^age Tour 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



May, 1932 



: M 



EXPENDITURES FOR ALL BRANCHES FEDERAL GOV'T. SERVICE, INCLUDING PAYMENTS FROM 

 POSTAL REVENUES, FISCAL YEAR 1931, BASED ON TREASURY STATEMENT OF JUNE 30, 1931. 



TOTAL $4,877,315,309. 





er is better off than the majority of his city 

 neighbors. He at least has a job. Which would 

 you rather have: a piece of land on which you 

 can live and produce a livelihood or stock in a 

 closed factory that pays no dividends and has 

 no earning power?" 



Replying to a question regarding the forces 

 directing propaganda against farm organization 

 and co-operative marketing, Mr. Smith pro- 

 duced a list of the directors of the so-called 

 American Federation of Business whose slogan 

 is "Take the government out of business," but 

 whose real purpose is to fight farmers' efforts 

 to help themselves. Mr. Smith showed that 

 every director is either a member of a grain or 

 livestock exchange or else provides services de- 

 pendent upon speculation or commissions from 

 selling farmers' products. 



The Middlemen's Solution 



"What has the opposition to offer us as a 

 solution to our troubles?" continued Mr. Smith. 

 "A speaker, who recently appeared before a 

 farm gathering under the auspices of the 

 middlemen's organization, the American Federa- 

 tion of Business, advised farmers to abandon 

 their organization, the Farm Bureau, and use 

 their dues to pay off their mortgages. At the 

 same time this group is spending large sums 

 through propaganda societies to block farmers' 

 efforts to help themselves. 



"Farmers are willing to see the government 

 get out of business provided it gets out of all 

 business without discriminating against agri- 

 culture. Chairman Stone of the Farm Board 

 made a commendable suggestion when in reply 

 to critics, he said: 'Investigate the Farm Board 

 and the co-operative associations all you like 

 but at the same time investigate the middlemen 

 and their exchanges and make a full and im- 

 partial report on both and compare them.' 



"It is not strange that since Mr. Stone offered 



this suggestion we have heard little about a 

 congressional investigation of the Farm Board." 



The Tax Problem 



Addressing himself to the tax situation, Mr. 

 Smith disclosed that one member out of every 

 four and one-half families is now on the public 

 payroll. "Taxes have grown out of all pro- 

 portion to ability to pay," he said. "Since 1920 

 farm income in Illinois has declined from 

 $1,106,000,000 to approximately $515,000,000 

 last year. Thus 1931 farm income was less 

 than one-third of that in 1920. But our tax 

 bill has been going the other way. It has 

 moved upward 40 per cent. This is something 

 we can correct. The solution lies in organiza- 

 tion. The place to start to reduce taxes is at 

 home where from 80 to 90 per cent of your 

 tax money is spent. Why should not every 

 County Farm Bureau sit around the table with 

 representatives of business, labor, and other 

 groups, and work out a program to reduce the 

 cost of local government? 



"The Illinois Agricultural Association is the 

 only organization in the state that has worked 

 for a constructive program in the state legis- 

 lature to equalize the unfair system of taxa- 

 tion now crushing the property owner. And 

 we have made some progress. We have brought 

 the tax issue to the fore through the passage 

 of the state income tax. I would not criticize 

 the recent decision of the Sangamon county 

 court on this measure, but I point to the fact 

 that many state supreme courts have held that 

 the income tax is not a property tax. It was 

 on this point alone that the circuit judge's de- 

 cision holding the Illinois act unconstitutional 

 was made." 



Mr. Smith then discussed in detail how the 

 $4.50 per year per member paid into the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association is spent. He showed 

 that the member is getting four times as much 



service and benefits as he got in 1926. 



"It is high time that all business men, bank- 

 ers, and professional men realize that the farm 

 problem has developed into the one big prob- 

 lem before the American people," he said. "We 

 have the vision, courage, and ability to meet 

 and solve this problem. The solution will come 

 when leaders of various economic groups come 

 to understand one another and co-operate in a 

 spirit of mutual helpfulness." 



The crowd which packed the armory in 

 Kewanee came from the 10 adjoining counties 

 including Henry, Bureau, Peoria, Mercer, Knox, 

 Stark, Tazewell, Warren, Henderson, and Rock 

 Island. 



The Farm Bureau presidents of each county 

 sat on the platform. George Broman, president 

 of the Henry County Farm Bureau, presided. 

 R. J. Hamilton, district manager, had charge 

 of the entertainment. Joe Saunders ably served 

 as song leader. Farm Bureau quartettes from 

 Mercer, Rock Island, and Knox counties were 

 applauded. Short addresses of welcome were 

 made by Mr. Broman, Mayor J. J. Andrews of 

 Kewanee, and President Steele of the local 

 Chamber of Commerce. 



The information presented by Mr. Smith at 

 Kewanee is similar to that covered at other 

 Farm Bureau mass meetings by I. A. A. speakers 

 over the state. 



600 at Mattoon 



Mattoon, III., April 18. — Citing as an ex- 

 ample the failure of recently launched sales 

 program of two automobile companies, Earl C. 

 Smith, president of the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association, declared before an audience of 600 

 farmers and business men here tonight that 



{Continued on page 5 col. 3) 



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