

ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION RECORD 



To advance the purpose for which the Farm Bureau was organized 

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

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

 to develop agriculture. 



JULY 

 VOL 17 



1939 

 NO. 7 



CAR 



lu! 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation at 1301 West Washington Road. Mendota, III. 

 Editorial Offices. 608 So. Dearborn St., ChicaKo, lU. 

 Entered as second class matter at post office, Mendota, 

 Illinois. September 11. 1936. Acceptance 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.. 

 Chicago. 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 undeltverable copies 

 returned under Form 3579 to editorial offices. 608 S. 

 Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. 



Editor and Advertising Director, E. G. Thiem ; Assistant 

 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 Arthur States, Elwood 



12th E. E. Houghtby, Shabbona 



13th Leo M. Knox, Morrison 



14th Otto StefFey, Stronghurst 



15th _ M. Ray Ihrig, Golden 



16th Albert Hayes, Chillicothe 



17th C. M. Smith, Eureka 



18th W. A. Dennis, Paris 



19th Eugene Curtis, ' Champaign 



20th K. T. SmithT Greenfield 



21$L Dwight Hart, Sharpsburg 



22nd _ A. O. Eckert, Belleville 



23rd. Chester MtCord, 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 



Grain Marketing Harrison Fahrnkopf 



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. Sciencer 



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, 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. 



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



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



III. Grain Corporation Frank Haines, Mgr. 



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



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



111. Producers' Creameries.. J. B. Countiss Sales Mgr. 



Frank A. Gougler, Procurement Mgr. 



GEORGE THIEM, Editor 



^^N A ringing editorial plead- 

 l/l ing for more competition, 

 \^ ftec enterprise and lower 

 prices the Chicago Daily News asks: 

 "What has been the plainly marked 

 policy of American business as a 

 whole ever since that fateful day in 

 October 1929 when our flimsy house 

 of paper profits .... collapsed about 

 our heads.'" Then answering its 

 own question the News says: "It has 

 consisted of an increasing eflFort by 

 leaders of commerce, industry, labor, 

 and agriculture to keep prices up! 

 This in the face of a fall in income 

 from 80 billions in 1929 to a low 

 of 40 billions in 1932." 



The reference to agriculture here 

 should not go unchallenged com- 

 mendable as is the News' statesman- 

 like approach to the problem of re- 

 covery. Just to clear the record, let 

 us look at the facts for a moment. 

 The index of farm prices in 1929 

 stood at 146 per cent of the 1909-14 

 base level. By 1932 average farm 

 prices had dropped to 65, a reduc- 

 tion of more than 55 per cent. 



Despite the continuing decline in 

 farm prices from 1929 through 

 1930, '31, and '32, farmers con- 

 tinued to produce bumper crops and 

 in 1932 topped all previous records 

 in the abundance of agricultural 

 production. 



But what was the picture in in- 

 dustry.' An entirely different one. 

 Industry closed down its plants, 

 maintained its prices on a relatively 

 high level. Organized labor for the 

 most part grudgingly took pay cuts 

 but successfully resisted any such 

 reduction as the 55 per cent in 

 agriculture. 



Retail prices paid by farmers for 

 equipment and supplies used in pro- 

 duction declined only from 147 in 

 1929 to 107 in 1932 a reduction of 

 some 27 per cent — less than half 

 that chalked up against farm com- 

 modities. So the year 1932 revealed 

 the farm population of America liv- 

 ing under a low price level of 65 

 for farm products while industry and 

 labor engaged in manufacturing the 



things needed by farmers in pro- 

 duction were holding out at a price 

 level of 107. 



In 1932 and '33 there seemed lit- 

 tle hope that industry and labor 

 would do anything about coming 

 down to earth and meeting the farm- 

 er on even ground. In fact indus- 

 try and labor clamored for the 

 NRA to put their prices and wages 

 back to higher levels, and got the 

 approval of congress about the same 

 time the AAA was advanced to res- 

 cue agriculture from the lowest price 

 levels in 60 years. 



All these facts are well known to 

 farmers and are mentioned here only 

 to keep the record straight. Had 

 there been any serious disposition 

 shown by industry and labor fol- 

 lowing the 1929 stock market 

 debacle to exchange their goods 

 and services for farm products on 

 something like an equitable basis, 

 there never would have been a de- 

 mand by organized farmers for a 

 crop surplus curtailment program. 

 In fact, there would have been no 

 substantial farm surplus. Rural peo- 

 ple who normally purchase close to 

 half of the nation's annual output 

 of industrial goods would have kept 

 the factory wheels running at a 

 merry pace. And the employed 

 workers would have consumed most 

 if not all the farm surplus. Instead 

 the nation's farmers went on a buy- 

 ing strike from necessity rather than 

 choice. 



Today the farm-industrial price 

 disparity is not as wide as it was 

 seven years ago, yet it is still wide 

 enough to have a serious effect 

 on business activity. A restoration 

 of the competitive spirit and free 

 enterprise in the industrial centers 

 as the News suggests, would go far 

 toward restoring national prosper- 

 ity. The News is pushing in the 

 right direction. May it succeed in 

 winning more support for this 

 sound proposal to solve the coun- 

 try's most pressing problem. 



— E.G.T. 



JULY. 1939 



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