Page Six 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



October, 1932 ,, 



Farm Bureau Tax Work 



(Continued) 



"■'.,*■ -.v 



by the I. A. A. reduced assessed valu- 

 ations of farm lands an average of 

 about 18 per cent for the whole 

 county. Cuts ranged from five per 

 cent in Ball township to 30 per cent 

 in Woodside township. 



Gives Farm Bureau Credit 



Expressing the views taken by the 

 three members of the board of re- 

 view, Chairman Bradley was quoted 

 in the Illinois State Register as fol- 

 lows: "The reduction was granted 

 not because the Farm Bureau asked 

 for it, but because the Bureau suc- 

 ceeded in proving its points by pre- 

 , senting a mass of information. 

 >• "The Bureau using tax experts 

 i; from Chicago probably was better 

 -' able to present its case than an in- 

 ;•; dividual farmer or a group of 

 ;, farmers in one section of the coun- 

 ' ty would have been. ... 



"It has been the contention for 



: 15 to 20 years, which has been sub- 



; stantiated by figures, that the as- 



' sessed valuation on farm land is 



f nearer the sale price of the land 



5 than is the assessed valuation on city 



i; property. The farm land assess- 



, ments have been 45 to 25 per cent 



! . higher than on city property. 



Help From I. A. A. 



"The board is indebted to the 

 S- Farm Bureau tax committees in the 

 respective townships and to the 

 - county at large for information rel- 

 ative to values. Experts from Chi- 

 ^ cago (John C. Watson of the Illi-_ 

 . nois Agricultural Association) as- 

 ; sisted in the work, and the Farm Bu- 

 • reau made use of its own books and 

 records in the recorder's office. It 

 would have cost the board a lot of 

 money to undertake the task alone. 

 "We believe the information ob- 

 . tained is authentic. It checks with 



the records." 

 ' Similar reports are coming in from 

 many other counties indicating that 

 the Farm Bureaus' campaign of tax 

 reduction based on accurate records 

 and statistical information is getting 

 results. Savings to the farm property 

 owners of Illinois in taxes paid next 

 year will be very substantial. This 

 work would not have been possible 

 ■ without organization. . 



Liked Bond Issue Story 



Editor, I. A. A. Record. 



"The article 'A Bond Issue to Re- 

 duce Property Taxes' by Mr. Watson, 

 is good, and I hope sufficient copies 

 have been produced to scatter over 

 the entire state. ... 



"I feel that if the bond issue fails 

 and the state tax is doubled with 

 additional taxes for relief in the 

 county, the future of the schools ap- 

 pears dark indeed. 



"I enjoyed the September number 

 of the Record very much." 



"Stop Farm Fires" Is 



Watchword During Week 



Here Are Some Things You Can 

 Do To Prevent a Fire 

 on the Farm 



The first week in October has been 

 designated "Fire Prevention Week" to 

 emphasize the importance of fire 

 prevention particularly on the farm 

 where there is least protection. The 

 Illinois Agricultural Association is 

 cooperating in the movement in the 

 state to make all people fire con- 

 scious, and active in preventing fire 

 losses. 



Farm fires in Illinois two years 

 ago destroyed approximately $14,000,- 

 000 worth of property. While the 

 figures for last year are not yet re- 

 ported, it is estipiated that 1931 

 losses will exceed those of the year 

 before. 



How many times have you read 

 items like ..the following which ap- 

 peared in a weekly newspaper in 

 Illinois a short time ago? 



"Little Boyd Loftien, four, 

 playing with matches, caused a 

 fire last Saturday morning, at 

 the Loftien farm home east of 

 town, and- west of Creston, caus- 

 ing a damage estimated at $4,000 

 which destroyed a barn, and its 

 contents of hay, machinery, also 

 two horses and two calves which 

 were burned to death in the 

 building." 



Learn The Cause 



Insurance adjusters who make it 

 their business to learn the cause of 

 farm fires tell us that at least 90 

 per cent of such losses are prevent- 

 able. Even fires caused by lightning 

 can in part be prevented by proper 

 protection with lightning rods. Many 

 farm fires are the result of sparks 

 from chimneys falling on unpro- 

 tected roofs. A chimney in the first 

 place should be constructed of good 

 hard brick and lined with tile. If 

 tile is not available the chimney 

 should be of two courses of brick 

 thick and in all cases should be built 

 by a competent workman. 



The top of the chimney should ex- 

 tend at least two feet higher than 

 the peak of the roof to secure proper 

 draft. If soft coal or wood is burned 

 a heavy wire spark screen should 

 protect the opening at the top. Over 

 $24,000,000 of property was destroyed 

 last year because of preventable 

 fires starting from defective chim- 

 neys and flues. 



Watch For These 



Don't let old newspapers, clothing, 

 or other waste material accumulate 

 in piles in the attic. 



Watch for bare electrical connec- 

 tions. See that no metal objects are 

 laying on exposed wiring, and that 

 no extension cords are twisted 



around nails, pipes, or other metal 

 materials. 



Do not plug the fuses. A fuse is a 

 protection against an overloaded 

 circuit which causes wires to get hot 

 and start fires. 



When kerosene and gasoline cook 

 stoves are used be sure there are no 

 curtains or other inflammable ma- 

 terial nearby that might catch fire 

 should the burner flare up. Don't 

 pile ashes on the floor, against wood 

 posts or in wood boxes. Use metal 

 containers. 



Keep all trucks and tractors off 

 the barn floor. Backfiring of a cold 

 motor or a short circuit in the elec- 

 trical equipment cause many a fire. 

 There should be no portable gas en- 

 gines operated inside a barn. 



Beware Oily Rags 



Keep the barn clean. Don't let 

 empty bags and rubbish accumulate 

 in corners. Keep the building well 

 ventilated. 



Don't let oily rags pile up in cor- , 

 ners. Put them iri metal cans or con- 

 tainers. If they start on fire then ; 

 they will do no damage. 



Go over the farm buildings . 

 periodically. Inspect and clean out all 

 the corners where rubbish accumu- , 

 lates. If the hay was put in damp, 

 spread it out so the heat will be • 

 liberated. Inspect the chimneys on 

 the house and. make the needed re- 

 pairs. Keep the fire extinguisher in - 

 a handy place and be sure there are ' 

 buckets, ladders, and water con- , 

 veniently located for instant use in ; 

 time of need. ; ;%. ^ ; v,;; ■-- ,: / 



J. Frank Grimes Chief 



Speaker For Supply Co. - 



J. Frank Grimes, president of the 

 Independent Grocers' Alliance, Chi- 

 cago, will be the headline speaker at 

 the annual meeting of the Illinois 

 Farm Supply Company, Bloomington, 

 October 12. 



Mr. Grimes who appeared at the , 

 annual I. A. A. meeting two years 

 ago will speak on the subject "What 

 Independents Can Accomplish By 

 Group Action." He will have an in- 

 teresting message. Mr. Grimes is an 

 aggressive speaker and his hobby is 

 co-operation and group action among 

 small home-owned business institu- 

 tions. 



Donald Kirkpatrick, legal counsel 

 for the I. A. A. will discuss legal prob- 

 lems affecting county service com- 

 panies. 



The address of the President, Fred 

 Herndon of Macomb, and the man- 

 ager's and treasurer's reports, to- 

 gether with election of officers and 

 directors will comprise the business 

 end of the program. Vr ■ ~'" . 



The meeting will begin at 10:00 

 A. M. in the Y. M. C. A. auditorium. 

 Delegates and directors are expected 

 from 52 county service companies 

 affiliated with the state company. 



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