lAA Takes Position 

 : On State Legislation 



\^^^^ HE growing interest of agri- 

 ^"~~#^ culture in labor legislation, 



necessary because employment 

 vitally affects farm welfare, is revealed 

 not only in Illinois but also in other 

 states. 



Farmers generally feel friendly to- 

 ward the working man. Farmers too, 

 make their living largely by hard work 

 plus the employment of capital. So 

 the farmer is sympathetic to the work- 

 man who delivers an honest day's work 

 for an honest day's pay. He realizes 

 that there is a better market for farm 

 products at profitable prices when there 

 is plenty of employment at good wages 

 for labor, that organization has enabled 

 the working man to overcome exploita- 

 tion and secure fair wages and improved 

 working conditions. 



But both farmers and the general 



Eublic have little patience with the 

 igh-handed methods of some labor 

 leaders. They frown upon the indis- 

 criminate use of force and the con- 

 stant pressure exerted to secure un- 

 justified increases in wage rates and 

 short hours by legislation. Such tactics 

 usually lead to unemployment by in- 

 creasing the cost of manufactured goods 

 and distribution which definitely de- 

 crease buying and consumption. 



At its April meeting the lAA board 

 of directors unanimously voted to op- 

 pose the enactment of a state wage and 

 hour bill which in two years would pro- 

 vide for a 40 hour week with a min- 



(Contiaued from page }) 

 of helping those already in want . . 

 A condition where a bumper crop 

 means ruination to farmers is too 

 absurd to be allowed to continue in- 

 definitely. It must not be forgotten 

 that the evil effect is not limited to 

 farmers. It repercusses on all of us 

 and it is just as much in our inter- 

 est as in that of the farmers that it 

 should be remedied." 



imum of 40 cents an hour and pay- 

 ment for one and one-half times the 

 regular rate per hour for overtime. 

 This legislation is even more drastic than 

 the Federal wage and hour law and in 

 approving its legislative committee's re- 

 port the Board pointed out that such 

 legislation will reduce employment, cut 

 the aggregate earnings of labor, in- 

 crease cost of manufactured products 

 and further widen the disparity be- 

 tween farm prices and the price paid 

 for goods which the farmer must buy. 



Farmers feel that in demanding such 

 legislation organized labor is chasing 

 a will o' the wisp which can only re- 

 sult in putting more people on relief, 

 increasing the tax burden, and retard- 

 ing recovery. 



The Board of Directors favored and 

 voted to support the principles of a 

 bill introduced by Senator Lantz creat- 

 ing an Illinois Employment Relations 

 Board of three members to supervise 

 employer and employee relationships 

 in the state. This bill is similar to 

 legislation recently enacted in Minne- 

 sota and Wisconsin. One of its pur- 

 poses is to stop labor racketeering, to 

 prevent coercion of employees either 

 by the employer or the labor union, 

 to provide honest representation for 

 the laborer as determined by secret bal- 

 lot, to prevent deduction of labor or- 

 ganization dues from salaries unless the 

 deduction is authorized in writing by 



BASEBALL OFnCIALS 

 President Eb Harris, right, and Vice- 

 president Albert HoYes. left, talk things 

 over at the annual meeting Mar. 31 in 

 Peoria. Eligibility rules were tightened, 

 plans made for another big year in the 

 Farm Bureau League. 



Next time one of your business 

 friends starts raging about the 

 government paying farmers not to 

 produce or the iniquities of crop 

 adjustment, write to Secretary of 

 Agriculture Wallace and tell him 

 to send your friend a copy of cir- 

 cular 27, the memorandum recently 

 adopted by the Birmingham (Eng- 

 land) Chamber of Commerce. 



— E.G.T. 



the workman, to protect the worker's 

 right to join or not to join a labor 

 union, to prohibit picketing unless a 

 majority of employees have voted to 

 call a strike, to require labor union 

 officials to make a detailed financial 

 report annually to the members and 

 prohibit an employer from entering in- 

 to a "closed shop" arrangement unless 

 the union affected is favored by three 

 fourths of all his employees. It is 

 believed that such a bill will tend to 

 promote industrial peace and prevent 

 public disturbance and disorder. 



Bangs Disease Control — the lAA po- 

 sition is to support legislation requir- 

 ing all dairy and breeding cattle im- 

 ported into the state to be tested for 

 contagious abortion or be accompanied 

 by a certificate that they came from a 

 disease-free herd. This would not ap- 

 ply to cattle shipped to market for 

 slaughter nor to feeder cattle held in 

 quarantine but would apply to breed- 

 ing stock shipped from a public stock- 

 yards. The Association does not favor 

 making test compulsory for cattle sold 

 at public auction but approves volun- 

 tary testing and indemnity to the owner 

 for reactors. 



Reuil Sales — lAA will not support 

 legislation directed against the use of 

 "loss leaders" sought by organized re- 

 tailers. lAA policy is to oppose retail 

 price maintenance by legislation. 



Tax Payment Date — lAA will not 

 support pending legislation to change 

 taxpaying dates from June 1 and Sep- 

 tember 1 to April 1 and August 1 re- 

 soectively. 



Child Labor — lAA is not opposed to 

 legislation to stop sweat-shop labor of 

 growing children but opposes limita- 

 tion to eight hours per day and 40 hours 

 per week of boys between 16 and 18 

 years of age in agriculture. Farmers 

 take position that young people should 

 be encouraged to seek work, that no 

 legislation should be enacted to make 

 it impossible for them to find employ- 

 ment. 



Auto License Penalty — House Bill 

 409 would increase the cost of state 

 auto license two dollars when the owner 

 neglects to get his license until after 

 March 1. lAA will not oppose this 

 legislation. 



State Police — House Bill 542 would 

 increase the number of state highway 

 police from 350 to 500. The lAA 

 maintains that state police should be 

 selected by merit rather than by political 

 appointment, that they should be given 

 general police powers and not restricted 

 to enforcement of motor vehicle and 

 traffic laws, that state police should 

 patrol the highways and not enga_gc 

 in other activities as many do. lAA 

 will support a reasonable increase in 



(Turn to page 7. col. 2) 



L A. A. RECORD 



