I. A. A. RECORD— September, 1933 



Paddle Your Own Canoe 

 Governor Tells N. Y. City 



Gov. Lehman Turns Down Re- 

 quest To Tax Farmers and 

 Upstate People For Relief 

 of Cities 



A FIRM refusal to tax upstate 

 people for the relief of New 

 York City was the response of 

 Governor Herbert H. Lehman to an 

 appeal by Mayor John P. O'Brien for 

 aid. 



In a recent message to the New 

 York legislature, Gov. Lehman recom- 

 mended that New York City and any 

 other city in the state be authorized, 

 during the emergency period, to levy 

 taxes on its own people for such pur- 

 poses as it deems necessary for work 

 and home relief. The cities now are 

 unable to do that because of legal re- 

 strictions. 



"I recommend to your considera- 

 tion," the governor also said, "general 

 legislation authorizing the governor, 

 in the event of a default on the part of 

 any county, town, city, village or spe- 

 cial improvement district, to set up a 

 financial agent or agents with author- 

 ity to limit any expenditure of public 

 funds by such municipality, or the in- 

 curring of any debt by it.' 



Would Get 41 Million 

 The Governor flatly turned down 

 Mayor John P. O'Brien's request for 

 doubling the state sales and stock 

 transfer taxes, the proceeds to be 

 turned over to the cities. New York 

 would get $41,000,000. 



"To that request I do not accede," 

 the governor said. "I so notified the 

 city of New York when its petition 

 reached me." 



The message showed he has not 

 wavered from his original proposal 

 that New York must pull itself out of 

 its own financial difficulties. 



The governor would have the legis- 

 lature go no further than to permit 

 the city to raise the money it needs 

 by imposing its own taxes, without 

 state financial aid. The governor de- 

 clared in favor of economies in all 

 units of government throughout the 

 state. He promised to send messages 

 on other topics. 



Logan Leads 4- 



Logan county has the highest five- 

 year average wheat production of any 

 county in Illinois, and will probably 

 secure the largest amount of benefit 

 payments in the acreage reduction 

 program. St. Clair county is second. 



Other leading counties in wheat are 

 Mason, Madison, Morgan, and Sanga- 

 mon. 



Gov. Herbert H. Lehman of New York 



Wheat Production Control Cam- 

 paign in Illinois 



(Continued from page 5) 



Farmers who have made application 

 and who have decided to take ad- 

 vantage of the cash payment on their 

 assigned allotment sign a contract to 

 reduce their acreage for the 1934 and 

 1935 crops, if so required. The exact 

 amount of this reduction will not be 

 announced by Secretary of Agriculture 

 Henry A. Wallace until August 24, but 

 the reduction will not be more than 20 

 percent of the farmer's average seeded 

 acreage during the three years of the 

 base period. 



Six Advantages 



There are at least six advantages to 

 the plan. First, it offers crop insur- 

 ance in that the grower gets the cash 

 compensation payments in 1933, 1934 

 and 1935 regardless of what hail, 

 flood or other disasters do to his 

 wheat crops. Second, growers are as- 

 sured a parity, or higher price for 

 that portion of their crop which goes 

 into domestic consumption. Third, land 

 taken out of wheat production can be 

 put to other uses, thereby making it 

 possible for the farmer to build up 

 his soils and better adjust his crop- 

 ping systems. Fourth, production costs 

 can be reduced. Fifth, there is a pos- 

 sible allowance because the required 

 acreage reduction may not be as much 

 as 20 percent. 



Illinois is said to be in one of the 

 strongest positions of any state in the 

 government's wheat production control 

 campaign, because of the agricultural 

 adjustment conferences which have 

 been held annually throughout the 

 state since 1928 under auspices of the 

 College of Agriculture, University of 

 Illinois, and at the instance of Dean 

 H. W. Mumford. One official of the 

 wheat administration declared that 

 these adjustment conferences had put 

 Illinois seven to eight years ahead of 

 other states in the matter of acreage 

 adjustment. 



Illinois Leads 



In this connection it is recalled that 

 Illinois farmers, guided by the College 

 of Agriculture, University of Illinois, 

 have made a 26 percent adjustment in 

 their wheat acreage in the past four 

 years,- the acreage having been re- 

 duced from 2,093,000 in 1929 to 1,549,- 

 OOQ in 1932. Furthermore, farmers of 

 the state have adjusted their acreage 

 of corn and other crops so radically 

 that the acreage of soybeans in Illi- 

 nois has been multiplied 44 times in 

 the past 14 years. Also, the 288,000 

 acres of alfalfa grown in Illinois in 

 1932 represented a 50 percent increase 

 over the 1928 acreage, while the state 

 now grows almost 900,000 acres of the 

 soil building sweet clover crop, where- 

 as not so long ago this legume was 

 considered a worthless weed. 



Having already made these adjust- 

 ments, Illinois farmers, in the main, 

 will not be required to reduce their 

 present wheat acreages, whereas 

 farmers in those sections where the 

 acreage has been mounting will be 

 obliged to cut down their plantings in 

 order to comply with the terms of the 

 government's program. »< 



Trade With Russia Seen 

 As Aid to Farmers Here 



Restoration of trade between the 

 United States and Russia is advocated 

 by ex- Senator Brookhart of Iowa who 

 has been investigating possibilities for 

 selling surplus farm products abroad. 



Brookhart stated that the Russian 

 government is seeking credit on a 

 seven year basis. The Reconstruction 

 Finance Corporation already has 

 loaned the Amtorg Trading Company, 

 Russia's commercial representative 

 here, $4,000,000. Part of the $200,000,- 

 000 available to the Agricultural Ad- 

 justment Administration, it is said, 

 may also be used to stimulate exports 

 of surplus American farm products to 

 Russia. 



Brookhart stated that Russia is in 

 need of large quantities of American 

 cotton and livestock products includ- 

 ing beef and lard. The Russian foreign 

 minister announced that his country is 

 ready to buy up to $1,000,000,000 in 

 foreign goods and raw products pro- 

 vided long-term credit is extended. 



The potential annual trade with 

 Russia is estimated at $500,000,000. 

 The Russian government during re- 

 cent years has acquired an excellent 

 reputation for meeting all its obliga- 

 tions, and the fact that many large 

 corporations both here and abroad are 

 trading with Russia indicates that her 

 credit is satisfactory. 



