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February, 1933 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Nine 



therefor, in the emergency, to relieve the farm debt 

 situation. And to that end, we specifically suggest and 

 recommend: 



1. That the wave of farm foreclosures be halted by 

 the following means: 



a. The appointment of one or more conciliation 

 commissioners for each rural county as special 

 referees with jurisdiction, under the supervision 

 of the federal courts, to compose farm indebted- 

 ness and extend the terms thereof on petition of 

 either debtor or creditor. Pending such com- 

 position and extension proceedings, all fore- 

 closures and other action, both within and with- 

 out court, against the farmer or his property, 

 should be stayed, whether instituted before or 

 after the commencement of the composition or 

 extension proceedings. The composition and 

 extension proceedings should be decentralized 

 and close to the farmer, simple in form, inex- 

 pensive to the farmer and with a minimum of 

 expense to the Government, and should not re- 

 sult, in case of their failure, in placing the 

 farmer in involuntary bankruptcy. 



b. Establishment of a temporary credit agency in 

 the federal land bank system to refinance, by 

 short term loans at a low rate of interest, the 



: V present frozen loans to the farmer on a scale- 

 down in order to facilitate the composition, par- 



■ ticularly of subordinate liens and unsecured in- 

 : ■ ;: debtedness, and to permit worthy farmers 



gradually to work out of their financial diffi- 

 culties. 

 ■; c. Temporary loans to Federal land banks, and 

 ; -^ during liquidation, to joint stock land banks in 

 ;; V order that mortgages held by either type of bank 

 4 may be extended as to principle and interest and 

 reamortized. 

 d. Reduction of the interest rate on existing and 

 new Federal land bank loans, and for that pur- 

 pose the addition of new capital to the Federal 

 Land bank system and the establishment of a 



■ ■'' :'. revolving fund in the United States Treasury for 

 : :; the purchase of outstanding high interest bear- 

 ing Federal land bank bonds as they become 

 callable, and the purchase of new Federal land 

 bank bonds at par. 



2. The strengthening of the Federal land bank sys- 

 tem so that such banks can afford credit at the pres- 

 ent time and refinance sound first mortgages offered 

 by individual creditors, joint stock land banks, and 

 other fiscal agencies that need to liquidate, to the end 

 not only of preventing foreclosures but of maintaining 

 an efficient co-operative credit system adequate under 

 present conditions for the needs of farmer borrowers. 



3. Compulsory liquidation of joint stock land banks, 

 either through their own directors or by a liquidation 

 corporation under the Federal Farm Loan Board, in 

 such manner as to protect the interest of their farmer 

 borrowers and of their bondholders without the gov- 

 ernment taking over or guaranteeing their mortgages 

 or bonds through the Federal land bank system or 

 otherwise. 



IV — Restrict Federal Injunctions '"/•'• 



Inasmuch as the unrestricted injunctive power of 

 federal judges may present a menace to the efforts 

 of organized agriculture, we urge that the Federal 

 Judicial Code be amended to extend to farm organiza- 

 tions the same security now obtained for labor. We 

 oppose for appointment and confirmation to a federal 

 bench any person who believes in the unrestricted use 

 of injunctions against farmers in their development of 

 co-operative effort. j 



V — Revenue Reform, Reapportionment 



We reaffirm our position repeatedly declared in 

 favor of such revision of the revenue article of the 



State Constitution as may be necessary to remove all 

 confusion and uncertainty and to give unquestioned 

 authority to the General Assembly to establish a taxing 

 system applicable to all citizens according to their 

 ability to pay. 



If and when the constitutional basis of reapportion- 

 ing our legislative districts shall be changed, we favor 

 the principle of apportionment approved in a resolu- 

 tion adopted two years ago whereby representation in 

 one House of the General Assembly shall be determined 

 on the basis of population, in the other on the basis of 

 territory. 



We believe that amendment of the revenue article 

 of the Constitution should be accomplished at the 

 earliest possible time. If, however, a more general 

 revision of the State Constitution should seem desir- 

 able, we favor action by the present General As- 

 sembly to submit to the people of the. State the ques- 

 tion whether they desire to have a constitutional 

 convention. 



VI — Assess Income As Property 



The Supreme Court of the State of Illinois having 

 set forth in its decision on the constitutionality of the 

 State Income Tax Act that all "income and salaries" 

 of the citizens of Illinois are "property," we hereby 

 authorize and direct the Officers and Board of Direc- 

 tors of the Illinois Agricultural Association to take 

 whatever steps may be necessary to require the assess- 

 ment of this class of property on the same basis as 

 other classes of property. 



VII — Economy In Government, Sales Tax 



We urge such immediate action by the General As- 

 sembly as is necessary to substantially reduce all 

 maximum tax rates created by law for each unit of 

 government in the State of Illinois. 



We favor such reduction in public appropriations as 

 can be accomplished without the serious impairment 

 of necessary services provided by government. We 

 urge repeal of all statutes setting minimum salaries 

 for county officials whose compensation is paid out of 

 county funds. 



In all matters affecting appropriations to provide 

 services for agriculture, we insist that the proper 

 officers of our organization and others primarily en- 

 gaged in agricultural production, be consulted as to 

 the services which can best be dispensed with. 



After securing every possible saving in the cost of 

 government from all such reductions, we recognize 

 that new sources of revenue must be found to relieve 

 property from its unjust portion of the tax burden. 



We favor, therefore, enactment of a state retail sales 

 tax of two per cent on all tangible personal property 

 except food and food products; division of all revenue 

 derived therefrom on a fair and equitable basis be- 

 tween Cook County and down-state counties; and in- 

 clusion of such other provisions as are necessary to 

 insure the full use of all revenue to replace taxes now 

 levied upon and collected from property. 



Recognizing the existing acute unemployment situa- 

 tion, we express a willingness to support a provision 

 in such a law as will allow any county within the 

 State to use any part or all of such moneys allocated 

 to it for the years 1933 or 1934 for the purpose of tak- 

 ing care of its needy and unfortunate people. 



VIII— Elect Able Supreme Court Judges - 



The citizens of the rural areas in Illinois have here- 

 tofore failed to realize the importance of the biannual 

 judicial elections. In the June election of this year 

 there will be selected to the Supreme Court of Illinois 

 a majority of the members of this important bench. 

 We urge our members to interest themselves in this 

 election and support in a non-partisan way the ablest 

 and most worthy candidates for this high office. 

 (Continued on page 10) 



