H. L. Wingata 



(Georgia) 



Walter Randolph 



(Alabama) 



R. E. Short 



(Arkansas } 



Smith Paid Tribute 



BY AFBF LEADERS 



"M' 



[Y INTEREST in the Farm Bu- 

 reau movement will not di- 

 minish. And my devotion to the farm 

 people of my state or of this nation will 

 never waver. . ." 



With these words, Earl C. Smith re- 

 tired from the vice-presidency of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation at 

 the December annual meeting. 



His closing message to the conven- 

 tion came after he had received many 

 eloquent tributes to his services as a 

 national farm leader and after he had 

 received the Farm Bureau's highest 

 recognition, the AFBF's award for Dis- 

 tinguished Service to Agriculture. 



One tribute which cited Mr. Smith's 

 greatest contribution to American agri- 

 culture and the Farm Bureau was con- 

 tained in the words of R. E. Short, 

 AFBF board representative from Arkan- 

 sas. 



Said Mr. Short in part: ". . .1 don't 

 know what the history books will say 

 about the Farm Bureau. I don't know 

 what the history books will say about 

 this combination we have had for these 

 several years, Edward O'Neal and Earl 

 C. Smith, but I am certain there is one 

 thing it will say. They will say the 

 greatest contribution during this period 

 of time has been the bringing together 

 of American agriculture as never be- 

 fore in the history of this or any other 

 nation." 



Mr. Short said that Mr. Smith had 

 made a great contribution in this field 

 in breaking down regionalism and com- 

 modityism and bringing about a realiza- 

 tion that after all the great problems 

 confronting agriculture are common re- 

 gardless of the area. 



"I can truthfully say," he asserted, 

 "that in all of our deliberations Mr. 

 Smith has never shown in the least any 



Earl C. Smith, retiring lAA president, ex- 

 plains to AFBF delegates his reasons for 

 wishing to retire as vice president of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation. 



provincialism or sectionalism or com- 

 modityism. . . It has been a great 

 .source of information and inspiration 

 to me to have had these past 10 years 

 in serving on the board of the AFBF 

 with Mr. Smith — to have had his 

 counsel, his cooperation and his guid- 

 ance." 



H. L. Wingate, AFBF board repre- 

 sentative from Georgia, in explaining 

 to the delegates why Mr. Smith's name 

 was not mentioned during the nomina- 

 tions, said : 



"Mr. Smith would have been elected 

 unanimously at this convention had he 

 allowed his name to have gone before 

 the convention. I have never witnessed 

 a group that was more disturbed about 

 any one thing than they have been 

 about the fact that Mr. Smith has de- 

 clined to accept this position. He has 

 definite reasons and they are very good 



reasons . . . We feel that Mr. Smith 

 could haye rendered us an even greater 

 service in the years to come. But I 

 want you to know that we recognize 

 his feelings in this matter. He has a 

 great desire to continue to help in every 

 way in the world that he possibly can, 

 and he is offering that assistance." 



Mr. Smith had advised the AFBF 

 board on the Saturday preceding the 

 convention that he was retiring from 

 active service, but many of the dele- 

 gates were unaware of his action. 



Walter L. Randolph, Alabama, a 

 member of the AFBF resolutions com- 

 mittee, then made the following mo- 

 tion which was unanimously adopted 

 by the delegates: 



"For more than 20 years, our retire- 

 ing vice-president, Mr. Smith has ren- 

 dered distinguished service to American 

 agriculture. He has contributed leader- 

 ship and work far beyond the call of 

 duty. And at this time I do move that 

 all of the rules be suspended and that 

 the President be directed to confer 

 upon Mr. Earl C. Smith of Illinois a 

 Distinguished Service Award." 



As President O'Neal pinned the Dis- 

 tinguished Service medal on Mr. Smith, 

 he said, "I know of no greater honor 

 than to do this .... I don't know of 

 a more forthright man ... or one who 

 has done so much for the farmers of 

 this nation." 



Following the acceptance of the a- 

 ward, Mr. Smith said, "This is the first 

 time in 26 years that I have looked in- 

 to the faces of an audience where I 

 didn't carry official restxjnsibility some- 

 where in the Farm Bureau movement 

 of my county, state or nation. My 

 heart is not only seeping, but over- 

 flowing with gratitude and apprecia- 

 tion for the wonderful opportunity the ' 

 farmers have given me in the field of 

 broad service. 



"Whatever I have contributed has 

 been from the heart, the mind and 

 from the overwhelming conviction that 

 the farmers of this nation are what 

 many recognize them to be but only a 

 few treat them as being, the salt of the 

 earth, the hope of a nation." 



Mr. Smith reviewed his reasons for 

 withdrawing from active leadership in 

 the Farm Bureau as he did before the 

 lAA convention and explained that he 

 planned to use some of his new leisure 

 to become reacquainted with his neigh- 

 bors in his community. 



At the same time, Mr. Smith de- 

 clared that, "I have an abiding con- 

 viction that the greatest service this 

 organization or this great nation can 

 render to other nations of the world is 

 to get out and make democracy work 

 in America and thus constitute a real 

 ideal for the folks of other nations to 



8 



I. A. A. RECORD 



