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ljliiK»s A^cultural Assodation 



mm<r RECORD mwmm 



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Number 9 



SEPTEMBER, 1934 



Volume 12 



A Statement On 



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arm 



ureau 



ene 



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FARM Bureau member would like 

 to have a concise statement pub- 

 lished in the RECORD of the defi- 

 nite benefits the American Farm Bureau 

 Federation, the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation, and the County Farm Bureaus 

 have brought, particularly to Illinois 

 members... .^ M7 /■ y-'i'- :■<':' '^^^ 



This is no easy job. To go back 

 fourteen years and evaluate all the 

 splendid accomplishments of Farm Bu- 

 reau members working together during 

 this period is a difficult task. We can't 

 hope to cover the ground in a short re- ' 

 view. Neither would we, in the field of 

 legislation, for example, assume to take 

 exclusive credit for all that has been , 

 done. It is natural to think of the re- 

 cent achievements, which for the mo- 

 ment seem most important, and overlook ^ 

 those which have come and gone, and are 

 perhaps forgotten. /.''-::■■ '.'• •'■?->p^ J?";; •;'■.;;■ v .■^'•"> J- 



Nevertheless, we shall attempt to set 

 down certain fundamental achievements ' 

 which the Farm Bureau, county, state, 

 and national — one or the other, or all 

 three — can justly take pride in. ' >' ; 



1. Agricultural Adjustment Act — ^the 

 result of the long fight waged by 



• the Farm Bureau for the "equal- 

 ization fee" principle — an American 

 price for American farm products. 

 First credit must go to the opera- 

 tions of this law in all its ramifi- 

 cations for the tremendous gain? 

 experienced since com was 10c per 

 bu., hogs 2c to 3c, wheat 40c, cattle 

 4c to 5c, cotton 5c, etc. 



2. Corn Loan Program — added from 

 10 to 15c per bu. immediately (last 

 November) to the farm price of 

 corn. Made it possible for Illinois 

 farmers owning nearly 70 million 

 bu. of sealed corn to take advan- 

 tage of a price rise of from 20 to 

 30c per bu. All made possible be- 

 cause the I. A. A. wrote and se- 



! cured passage of Illinois farm stor- 



age act years ago. } 



8., Corn-hog program—- M i d - w e s t 

 Farm Bureaus led by Henry Wal- 

 lace and Earl Smith worked to- 

 " gether to include these commodities 

 in the Act. Reduced hog numbers 



■■■:': and com acreage sent prices up- 

 ward long before the drought. Made 



• possible millions in corn-hog checks 



V now coming into Illinois. 



4. Wheat Adjustment Plan — Definitely 

 put several million dollars extra 

 into the pockets of Illinois wheat 

 growers on the 1934 crop in addi- 

 tion to the benefit payments to con- 



: tract signers. The drought stim- 

 \. ulated prices, also reduced yields.' 



5. Milk licenses and codes — made pos- 

 sible by the Adjustment Act have 



;'•'__■. raised fluid milk prices in city milk 

 ;:'J- sheds, also increased condensery 

 and cheese factory prices. ^ :^ 



6. Revaluation of Gold and Silver — 

 V resulted in depreciating the value 



of our currency abroad which stim* 

 ulated foreign buying and price im- 

 provement. The Farm Bureau has 

 been an outstanding champion of 

 ^ monetary devaluation to lift the un- 



• just burden from the debtor class. 

 7. Farm Debt Refinancing — provided 



r-for in the Adjustment Act with 

 -more liberal appraisals of farm 

 property and several hundred mil- 

 lions additional loans. Section 75 

 {\ of Bankruptcy Act sponsored by 

 Farm Bureau opened the way for 

 extending and scaling down debts 

 •j'^of those hopelessly involved.^ 

 IL^ Tax reductions and property tax 

 replacement — The I. A. A. has been 

 the one organization in Illinois 

 that for 14 years has continuously 

 fought for lower farm taxes — and 

 '•got results. It is responsible for the 

 , > principle of "property tax replace- 

 :' > ment" which made the sales tax a 

 • "replacement'' tax since Jan. 1. 

 d. Hard Roads from Gas Tax— The I. 

 \ j A. A. throughout its life time has 



• fought for improved farm-to-mar- 

 • ket roads built out of motor license 



; fees and gas taxes, not out of 



property taxes as in some states. 



^ The I. A. A. was influential in pass- 



:■ ing the gas tax against powerful. 



VANCE TOWNSHIP CORN-HOO COMMITTEE AT WORK IN VEBMILION COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 

 Left to right: M. J. Tithes W. N. Catlett (chairman), I. W. Rowand, Miss Theora Catlett. Miss Catlett, 

 18 yeara old, haa worked with her father in all stages of the corn-hog program. 



Published monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Aseoclatlon at 165 So. Main Street, Spencer. Ind. Editorial Offices. 808 So. Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. Entered as 

 •ecoad class matter at post office. Spencer. Ind. Acceptance lor mailing at special rates of postage provided in Section 412. Act of Feb. 28, 1925, aatkortied 

 Oct. 27^ 1925. Address all communications for publication to Editorial Offices, Illinois Agricultural Association Record, 608 So. Dearborn St., Cmcage. 



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