ation of the legislation in the Senate and 

 brought keen disappointment to the Il- 

 linois Agricultural Association as well 

 as to other organizations interested in 

 needed constitutional reform. ■ ■'.■ 



In his veto message, Governor Green 

 said in part, "It is an unusual, new, and 

 tricky method of securing the approval 

 of a constitutional amendment." 



The party circle bills DO NOT AP- 

 PEAR to be "unusual," "new" or 

 "tricky" when it is remembered that five 

 amendments of the present constitution 

 submitted before 1891 were adopted by 

 the party method of voting. 



Prior to 1891, a party could and did 

 print upon its ticket a statement approv- 

 ing a proposed change in the constitu- 

 tion. All such ballots which were left 

 unchanged in this respect by the voter 

 were counted according to the position 

 of the party. 



In terming the party circle bills 

 "tricky", Governor Green also said that 

 if such a method of balloting were used, 

 many voting in the party circle would do 

 so without realizing that they were cast- 

 ing a vote for or against a constitutional 

 proposal. 



Let's consider that statement. Under 

 the present system of voting, how many 

 voters realize that when they fail to vote 

 on a constitutional amendment, they are 

 counted as voting against it? On the 

 other hand, under the party circle 

 method, the voter could plainly see the 

 position his party has taken on the pro- 

 posal, and if he wanted to vote against 

 such a position, he could do so, with full 

 knowledge of how he is voting. 



Which system of voting should be 

 called "tricky".' Under present restric- 

 tions, the will of the majority suflFicient- 

 ly interested to vote on constitutional 

 amendments has been defeated time after 

 time by those not sufficiently interested 

 to even vote on such proposals. The best 

 recent example of that fact was the out- 

 come of the vote on the proposal to re- 

 move the sales tax on food. 



In spite of all these developments, it 

 becomes the interest of the people gen- 

 erally to have the cooperation of all 

 groups, including the leaders of the 

 major political parties, in acquainting 

 the electorate with the importance of the 

 Gateway amendment so as to afford hop)e 

 for its passage by the voters at the next 

 general election. 



Farm Bureau leaders and men who are 



interested in cooperative grain marketing 

 in the ten counties flanking the Illinois 

 River between Ottawa and Peoria should 

 mark the date Sept. 18. That is the date of 

 an area grain meeting, time and place to be 

 announced later. 



How's 



Your Health? 



{Continued from page 5) 



tion and staffing of county health depart- 

 ments under prevailing conditions. 



G>unty health departments do not al- 

 ways provide efficient and effective serv- 

 ice. Their efficiency and effectiveness de- 

 pends primarily upon the ability and at- 

 titude of the employees, and esp>ecially 

 upon the chief health officer. This de- 

 pends in turn upon the type of persons 

 appointed to the county board of health 

 and this in turn upon the character of 

 the county board of supervisors (or com- 

 missioners) . From this it may be con- 

 cluded that a county health department 

 can be just about what the local people 



want. If they are careless about poblic 



affairs in general, and permit or en- 

 courage inefficiency and waste in the con- 

 duct of other local public affairs, the 

 county health department very likely 

 would reflect these same characteristics. 



On the other hand, in counties where 

 the citizens demand honesty and efficiency 

 in the county government, their schools, 

 and in other local public affairs, it is 

 very likely that the operations of a county 

 health department would be characterized 

 by efficiency and a high quality of serv- 

 ice. 



In conclusion, it appears that the or- 

 ganization of county health departments 

 offers a means whereby the people of 

 many counties can provide for themselves 

 needed public health service under the 

 control of the people being ser>'ed. 



AT 97 K SHOWS HOW 



mWIN PRIZES AT FAIR 



THERE are few if any farmers who can 

 say that they helped to produce food 

 for four wars, but that's the record set 

 up by Warren Beebe, charter member of 

 the Greene County Farm Bureau. 



This 97-year-old Farm Bureau member 

 who has- done his job on the home front 

 in the Civil War, 

 Spanish - American 

 War and World 

 Wars I and II, re- 

 cently took five first 

 premiums and two 

 second premiums at 

 the Greene County 

 Fair. First prizes 

 were given him for 

 his exhibit of cab- 

 bage, potatoes, tur- 

 white onions and on a single ear 

 Second prizes were awarded to 

 his red onion display and group ear corn. 

 He attended the first Greene County Fair 

 90 years ago. His "younger" brother, 

 Frank, who was 81 in July, accompanied 

 him to the 1945 fair. 



During the Civil War Mr. Beebe was 

 rejected from the armed forces as phys- 

 ically unfit and he worked with his father 

 to produce food during the Civil War. 

 Today he is still farming on the same 85- 

 acre farm near Eldred with the help of 

 his brother. . ^ / ^ J . : ' ,/; ; vv:>r 



Mr. Beebe is up-to-date on his farming 

 methods and has shown considerable in- 

 terest in soil conservation practices. Re- 

 cently he accompanied a group of 125 

 farmers of the county on a pasture tour. 



In addition to his grain farming, Mr. 

 Beebe and his brother are raising a drove 

 of hogs. 



About the only old-fashioned thing 

 about Mr. Beebe's life is his mode of 

 travel. He and his brother still make 

 their trips into CarroUton by horse and 

 wagon. 



Mr. Beebe was recently recognized by 

 the Greene County Farm Bureau through 

 receipt of a lifetime honorary member- 

 ship by action of the executive board of 

 the Farm Bureau. 



Warren Beebe 



nips, 

 of corn. 



Warren Beebe, 97, right and his brother. 

 Frank, 81, show some of their garden stuH. 



SEPTEMBER. 1945 



17 



