Page Six 



THEI. A. A. RECORD 



August, 1932 



Watch For Hoover And 

 Roosevelt Farm Pledges 



I. A. A. To Withhold Comment 



On Planks Until Presidential 



Nominees Have Spoken 



COMMENTS by the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association on the 

 Republican and Democratic party 

 platform pledges to agriculture will 

 be withheld pending such time as 

 the presidential candidates in fu- 

 ture addresses place their individual 

 interpretations upon the party 

 commitments. 



Experience has proved, said 

 President Earl Smith in a recent 

 statement, that party platforms 

 and pledges amount to little ex- 

 cept to the extent presidential 

 nominees publicly interpret and 

 define the planks, and upon such 

 interpretation make their personal 

 pledges for action if and when 

 elected. ;.;v;:;^:^■v^^/^vV^^v:n;:-^^■;v^::i'T:'^/■:■;; 

 A. F. B. F. Statement -^ j;: 



A formal statement issued by the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation 

 concerning the agricultural planks 

 in the platforms of the two major 

 parties- declares that both plat- 

 forms "include in part some of the 

 features of the program of organ- 

 ized agriculture, but both platforms 

 fall short of covering the entire 

 program. 



"The American Farm Bureau 

 Federation is awaiting with inter- 

 est the interpretations of these plat- 

 forms which will be made by the 

 respective major candidates," the 

 statement continues. "This inter- 

 pretation, it is felt, will be more 

 significant than the phraseology of 

 the platforms themselves. 



"President Earl C. Smith of the 

 I. A. A. took a leading part in the 

 activities of the A. F. B. F. com- 

 mittee which presented a sugges- 

 tive agricultural plank to the Reso- 

 lutions Committees of the two 

 parties at their conventions in Chi- 

 cago in June. Mr. Smith was 

 quoted widely in the national press 

 for his plea on behalf of the farmer 

 before the platform builders. 



Suggested Plank 



"The suggested farm plank draft- 

 ed by the national leaders of the 

 Farm Bureau organization included 

 the following topics: means for dis- 

 posal of accumulated surpluses; 

 emergency measures to effect im- 

 mediate improvement in price 

 levels; amendment of the Agricul- 

 tural Marketing Act to include the 

 equalization fee; tariff protection 

 for agricultural products; stabiliza- 

 tion of the yalue of the dollar; de- 

 • velopment of agricultural credit 

 facilities; governmental economy. 



"The Republican party pledged 



its support to the principle of as- 

 sistance to farmer-owned and con- 

 trolled co-operative marketing as- 

 sociations and to prompt amend- 

 ment or modification of the Agri- 

 cultural Marketing Act as experi- 

 ence may show to be necessary to 

 fully carry out the preamble of the 

 acts. It pledged tariff protection to 

 agriculture, relief from unjust tax 

 burdens and formulation of a na- 

 tional land utilization program. 



Democrats Advocate 



"The Democratic party platform 

 advocates better financing of farm 

 mortgages; extension and develop- 

 ment of the co-operative market- 

 ing movement; effective control of 

 crop surpluses to give the farmer 

 full benefit of the domestic market; 

 enactment of measures to aid the 



farmer in getting commodity prices 

 in excess of cost of production. The 

 platfornr condemns the Hawley- 

 Smoot tariff act of 1930. 



"President E. A. O'Neal of the 

 A. F. B. F. has been especially 

 caustic in his criticism of the con- 

 ventions for their failure to dis- 

 cuss the great economic problems 

 before the nation. He has pointed 

 out that even in the delegations 

 from the great agricultural states 

 there were none who would fight 

 on the floor of the convention for 

 the cause of the farmer. 



"Speech after speech was made 

 on other subjects," Mr. O'Neal said, 

 in an address on July 4, "but not 

 a single voice was heard telling the 

 parties of the actual condition and 

 needs of the 50,000,000 people di- 

 rectly dependent on agriculture." 



Republican Party Pledge 



THE Republican party pledges itself to the principle of assistance 

 to co-operative marketing associations, owned and controlled 

 by the farmers themselves, through the provisions of the Agricul- 

 tural Marketing Act, which will be promptly amended or modified 

 as experience shows to be necessary to accomplish the objects set 

 forth in the preamble of that act. 



^'The party pledges itself to make such revision of tariff schedules 

 as economic changes require to maintain the parity of protection 

 to agriculture with other industry. 



"The American farmer is entitled not only to tariff schedules on 

 his products but to protection from substitutes therefor. 



"We will support any plan which will help to balance production 

 against demand and'' thereby raise agricultural prices, provided it 

 is economically sound and administratively workable without 

 burdensome bureaucracy. . . . 



"The time has come for a reconsideration of our tax systems — fed- 

 eral, state, and local — with a view to developing a better coordina- 

 tion, reducing duplication, and relieving unjust burdens. The Re- 

 publican Party pledges itself to this end. . . . 



"We favor a national policy of land utilization which looks to na- 

 tional needs. Such a policy must foster reorganization of taxing 

 units in areas beset by tax delinquency, and divert lands that are 

 submarginal for crop production to other uses. The national welfare 

 can be served by the acquisition of lands for watershed protection, 

 grazing, forestry, public parks and game preserves. We favor such 

 acquisition." ■■ :^-' ^. -■,••;.;- ^,-:^,;, .■/'-■! --"'^- ■:■.•'-■■■:--' 



Democratic Party Pledge 



THE Democratic party solemnly promises by appropriate action 

 to put into effect the principles, policies and reforms herein 

 advocated, and to eradicate the policies, methods and practices 

 herein condemned. .. . . * 



"We advocate: , . "'.:'. 'V- 



"For the restoration of agriculture, the nation's basic industry, 

 better financing of farm mortgages through reorganized farm bank 

 agencies at low rates of interest, on an amortization plan, giving 

 preference to credits for the redemption of farms and homes sold 

 under foreclosure; extension and development of the farm co- 

 operative movement and effective control of crop surpluses so that 

 our farmers may have the full benefit of the domestic market. 



"Enactment of every constitutional measure that will aid the 

 farmer to receive for basic farm commodities prices in excess of 

 cost." . ^•... .,,. ,. .-«.■,,,. -...,.',.....-..., 



■"'■;,. 



