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SMITH'S ANNUAL ADDRESS 



(Continued from page 10) 



ately recognized when we remember 

 the continuing charges and counter- 

 charges in the field of politics and the 

 heated discussions in the General As- 

 sembly of the questions of re-appor- 

 tionment and modernized taxation. 

 These two issues are largely, if not en- 

 tirely, responsible for the Chicago 

 versus down-state arguments that have 

 ensued throughout the past 25 years. 

 Until the General Assembly is per- 

 mitted, through constitutional change, 

 to consider both questions of revenue 

 and re-apportionment at one time, 

 these issues will become more serious 

 and the breach between Chicago and 

 down-state will widen. 



School Survey Law Secured 



The school legislation which I have 

 referred to assures, at least for a time, 

 that parents of children and taxpayers 

 in the rural communities have full au- 

 thority for determining to what extent 

 they will bring about the reorganization 

 of the rural school system in a manner 

 to assure the children in rural areas a 

 better and reasonable opportunity for 

 education and to assure, according to 

 need therefor, a fair distribution of 

 State funds appropriated for the equal- 

 ization of school opp>ortunities. Again 

 it is impossible here to discuss at any 

 length the intricacies of the issues in- 

 volved. Suffice to say that the legis- 

 lation enacted is the culmination of a 

 two-year study by the lAA State-wide 

 School Committee of which all county 

 organizations and interested members 

 have had a full report. This legisla- 

 tion, at least for the time being, blocks 

 the continuing efforts that have been 

 made throughout the years to bring, in 

 substantial part, the control of the rural 

 school system under some type of a 

 central State body. It now behooves 

 rural people to take advantage of the 

 authority given for local rural school 

 surveys, to take steps that may be neces- 

 sary for the discontinuance of ex- 

 tremely small schools, and to bring 

 about such reorganization or consolida- 

 tion of these small schools into such 

 community units as will give to the 

 children a competitive situation essen- 

 tial to education, afford the employ- 

 ment of better teachers, and in the long 

 run not only keep control of the poli- 

 cies and operations of rural schools in 

 the community, but assure their opera- 

 tion on a reasonable basis of economy. 

 The Association can not longer con- 

 tinue to support appropriations of 

 State funds to assist in the maintenance 

 of schools with four, six, seven, or, ex- 

 cept under unusual conditions, even ten 

 in attendance. It is my well considered 



DECEMBER. 1945 



opinion that the I. A. A. has succeeded 

 in paving the way to assure the oppor- 

 tunity for and that places responsibility 

 upon rural parents and taxpayers to do 

 the job that must be done. The Asso- 

 ciation has created a full time Rural 

 Schools Department which will be 

 available to our county organizations 

 for assistance and cooperation in the 

 study of local problems to the extent 

 it may be desired. 



Farm to Highway Roads ; 



Throughout my years of public serv- 

 ice, my interest and efforts in behalf 

 of the importance of our highways and 

 rural roads have been .second only to 

 securing for farmers a fair share of 

 the National income. For the first 

 time in the history of Illinois, legisla- 

 tion was enacted that recognized State 

 responsibility for cooperation in the 

 all-weather surfacing of township and 

 road district highways. |15,000,000 

 was appropriated for the next bien- 

 nium, to be divided among the several 

 counties in such proportion as the 

 total mileage of township and road 

 district roads in the county bears to 

 the total mileage of township and road 

 district roads in the State. Moneys 

 allocated to counties are likewise to be 

 divided among the several townships 

 or road districts on the same basis of 

 measure. Townships and districts re- 

 tain responsibility for grading and 

 building ordinary culverts, as the use 

 of State moneys is to be confined to 

 surfacing, except where substantial cul- 

 verts may be necessary. On the broad 

 average, this means about $9,300.00 

 per township or district. While this 

 amount may seem small in comparison 

 to immediate road needs, yet if eco- 

 nomically used, especially in those areas 

 where gravel or rock is available, 

 $9,300.00 will go a long way in starting 

 to meet a need that has long been neg- 

 lected. 



This legislation should not be con- 

 fused with Federal funds ear-marked 

 for secondary road improvement by 

 the Federal government, of which our 

 State gets some $4,700,000 per year for 

 the next three years which must be 

 matched by State and county funds. 

 In Illinois, policies determined upon 

 for the use of this fund require its use 

 in the improvement of the county high- 

 way system and permits taking into the 

 county road system such additional 

 mileage of township roads as may be 

 determined by the governing body of 

 the county. All in all, it now appears 

 that Illinois is finally launching upon 

 a program that in a few years should 

 go a long way in getting farmers in 

 strictly rural areas and on the lower 

 traffic roads out of the mud. 



While referring to road legislation, 



I should also refer to a bill passed by 

 the Assembly which calls for the crea- 

 tion of a State-Secondary Road Com- 

 mission, five to be selected by the 

 Senate, five by the Speaker of the House 

 of Representatives and seven by the 

 Governor of the State. I have been 

 asked by the Governor to serve on 

 this Commission and shall use every 

 proper influence in seeing that the spec- 

 ifications for the improvement of 

 strictly rural roads are held to a basis 

 of need rather than one of engineering 

 pride. 



Legislation was enacted which calls 

 for the selection of an advisory council 

 of thirteen members which is to be 

 representative of livestock interests to> 

 advise with the Department of Agricul- 

 ture concerning animal disease control 

 rules and regulations before their adop- 

 tion. If practical men are selected to 

 serve on this commission, future rules 

 and regulations governing animal dis- 

 ease control will not be fraught with 

 the constant change, confusion and 

 arguments that have ensued during re- 

 cent years and, best of all, should in- 

 sure a speeding up of animal disease 

 control in the State of Illinois. 



100% Assessment Law 



Broad tax legislation dropped in the 

 hopper toward the close of the session 

 and which was enacted into law, is of 

 far-reaching importance to every tax- 

 payer in the State. The Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association strenuously op- 

 posed the enactment of this legislation 

 not so much because of its unsoundness, 

 but because of the manner in which it 

 was brought before the General As- 

 sembly at a late hour and the inade- 

 quacy of time to give such far reaching 

 legislation the consideration it de- 

 served. As enacted, I fear it will bring 

 about considerable disturbance in many 

 counties of the State. This legislation 

 goes into effect next January 1 and 

 makes it mandatory that all property 

 be assessed at 100 per cent of its cur- 

 rent cash value. All legal tax rates 

 were cut by one-half. When we stop 

 to consider that in several counties the 

 ratio of assessments to full value runs 

 from 16 per cent to 20 per cent while 

 in others from 70 per cent to 75 per 

 cent, one can readily see the danger of 

 a great shock" not only upKjn total reve- 

 nues, but upon taxpayers. On the 

 average, down-state counties are now 

 assessed on a basis of 30% of full value 

 and, therefore, the over-all increase in 

 assessed value will be about 3 1/3 times 

 the present assessment. With legal 

 rates cut only one-half, the way is pro- 

 vided for local officials to greatly in- 

 crease revenues and affords the opf)or- 

 tunity for buck-passing when taxes are 

 increased. The problem now is one of 



