1. A. A. RECORD— November, 1933 



David Lloyd George, the British 

 political leader, once said, "Americans 

 are a docile people." He might not 

 say that were he an observer here to- 

 day. Strikes, mass meetings, picket- 

 ing, and the like, of which we have 

 seen much, and may see more, ex- 

 press the resentment of a people who 

 have been divested of their farms, 

 homes and jobs many through no fault 

 of their own. 



They are rebellious of a system 

 which takes away the little they have 

 while others have more than plenty. 

 No one appreciates this more than 

 President Roosevelt. With a less pro- 

 gressive man in the White House, re- 

 volution might have broken out before 

 now. His recent assault against high 

 salaries is a recognition of one of the 

 things that breeds resentment and 

 anger among under privileged people. 



It was the concentration of wealth 

 and privilege in the hands of the few 

 that brought on^ the Russian revolu- 

 tion and produced the Soviet Union 

 which despite all its critics at least 

 seems to be holding together. In 

 America the concentration of wealth 

 has been proceeding at a dangerous 

 pace, and that process, allowed full 

 sway, would eventually produce an up- 

 rising against the very rich similar 

 to that of Russia. : , ; - ? 



The present administration wisely 

 is giving attention to social problems. 

 Whether they succeed or not, the pro- 

 jects underway are designed to dis- 

 tribute wealth more evenly among the 

 people. The communists tell us that 

 capitalism sows the seeds of its own 

 destruction; that its greed knows no 

 bounds; that it allows the strong to 

 plunder the weak. In this country we 

 are not convinced that capitalism 

 should go, but we are fairly well 

 agreed that returns on capital should 

 be limited and that gouging of the 

 public should be stopped. The rich, 

 of course, fight all government poli- 

 cies which disturb their wealth. 

 Hence the income tax, particularly the 

 graduated rates and surtaxes on huge 

 incomes, is unpopular. So is any tax 

 on intangibles. 



The securities act is not liked by 

 many financiers. It protects the 

 small investor and places more re- 

 sponsibility on the promoter and bor- 

 rower than heretofore. During the 

 period of exploitation which preceded 

 the depression, many promoters were 



very free with other people's money. 

 If the projects succeeded they made 

 the big profits, if the enterprise failed, 

 the lowly bond and stockholders stood 

 the loss. So this act is under fire and 

 the clever argument is being used that 

 new enterprise is being stifled and re- 

 employment retarded. 



commodity prices may fail or be se- 

 riously delayed. — Gibson City Courier. 



Some students of social movements 

 are proclaiming that co-operative or- 

 ganization offers the greatest hope for 

 building a happier and more contented 

 America; that co-operatively-owned 

 plants, co-operative marketing and co- 

 operative buying and distribution 

 should be vigorously pushed as the 

 solution to a growing social problem. 

 There is evidence that most of the 

 world is headed in the direction of 

 leveling off the wide inequalities be- 

 tween people. As President Roosevelt 

 suggests, his ideal for America is 

 "a temple which when completed will 

 no longer be a temple of money- 

 changers or of beggars, but rather a 

 temple dedicated to and maintained 

 for greater social justice." — E. G. T. 



VIEWS FROM THE PRESS 



Farmers Must Organize 



The farmer is America's outstand- 

 ing exponent of rugged individual- 

 ism, a reminder of the pioneer days 

 of the Republic when industry and la- 

 bor were also individualistic. In la- 

 bor and industry that earlier period 

 has been succeeded by a grouping 

 and combining of forces to which the 

 individual has yielded authority and 

 entrusted his financial welfare. 



If agriculture, the industry which 

 produces food, the most vital of all 

 needs, is to command its own mar- 

 kets and insure its own profits, there 

 must be a change of working policy. 

 Individual independence of action 

 must be surrendered to delegated 

 authority which has full and unre- 

 stricted powers. Powerful opposition 

 to commodity price advances must be 

 overcome by the combined power of 

 the producers of foodstuffs, an or- 

 ganization strong enough to keep its 

 own members from rocking the boat. 

 It must have market control and crop 

 control. Its recalcitrants must be 

 disciplined. 



Such an organization is being 

 sought to-day by the national admin- 

 istration at Washington, which is seek- 

 ing earnestly to alleviate the suffer- 

 ings of the farmer and restore his 

 prosperity. Unless the farmers of 

 America can organize and create an 

 all-powerful central authority and 

 stop the confusion of council, the 

 present strenuous effort to restore 



When Farmers Prosper 



Everyone Prospers ; 



"There are so many super-minds :.' 

 making experiments and seeking ways • ; 

 and means to get the nation back to . 

 normalcy that it would be very pre- 

 sumptuous indeed for any of us crack- v 

 er-box philosophers to offer any sug- 

 gestions. But we can ask questions. 



"How can our factory employes get ; 

 off the relief lines and back into their ' 

 factory jobs until the farmers of / 

 America have money to buy factory 

 products ? How can the farmer ever 

 become a buyer when everything he 

 produces sells so cheap and every- 

 thing he buys is going up in price? 

 How can the farmer survive the terri- 

 ble burden of mounting taxes, with , 

 his credit shut off and his income al- , 

 most at the vanishing point? 



"The Lee County Farm Bureau, in 

 concert with other farm bureaus in 

 Illinois is staging a drive for mem- 

 bership and a campaign for tax re- 

 lief. This movement deserves tht ; 

 wholehearted support of every citizen 

 of the state, regardless of whether h« 



lives in the town or country 



The nation as a whole cannot ever be 

 prosperous while the buying power of 

 the farmer is so universally stifled. 



"The movement in Illinois must 

 have the cooperation of every farmer 

 to be a success. The Telegraph be- ~~ 

 speaks the support of all residents ol 

 the county, urban or rural, in the Le« 

 County Farm Bureau's effort to gain 

 membership and secure tax relief." — 

 Dixon Evening Telegraph. 



Use Gas Tax Money 



To Build Roads-Stuart 



"If the state gas tax were properly 

 expended in the building of roads, in- 

 stead of being diverted to finance more 

 bonds and pay more doles, there would 

 be work for an army of Illinois men 

 now on the relief rolls," writes Wil- 

 liam H. Stuart, prominent political re- 

 porter in the Chicago Evening Amer- 

 ican. 



"The state might build roads by day 

 labor, which would eliminate road con- 

 tractors who hire cheap labor from 

 other states with Illinois money on 

 Illinois projects. 



"We are entitled to new ideas, new 

 policies, new methods from the ILLI- 

 NOIS EMERGENCY RELIEF Com- 

 mission, not simply requests for more 

 money for the Illinois dole, which dol« 

 Speaker HENRY T. RAINEY declares 

 is the greatest dole per capita paid 

 anywhere in the whole world, England 

 not excepted." ' .' V^' ;.r^ 



