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Special Session — 58th 



V General Assembly 



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A recent Act of the legislature post- 

 poned the penalty date one month for 

 payment of all taxes due on or before 

 May 1 for this year only. All May 1 

 taxes may be paid without penalty not 

 later than June 1 this year. 



; The so-called blind relief bills were 

 tabled and therefore failed during the 

 Tecent special session of the 58th Gen- 

 eral Assembly. The bills passed the 

 Senate but failed to secure the neces- 

 sary vote in the House. 



The bills proposed to double the 

 present state tax rate for blind relief; 

 'to empower county boards to levy a 

 tax up to one cent in Cook County 

 and up to 10 cents in all down-state 

 counties for the support of the blind; 

 and to make all taxes levied not only 

 for blind relief but also for mothers' 

 pensions, additional to the present 25 

 cent rate for general county purposes. 



i The effect of this legislation would 

 have been to increase the maximum 

 v county tax rate in all downstate coun- 

 • ties 14 cents — 10 cents for blind relief 

 and four cents for mothers' pensions. 

 There would also have been an addi- 

 tional State tax of one cent. 



^; i^lNeed Pension Change ^J 



■X In opposing the blind pension bills, 



: the I. A. A. did not oppose proper re- 

 lief for the deserving blind. It has 

 favored and still favors a much needed 



-revision of the blind pension Act to 

 preserve its benefits for the needy 

 blind and to prevent such benefits, as 

 now so often happens, from going to 

 persons who neither need nor deserve 

 them. Supporters of increases in blind 

 pension funds have opposed every pro- 

 posal for such revision. If the present 

 law is properly revised, additional 

 taxes will probably be needed in com- 

 paratively few of the counties of the 

 State. If they are needed in any coun- 

 ty, the present counties Act provides 

 that additional funds may be raised 



; by a referendum vote for this or any 

 other county purpose. ;; 



Legislation on blind pensions will 

 probably come up again in the regular 

 session beginning next January. 



Between $6,000,000 and $7,000,000 of 

 state gas tax revenues beginning July 

 1, 1934 and ending Mar. 1, 1935 will 

 > be paid into the common school fund 

 as a result of the recent gas tax 

 diversion bill enacted by the legisla- 

 ture after much whip cracking by the 

 administration. The state school fund 

 has been allocated $875,000 per month 

 from the sales or occupational tax, 

 payment of which was scheduled to 

 begin Mar. 1 this year. This is to re- 



place payments from the state prop- 

 erty tax which was cancelled. 



In the closing days of the special 

 session the state NRA bill was passed 

 by a bare constitutional majority. This 

 act makes it possible for state law en- 

 forcement officials, as well as federal, 

 to proceed against any violator of the 

 NRA codes. 



A more comprehensive report of the 

 recent special session will be made 

 in a later issue of the RECORD. 



Leslie Y. Drake Joins 



Auto Insurance Staff 



Leslie V. Drake began work with 

 the Illinois Agricultural Mutual In- 

 surance Company March 14, 1934. He 

 is a lawyer and 

 has specialized in 

 negligence 1 a w 

 and liability in- 

 surance claim 

 work since being 

 admitted to the 

 Bar in 1926. 

 Drake has a good 

 understanding of 

 the farm problem. 

 He was born and 

 raised on a farm 

 in Macoupin coun- 

 ty, Illinois where he farmed until 

 1922 when he left to study law. He 

 has been a practicing attorney in 

 Chicago for the past six years and has 

 been doing special work for the Illi- 

 nois Agn*icultural Mutual for the past 

 three years.;: :.; „/•':' . ,^,;i.--.^.., ..._.. ■-.y.-; .. 



L. V. DRAKE 



Soft Ball League Set &/ 

 V ^ Up In Marshall-Putnam 



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Nine townships were represented at 

 a meeting in Henry May 10 to or- 

 ganize the Marshall-Putnam Farm Bu- 

 reau Kitten Ball League. Twenty-four 

 fans attended and offered suggestions 

 for rules and a schedule of games. 

 Managers were named in eight of the 

 nine townships. Eligibility rules will 

 follow those used in the State Farm 

 Bureau Baseball League. '^ 



Indoor baseball or kitten ball is 

 coming to be popular sport throughout 

 Illinois, in town and country alike. 

 The growth of soft ball has had some- 

 thing to do with dropping Farm Bu- 

 reau baseball in many counties. Cut- 

 ting of budgets, lack of sportsman- 

 ship among players, inadequate sup- 

 port from fans, insufficient interest 

 on part of management in county are 

 other reasons. 



More than 80 County Farm Bureaus which 

 luid haseball teams at one time or another since 

 the state League wa» organized in 1924 have 

 dropped out. Farm Bureau baseball will be 

 played in approximately 28 oountiet this year. 



Play Balll Heard In 

 , Farm Bureau League 



As we go to press plans are being 

 completed for launching the 1934 sea- 

 son of the Illinois Farm Bureau Base- 

 ball League. First games were 

 scheduled to be played on Saturday, 

 May 19, in Division IV with Grundy 

 at Livingston and Woodford at La- 

 Salle. 



In northeastern Illinois Lake, Mc- 

 Henry, Boone and DeKalb county base- 

 ball men met May 12 and drew up a 

 schedule of games to open Saturday, 

 May 26 with DeKalb at Lake and Mc- 

 Henry at Boone. Games will be played 

 each Saturday afternoon until August 

 11 when the semi-finals begin. Aimer 

 Avang of Woodstock was elected dis- 

 trict chairman in this division. Games 

 will begin not latel^ than 2:00 P. M. 

 Standard Time. 



Adams and Fulton counties have or- 

 ganized Farm Bureau teams and plan 

 to play with McDonough in a three 

 county division. 



Madison was ready to go with a 

 brand new team but when Montgom- 

 ery and Macoupin failed to stir up 

 sufficient interest to organize a di- 

 vision, decided to drop the project. 



Shelby which played with Sanga^ 

 mon. Christian, and Morgan last year 

 is trying to set up a new division to 

 include Shelby and counties to the 

 north and east of it. Moultrie county 

 is making progress in getting a team 

 together. Coles and Effingham like- 

 wise are considering teams. "^ 



Carroll, Winnebago and JoDaviess 

 all had strong teams last year and 

 will try to interest Stephcnsan in join- 

 ing the division this year to even up 

 the district. 



Arthur K. Enger of Morris was 

 chosen division chairman in District 

 rV at their recent meeting. Enger is 

 an old time professional baseball 

 player and performed with the old 

 Morris Reds when town and sand lot 

 baseball was in its prime. , 



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AAA Program Serves > 



Big Majority Producers 



Contracts signed by farmers with 

 the AAA to adjust production, repre- 

 sent more than 90 per cent of the 

 country's cotton and tobacco, 80 per 

 cent of its wheat, and most of the 

 com and hog production entering com- 

 mercial channels. ^- ^ 



More than three-fourths of a mil- 

 lion producers also are being bene- 

 fited through marketing agreements 

 according to Chester C. Davis, ad- 

 ministrator of the Agricultural Ad- 

 justment Act. ... , 



I. A. A. RECORD 



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