

 vides board and lodging and some 

 cash. 



So long as Uncle Sam and the 

 state legislatures continue to pour 

 out funds, there will be little pro- 

 gress made in solving the relief 

 problem. The first step is to put 

 relief on a local basis, let each com- 

 munity take care of its own. Only 

 then will we start to work our way 

 out of this serious and growing men- 

 ace to independence, self-reliance 

 and good citizenship. — E.G.T. 



JUNE, 1938 



