Looking Ahead 



{Conlinued jrom page 2^) 



... I would not imply that if agri- 

 culture had curtailed production sched- 

 ules as did implenment manufacturers 

 and the iron and steel industry the 

 resulting price and income would have 

 been comparable to theirs. But I am 

 sure that if agricultural production had 

 declined 80 per cent a considerable p>or- 

 tion of our population would have 

 starved regardless of prices and that 

 those who survived would have had a 

 much more wholesome respect than 

 they have now for the importance of 

 productive effort as opposed to reduced 

 output and maintenance of high prices 

 and wages. 



. . . American agriculture now faces 

 the postwar period with shrinking 

 markets and an expanding productive 

 capacity. Hybrid seed corn is now 

 used almost universally in the heavy 

 corn-producing states. The Lincoln 

 soybean and other high-yielding varie- 

 ties are here and their use will expand 

 rapidly. The war taught us many 

 labor-saving methods. . The cotton 

 picker is here and is being used suc- 

 cessfully in limited numbers. These 

 and many other developments point 

 toward more rather than less produc- 

 tion. 



Under such conditions, the accumu- 

 lation of surpluses and another collapse 

 of agricultural prices is inevitable un- 

 less demand can be maintained at a 

 high level or the trend of production 

 changed. If in the event or threat of 

 such collapse specific price supports are 

 adopted as a means of governmental 

 relief, they must be set at very modest 

 levels and must be flexible enough to 

 meet changing conditions or they will 

 result in very burdensome production 

 controls on individual products. Some 

 students of the problem have sug- 

 gested, as an alternative procedure, 

 programs designed to maintain a parity 

 income rather than parity prices. Under 

 such a plan free market prices would 

 be expected to regulate production. 

 Government payments if and when 

 necessary to maintain a reasonable 

 parity income might be made for soil 

 conservation practices which are now 

 generally recognized as essential to 

 protect the public interest. 



As I have already indicated, I 

 believe the most effective aid to 

 postwar agriculture would be a 

 high degree of industrial employ- 

 ment that would furnish a good 

 market for agricultural products 

 and keep surplus workers out of , 

 agriculture. But necessary adjust- 

 inefits within agriculture itself will 

 require skillful planning on the 



part of farmers and their organiza- 

 tions as well as the adoption of 

 wise policies on the part of the 

 government if the best interests of 

 all of the people, both rural and 

 urban, are to be served and if the 

 physical basis for this nation's fu- 

 ture food supply is to be conserved 

 and maintained in a high state of 

 productivity. 



Maybe what we need is a Bret- 

 ton Woods type of conference for 

 agriculture, industry and labor. 

 Those of you who read the articles 

 of agreement adopted at that con- 

 ference remember that the word 

 "parity" is used and that the main 

 purpose of the International Mon- 

 etary Fund proposed at that con- 

 ference is to maintain parity of 

 exchange in the interest of free 

 and unhampered international 

 trade. 



What amounts to a continuous rec- 

 ord of each country's inflow and outgo 

 of goods and its financial transactions, 

 is to be maintained so that difficult 

 situations can be quickly recognized 

 and remedial measures taken. If in- 

 dustry expects a continuous and ade- 

 quate supply of agricultural products, 

 then agriculture has a right to expect 

 industry to furnish a continuous and 

 adequate supply of its products on a 

 fair basis of exchange — something 

 after the Bretton Woods ideal. But 

 industry has not always been able or 

 willing to do that. 



. . . Fortunately there is a grow- 

 ing realization of the fact that 

 agriculture and industry are com- 

 plementary — that neither can 

 function at full efficiency unless 

 the other is doing its part, and 

 that only to a minor extent can 

 one compensate for the failure of 

 the others. 

 . . . The smart farmer will 



1. Pay his debts or get them into 

 sound relationship with his equities. 



2. Keep inventories low. 



3. Cull marginal animals from herds 

 and flocks. 



4. Not expand land holdings at exces- 

 sive prices. 



5. Emphasize soil conservation and 

 fertility maintenance in his plans 

 of operation, and 



6. Do much of his hedging with war 

 bonds. 



Resolutions 



(Continued from page 11) 

 amendment of the present law as will 

 fully equalize in all counties, on the 

 basis of full value of property, the 

 actual tax rates qualifying school dis- 

 tricts for equalization aid. 



X. SECONDARY ROADS 



Illinois farmers have worked for 

 many years for a complete system of 

 farm-to-market roads. However, many 

 farmers, and some entire neighbor- 

 hoods, are still mudbound during a 

 large part of the year. Latest Census 

 reports show that more than 27,000 

 Illinois farm homes were located on 

 unimproved dirt roads in 1940. Since 

 that time road conditions have deterio- 

 rated rather than improved. 



In many counties the road situation 

 is extremely bad. In numerous counties, 

 especially in the southern part of the 

 State, more than one-half of the farms 

 are served only by dirt roads which 

 are impassable during a substantial por- 

 tion of the year. 



This deplorable road condition ex- 

 ists notwithstanding the fact that farm 

 people have paid, in property and gaso- 

 line taxes, vast sums of money for 

 road improvement. Plans are now be- 

 ing made for further large expenditures 

 of both State and federal funds for a 

 system of super-highways to connect 

 the large cities. 



We demand that low-cost secondary 

 roads receive proportionate and proper 

 attention in the postwar period. We 

 believe that programs should be 

 planned and put into operation to pro- 

 vide for the building in the early jjost- 

 war years of a practical all-weather 

 road to serve every farm home. 



Present formula for the expendi- 

 ture of State and federal highway funds 

 and the usual specifications for the 

 construction of State aid roads do not 

 meet the needs of farm people. 



We urge the officers and directors of 

 the Association to request the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois and the State High- 

 way Department to institute an ade- 

 quate program of research on the 

 problems of materials, construction and 

 maintenance of secondary farm-to-mar- 

 ket roads. 



We authorize and direct the Board 

 of Directors and the officers of the 

 Association to use every proper means 

 to secure an adequate system of low- 

 cost all-weather roads to serve all the 

 farm homes in the rural areas of Illi- 

 nois. 



XI. FERTILIZER — FEED STUFFS 



The volume of commercial fertilizers 

 and fertilizer materials sold in Illinois 

 is increasing constantly. The law fix- 

 ing the specifications for fertilizer sold 

 in this State does not provide as strict 

 requirements as the laws of adjacent 

 states. This makes it possible to use 

 Illinois as a dumping ground for off- 

 grade fertilizer that cannot be sold in 

 other states. We urge the Association 



DECQ4BER, 1944 



41 



