August, 19)1 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Five 



I. A. A. and A. F. B. F. to 

 Oppose 15% Rate Raise 



Hearings in Chicago Begin Aug. 3 1 

 Before Commerce Commission 



HOW to prevent a threatened in- 

 crease of $130,000,000 annually 

 in the American farmers' freight bill is 

 , the problem confronting the Transpor- 

 tation Departments of the I. A. A. and 

 American Farm Bureau Federation. This 

 is the sum farmers will be forced to 

 add to their present costs of doing busi- 

 ness, if the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission allows the 15 per cent increase 

 in freight rates sought by the railroads 

 of the United States. 



As the representative of organized 

 agriculture, the I. A. A. and American 

 Farm Bureau plan to oppose the de- 

 mands of the railroads. Preparation of 

 evidence is now under way for presen- 

 tation to the Commission at the hearing 

 set for August 31 in Chicago. 



The farmer is in no position to 

 shoulder this additional burden of 

 $130,000,000, the Farm Bureau will 

 maintain. Reviewing the condition of 

 agriculture, it will show the Commis- 

 sion that the farming industry has 

 suffered from a depression for ten years, 

 is still suffering from it and with no 

 , prospects for relief, whereas the depres- 

 sion from which the carriers are seeking 

 relief is of only twelve months dura- 

 tion. 



Exempt Farm Products 



If the Commission decides with the 

 ' carriers that a 15 per cent boost is 

 necessary, exemptions, the organization 

 holds, should be made on agricultural 

 products. The farmer is the only per- 

 :V son who pays a double freight bill. 

 When he sells his produce, the freight 

 charges on the shipment to market are 

 deducted from the price he gets for his 

 goods. When he buys his supplies, he 

 • pays another freight bill on what is 

 delivered to him. The 1 5 per cent raise 

 would thus become a 30 per cent raise 

 in the case of the farmer, which makes 

 adjustments imperative if a horizontal 

 raise is granted. 



The records of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission show that the pro- 

 posed raise will defeat its own purpose 

 by diverting traffic to competing forms 

 of transportation. With the exception 

 ■ of fruit and vegetables, according to 

 the Commission statistics, the greater 

 portion of farm crops move less than 

 300 miles. If the 15 per cent raise is 

 . granted, it is reasonable to expect that 

 : ■ the trucking of farm crops to market 

 V will increase several hundred per cent 

 ; ^. and the railroads will still be short the 

 revenue they are seeking. 



Henderson County Has 



A Soft Ball League 



Edward A. O'Neal 



EDWARD A. O'Neal, president of 

 the American Farm Bureau Fed- 

 eration, is scheduled to address the 

 County Farm Bureau picnic in Sanga- 

 mon county on August 18 and the 

 annual Field Day at Cimco Farm in 

 Mason county on August 20. 



The new national president who suc- 

 ceeded Sam Thompson has been closely 

 identified with the Farm Bureau for 

 more than 2 5 years. He was a charter 

 member of his County Farm Bureau in 

 Alabama, then rose to the state vice- 

 presidency, and in 1923 was elected 

 president of the Alabama Farm Bureau, 

 a position he held eight years until his 

 recent promotion. 



As vice-president he was chairman of 

 the legislative committee of the A. F. 

 B. F., a position which has given him 

 a wide acquaintance among men in 

 public life at Washington. During the 

 past two years he has been chairman 

 of the national committee on co-oper- 

 ative purchasing, and also has been ac- 

 tive on the national committee on taxa- 

 tion. 



Mr. O'Neal will devote considerable 

 attention in his addresses to the organ- 

 ized opposition developed against co- 

 operative marketing. He recently took 

 a leading part in bringing co-operatives 

 together in a movement to defend the 

 Agricultural Marketing Act. 



As we go to press, five of the eight 

 division titles in the Illinois Farm Bu- 

 reau Baseball League have been definite- 

 ly settled. By the time the RECORD 

 reaches you the eight winners will be 

 ready to enter the semi-finals, which 

 begin immediately after August 15 

 when preliminary play ends. , „ . 



Eleven Townships Coinpete, Couii- 

 ty Championship Contest 



::;■:'■■"■■. ^;;;.:' Sept. 19 ^■"■'•- ^; ..;:■■ ^^ v- ','■:"■: 



The inter-township softball league 

 sponsored by the Henderson County 

 Farm Bureau as one of its recreational - 

 projects is now in the midst of its sec- I- 

 ond season and is creating an unusual f 

 amount of interest, according to Farm , 

 Adviser Ernest D. Walker. 



The league, which is composed of 

 teams from ten out of the eleven town- 

 ships in the county, will play more 

 than forty games before September 12 

 when preliminary play stops. The sea- 

 son opened on August 1. Winners of 

 the two divisions will meet at Strong- 

 hurst on County Club Show Day, Sep- • 

 tember 19, to play for the county . 

 championship. 



"Our tournament last year was a" 

 great success arousing a great deal of 

 interest in the county and affording 

 recreation to a large group of our mem- 

 bers," said Mr. Walker. "Co-operation 

 among the townships was 100 per cent ' 

 last year and we have ten out of the 

 eleven townships playing now." 



Any Farm Bureau member or de- 

 pendent member of his family is eligible 

 to play. Players must belong to the 

 team in the township in which Farm 

 Bureau membership is held. The man- , 

 agement of each team is in the hands of 

 a manager appointed by the Farm Bu- — 

 reau director in that township. 



The management of the league rests 

 with a committee of three with full 

 authority to settle all disputes, deter- 

 mine standing of teams, permit post- - 

 ponement of games and take care of 

 any other details. This committee con- 

 sists of C. W. Cooper, A. N. Nolan 

 and W. S. Graham, Sr. 



All games are reported to the Farm 

 Bureau immediately after they are 

 played. Protests must be filed in writ- 

 ing with the management committee. 

 Games are played by the National Play- 

 ground Baseball rules as published in 

 Spaulding's Athletic L ibrary. 



Teams already sure of a place in the 

 semi-finals are: Carroll, division I; Liv- 

 ingston, division III; Knox, division V; 

 Logan, division Vlf and Greene, divi- 

 sion VIII. 



In the three doubtful divisions, San- 

 gamon was leading division VII, Will ~ 

 was leading division II and Tazewell 

 was ahead in division IV, but the mar- 

 gin was close with a possibility of a tie. 

 Cass, Grundy and Woodford were still 

 in the running. 



Carroll, Livingston and Logan went 

 through their preliminary schedules 

 without a defeat. . ...^ 



