Uarchy 19} 2 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Thirteen 



Help Restore Confidence, 



Iroquois Editor's Plea 



Watseka Citizens Hold Mass Meet- 

 ing and Solve Bank Problem 



address was, "As a Newspaper Editor Director of Organi: ation George E. 

 Sees the Farm Bureau." He gave val- Metzger used an interesting chart in 

 uable pointers on news writing of Farm describing the many services now avail 



Bureau stories, told what constructive 

 work the Farm Bureau was doing 

 Iroquois county. 



m 



A PLEA to organized farmers 

 ■^ ^ help restore confidence in do\ 



to 



state 

 address 



in down- 

 Illinois communities featured the 

 of C. W. Hinton, co-editor of 

 the Iroquois County 

 Times, Watseka, who 

 spoke at the Or- 

 ganization - Publicity 

 Conference at Rock- 

 ford, January 28. C. 

 E. Bamborough pre- 

 sided at the meeting 

 which drew more 

 than 300 people. 



Hinton gave a 

 striking illustration 

 c. K. Bamborongrh of the value and 

 power of organized 



effort in meeting a local crisis. 



"At 9:30 A. M. one morning," he 



said, "the last of our banks in Watseka 



closed. It meant that our 



city was to be seriously in- '" . 



convenienced. The citizens 



got busy. By 1 1 o'clock a 



mass meeting had been 



called. The bank officials 



and directors laid all their 



cards on the table face up. 



The people of the communi- 

 ty were shown the financial 



condition of the bank; that 



it was solvent, but that un- 

 usual heavy withdrawals had 



made it impossible to take 



care of all depositors. 



Special Edition of Paper 



"A plan was worked out, 

 the citizens agreed to de- 

 posit all their money beyond 

 immediate needs. Early in 

 the afternoon a special edi- 

 tion of the local newspaper 

 gave the details of the plan 

 and announced that the 

 bank was open again for 

 business. As a result con- 

 fidence in that bank and the 

 community was restored and 

 we are doing business again 

 on a normal basis. 



"The same plan we used 

 in Watseka has been followed in several 

 other towns in Iroquois county. Confi- 

 dence was established through organized 

 effort and information. 



"I would like to leave this slogan 

 with you," said Mr. Hinton in closing: in membership. 



"'32 is up to you.' I believe in that "In one state the Farm Bureau de- 

 slogan. I believe that the new year will cided to get along without any dues, 

 be just what we make it." and in that state we had our biggest 



The title of Mr. Hinton's interetting loss in membership." 



able through the Farm Bureau and I. 

 A. A. He stated that when the ques- 

 tion was presented in county meetings 

 as to which services should be discon- 

 tinued, if any, there were always those 

 who insisted on retaining the services 

 they appreciated most. As a result the 

 members invariably voted against any 

 reduction in the service program. 



Thiem on Publicity 



It is impossible to maintain organiza- 

 tion without publicity, George Thiem, 

 director of information, said in opening 

 the conference program, "The I. A. A. 

 would crumble and decay without it. 

 You can't arouse or sustain people's 

 ship fee. Then someone got the bright interest in anything without consistent- 

 idea that they could get twice as many ly telling them about it. The founders 

 members if they would lower the fee to of the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 $5. What was the result? Not only recognized the need for an informed 

 did they fail to gain in membership, but membership when they provided in the 

 the membership fell to around J 00. membership contract that a definite 

 Farmers of that county felt that an amount be set aside annually for pub- 

 lishing an official organ 



REINFORCEMENTS 



-* Martindale Speaks 



H. D. Martindale, director of or- 

 ganization for the A. F. B, F., who fol- 

 lowed Mr. Hinton, said: "The I. A. A. 

 is leading the way in organized agri- 

 culture. It is setting an example for 

 all others to follow. You have a well 

 financed organization. That is the se- 

 cret of your strength." 



Reviewing his experiences in Indiana 

 and in other states, he said: "In one In- 

 diana county they had between 1,000 

 and 1,100 members on a $10 member- 



"The fact that you are all 

 here today is a testimonial 

 of the effectiveness of pub- 

 licity in organization," con- 

 tinued the speaker. "With- 

 out modern communication 

 methods organization would 

 not be developed to its pres- 

 ent stage. 



"The depression which is 

 working a hardship on ev- 

 eryone was largely brought 

 on by the wrong kind of 

 publicity. Pictures of bread 

 lines in the papers and stories 

 of closed banks have under- 

 mined the confidence of the 

 people in themselves and 

 their institutions. Most of 

 the banks are sound. But 

 people have become fright- 

 ened. National hoarding of 

 currency is the result. When 



jobs 

 they 



people fear for their 

 and their livelihood 

 stop buying. 



"I believe the right kind 

 of a publicity campaign 

 would go far toward over- 

 coming this situation." 



organization that was not worth at As a move to restore economic sta- 

 least $10 a year wasn't worth belong- bility. President Hoover recently issued 

 ing to. I hope you are not considering an appeal to the country to cease hoard- 



any cut, for if you are I predict that 

 lower dues will mean a certain decline 



ing currency. Hoarded funds were esti- 

 mated by the President at $1,300,000,- 

 000, every dollar of which, he said, 

 meant the destruction of from $5 to 

 $10 of credit. Heads of leading civic 

 organizations were summoned to Wash- 

 ington to further the campaign. 



