Page Eight 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



June, 1932 



A^BCCLTIJRAL ASSOCIAISAn 



RECOR P ▼ 



To advance the purpose for which the Farm Bureau was or- 

 ganized, namely, to promote, protect and represent the busi- 

 ness, economic, political, and educational interests of the 

 farmers of Illinois and the nation, and to develop agriculture. 



George Thiem, Editor 

 Max Harrelson, Assistant Editor 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Association at 166 So. 

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

 m. Application for transfer of second class entry from Marshall, III., to 

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

 provided in Section 412, Act of Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Oct. 27, 1925. 

 Address all communications for publication to Editorial Offices, Illinois 

 Agricultural Association Becord, 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago. The 

 individual 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 as 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 Orove 



12th a, F. Tullock, Bockford 



18th C. E. Bamborough, Polo 



.-'Mth M. G. Lambert, Ferris 



' ' Uth Charles Bates, Browning, 



.16th Geo. B. MuUer, Washington 



.17th A, B, Schofield, Paxton 



I8th W. A. Dennis, Paris 



: 19th C. J. Gross. Atwood 



.Mth Charles S. Black, Jacksonville 



•Silt Samuel Sorrells, Raymond 



82nd Talmage DeFrees, Smithboro 



*8rd W. L. Cope, Salem 



•4th Charles Marshall, Belknap 



. tSth Fred Dietz, De Soto 



DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS 



Comptroller J. H. Kelker 



', Dairy Marketing 3, B. Countiss 



Finance R. A. Cowles 



' Fruit and Vegetable Marketing.' H. W. Day 



:'. Grain Marketing Harrison Fahmkopf 



.; Information George Thiem 



: Insurance Service V. Vaniman 



■ .' Legal Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



.- Live Stock Marketing Ray E. Miller 



y Office C. E. Johnston 



■ Organization O. E, 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 Auditing Ass'n F. E, Ringham, Mgr. 



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



■ Illinois Farm Supply Co L. B. Marchant, Mgr. 



, Illinois Grain Corp Chas. P. Cummings. Vioe-Pres. and Sales Mgr. 



Illinois Livestock Mark. Assn Ray Miller, Mgr.; R. W, Grieser, Sales 



," Illinois Produce Marketing Ass'n F. A. Gougler, Mgr. 



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



Regulated Production For Agriculture 



PERHAPS the biggest news that has come out 

 of Washington recently is the Supreme Court's 

 approval of the oil proration plan adopted by the 

 State of Oklahoma. 



The Supreme Court in a unanimous opinion writ- 

 ten by Mr. Justice Butler, said relative to the argu- 

 ment that the Champlin Refining Company "has a 

 vested right to drill wells upon the lands covered 

 by its leases and to take all the natural flow of oil 

 and gas therefrom so long as it does so without 

 stated physical waste, and devotes the production 

 to commercial uses," that "if plaintiff should take 

 all the flow of its wells, there would inevitably re- 

 sult great physical waste even if its entire produc- 

 tion should be devoted to useful purposes." 



While granting that every person has the right 

 to drill wells on his own land and take from the 

 pools below all the gas and oil he may be able to re- 

 duce to possession including that coming from land 

 belonging to others, the court said : "The right to 

 take and thus acquire ownership is subject to the 



reasonable exertion of power of the state to prevent 

 unnecessary loss, destruction or waste." " 



This far-reaching decision has great future sig- 

 nificance to agriculture. It sets a precedent for a 

 land policy to control crop production "in the inter- 

 est of soil conservation." Informed people know 

 that the real reason for the Oklahoma statute was 

 to control the surplus production and so improve 

 prices. Conservation of oil was a factor but this 

 argument was merely used as an excuse to compel 

 the consuming public to pay more for petroleum 

 products. At any rate the proration plan is helping 

 to put the oil business back on a profitable basis. 

 One large company announced that it had made a 

 profit in April — the first in more than a year. 



There is as much if not more reason for control- 

 ling crop production and conserving soil fertility as 

 there is for limiting oil production. A far greater 

 percentage of our population is dependent upon ag- 

 riculture than on the oil business. Soil fertility, 

 moreover, is not inexhaustible. Plant food is now 

 being taken from the soil and wasted in the produc- 

 tion of crops for which there is no profitable 

 market. ^ v ^ 



Government regulation of crop production and 

 soil conservation may be the solution to the farm 

 problem. Oklahoma has pointed the way. 



Mr. Stone's Reply r^y;^^^.^;/ ::V V^ 



CHAIRMAN "Jim" Stone has proved repeatedly 

 his ability to handle critics of the Farm Board 

 and its policies. 



Answering Peter Carey, the president of the Chi- 

 cago Board of Trade who would have the Farm 

 Board disband and turn over its wheat to "six Chi- 

 cago grain traders who could dispose of it at a 

 steadily advancing price," Mr. Stone said: 



"Reported statements of Mr. Carey indicate an 

 attitude towards liquidation of these stocks strictly 

 in conformity with the long estabhshed viewpoint 

 of board of trade members 



"They look upon themselves as middlemen en- 

 titled by custom to take a heavy toll from Amer- 

 ican wheat producers for so-called services, which 

 consist chiefly in the pocketing by themselves of 

 the largest possible share of the consumer's dollar. 

 Every suggestion so far made to this board for 

 their assistance has contained as its chief element 

 personal profit to those tendering aid either by 

 buying at prices ridiculously below the market or 

 for commissions on huge volume. 



"The public should not be fooled by such attacks 

 on the Farm Board as those of Mr. Carey. Their 

 purpose is not to help in the present situation but 

 to prevent the farmer organizing his business so 

 that he, in a measure, can control the method under 

 which his products are sold." 



The public may be fooled by such statements but 

 we are sure farmers are not. Grain trade attacks 

 are making more friends for the Farm Board and 

 co-operative marketing than they ever could hope 

 to make without such aid. People are judged often- 

 times by their enemies. The Farm Board has been 

 fortunate in the selection of its enemies. 



. Mr. Stone's reply presented more fully on page 6 is sharp 

 but refreshing and suited to the demagoguery and intem- 

 perance of his critic's reported statement. The Farm Board 

 and some of the cooperative agencies it has sponsored may 

 have made mistakes. Most young organizations do. But 

 they are making progress that already is benefiting the 

 man on the farm. And the enemies of organized agricul- 

 ture know it. 



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