of subsidies, although actually subsi- 

 dies have been paid in the consumer's 

 interest rather than the producer's in- 

 terest. 



Farmers through their organizations 

 must also watch carefully all trends 

 under lend-lease operations affecting 

 food, as a sudden letdown in the tre- 

 mendous flow of food under lend-lease, 

 unless such surpluses were effectively 

 controlled, could easily bring about 

 nothing less than disaster in the current 

 market. This is of immediate concern 

 to farmers but it is equally, if not great- 

 er, in importance to the national wel- 

 fare. 



Farmers are generally looked upon 

 as producers but little emphasis has 

 been placed nationally upon the im- 

 portance of farmers' buying power in 

 maintaining industrial employment. 

 Farmers are the largest group purchas- 

 ers of the products of industry, and 

 therefore the maintenance of farm in- 

 come and farm buying power will es- 

 sentially be a major factor in assuring 

 orderly employment in the cities. 



As during other wars, all lines of 

 American business and their respective 

 employees have become increasingly 

 price and hour conscious. What the na- 

 tion will require is mass production and 

 employment and an interchange of prod- 

 ucts on a basis of fair exchange value 

 between industry and agriculture at a 

 price level that will encourage a con- 

 tinuance of large scale production. 



There are many signs pointing to- 

 ward a repetition of experiences fol- 

 lowing the last war, when American 

 business limited production to market 

 demands at a price. This practice re- 

 sulted in a large scale reduction of the 

 potential production volume with a 

 corresponding decrease in the number 

 of people employed. Farmers continued 

 to produce and to witness with limited 

 exception their larger scale production 

 finding a less total value annually. 

 Farmers learned by bitter experience 

 that they cannot continue maximum 

 production if industry and labor follow 

 a policy of limited production at a 

 price. 



It is therefore to be hoped that lead- 

 ers of American business and labor will 

 assume a different attitude following 

 this war, but if they fail or refuse to 

 make adjustments in prices and wages 

 that are found necessary to continue 

 large scale production and employment, 

 American farmers must be prepared to 

 take any necessary steps to keep agri- 

 cultural prices and farm income at a 

 point of fair exchange value for their 

 products with the products of Amer- 

 ican industry. 



These are but a few of the many tre- 

 mendous problems we must face, and 

 as never before it behooves farmers 



THE FARM PLANK OF THE 



DEMOCRATIC PARTY 



IN THE August issue, the lAA REC- 

 ORD carried the statement and rec- 

 ommendations of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation presented to the Re- 

 publican Platform Committee during 

 its national convention. It also pub- 

 lished the agricultural plank adopted 

 by the Republican Convention. 



As indicated in that issue of the 

 RECORD, it was the intention of the 

 AFBF to present the same statement 

 and recommendations to the Demo- 

 cratic Platform Committee when the 

 Democratic National Convention con- 

 vened. This was done and we print 

 below that part of the Democratic Na- 

 tional Platform having to do with agri- 

 culture: 



Economic Pledges 



Beginning March, 1933, the Demo- 

 cratic administration took a series of 

 actions which saved our system of free 

 enterprise. . . .It provided federal 

 bank deposit insurance, flood preven- 

 tion, soil conservation, and prevented 

 abuses in the security markets. It 

 saved farms and homes from foreclo- 

 sure and secured profitable prices for 

 farm products. . . .We pledge the con- 

 tinuance and improvement of these pro- 

 grams. 



Post- War Programs 



We offer these post-war programs: 

 Price guarantees and crop insurance to 

 farmers with all practical steps: 



To keep agriculture on a parity with 

 industry and labor. 



To foster the success of the small in- 

 dependent farmer. 



To aid the home ownership of fam- 

 ily-sized farms. 



To extend rural electrification and 

 develop broader domestic and foreign 

 markets for agricultural products. . . . 

 We indorse the President's statement 

 recognizing the importance of the use 

 of water in arid land states for domes- 

 tic and irrigation purposes. . . . 



The enactment of such additional 

 humanitarian, labor, social, and farm 

 legislation as time and experience may 

 require, including the amendment or 

 repeal of any law enacted in recent 

 years which has failed to accomplish its 

 purpose. . . . 



to strengthen the ranks of their or- 

 ganization as the only means available 

 for farmers generally to make their 

 greatest contribution to sound national 

 policies necessary during the days of 

 readjustment that lie ahead. 



Commenting on the Democratic 

 statement, President Earl C. Smith said 

 that it was broad enough to meet the 

 requirements of agriculture. 



He said that a careful RE-READ- 

 ING of both the Republican and 

 Democratic agricultural pledges was 

 convincing that it behooved farmers 

 to organize as never before and thus 

 be better prepared not only to secure 

 but to limit federal laws and federal 

 activities to the extent they are neces- 

 sary for a stable and prosperous agri- 

 culture. 



lAA Annual Meeting is 

 Set for Nov. 27 



Dec. 1 



You won't have to miss your Thanks- 

 giving dinner to attend the annual 

 meeting of the lAA and associated 

 companies, Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, inclu- 

 sive, in the Hotel Sherman, Chicago. 



Thanksgiving used to come on the 

 last Thursday of November and then 

 the date was changed to the fourth 

 Thursday of the month. Since there are 

 five Thursdays in November of 1944, 

 the lAA annual meeting date comes 

 after Thanksgiving so everything works 

 out all right. 



12 Die in Gas Fire At 



Farm Snpply Terminal 



The most tragic accident in the his- 

 tory of the Illinois Farm Supply Com- 

 pany occurred Aug. 11 when 12 per- 

 sons perished in a gasoline fire at the 

 Shawneetown IFS terminal. 



Three of the persons were employees 

 of the company: They were: William 

 Scott, 48, tankerman and welder at both 

 Shawneetown and Kingston Mines ter- 

 minals; Logan Tharp, watchman at 

 Kingston Mines, and Joseph Rider, 42 

 watchman at Shawneeto^yn. The other 

 nine fire victims were members of 

 Rider's family. 



The men had just finished unloading 

 two large barges when a 300,000-gal- 

 lon storage tank caught fire. Another 

 600,000-gallon storage tank did not 

 burn. Cause of the fire has not been 

 determined. Although a coroner's jury 

 has returned a verdict of accidental 

 death, a complete investigation to de- 

 termine the cause of the fire is now 

 under way. 



The fire destroyed the nearby homes 

 of Rider and Hallas Wayne Roark. The 

 nine members of Rider's family who 

 died in the flames were his daughters. 



I. A. A. RECORD 



