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I. A. A^ Supports Two ^ • 

 Measures, Opposes Two 



State Legislation of Chief Interest 

 To Far mers R eviewed 



To refresh the memories of Farm Bu- 

 reau members on the voting records of 

 their state senators and representatives 

 on important legislation considered in 

 the more recent sessions of the Illinois 

 General Assembly, the I. A. A. board at 

 its September meeting authorized the 

 publication again of the table which ap- 

 peared in the April issue. 



The first two measures on which the 

 vote is given on page 5 were considered 

 in the regular session of the General As- 

 sembly during the first half of 1933. 

 These two measures are the revenue 

 amendment definitely limiting property 

 taxes and the Lantz bills for poor relief 



1935 Corn-Hog Program 



(Continued from page 3) 

 nent program but it seemed more ad- 

 visable to initiate such a system for the 

 crop year 1936 rather than next year. 



The Adjustment Administration has 

 under consideration a corn-hog referen- 

 dum among producers through a series 

 of state and district meetings of pro- 

 duction control association leaders, and 

 later meetings of corn-hog producers in 

 each county where full information and 

 facts governing the future outlook for 

 corn and hog prices can be revealed. 

 Farmers realize that they are in no 

 position to vote intelligently on a corn- 

 hog adjustment program until they have 

 had all the facts pertaining to the mar- 

 ket and price outlook fully explained. 



- ' : Not Compulsory 



No corn-hog plan, the administration 

 warns, will be forced on producers. They 

 must indicate their desire for such a 

 program through county meetings of 

 their production control associations. At 

 a recent series of three meetings at- 

 tended by approximately 1400 County 

 Farm Bureau leaders in Illinois senti- 

 ment was unanimous for continuing the 

 tirop adjustment program. Intelligent 

 farmers know that one favorable grow- 

 ing season with no limit on acreage will 

 likely send farm prices tumbling toward 

 the starvation levels of 1932. 



The program outlined above proposed 

 for 1935, as stated, is not final. Corn 

 belt farm representatives who met with 

 officials in the AAA*s planning division 

 headed by H. R. Tolley believe that it 

 has great merit and offers the basis for 

 a plan to restore and maintain prices of 

 basic farm commodities at satisfactory 

 levels next year. . „ 



Representing farmerg at the Chicagro conference 

 Were Edw. A. O'Neal, president, A. F. B. F.; 

 Earl C. Smith and C. V. Gregory. Illinois; Chaa. 

 E. Hearst, Iowa; W. H. Settle. Indiana; W. B. 

 Ogg, acting sec'y. A. F. B. F. H. B. Tolley, 

 chief and seyeral economists of the planning di- 

 vision represented the A. A. A. 



The I. A. A. vigorously supported both of 

 these.... ..•.:-,,,., • -_:v,;v •;:,,-,.•< 



The third measure, the key bill of the 

 state tax levy and bond bills, was con- 

 sidered in the first special session in the 

 fall of 1933. The I. A. A. vigorously op- 

 posed this measure which provided for a 

 new $38,000,000 state tax levy on prop- 

 erty and an issue of $30,000,000 in state 

 bonds. ■^■■- ^■- ■■-•■■■■■■■■!'■ ■'":'''■■■ ■;:-^:.' /."v-." .■•■/;:. ■•:■•■ 



The fourth measure was not included 

 in the legislative report which appeared 

 in the April issue of the REO^D, since 

 it did not pass the Third SpecimSession 

 until late in April, 1934. This was the 

 Senate bill to divert one-third of all gaso- 

 line taxes from highways and streets to 

 the State School Fund, thereby depriving 

 tlie State, the counties and the cities and 

 villages each of one-third of the gaso- 

 line taxes allotted to them. In accord 

 with its declared position against further 

 diversion of gasoline taxes from high- 

 way and street improvement, thereby 

 further increasing unemployment and de- 

 mands for relief, the I. A. A. opposed 

 this bill. Its supporters could not obtain 

 the two-thirds vote necessary to give it 

 immediate effect, but it passed with a 

 majority vote of each House, becoming 

 effective July 1. Since it is limited to 

 the period ending March 1, 1935, the di- 

 version of gasoline taxes thus provided 

 covers eight months. 



Lantz Bills 



It will be remembered that the I. A. A. 

 favored the use of revenue from the ad- 

 ministration's sales or occupation tax for 

 the replacement of property taxes, but 

 opposed the use of these funds for un- 

 employment relief. To meet the situation 

 constructively, the I. A. A. sponsored 

 three bills known as the Lantz bills to 

 give full constitutional taxing powei* to 

 Cook county and an additional tax rate 

 to 17 downstate commission-governed 

 counties so they might levy taxes to care 

 for their own poor people as townships 

 in 84 supervisor governed counties in the 

 state are now required to do. 



The I. A. A. succeeded in securing the 

 passage of the Lantz bills but they were 

 vetoed by the governor. 



As forecast by the Association and 

 many others at the time the Lantz bills 

 were vetoed, this action resulted in call- 

 ing the first special session of the legis- 

 lature to meet in October, 1933. Against 

 the opposition of the I. A. A., bills were 

 passed levying an additional state tax of 

 $38,000,000 on property in 1934 payable 

 in 1935 against which tax anticipation 

 notes for $28,500,000 could be issued and 

 sold to provide relief funds. 



A companion bill proposed a state bond 

 issue of $30,000,000 to be voted on in No- 

 vember, 1934, the proceeds of the bond 

 issue to be used to redeem the state an- 

 ticipation tax notes issued and interest 

 thereon. V ' 



Vote For Agriculture 



The important thing for farmers 

 to note is that in Iowa we have 

 the Democratic party solidly for 

 the national farm program and for 

 tariff reform; we have the Republi- 

 car> party approving in large part 

 the national farm program and 

 tariff reform. Only the reactionary 

 wing of the Republican party in 

 Iowa has joined hands with the 

 habitual enemies of the farm pro- 

 gram. '■ ^• ■;;:;V-'-'''-':--''^'- ■■■■■^■v'--^;;;;^r^^ 



vTl^is is a good sign for agricul- 

 ture. Farmers of course should 

 not b3 content with these general 

 expressions of good-will. Every 

 candidate for congress should be 

 examined closely, to see whether 

 his record and his promises indi- 

 cate lh:t he will fight for the 

 maintenance of the agricultural 

 adjustment act and its processing 

 tax, for the program of tariff re- 

 vision in the interests of farm ex- 

 ports, and for the Honest Dol- 

 lar. . . . ;.■. 



Whether his party label happens 

 to be Democrat or Republican, no 

 congressman should be elected 

 from Iowa, or from any other 

 farm state, this fall, who is not 

 willing to support President Roose- 

 velt and Secretary Wallace in the 

 battle to keep farm income on the 

 upgrade. We dare not turn con- 

 trol of congress back to the kind 

 of politicians whose denial of farm 

 rights and whose ignorance of 

 economic principles gave us 10-cent 

 corn and $3 hogs under the Old 

 Deal. — Editorial in Wallace's 

 Farmer. •. .. v. ^ . .. 







Other bills enacted provide that if the 

 bond issue carries in November they are 

 to be paid by the state — one-half from 

 gas tax allotments to the counties and 

 one-half from gas tax allotments to the 

 cities and villages in proportion to the 

 share of such funds used for relief in 

 such counties and in such municipalities. 



The I. A. A. advises its members and 

 all voters to vote in favor of this bond 

 issue to prevent the $38,000,000 levy fall- 

 ing on property. But it also serves notice 

 that in the future bond issues of this or 

 similar character will have the deter- 

 mined opposition of the I. A. A. at least 

 until such time as the General Assembly 

 imposes equal and uniform responsibility 

 for poor relief upon every community 

 and county of the state. 



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Check carefully the roting records of your rep> 

 resentativos in the General Assembly. Support only 

 those whose records justify it. See table on pages 

 6-6. 



I. A. A. RECORD 



