VOTE 



YES 



ON THE GATEWAY AMENDMENT! 



FARM Bureau members of Illinois 

 face a great responsibility in the 

 Nov. 5 election. So do all citizens. 

 It is to get the GATEWAY 

 AMENDMENT to the state constitu- 

 tion adopted. 



For all practical purposes, Illinois 

 has a constitution which is difficult 

 if not impossible to amend under the 

 present law. Good government de- 

 mands that it be possible to amend it 

 where needed. 



The GATEWAY AMENDMENT 

 would do two good things: 



1. Provide that the General As- 

 sembly may submit amendments to 

 the voters on as many as three ar- 

 ticles of the constitution instead of 

 one as at present. 



2. Provide that an amendment 

 would be adopted if it secured a "yes" 

 vote from two-thirds of THOSE 

 VOTING ON THE AMEND- 

 MENT, instead of a majority of all 

 those voting in the election in Illi- 

 nois. 



Farm Bureau has consistently sup- 

 ported this GATEWAY AMEND- 

 MENT. It is the best judgment of 

 members, reflected in official Illinois 

 Agricultural Association resolutions, 

 that it should be ADOPTED. 



There seems little or no organized 

 opposition to this amendment. Every- 

 one seems to agree it would be a good 

 thing. 



YET IT IS LIABLE TO BE DE- 

 FEATED. WHY.> 



Because, like any other amendment 

 to the constitution, it must receive the 

 favorable vote of a majority of all who 

 vote at the election! 



Remember: a failure to vote on the 

 amendment, in a separate column on the 

 ballot, is JUST THE SAME AS IF YOU 

 VOTED "NO". 



For example in 1942 an amendment 

 was presented to the voters to remove 



the sales tax from food. There were 

 979,000 who voted "yes" on this ques- 

 tion, and 346,000 who voted "no." 

 Thus the count on those who actually 

 voted on the amendment was almost 

 3 to 1 in favor of its passage. 



BUT THE AMENDMENT DIDN'T 

 PASS. WHY.' 



Because there were 1,723,000 other 

 persons who cast ballots in that gen- 

 eral election, but who did not vote on the 

 sales tax amendment. 



THESE VOTES WERE COUNTED 

 AGAINST THE AMENDMENT, and 

 when added to the 346,000 who voted 

 "no", resulted in DEFEAT OF THE 

 AMENDMENT BY A MARGIN OF 

 2 to 1. 



As far as farmers are concerned, there 

 are several impiortant changes that need 

 to be made in our state constitution. 



One of these is an amendment to the 

 revenue article of the state constitu- 

 tion to permit the General Assembly 

 to improve our tax system. This does 

 not mean that the lAA is seeking a 

 state income tax. Federal income taxes 

 now are so high that they preempt the 

 field of income taxes. 



There is a need, however, for a clas- 

 sification of property for tax purposes. 

 For example, as the state constitution 

 now stands, land newly planted to tim- 

 ber is taxed on the same basis as other 

 land, even though the timber may 

 not be harvested for many years. This 

 is unfortunate because it tends to dis- 

 courage farmers from planting trees 

 even on lands which are not suited to 

 any other use. 



Change in constitutional tax law is 

 needed to encourage proper land use 

 and good soil conservation practices. 

 Much of our soil erosion and flood 

 damage could be corrected over a peri- 

 od of years if our tax laws encouraged 

 farmers to plant trees on low-yielding 

 and rough land. 



Lack of classification of property for 

 tax purposes also makes technical law- 

 breakers of a great many basically hon- 

 est citizens. Under the present con- 

 stitution, savings, bonds, stocks, etc., 

 are supposed to be taxed on the same 

 basis as tangible property. If the 

 present constitution were followed to 

 the letter, the tax on such property 

 would be greater than the income from 

 it. This part of the constitution is 

 generally ignored and appears to be 

 unenforceable. This is unfortunate be- 

 cause disregard for a bad law tends 

 to promote disrespect for good laws. 



WHAT CAN FARM BUREAU 

 MEMBERS DO.' 



If they believe the GATEWAY 

 AMENDMENT should be adopted, the 

 first thing they can do is TO BE SURE 

 TO VOTE "YES" ON IT. 



The SECOND thing they can do is 

 to tell their neighbors, and members 

 of their families, how important it is 

 to VOTE IN THE GATEWAY 

 AMENDMENT column. 



The THIRD thing they can do is to 

 discuss it at every opportunity with 

 others, why it is a good thing, and 

 why it is necessary to VOTE IN THE 

 GATEWAY column, as well as for the 

 candidate of their choice. 



The GATEWAY AMENDMENl 

 can clear the way for a steady improve- 

 ment of Illinois' constitution; and thus 

 for steady improvement in our state 

 government. 



The GATEWAY AMENDMENT 

 vote can easily be the most important 

 civic act of the year, so far as you are 

 concerned. 



Be sure to VOTE on the GATE- 

 WAY AMENDMENT and urge others 

 to do likewise. Remember, failure to 

 mark that ballot is the same as a "NO" 

 vote. Don't let it lose by default! 



L A. A. RECORD 



