HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



NEWS OF THE FARM BUREAU 



ACTIVITIES OF THE 



LOCAL FARM BUREAU 



Town Directors Discuss Plans 



The necessity for strong local Farm 

 Bureau programs was stressed at a meet- 

 ing of the Town Directors held in North- 

 ampton, Saturday, March 24. Travel 

 conditions were such that only the nearby 

 towns could be represented, yet the meet- 

 ing made up in enthusiasm what it lacked 

 in numbers. In the morning .session the 

 matter of keeping up membership was 

 discussed. The treasurer's report showed 

 that about one-third of those joining last 

 year had paid their dues for 1923. The 

 number of resignations was very small 

 so it was felt that by having a strong 

 local program more of these men could 

 be made to see that they were getting 

 their five dollars worth from the organi- 

 zation. 



Fred Griggs, State Secretary, stated 

 that Middlesex County had maintained 

 their membership by a live local program. 

 In formulating and putting the program 

 into action si.x live committees took an 

 active part. These were on (1) Organi- 

 zation; (2) Legislation; (o) Purchasing; 

 (4) Publicity; (5) Statistics; (6) Co- 

 operation with other Agencies. The 

 Organization committee took charge of 

 membership renewals, meeting plans, etc. 

 The legislation committee represented the 

 Farm Bureau in all matters of local in- 

 terest and kept members in touch with 

 bills which affected farming. The Pur- 

 chasing committee took an active part 

 in pooling orders for seeds, fertilizers, 

 feed, and spray materials. The publicity 

 committee saw to it that real live news 

 materials were furnished local news- 

 papers, concerning the work of the Farm 

 Bureau. The committee on Statistics 

 was of real value last year in making 

 a survey regarding farm wages and was 

 able thereby to have wages fairly uni- 

 form throughout the county for similar 

 lines of work. 



All agreed that this county had the 

 possibilities of developing similar com- 

 mittees. President Parsons appointed 

 the following Organization Committee to 

 outline a program of work: .J. G. Cook, 

 Hadley; Scott Harris, Hatfield; Chas. E. 

 Clark, Leeds; E. S. Sheldon, Easthamp- 

 ton; and Raymond Dickinson of Amherst. 

 All agreed that the local Farm Bureau 

 had a place in Hampshire County and 

 that it would show every farmer that 

 they were getting value received for their 

 five dollar membership. 



Organization Committee Acts 

 The organization committee appointed 

 by President Parsons met Saturday, 

 March 31 and decided to form the fol- 

 lowing committees: (1) Legislative (al- 



STATE AND NATIONAL NEWS 



Gasoline Tax May Help Farmers 



Do the P''arm Bureau members of 

 Massachusetts favor the proposed gaso- 

 line ta.x? The State Federation's Leg- 

 islative Committee is not quite sure, but 

 it is certain that they "favor legislation 

 which will place a larger share of the 

 cost of building and repairing public 

 roads on the owners of those motor vehi- 

 cles which are chiefly responsible for the 

 great increase in wear and tear on the 

 highways, to the end that the cost of 

 highway maintenance be equitably dis- 

 tributed". 



Thus the Federation was recorded at 

 the recent public hearing at the State 

 House. Proponents of the tax and sup- 

 porters of the measure were far and away 

 in the majority. It looks as though a 

 favorable report would be forthcoming 

 soon. 



In this connection, it is interesting to 

 note that the State of Michigan has re- 

 cently passed a two-cent gasoline tax. 

 The Farm Bureau Federation of that 

 State was particularly active in its sup- 

 port. Officers of the Federation say, 

 "Passage of this Highway Funding Bill 

 may well be regarded as a triumph for 

 organized agriculture and the tax-ridden 

 property owners. The public now sees 

 that .some relief must be found from the 

 general property tax on farms, city and 

 town real estate. Public opinion is 

 agreeing that a gas tax would distribute 

 the burden of highway construction and 

 maintenance most equitable among those 

 who derive the benefits from the State's 

 improved highways." 

 Taxes Double 



The Department of Research points 

 out that taxes on farm lands throughout 

 the country have more than doubled in 

 the eight years from 1914 to 1922. The 

 average taxes paid per acre on farm 

 lands in 1914 and 1922 by the New Eng- 

 land States were: 



1914 1922 



Maine .$0.3-5 $0.60 



New Hampshire .36 .67 



Vermont .35 .65 



Massachusetts .63 1.20 



Rhode Island .59 .99 



Connecticut .50 .99 



ready in action) ; (2) Purchasing; (3) 

 Statistics and Credit; (4) Cooperation 

 with other agencies. The committee 

 then made out a list of leading farmers 

 from the different towns in the county 

 and made plans to call them together 

 in Northampton, Thur.sday, April 12 to 

 discuss: (1) The need for a purchasing 

 committee; (2) Formation of a purchas- 

 ing committee if needed. 



Other groups will be called together 

 later and it looks as though local action 

 would not be lacking this year. 



Legislative Notes 



Although little real progress has been 

 made thus far toward the repeal of day- 

 light saving, the fight will be continued 

 by the Federation, the Grange and rep- 

 resentatives of the railroads. Senator 

 Haigis, of Montague, lecently submitted 

 an order which would test the consti- 

 tutionality of the act in our courts. The 

 Senate voted it down, 19 to 13. Those 

 supporting the measure were Senators 

 Francis, Gibbs, Haigis, Hennessey, How- 

 ard, Look, O'Hearn, Rhodes, Snow, Stod- 

 dart, Tarbell, Wadleigh and Youngman. 



The State Federation is i)articularly 

 interested in a resolve recently introduced 

 by Senator Haigis calling for an inspec- 

 tion trip on the part of the Legislature 

 as a whole to the Massachu.setts Agri- 

 cultural College at Amherst. The pur- 

 pose would be for members to get first- 

 hand information about the institution 

 for which they are asked to appropriate 

 more than one million dollars each year. 

 It is estimated that not more than ten 

 per cent of the men have ever visited 

 the College. The proposal is exceedingly 

 timely in that there is so much agitation 

 for a state university. 



The Federation desires to congratu- 

 late the Grange upon the thoroughness 

 with which members of its Legislative 

 Committee have watched matters as they 

 have developed on "the hill" during the 

 present session. Hardly a bill has been 

 presented having even a remote influence 

 upon agriculture or the home but what 

 a representative of the Grange has been 

 present to lecord the organization either 

 in favor or in opposition. 



Farm Bloc Will Continue 



Senator Capper, chairman of the Farm 

 Bloc in Congress, tells us what we may 

 look forward to next December when the 

 new Congress convenes and the Farm 

 Bloc gets busy again. The 67th Con- 

 gress went home without finishing up a 

 few bills of much interest to farmers. 

 They will be revived. ' The Bloc will 

 have some new measures to offer. This 

 is the Farm Bloc's program for the new 

 Congress : 



Revision of the E.sch-Cummins railroad 

 act, including repeal of the rate making 

 provision. 



The truth-in-fabric bill which failed to 

 reach a vote during the last session. 



Amendment of the tax laws to stop 

 the wide-spread issue of stock dividends. 



A constitutional amendment to pre- 

 vent the issue of tax exempt securities. 



Disposition of Muscle Shoals in a man- 

 ner best suited to the production of ni- 

 trate for the farmers. 



Enactment of the Soldiers Bonus. 



