14 



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Things To Think About 



ON the last day of August, this 

 year, organized grain growers 

 of Saskatchewan, Canada, paid 

 the final installment on an original 

 debt of $11,061,269, thereby gaining 

 clear title to 451 country elevators, 

 several terminals, a head office build- 

 ing at Regina, a transfer house or 

 two at Buffalo, and other property 

 purchased in 1926 from the old Sas- 

 katchewan Cooperative Company. 

 Here is proof again that farmers can 

 acquire title to all the machinery they 

 need in a complete marketing program 

 when they support their cooperative 

 unflinchingly through the years. When 

 the obligation was assumed seven 

 years ago, the critics were free to 

 predict the debt never would be paid. 

 It has been paid in full by ordinary 

 deductions from the wheat of grow- 

 ers; deductions that would have been 

 made had they sold their grain 

 through any other channel. Farmers 

 in Illinois who sell their grain through 

 the Illinois Grain Corporation and the 

 Farmers National Grain Corporation 

 are acquiring physical facilities in the 

 same way. Organization makes it pos- 

 sible. 



WAGES for skilled workers in 

 this country once ranged from 

 $6.75 to $10.50 per week, with 

 hours from "sunrise to sunset," says 

 a booklet recently issued by the United 

 States department of labor for dis- 

 tribution at A Century of Progress in 

 Chicago. Organization has increased 

 wages, shortened hours and improved 

 working conditions, says the booklet, 

 which, by comparing the status of la- 

 borers then with their position now, 

 shows clearly the great progress the 

 labor movemeiit has made. Parallel- 

 ing that progress, to those who know 

 the abuses that used to exist in the 

 distribution of farm products, is the 

 rapid advancement of the farmers' 

 own cooperatives and the big improve- 

 ment in marketing practices that has 

 followed as a result. Both movements 

 were called into being by abuses, and 

 both, in spite of mistakes and set- 

 backs, have gained title to better 

 things for their supporters. One must 

 know conditions as they used to exist 

 to appreciate and correctly appraise 

 the truly remarkable achievements of 

 either group. 



AT the head of its editorial page, 

 the Northwestern Miller car- 

 ries a paragraph demanding 

 repeal of the processing tax on flour, 

 declaring it unfair and a burden to 



distressed consumers. It should not 

 stop there, suggests Harry N. Owen, 

 editor of a farm paper in St. Paul, 

 Minn., but should demand the repeal 

 of all tariffs, which do to the dis- 

 tressed people exactly what it says 

 the processing tax does. If the prin- 

 ciple of the protective tariff is cor- 

 rect — increasing the cost of goods to 

 the people in order that manufacturers 

 can pay higher wages — then there can 

 be no quarrel with the processing tax, 

 Mr. Owen continues. The processing 

 tax seeks to increase the farmers' in- 

 comes so they can buy more of the 

 products of protected factories so the 

 owners can, if they feel like it, pay 

 their workers more. The processing 

 tax, he concludes, is an attempt to ex- 

 tend to agriculture some of the spe- 

 cial privileges that have been granted 

 industry for more than a century. 



IN dismissing recently the petition 

 for injunction against Henry A. 

 Wallace, secretary of agriculture, 

 to prevent him from enforcing the 

 Chicago milk agreement under the Ag- 

 ricultural Adjustment Act, Justice D. 

 W. O'Donoghue, of the Supreme Court 

 of the District of Columbia, said: "The 

 court finds that a national emergency 

 exists and that the welfare of the peo- 

 ple and the very existence of the gov- 

 ernment itself are in peril. The day 

 has passed when absolute vested 

 rights in contract or property are to 

 be regarded as sacrosanct or above the 

 law. Neither the necessities of life 

 nor commodities affected with public 

 interest can any longer be left to ruth- 

 less competition or selfish greed for 

 their production or distribution." Milk 

 dealers who sought the petition have 

 served notice of appeal to the United 

 States Supreme Court. And that tri- 

 bunal, incidentally, when it convenes 

 again, is faced with making the most 

 momentous decisions it has been called 

 on to make in this century. 



Hold "Fireside" Meeting 



In Sam Sorrells Home 



Eighty members and prospective 

 members and their wives attended a 

 county-wide "fireside" meeting at the 

 home of Samuel Sorrells, I. A. A. di- 

 rector from the 21st district, the night 

 of Sept. 18. 



Talmage DeFrees, I. A. A. direc- 

 tor from the 22nd district, Sid Cherrill 

 and Bob Grieser of the Illinois Live- 

 stock Marketing Association, M. E. 

 Roberts, field insurance, E. B. Young, 



I. A. A. RECORD— October, 1933 



Make Progress In Co-op. 

 f: Creamery Financing 



By Frank Gougler 



Since cream producers have their 

 rush of farm work out of the way, 

 they are putting forth new effort in 

 raising funds to finance co-operative 

 creameries. '::vv'.';^^'-:v''.'-'V' iA':-':, 



Organization work is underway in 

 the Champaign, Mt. Sterling and 

 Olney districts. The Champaign dis- 

 trict is making excellent progress in 

 all counties. In this district they have 

 set out to raise at least $25,000 in 

 cash to finance this project. Cham- 

 paign county is raising a large block 

 of this money. --••..' 



On August 15th a meeting was held 

 of fifty or more workers in Cham- 

 paign. J. B. Countiss addressed this 

 meeting. At the close of the meeting 

 President G. C. Williams of the Cham- 

 paign County Farm Bureau announced 

 the following prizes to be given away 

 September 15: - ■ . ;:v: >■' ; 



To the person selling the greatest 

 number of shares of stock by Septem- 

 ber 15th, a handsome gold watch. This 

 was won by Cecil Pittman, Mahomet, 

 for selling 29 shares. The second win- 

 ner was John Douglass, Urbana, who 

 was given a fine Parker pen for sell- 

 ing 21 shares. Similar prizes were 

 given to winners for the sale of stock 

 for the period August 15 to Septem- 

 ber 15. Francis Jackson, Fisher, won 

 a gold watch for selling 29 shares of 

 stock and Ira B. Burgfield, Sidney, 

 was given a fountain pen for selling 

 14 shares during the month. 



To date more than 300 shares have 

 been sold in Champaign county and 

 the campaign goes on. At the meet- 

 ing held Sept. 15, President G. C, Wil- 

 liams announced additional prizes to 

 be given to those selling the most 

 stock by Oct. 2. In order to qualify, 

 a minimum of three shares must be 

 sold. 



In the Mt. Sterling district all coun- 

 ties are carrying on active stock sell- 

 ing campaigns and Scott County is 

 the first in the district to raise its en- 

 tire quota. This district is going for- 

 ward with its campaign without out- 

 side assistance. Farmers are deter- 

 mined to get these plants operating 

 at the earliest possible date. 



general agent in Montgomery county, 

 H. H. Walker, district organization 

 manager, Mr. Sorrells, and others 

 spoke informally. 



"It was one of the peppiest meet- 

 ings I ever attended," said Mr. 

 Walker. "We are planning other meet- 

 ings like this one in our district." 



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