Page Eight 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



July, 1931 



^ I 1^ 1j I N OIS 



CCLTVBAL ASSOCIA 



RECORIF 



N 



To advance tbt 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. 



George Thiem, Editor 

 Max Harrelson, Asshtant Editor 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Association at 166 So. 

 Main St., Spencer, Ind. Editorial Offices, 608 So. Dearborn St., Chioaso. 

 ni. Application for transfer of second class entry from Marshall, 111., to 

 Spencer, Ind., pending. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage 

 provided in Section 412, Act of Feb. 28, 1926, authorized Oct. 27, 1926. 

 Address all communications for publication to Editorial Offices, Illinois 

 Agricultural Association Kecord, 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago. The in 

 dividual 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: In returning 

 an uncalled for missent copy please indicate key number on address at is 

 required by law. 



OFFICERS 



President, Earl C. Smith Detroit 



Vice-President, A. R. Wright — —.Varna 



Secretary, Geo. E. Metzger Chicago 



Treasurer, R, A. Cowles Bloomington 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 



(By Congressional District) 



1st to 11th H. C. Vial. Downers Grove 



12th. G. F. TuUock, Rockford 



13th . C. E. Bamborough, Polo 



14th. M. G. Lambert, Ferris 



15th Charles Bates, Browning 



16th Geo. B. MuUer, Washington 



17th ; A. B. Schofield, Paxton 



18th. W. A. Dennis, Paris 



19th C. J. Gross, Atwood 



20th Charles S. Black, Jacksonville 



21st Samuel Sorrells, Raymond 



22nd Frank Oexner, Waterloo 



23rd W. L. Cope, Salem 



24th Charles Marshall. Belknaip 



25th „ _ Fred Dietz, De Soto 



DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS 



Comptroller J. H. Kelker 



Finance R. A, Cowles 



Fruit and Vepretable Marketing A. B. Leeper 



Grain Marketing. Harrison Fahrnkopf 



information George Thiem 



Insurance Service J. V. Vaniman 



-og - • Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Limestone- Knosphatc J. R. Bent 



Live Stock Marketing Ray E. Miller 



Office — _ 1 nnnston 



Organization u. fc.. Metzger 



Produce Marketing F. A. Gougler 



Taxation and Statistics. J. C. Watson 



Transportation „ L. J. Quasey 



ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS 



Country Life Insurance Co L. A. Williams, Mgr. 



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



Illinois Agricultural Co-operative Ass'n _ F. E. Ringham, Mgr. 



Illinois Agricultural Mutual Insurance Co A. E. Richardson, Mgr. 



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



Illinois Grain Corp Harrison Fahrnkopf, Mgr. 



Midwest Grain Corp _ Chas. P. Cummings. Gen'L Mgr. 



Soybean Marketing Ass'n W. H. Coultas, Mgr. 



Back Again 



'T' HE breakdown of the general property tax 

 •^ in Illinois, predicted by the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association years ago, is now a reality which 

 none can escape. Rebellion of Chicago real estate 

 owners who have been bearing the bulk of the 

 tax load was to be expected. The business depres- 

 sion coupled with the tax fixing racket in Cook 

 county only hastened and intensified the down^ 

 fall of a revenue system which should have been 

 scrapped long ago. Rank extravagance, payroll 

 padding, and looting of local government treas- 

 uries by Chicago politicians have not helped mat- 

 ters any. • 



Delinquent taxes brought on largely by in- 

 ability of property owners to pay their tax bills 

 is the immediate situation the revenue reform 

 committee appointed by Governor Emmerson 

 faces. Chicago is in a bad hole largely because it 



levies heavy taxes without any regard for the 

 ability of the property owners to pay. Commit- 

 tees can meet and confer from now until dooms- 

 day, but if the business and political leaders and 

 press of Chicago don't recognize the soundness 

 of income taxation and use their influence to 

 bring it about when votes count, situations like 

 the present will constantly recur. A problem is 

 never settled until it is settled right. 



It Must Have Merit 



'T'HE intensity of the propaganda directed 

 ^ against agricultural co-operation in some re^ 

 spects is most hopeful. Co-operative marketing 

 must have merit or the middlemen would not 

 fear it. We can go along with Chairman "Jim" 

 Stone of the Farm Board when he says, "Co- 

 operative marketing is either right or it's wrong. 

 If it doesn't produce better results for the farmer 

 than the system he now has, it won't succeed and 

 shouldn't. I think it will if only the farmers 

 themselves know what to expect from it and 

 what not to expect from it — and when they join 

 a co-operative join with the firm determination 

 of supporting their organization with all their 

 strength and power." 



So the rot being spread through the mails and 

 in the country by armies of "contact" men for 

 the commission companies should not be taken 

 too seriously. Farmers themselves will have the 

 final "ay as to whether or not co-operation pays. 

 They'll not be governed S3' th** advice of those 

 whose only interest is a selfish one. All that the 

 opposition can say will not change the ultimate 

 outcome. Results speak for themselves. 



Cutting the Insurance Bill 



■\TORE than a half million dollars saved mem^ 

 ■'-'-*- bers annually on their insurance bills is a 

 conservative estimate of the value of this out- 

 standing service developed by the Farm Bureau 



in Illinois. - ' 



Policyholders in Country Life Insurance Co., with $42,- 

 500,000 of insurance in force, saved approximately $250,000 

 on the first year cost of this protection alone. 



The Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Co., with $43,000,000 

 of fire, hail and windstorm insurance in force, is providing 

 a need reinsurance service to protect local township and 

 county fire and windstorm mutuals against excessive losses. 

 Its fire and windstorm rates are still appreciably lower than 

 the old line companies in spite of a recent raise in rates. 

 Farm crop hail insurance costs are a third lower In this 

 farmer-owned and farmer-controlled company. 



Another $200,000 is saved yearly by member policy- 

 holders on their automobiles and trucks insured in the I. A. 

 A. Company. This figure is based on costs of similar pro- 

 tection in the closest state-wide company. 



It is not surprising, therefore, that these co-operative 

 insurance companies have shown very little lapse during 

 the current depression. Policyholders know they are getting 

 a superior service at a bargain in their own organizations. 



4' 



