March, 19 i 2 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



l^itge Thirteen 



Help Restore Confidence, 



Iroquois Editor's Plea 



Watseka Citizens Hold Mass Meet- 

 ing and Solve Bank Problem 



A PLF.A to organized farmers to 

 ■*■ ^ help restore confidence in down- 

 state Illinois communities featured the 



address was, "As a Newspaper Editor Director of Organi. atioii 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 able through the I'arm Bureau and I. 

 work the Farm Bureau was doing in A. A. He stated that when the qucs- 

 Iroquois county. 



Martindale Speaks 



H. D. Martindale, director 



tion was presented in county meetings 

 as to which services shciLild 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, 



of or- 

 iddrcss of C. W. Hinton, co-editor of ganization for the A. F. B. F., who fol- 

 thc Iroquois County lowed Mr. Hinton, said: "The I. A. A. 

 Times, Watseka, who 's leading the way in organized agri- 

 spoke at the Or- culture. It is setting an example for 

 ganization- Publicity •''H others to follow. You have a well 

 Conference at Rock- financed organization. That is the se- 

 ford, January 28. C. cret of your strength." 



E. Bamborough pre- Reviewing his experiences in Indiana director of information, said in opening 

 sided at the meeting and in other states, he said: "In one In- the conference program. "The 1. A. A. 

 which drew more diana county they had between 1,000 would crumble and decay without it. 

 than 300 people. and 1,100 members on a $10 member- You can't arouse or sustain people's 

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

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

 C. E. Bnniboroiish of the valuc and members if they would lower the fee to of the Illinois Agricultural Association 

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

 effort in meeting a local crisis. did they fail to gain in membership, but membership when they provided in the 

 "At 9:30 A. M. one morning," he the membership fell to around JOO. membership contract that a definite 

 said, "the last of our banks in Watseka Farmers of that county felt that an amount be set aside annually for pub- 



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- 



REINFORCEMENTS 





lishing an official organ. 



"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 devclopcti to iis pres- 

 ent stage. 



"The tiepression which is 

 working a hardship on ev- 

 eryone was Iargel\' brought 

 on b\ the wrong kind of 

 publicity. Pictures of bread 

 lines inthe 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 

 people fear for their jobs 

 and their livelihood they 

 stop buying. 



"I belie\c the nglu 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 

 dence was established through organized ing to. I hope you are not considering an appeal to the country to cease hoard- 

 effort and information. any cut, for if you are I predict that ing currency. Hoarded funds were esti- 



"I would like to leave this slogan lower dues will mean a certain decline mated by the President at S 1,300, 000,- 



with you," said Mr. Hinton in closing: in membership. 000, every dollar of which, he said, 



"'32 is up toyou.* I believe in that "In one state the Farm Bureau de- meant the destruction of from S5 to 



slogan. I believe that the new year will cided to get along without any dues, $10 of credit. Heads of leading civic 



be jtist what we make it." and in that state we had our biggest organizations were summoned to Wash- 



The title of Mr. Hinton's interesting loss in membership." ington to further the campaign. 



