Page Eighteen 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



January, 1933 



Higher Prices Only Hope 

 For Debtor And Creditor 



A. R Wright Declares Worthy 



Debtor Must Be Helped To 



Preserve His Equity 



A. B. WRIOHT 



*4TF THE debtor is to be permitted 

 J- to pay his debt and the cred- 

 itor receive his pay, some means of 

 inflation must be brought about 

 and that before many months," A. 

 R. Wright, vice-president of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association, and 

 president of the Marshall County 

 State Bank, said in an address at 



the Farm Debt 

 conference held 

 recently at Ur- 

 bana. The con- 

 ference was call- 

 ed by Dean H. 

 W. Mumford of 

 the State College 

 of Agriculture 

 and included 

 college e c o n o- 

 mists, bankers, 

 farmers and 

 others. Robt. A. 

 Cowles and John 

 '. C. Watson repre- 



sented the I. A. A. at the confer- 

 ence. 



"What the farmer needs is an in- 

 :. crease in the sale price of his prod- 

 f ucts," continued Mr. Wright. "Sup- 

 plying the exhausted patient with 

 ;;"v oxygen in the form of more credit, 

 ; without providing him with some 

 yy^^ opportunity of paying his loan, will 

 i- ;only drive him more deeply in the 

 mire. Temporary credit and re- 

 financing of farm mortgages at 

 low interest rates are sorely needed, 

 but a means of providing him with 

 an income somewhat equal in pur- 

 . .: chasing power to that level at 

 ;. ," which he contracted his debt is far 

 more important. 



"The country banker is vitally in- 

 terested in this problem but now 

 the farm debt question has ceased 

 to be a problem only of the local 

 banker. Big industrial and busi- 

 ness leadership is now concerned 

 about its own welfare because of 

 its dependence on the farm. 



Organization Needed 



"The farmer unorganized as he 

 is has endeavored to maintain him- 

 self in a highly organized field. In 

 this respect he has failed. Bankers 

 stress organization, and are organ- 

 ized, mortgage bankers are organ- 

 ized, the insurance companies have 

 organized to advantage, yet all 

 have loaned their resources to, and 

 staked their bet on an industry 

 that was unable to protect its rights 

 through organized efforts. Worst of 

 all, many members of these groups 

 have not encouraged farmers to 

 align themselves with the leading 



farm organizations, in fact some 

 bankers are discouraging such a 

 step. I am convinced that this 

 short-sighted policy is responsible 

 to a greater degree than we appre- 

 ciate, for the dire predicament in 

 which the lender finds himself to- 

 day. 



"Having gotten ourselves into 

 this morass, leniency and co-oper- 

 ative effort to the fullest extent 

 possible must be resorted to by the 

 creditors. Lapsed interest must be 

 compromised or amortized over a 

 term of years. Mortgages must be 

 refinanced at the lowest rate of in- 

 terest commensurate with the debt- 

 or's ability to pay, and for a length 

 of time that will insure the worthy 

 farmer a chance to make good. 



Must Work Together 



"The worthy debtor must be 

 helped to preserve his equity and 

 above all things, he must be en- 

 couraged to maintain his morale. 

 It is one thing for the creditor to 

 take over a farm but an entirely 

 different thing to manage it. Some 

 of us are having our experiences 

 with land trusts, receiverships, etc. 

 The hooray and glamour of cor- 

 poration farming has passed and 

 farming has established its dual 

 capacity once more — not only a 

 business but a mode of living. 



"In instances where more than 

 one creditor is involved they can 

 best protect their interests by 

 working together with the worthy 

 debtor in a compromising spirit. 

 There is nothing to be gained these 

 days by a dog-eat-dog policy. There 

 never has been a time when the 

 need for practicing the Divine ex- 

 hortation of Brotherly Love was as 

 great as it is now. When the farm 

 problem is solved the bankers' 

 problem will have largely faded 

 away." 



Pres. Smith On Farm 

 And Home Week Program 



"The Aims and Objectives of Or- 

 ganized Agriculture" will be the 

 subject of a talk by Earl C. Smith, 

 president of the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association, on the general confer- 

 ence program of Farm and Home 

 Week at Urbana Friday morning, 

 Jan. 20. Illinois farm advisers will 

 hold their annual meeting during 

 the five day short course which be- 

 gins Jan. 16 at the State College of 

 Agriculture. 



Twenty-nine different short 

 courses designed to help rebuild the 

 incomes of farmers and restore 

 their buying power will be offered, 

 announces the State College. These 

 courses will stress more effective 

 marketing, cheaper unit costs of 

 production, higher quality products, 

 reduction of losses and wastes on 

 the farm and in the home and 



8 Livestock Meetings 



Scheduled In January 



Eight district conferences for 

 county livestock marketing com- 

 mittees will be held during Janu- 

 ary as follows: January 4, Masonic 

 Hall, Polo; January 5, Armory, 

 Galesburg; January 6, Farm Bureau 

 Office, Ottawa; January 9, Y. W. C. 

 A., Danville; January 10, Dunlap 

 Hotel, Jacksonville; January 11, 

 Jeflferson Hotel, Peoria; January 12, 

 Broadview Hotel, E. St. Louis; Janu- 

 ary 13, City Hall, Effingham. 



Meetings at Peoria and E. St. 

 Louis will be held in conjunction 

 with annual meetings of the Peoria 

 and St. Louis Producers. Charles A. 

 Ewing, president of the National 

 Livestock Marketing Association, 

 will address both of these meetings. 



At each of the district meetings 

 a director will be nominated for the 

 board of directors of Illinois Live- 

 stock Marketing Association. 



The annual meeting of the State 

 Livestock Marketing Association 

 will be held at the Farm Bureau 

 office in Bloomington, Tuesday, 

 February 14 where directors will be 

 elected, reports made, and new 

 business transacted. 



"From 67 to 90 per cent of Illi- 

 nois farmers' income in most sec- 

 tions of the state is derived from 

 livestock," states Ray E. Miller, di- 

 rector of livestock marketing. "It is 

 high time livestock producers them- 

 selves take vigorous steps to extend 

 the operation and effectiveness of 

 their co-operative marketing or- 

 ganizations. They should receive 

 and enjoy greater net returns from 

 the sale of their livestock. No plan 

 will succeed unless and until it is 

 understood, approved, and given ag- 

 gressive support of farmers them- 

 selves." 



higher living standards, as well as 

 a wider variety of community in- 

 terests and a happier rural life. 



Home makers will open their ses- 

 sions Tuesday, Jan. 17 with a meet- 

 ing of the Illinois Home Bureau 

 Federation. 



Corn and grain honors of the 

 season will be settled in the annual 

 Illinois Seed Grain and Utility Corn 

 Show. In addition to the grain show 

 exhibit, there will be one on foods 

 and nutrition and another on seed 

 cleaning machinery. 



The 15 crops in order of their 

 value in the 1930 census are corn, 

 hay, cotton, wheat, oats, potatoes, 

 tobacco, oranges, barley, apples, 

 sugar beets, tomatoes, dry beans, 

 grapefruit, and sweet potatoes. 



The Bureau of Chemistry and 

 Soils has concentrated its farm crop 

 research to find new uses for these 

 crops not only as food but also in- 

 dustrially.-; ;: :^. a; ; ;> 



IJ 



