EARL C. SMITH 



AN ESTIMATE OF HIS WORK 



(Continued from page 19) 



of two. In addition he served on three 

 official commissions of the State of 

 Illinois. It is Mr. Smith's stated pur- 

 pose that he be relieved of all official 

 duties with the exception of his di- 

 rectorships in his local bank, local 

 church, and several of the state "om- 

 missions having to do with broad pol- 

 icy matters of interest to the farmers 

 of Illinois. 



Since 1926 Mr. Smith has been an 

 eflFective leader on both the state and 

 national legislative fronts. His work 

 dates back to his fight to secure enact- 

 ment of farm surplus control legisla- 

 tion known as the McNary-Haugen bill. 

 It was largely due to his influence that 

 corn and hogs were included with other 

 commodities in price stabilizing legisla- 

 tion, first in the Rainey-Norbeck bill 

 introduced in Congress during the last 

 year of the Hoover administration, and 

 later the Agricultural Adjustment Act 

 which was enacted into law early in 

 1933. The corn loan idea was adopted 

 by AAA officials after several appeals 

 from Mr. Smith and a mass meeting of 

 10,000 Illinois farmers at Peoria in 

 October, 1933, and the writing of a 

 mandatory corn loan provision into the 

 second adjustment act was accomplished 

 largely through lAA efforts. With the 

 invalidation of the original AAA in 

 1936, Mr. Smith worked strenuously 

 for the adoption of a temporary con- 

 servation program in the same year, 

 and the passage of the second AAA in 

 1938. 



It was Mr. Smith who spearheaded 

 the drive for the writing of the parity 

 formula into the AAA law, and over 

 the years he has courageously defended 

 this fundamental principle in the face 

 of strong demands for a change in the 

 formula. His position has always been, 

 "Let's hold on to parity until we have 

 something better that is equally as fair 

 and defensible as our present formula." 



Similarly, in the state, the lAA leader 

 has been named as the representative 

 of agriculture on a number of .state 

 committees and conferences appointed 

 by succeeding governors to advise on 

 important matters of public policy. 



Under the leadership of Mr. Smith, 

 the lAA has fought for many years for 

 a fair revenue amendment to the state 

 constitution, and for legislation to re- 

 duce and replace at least part of the 

 burdensome property tax which rests 

 so heavily on farms, homes and other 

 tangible property. The lAA campaign 

 in this respect has been highly success- 

 ful. ^ 



Mr. Smith has worked hard and long 

 for another benefit that is close to the 

 hearts of all farmers — better roads. 

 In the recent session of the General 

 Assembly at Springfield, the lAA suc- 

 cessfully sponsored legislation which 

 provided an appropriation of 15 mil- 

 lion dollars for the construction of 

 township and road district roads, better 

 known as farm-to-highway roads. Mr. 

 Smith had a major part in the writing 

 of this bill, placing special emphasis on 

 provisions to see that farmers would 

 get the most roads for the money ex- 

 pended. 



This short article can in no way re- 

 late all of Mr. Smith's contributions. 

 It has merely been an attempt to touch 

 some of the highlights in his 20 years 

 of service. As was pointed out in the 

 beginning of this writing, no printed 

 word can add to the niche he has made 

 for himself in the hearts of farm people 

 and in the structure of American agri- 

 cultural history. 



While retiring from active leadership 

 of the lAA, there is no doubt that 

 Mr. Smith's advice and counsel will be 

 sought in order to draw on the many 

 years of his rich experience. Such ad- 

 vice and counsel he has assured to the 

 new president, the board of directors 

 and staff members to the extent it may 

 be desired. 



NEW lAA DIRECTORS 



(Continued from page 15) 



1929, and also served as treasurer for 

 10 years. He resigned as its president 

 this year, but continues to serve on the 

 board. 



Mr. Eaton is a charter member and 

 has been a director of the Madison Coun- 

 ty Farm Bureau, and has served as secre- 

 tary of his local elevator, the Hamel- 

 Cooperative Grain Company, for 25 

 years. Mr. Eaton operates a 224-acre 

 dairy farm and has a herd of 25 Holstein 

 and Jersey cows. He is an advocate of 

 sound soil conservation practices and his 

 farm has been used as a demonstration 

 unit on many tours. 



Mr. Eaton is a trustee in St. John's 

 Methodist Church in Edwardsville and 

 is a member of the choir. He is also 

 a member of the Edwardsville Rotary 

 Club. The farm on which he lives has 

 been in the Eaton family for more than 

 100 years. He has one son, Harrison, 

 who works on the farm with him. Mrs. 

 Eaton is the former Anna May Hamilton 

 of Hamel township and was married to 

 Mr. Eaton in 1911. Mr. Eaton has 

 served as Hamel township trustee for 12 

 years. 



Directors whose terms expired at the 

 annual meeting and who were re-elected 



were: C. J. Elliott, Streator, La Salle 

 county, 12th Congressional district, 

 which includes DeKalb, Winnebago, 

 Boone, La Salle, Kendall and Grundy 

 counties. 



Otto Steffey, Stronghurst, Henderson 

 county, l4th Congressional district, 

 which includes Warren, McDonough, 

 Hancock, Henderson, Mercer and Rock 

 Island counties. 



K. T. Smith, Greenfield, Greene coun- 

 ty, 20th Congressional district, which 

 includes' Pike, Calhoun, Jersey, Greene, 

 Scott, Morgan, Brown, Cass, Menard and 

 Mason. 



Lyman Bunting, Ellery, Edwards coun- 

 ty, 24th Congressional district, which in- 

 cludes Clay, Wayne, Edwards, Hamilton, 

 White, Saline, Gallatin, Johnson, Pope, 

 Hardin and Massac. 



RETIRING DIRECTORS 



( Continued from page 19) 



a member of the Illinois Farm Supply 

 Company board for five years. Mr. Den- 

 nis is a Jersey cattle breeder and operates 

 a dairy and livestock farm near Paris. 

 When Mr. Dennis was first elected to 

 the lAA board in 1930, he said, "I have 

 helped in a small way in Farm Bureau 

 work ever since it was started as I have 

 long been convinced of the necessity of 

 farmers organizing. . . The lAA is with- 

 out question the most courageous, active, 

 and successful state association, and I 

 have the utmost respect for the ability of 

 the officers and directors who have de- 

 veloped it." 



Mr. Dennis has five children: Barbara, 

 a WAC sergeant in Berlin; Herbert B., 

 discharged after four years as a Navy 

 lieutenant; Dorothy, a petty officer in 

 the WAVES; Betty, a senior at the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois, and Charles H. Den- 

 nis, II, fifth grade pupil in country 

 school. Mr. Dennis, who was born in 

 Chicago, March 25, 1888, is the son of 

 the late Charles H. Dennis, former edi- 

 tor-in-chief of the Chicago Daily News. 



McLEAN ASSISTANT ADVISER 



Eugene G. Mosbacher, 27, of Mon- 

 roe county has been named associate 

 farm iidviser and 4-H club leader of 

 McLean county. He took over his 

 duties in Bloomington Dec. 1. 



Mosbacher, recently released from 

 army duty after 3^^ years during 

 which he served as an artillery lieu- 

 tenant in the European theater, suc- 

 ceeds Paul V. Curtis, who resigned to 

 raise hogs. 



He was graduated from the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois college of agriculture 

 in 1940. 



46 



L A. A. RECORD 



