Page Ttventy-tivo 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



February, 1931 



Mrs. Sewell Pleads 



¥ov High Standards 



Eulogizes Farm Home in Entertain- 

 ing and Impressive Speech at 

 • i Annual Meeting 



t.oca[ Committees Did 



Splendid Job At Meeting 



General Arrangements committee: A- F. 

 Shepherd, chairman; R. C. Graham, Frank Mc- 

 Kelvey, E. C. Coulter, John P. Stout, R. W. 

 French, George B. Mayol. 



Convention Draws Largest Cro'wd 

 In Recent Years, Accommo- 

 dations For All 



NEITHER America nor the world 

 can go far on low standards of 

 homes, whether rural or urban, Mrs. 

 Charles W. Sewell, director of the 

 Home and Community work of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation, de- 

 clared in her address before a capacity 

 audience at the banquet Jan. 29 in the 

 State Armory during the I. A. A. an- 

 nual meeting. Mrs. Sewell preceded the 

 Farm Board chairman on the speaking 

 program. Her address eulogized the 

 farm home, analyzed its functions in 

 relation to the life of the nation, made 

 a plea for building its foundations 

 firmly and outlined the Farm Bureau's 

 program for advancing the welfare of 

 rural living. 



"The welfare' and the perpetuation of 

 the American farm home is not only 

 the business of the Farm Bureau but of 

 all farmers and of tht nation as well," 

 she said. "As goes America so goes 

 the world, has long been a recognized 

 fact, but neither America nor the world 

 can go far on low standards of homes, 

 whether rural or urban." 



Farm Home First 'I 



Apropos of corporation farming, 

 Mrs. Sewell remarked, "At the present 

 time we hear a great deal about co- 

 operative farming, but all the reasons 

 and suggestions have fallen short and 

 the generally accepted idea of farm 

 dwellers is to continue to make the 

 farm home and the community a pleas- 

 ant, attractive place in which to live." 



Continuing her eulogy of the Amer- 

 ican farm home she touched on the em- 

 ployment problem, saying, "Our nation 

 has been shaken to its very foundations 

 lately because of the overwhelming 

 problem of unemployment. The dwell- 

 ers on our . farms are never out of a 

 job, but perhaps this fact possesses sav- 

 ing grace, for one of the things which 

 has been wrong with this country as 

 a nation for the past several years has 

 been that all too many people did not 

 want to work. Everyone, old and 

 young, has been tryng to get in on the 

 ground floor of a snap, trying to get 

 something for nothing. 



"In our cities with the divergent activities 

 and interests of average families, there is very 

 little of family life. Social workers in the 

 cities go to a great deal of trouble to airrange 

 annual banquets between fathers and sons and 

 mothers and daughters. In the farm home 

 mothers and daughters meet ^ regularly at the 

 dish pan, while fathers and sons have tacit un- 

 derstanding that there will be a daily meeting 

 along about 5 A. M. in the cow barn. 



EdiTln Bny 



THE 16th annual convention of the 

 I. A. A. held recently in Spring- 

 field was greater in point of attendance 

 than any held in recent years. 



The fact that everything went off 

 smoothly and that ample accommoda- 

 tions were provided 

 for all is due in no 

 small measure to the 

 untiring efforts of 

 Edwin Bay, farm 

 adviser; C. R. Car- 

 p en t e r, president; 

 other ofl&cials of the 

 Sangamon County 

 Farm Bureau, and 

 C. G. Kohler, con- 

 vention manager, 

 Springfield Chamber 

 of Commerce! 

 The following committees did a 

 splendid job of taking care of the dele- 

 gates and visitors, decorating the 

 armory, and performing the many de- 

 tails connected with entertaining the 

 crowd of 4,000 to 5,000 people: 



Don't Thrive Here 



"Recently we have been stirred by the ac- 

 tivities of the Soviet government in the United 

 States, but let me remind you that bolshevism 

 .ind communism do not thrive in a nation of 

 home-owning, home-loving men and women. 



"In order to promote such a home-owning, 

 home-loving nation, the American Farm Bu- 

 reau Federation has undertaken a constructive 

 educational program which depends upon the 

 farmers thenvelves. Probably farming will 

 never pay big money returns, but we believe 

 it is true that farmers as a whole can get just 

 as much as they are willing to demand. We 

 call these demands standards of living and we 

 consider it a good omen that we have within 

 our ranks men and women who have decided 

 to hold fast to a high standard of living. In 

 the years of development this may include a 

 shorter working day, the full education of all 

 children, an auto, an airplane if necessary, mu- 

 sic, heat, light and water in well-built farm 

 homes, good roads, good churches, good schools, 

 the proper facilities for play and recreation, at- 

 tention to health and adult education. 



Only Square Deal 



"These take time and education and depend 

 upon the farmer himself for their acquisition. 

 If all the farmers in the U. S. A. were united 

 in a determined, well-defined attempt to secure 

 for themselves and their posterity standards 

 such as these, there is no power in America 

 that could withstand them. 



"I hold no brief for the lazy, inefficient 

 farmer, but I do ask for a square deal for the 

 land-owning, land-loving men and women who 

 wish to secure for themselves and their pos- 

 terity an adequate standard of living. The farm ■ 

 home is the foundation on which our civiliza- 

 tion and our future progress rest. The foun- 

 dation mus^ be substantial if the super-structure 

 is to endure." 



Reception Committee 



Reception committee: C. R. Carpenter, W. 

 S. Nottingham, George B. Mayol, R. A. Jones, 

 J. R. Christopher, O. S. Rogers, J. C. Quisen- 

 berry, G. S. Hatfield, L. C. Smith, R. C. Gra- 

 ham, Fred Davey, Jr., L. A. Carswell, William 

 Kessler, Elmer Johnson, J. F. Bomke, O. J. 

 Waddell, J. Brown Hitt, George Hemp, J. F. 

 Greenwood, J. L. Smetters, Evan Taylor, 

 Charles McTaggart, Milton Green, Robert 

 Rhodes, C. R. Malsbury, A. B. Constant, Al- 

 fred Odiorne, John Renken, John E. Dodds, 

 M. D. Colean, Roy C. Downing, C. M. Hinkle, 

 G. A. Wolford, L. I. Lehmann, S. G. Jones, S. J. 

 Snell, David Evans, J. F. Thornton, W. S. 

 Miles, G. T. Hickman, Charles Dozier, Carl 

 Ostermeier, J. W. Stroub, L. E. Bird, E. P. 

 Hall, Harry Happer, Mark Cooper, Garrett 

 Tolan, Everett Theobald, R. F. Constant, Harry 

 E. Pickrell, George Bell, A. D. Van Meter and 

 Edgar Boynton. '! . 



Women's reception committee: Mrs. J. P. 

 Stout, Mrs. A. B. Constant, Mrs. Earl Coulter, 

 Mrs. A. D. Van Meter, Mrs. S. J. Snell, Mrs. 

 Sidney Roberts, Mrs. McConnell, Mrs. L. E. 

 Bird, Mrs. Floyd Bricker, Mrs. Susan Bridges, 

 Mrs. D. Y. Langley, Mrs. Carter Curtis, Miss 

 Grace Foutch, Mrs. Frank McKelvey, Mrs. R. 

 W. French, Mrs. Edwin Bay, Mrs. George B. 

 Mayol, Mrs. L. L. Lehmann, Mrs. John Klor, 

 Mrs. O. B. Wheeland, Mrs. Garrett Tolan, Mrs. 

 Roland Stone, Mrs. J. C. Quisenbcrry, Mrs. 

 John Anderson, Mrs. Alfred Odiorne, Mrs. M. 

 A. Cooper, Mrs. I. A. Madden, Mrs. Fred 

 Davey, Mrs. R. C. Graham, Mrs. A. F. Shep- 

 herd; Mrs. Roy Downing, Mrs. David Evans, 

 Mrs. Evan Taylor, Mrs. C. R. Carpenter, Mrs. 

 H. E. Pickrell, Mrs. Helen Hall, Mrs. O. L. 

 Frazce, Mrs. R. D. Berry, Mrs. R. A. Jones, 

 Mrs. Meade Colean, Mrs. L. A. Carswell, Mrs. 

 Ernest Davis, Mrs. Bert Weber, Mrs. Chester 

 Baker, Mrs. George Witty, Mrs. W. S. Notting- 

 ham, Mrs. Scott Irwin. 



A Great Armory 



J. S. Chesebro, custodian of the ar- 

 senal where both the banquet and 

 luncheon were held, is also deserving 

 of great credit for his assistance in get- 

 ting the armory ready. Mr. Chesebro 

 estimates that 1,700 sat down to the 

 dinner, and that 1,000 more were 

 seated in the balcony during the speak- 

 ing program. 



"It was one of the largest crowds 

 ever gathered in the armory since I 

 have been connected with it," he said. 



The inside dimensions of the armory 

 are 220 feet long, 132 feet wide. The 

 speakers' table was 106 feet long. The 

 dining room itself where the tables were 

 placed measured 180 feet by 98 feet. 



The I. A. A. Board of Delegates on 

 Jan. 30 authorized the directors, when 

 and if it appears desirable to purchase 

 stock in an agriculturally-owned-and- 

 controlled radio station, to invest not 

 to exceed $2,500 in such a project. 

 Authorization also was given to ad- 

 vance a total of $8,000 to the Soybean 

 Marketing Association, the money to 

 be paid back out of earnings. .. ' 



i 







'-m'-iv 



