AFBF President Allan B. Kline and Retiring President Edward A. O'Neal. 



^ 



President Charles B. 

 Shuman (left) of the 

 Illinois Agricultural 

 Association Is shown 

 with David E. Lilien- 

 thal, chairman of the 

 Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission, during AFBF 

 general session. 



J^ 



Counting votes on election nf a vice president are, left to right: John Lacey, Don Parel, 

 T. K. Cowden, and W. R. Ogg, all of the AFBF staff. Loolcing en are General Counsel 

 Donald Kirlcpatricic, Retiring President O'Neal, and Secretary-Treasurer Wilfred Shaw. 



STABLE 

 DEMANDSIfa 



Allan Kline Succeeds 



Ed O'Neal as AFBF 



President 



TO KEEP the American economy on 

 an even keel, farmers must be as- 

 sured lair prices for their products. 

 This was a general view expressed 

 by many of the prominent speakers 

 appearing before the 29th annual con- 

 vention of the American Farm Bureau 

 Federation in Chicago in December. 



Most significant event during the four- 

 day convention attended by 5,000 people 

 was the election of Allan B. Kline of 

 Iowa to succeed Edward A. O'Neal ot 

 Alabama as president of the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation. 



Kline has been president of the Iowa 

 Farm Bureau Federation for the past 

 several years and vice president of the 

 AFBF since Earl C. Smith of Illinois re- 

 tired two years ago. Succeeding Kline 

 as vice president of the AFBF is Romeo 

 Short of Arkansas. 



Emphasizing the importance of fair 

 prices to the farmer. Earl C. Smith said: 

 "If we do not sustain agriculture close 

 to parity levels, as is the case now, we are 

 not going to have a high national in- 

 come. Unless we have a high national 

 income, the government is not going to 

 have revenue to reduce the national debt. 

 Then we will have an insolvent country 

 and when we have an insolvent country, 

 we are right for dictatorship." 



As during the war, nationally-known 

 figures speaking at the convention em- 

 phasized the tremendous role the Ameri- 

 can farmer is playing in the battle against 

 hunger and chaos — a battle, they em- 

 phasized, which was not yet won. 



In a message to the convention. Presi- 

 dent Harry Truman congratulated the 

 American larmer for his "great contribu- 

 tion to democracy, freedom and peace." 



Looking for indications as to what the 

 future holds for American agriculture, 

 farmers attending the conference heard 

 the president's message point out the 

 great need abroad for American food 

 until at least the 1948 harvest. This 

 would seem to indicate that farm prices 



I. A. A. RECORD 



I 



