LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION 



ON March 8, 2500 people, consisting most- 

 ly of farmers, went down to Springfield 

 to attend the hearing of House Bills 164 

 and 165 of the Education Committee. 



The purpose behind this demonstration 

 was to show to our representatives that the 

 present laws are unjust and that the land 

 grabbing and rush for filing petitions to add 

 new districts by larger communities has 

 reached the point where there must be im- 

 mediate legislation to put a halt to this. 



However speaking against these bills was 

 our own lAA. The reason given by Mr. 

 Cox for opposing these bills seems to center 

 around the idea that the lAA is on record 

 as being in favor of a larger unit and elimi- 

 nation of some of the smaller districts. 



Even if granted that the larger unit were 

 preferable, which those attending seemed to 

 think otherwise, it is the present law which 

 allows the smaller communities in whole or 

 part by no consent or desire of their own 

 to be absorbed into one of the surrounding 

 larger units that we are greatly disturbed 

 about. 



We left Springfield with the feeling that 

 the lAA is not representing the views of the 

 majority of its members in regard to these 

 bills. 



I think that Mr. Cox as director of rural 

 school relations would do well to give these 

 bills and other simiJar bills which are about 

 to be proposed a good deal of study and to 

 make sure that the views he expresses are 

 those of the members. 



R. E. Trainer, 

 Livingston County. 



]ohn K. Cox. lAA director of rural school 

 relations, was well within the policy of the 

 Association in the position he took in the 

 education committee in the General Assembly 

 On March 8. The lAA was instrumental in 

 securing passage of the Community Unit 

 School District Act which carries a minimum 

 population figure of 2,000. That population 

 figure was considered necessary to insure a de- 

 sirable minimum enrollment in the high school. 

 The lAA School Report of 1944, a copy of 

 which is being sent to Mr. Trainor, outlines 

 on pages }5 and 36 the lAA position on 

 House bill 164. Mr. Cox also represented 

 the position of the lAA in opposing House 

 bill 165. This bill requiring a separate favor- 

 able rote in every high school district or part 

 thereof would have the effect of freezing small 

 high schools. The lAA believes that the pro- 

 vision for a separate rural and urban vote, 

 now a part of the Community Act. seems to 

 be good protection to rural people. 



FINE IDEA 



"I FINE IDEA", Mr. Frank Shuman, farm 

 ^ adviser, said when I suggested that the 

 picture study of Clyde Miller at the lAA 

 Co-op Training School be included with 

 Clyde's application to represent Illinois in 

 the International Farm Youth pxchange proj- 

 ect. 



Being elected to the co-op board, taking an 

 active part in the entire school, and being 

 named a finalist in the speaking contest, is 

 typical in the life of Clyde Miller. Because 



20 



of his forward stride in 4-H, FFA, and Rural 

 Youth — both local and state — he was se- 

 lected as our applicant for the farm youth 

 exchange. 



Clyde was quite pleased to have had the 

 opportunity to attend the co-op school. I 

 think that everyone who attended, regards it 

 as a valuable asset to their future conununity 

 interest. 



Thanks so much for your picture study of 

 Miller and the fine article. Keep your fingers 

 crossed for him. 



Hubert J. Weuel, 



Youth Assistant 



Whiteside County 



SEARCHING FOR G.l.'s 



DOES the Farm Bureau of your state pub- 

 lish a magazine? In the November, 

 1948 "Nation's Agriculture", on page 21, 

 is an item about a German soldier. 



He, Willy Schafer, is trying to get in touch 

 with nine American soldiers he set free in a 

 woods near Bourbon, France, during the 

 October, 1944, fighting. The German army 

 was in retreat towards the last bridge over 

 the Mosel River. Finding their way blocked, 

 Schafers captain ordered him to. take the 

 nine Americans and turn them over to the 

 S. S. Brigade in the next village. Knowing 

 that they would be executed, Schafer turned 

 the nine prisoners loose and gave them their 

 chance to escape. He later entered a hos- 

 pital at St. Die, and thus evaded the S. S. 

 himself. His notebook, (in which the nine 

 wrote their names and addresses), was taken 

 from him by the Russians, who captured him 

 at Berlin. 



He, Willy Schafer, wrote to a religious 

 organization at Topeka, asking aid for him- 

 self and family, telling his story. An ac- 

 count of it was published in a Topeka news- 

 paper, and attracted my attention. 



Out of curiosity I wrote to him, and also 

 sent him some aid. I have carried on cor- 

 respondence with him for upwards of a year. 



They were all farm boys. If there is a 

 State Farm Bureau magazine in your state, 

 with a "reader's column", I wonder if this 

 letter of mine, or a summary of it, could 

 not be published. Perhaps this unusual 

 matter would attract the attention of one 

 who might know one of the nine. 



So much am I interested in finding and 

 meeting a group of them, I would be willing 

 to travel to almost any point in the United 

 States next fall. 



My object is to inform them of Willy 

 Schafer, and for them to read the letters 

 that he has written to me. And so that they, 

 themselves can give their former guard, a 

 "helping hand". 



I own a good-sized farm here, and the 

 expense of such a trip would be the "least 

 of my worries". 



Norman Niccum 

 Tecumseh, Kansas 



HOW MUCH LONGER 



MY opinion is there is nothing wrong with 

 this country that the application of a 

 few common sense rules of good business or 

 good farming will not cure. Mr. Hoover has 

 recommended some very essential and drastic 



changes to our president, but I don't think 

 any man, or should I say politician, is going 

 to eliminate his so-called loyal supporters. 



There is no doubt that your money and 

 mine is being wasted at record speed. I am 

 sure if some sincere eflfort were made to 

 operate the federal government, as any sen- 

 sible business man or farmer operates his 

 business, our taxes could be greatly reduced. 



At the present high level of taxes and 

 other essential expenses of farming and busi- 

 ness, the government is fast removing the in- 

 centive for an individual to accumulate any 

 property. 1 " speak from the standpoint of a 

 farmer in debt for a farm, but I can also recog- 

 nize the similarity of my position to that of any 

 other small businessman. During the last years 

 of high grain and livestock prices, it has been 

 impossible for me to put any amount into 

 needed improvements or equipment and still 

 maintain a reduction of the debt against my 

 land. 



Perhaps I expect too much but I know that 

 1 and my family have not indulged in any 

 excess of high living or extensive travel, yet 

 it becomes increasingly hard to carry out that 

 great American heritage of owning and pay- 

 ing for your own farm or home. I am not 

 asking for help from the govenjment except 

 m the sense that by using a little common 

 sense, my tax load would be lightened. 



As I see it all veterans, labor groups and 

 others who would seek more and more 

 government service for the individual, should 

 stop and take another look. Are these people 

 so different from the rest of us that they can- 

 not see the tax load they are wishing on us 

 and our children? As for our president's 

 recommendation of socialized medicine, I am 

 against it in any way, shape, or form. I have 

 no quarrel with our local doctors or hospitals. 

 In our county we have our own county hos- 

 pital to take care of the poor and needy 

 to which all of the doctors contribute their 

 time and skill. Let us keep our Blue Cross 

 and similar organizations, but let us keep it 

 local and voluntary. 



I think we should follow our own noses 

 and not the pattern of socialistic Britain, who 

 I understand we are helping to support. I 

 recognize the need for government spending 

 and supervision in certain fields, but let us 

 keep our government out of competition with 

 private business. In our administration of the 

 European Recovery Plan let us remember this 

 that we hold the aces, that we are Americans 

 and that just a little horse sense could easily 

 be the best foreign policy in the world. 



In this letter I am only trying to give you 

 my opinion of the things I feel we can do to 

 keep our country free and great. The war is 

 over and now is the time for us to use our 

 heads, keep our powder dry, and put our 

 financial house in order. 



T. M. Stevens 

 Champaign County 



ON THE BEAM 



ll/E'VE been having such an interesting time 

 •' out here in Whiteside Rural Youth that 

 I can't let this opportunity go by without 

 telling you about it. Our Rural Youth feels 

 rather proud of its record in the recent CROP 

 drive. (Rural Youth carried the responsibility 

 of this program) We finished second in tlie 

 state with 12,000 bushels of corn and $4,000 

 in cash. It was a lot of work but if it helps 



I. A. A. RECORD 



