February, 1933 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Twenty-five 



Legislative Policies Up At 

 Public Relations Conf. 



Tax Measures, Tax Reduction, 

 Utility Rates and Service Con- 

 sidered in Large Meeting 



CHAS. S. BLACK 



THE STATE sales tax, the effect 

 of the Supreme Court decision 

 on the income tax, exemption of 

 uncultivated farm lands from tax- 

 ation, tax reduction, and proposals 

 for consolidating taxing districts 

 featured the discussion before the 

 public relations conference at the 

 I. A. A. convention, Peoria, Jan. 26. 



Chas. S. Black of 

 Jackson v i 1 1 e, 

 chairman of the 

 advisory c o m- 

 mittee on public 

 relations, p r e- 

 sided before a 

 large audience. 



Mr. Smith 

 pointed out ob- 

 jections from 

 the farmer's 

 standpoint to 

 the sales tax 

 measure pend- 

 ing in the legis- 

 lature. He stated that the bill, to 

 protect farm interests, should be so 

 amended as to provide that the 

 proceeds be used primarily to levy 

 taxes upon property and that in 

 the present emergency it be made 

 possible for any county board by a 

 two-thirds vote to use any portion 

 of its share of such taxes for un- 

 employment relief in 1933 or 1934. 

 Commenting upon misrepresenta- 

 tion of the I. A. A.'s position on the 

 state sales tax appearing in a cer- 

 tain Chicago newspaper, Mr. Smith 

 cited this as an example of careless 

 if not deliberate misrepresentation 

 of truth. Some curb should be 

 placed on publications knowingly 

 misrepresenting and misleading the 

 public through false assertions, he 

 stated. 



Both Mr. Smith and John C. Wat- 

 son, director of taxation, discussed 

 the necessity of reducing the cost 

 of state, county, and local govern- 

 ments. Watson pointed out that the 

 proposed exemption of fallow land 

 from taxation in Illinois is pre- 

 vented in the constitution. He also 

 discussed briefly the proposed 

 limitation of the proposed tax rate 

 of $1 or $1.50 per $100 valuation and 

 the obstacles to overcome in ac- 

 complishing this worthy end. 



It was stated that the Associa- 

 tion expects to introduce a bill in 

 the legislature providing a way by 

 which farm land can be withdrawn 

 from within the corporate limits of 

 villages; also that the I. A. A. will 

 ask for legislation to provide a later 

 date for certifying school taxes. It 

 is also proposed to introduce in the 

 General Assembly a bill to place in- 



come on the property tax roll in 

 accordance with the State Supreme 

 Court decision holding that income 

 is property. A proposed bill to tax 

 oleomargarine containing foreign 

 fats and oils also was considered. 



L. J. Quasey pointed out that the 

 time is here to demand lower rates 

 for power, light, and telephone serv- 

 ice based on downward revaluations 

 of public utility properties. 



Lower Valuations Now 



The utility companies, he stated, 

 heretofore have insisted that valu- 

 ations shall be based on cost of re- 

 production. As a result, during the 

 high cost period valuations were 

 boosted and rates along with them. 

 Now that we have much lower labor 

 and material costs, it is only fair 

 that valuations and rates shall be 

 reduced commensurately. 



Members were urged not to sign 

 agreements for granting rights-of- 

 way to pipe line and high tension 

 electric corporations unless they 

 thoroughly understand the con- 

 tracts which they were asked to 

 sign. 



Quasey expressed the belief that 

 the Illinois Waterway development 

 not only affords an outlet for grain 

 from the Mississippi Valley, but al- 

 so promises to influence reductions 

 in grain rates by rail. 



The conference favored reduc- 

 tions in utility rates and particu- 

 larly costs of rural electric lines. It 

 recommended group action on pub- 

 lic utility problems. 



Col. Ayres Sees Danger 

 In Price Level Inflation 



"The problem of trying to fore- 

 cast the business developments of 

 1933 is one that involves in large 

 measure the attempt to guess or es- 

 timate the degree to which the poli- 

 cies of the new administration at 

 Washington will be formulated with 

 wisdom and its actions guided by 

 sagacity," said Col. Leonard P. 

 Ayres of Cleveland, nationally 

 recognized economist, in a recent 

 statement. "It is quite literally a 

 problem of political economy rather 

 than one of business economics." 



He stressed probabilities of lower 

 industrial wage rates, a lower cost 

 of living, a greater number of com- 

 mercial failures, less dividend pay- 

 ments, and lower interest rates. 



There are two alternatives ahead, 

 he said: inflation or adjustments 

 "necessary for a resumption of nor- 

 mal business at lower prices. It Is 

 prudent to expect," he said, "that 

 the long, hard grind of sound money 

 will be chosen." 



He believes that if a course of 

 attempting to lift price levels by in- 

 flation should be chosen, the at- 

 tempt would in all probability fail 

 and the subsequent events prove 

 disastrous. 



A. N. SKINNER 



Black and Skinner Head 

 Baseball League in '33 



Chas. S. Black, Jacksonville, was 

 re-elected president and A. N. Skin- 

 ner, Yates City, vice-president at 

 the annual meeting of the Illinois 

 Farm Bureau Baseball League in 

 Peoria, Jan. 25. 



The principal 

 action taken was 

 to amend the 

 eligibility clause 

 of the by-laws. 

 Hereafter any 

 Farm Bureau 

 member or de- 

 pendent m e m- 

 ber of his fam- 

 ily, in good 

 standing, shall 

 be entitled to 

 play in the 

 League. M e m- 

 bers who are in 

 arrears more than six months will 

 automatically be disqualified. 



The new rule is largely an ex- 

 periment to simplify the eligibility 

 requirements and make it possible 

 for young men closely associated in 

 Farm Bureau work even though 

 they are not actually living on the 

 farm and working there full time, 

 to play Farm Bureau baseball. 

 Counties having teams were advised 

 that it is up to them to keep the 

 sport strictly on an amateur basis 

 as a recreational activity for farm 

 boys. 



Roettger Speaks 



Walter Roettger of Bloomington, 

 outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds, 

 gave a highly interesting talk in 

 which he related his experiences in 

 the big leagues, and told what is 

 necessary for good team play. 



"Team morale means hanging on 

 when you're behind," he said. "A 

 winning team must have good 

 players but team spirit is highly 

 important." He called the Car- 

 dinals team of 1931 the greatest he 

 ever played with. "This team never 

 quit trying," he said. "It was the 

 Cardinals spirit that beat the Ath- 

 letics that year." 



Secretary George Thiem reported 

 that the 32 teams competing last 

 year played 120 official games ac- 

 cording to reports received at 

 League headquarters; that every 

 team appeared for regularly sched- 

 uled games except where satisfac- 

 tory postponement arrangements 

 were made. 



He urged that teams select com- 

 petent umpires and then abide by 

 their decisions. He stated that the 

 State Arbitration Committee would 

 refuse to review questions of fact 

 regarding plays, and that if pro- 

 tests were made, they must be an- 

 nounced during the course of the 

 game. 



