4 I 
American Agriculturist 
THE FARM PAPER THAT PRINTS THE FARM NEWS 
“Agriculture is the Most Healthful, Most Useful and Most Noble Employment of Man.”— Washington 
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. 
Established 1842 
Volume 113 
For the Week Ending April 26, 1924 
Number 17 
l 
A. A. Tax Campaign Brings Results 
New York State Reduces Direct Property Tax One-Half Mill 
O NE of the very last acts of the New 
York State Legislature, which has just 
adjourned, was to pass a bill reducing 
the direct State tax one-half mill. Just 
a few days before the adjournment, Governor 
Smith sent a special emergency message to the 
Legislature urging this reduction. THIS RE¬ 
DUCTION ON PROPERTY TAX AT THE 
LAST MINUTE BY THE STATE LEGISLA¬ 
TURE WAS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE 
CAMPAIGN LED BY THE AMERICAN 
AGRICULTURIST FOR THE ELIMINATION 
OF DIRECT PROPERTY TAXES. While this 
is only just a beginning of what can be accom¬ 
plished if farmers Stand together 
on this issue, yet it will mean a 
direct saving to every farmer tax¬ 
payer in New York State, and is 
an indication of what can be done 
by farmers when they are willing 
to stand together. 
Even though we succeed in doing 
no more than this, we feel that all 
of our effort has been well worth 
while and that this saving of 
several million dollars to the farm 
people of New York State has 
more than justified the existence 
of American Agriculturist. 
For a long time, American 
Agriculturist has realized the 
crushing tax burden on farm 
property and we have discussed 
the subject for many months in 
the paper, But the time came 
when we saw that if anything was 
to be accomplished something 
besides talking must be done. 
We then started on February 9 
our great tax-reduction campaign 
and printed in the paper a peti¬ 
tion to be signed by farmers, 
addressed to the governors' and 
legislatures of New York, Penn¬ 
sylvania and New Jersey. Farmers were quick 
to respond to this and signed petitions began to 
pour into the American Agriculturist office by 
the thousands. Many of these petitions were 
accompanied by heart-breaking letters from our 
people, all to the effect that they could not 
possibly see how they could meet this year’s 
taxes. 
Some of the petitions were sent by mistake 
directly to Governor Alfred E. Smith, of New 
York. The Governor immediately wrote a long 
letter to a Mr. Hall, one of the farmers who had 
signed one of the petitions and sent it directly to 
him. We printed this letter on Page 241 of the 
March 8th issue. It set forth the Governor’s 
ideas as to how he thought economy in State 
government might be brought about and taxes 
thereby reduced. In answer to the Governor’s 
letter, we wrote him pointing out the terrible 
tax situation by which farmers were oppressed, 
and published it as an editorial in the same issue, 
March 8th. Whereupon, the Governor telephoned 
the publisher of American Agriculturist, Henry 
Morgenthau, Jr., and the editor, E. R. Eastman, 
and asked us to come to Albany for a personal 
interview on the tax situation. We .went, and 
spent several hours with the Governor, and he told 
us. of his plans and difficulties in attempting to 
bring about consolidations of departments and 
savings in the State government which would 
result in lower taxes. 
In this interview, we brought forcibly to the 
attention of Governor Smith the great and abso¬ 
lute need of reducing farm taxes. We told him 
that farmers had no income and therefore reduc¬ 
tion of income taxes did not help them. What 
farmers needed, we said, was some kind of a plan 
on the part of the State government which would 
bring to the farm taxpayers the same relief that the 
income tax reduction had brought to city people. 
We left this interview with the feeling that 
This is a picture of charts used on the Service Progress Special which was run by the 
New York Central Railroad last year to teach tax facts. Mr. F. J. Riley, Secretary Of 
the New York State Grange, traveled with and spoke many times from this train. Study 
this picture, then turn to editorial page and see what Secretary Riley says about taxing 
hidden wealth. 
Governor Smith was impressed with the point of 
view that we brought him and with the sincere 
desire to do something to help the farmers’ tax 
situation. This was borne out by the fact that, 
as we have stated above, a few days before the 
end of the legislative session, he sent a special 
message to the legislature suggesting that property 
taxes be reduced one-half mill. 
In the meantime, both before and after the 
interview with the Governor, we made several 
trips to Albany to talk with both the Assembly- 
men and Senators and we wrote many letters to 
them, all calling their attention to the thousands 
of petitions and letters which we were receiving 
which showed the unanimous and emphatic de¬ 
mand of farm people that farm taxes be reduced. 
We received replies from both the Senate and the 
Assembly, all of them sincere in their wish that 
something might be done to help the farm tax 
situation, but none of them very sure that any¬ 
thing could be accomplished, particularly this year. 
One of these replies was from Assemblyman 
L. G. Kirkland, whose letter is printed as a feature 
article in our March 15th issue. You will re¬ 
member that he suggested that one way to cut 
down taxes was for people themselves to stop 
asking so much government service. Another of 
these replies to our letters asking for considera¬ 
tion of a plan which would reduce farmers’ taxes 
came from Senator Frederick M. Davenport, of 
the thirty-sixth district. Senator Davenport said: 
“Dear Mr. Eastman: 
“I have your good letter of the 7th instant with respect to 
relief for the farmers from the burden of taxation. 
“You know how I feel about that and how I act. I have 
very great hopes that we may be able to reduce the direct 
State tax upon real property__at the end of this session, but 
of course that matter is not by any manner of means entirely 
in my hands. If it were, I know what I would do quickly.” 
These men and others, of both parties, were 
sympathetic to our suggestion, but they could 
not see just what could be done.' 
It was our bringing your thousands 
of petitions and letters to their 
attention showing how unanimous 
the farm demand for tax reduction 
was that proved to them finally 
the absolute necessity of at least 
making a start toward reducing 
farm taxes. 
Full credit should be given also 
to the splendid work done by the 
New York State Grange and by 
the New York State Federation of 
Farm Bureaus to unite and con¬ 
solidate the sentiment of the 
members of their organizations for 
tax reduction and to bring this 
sentiment to the attention of 
authorities at Albany. 
Therefore, when the Governor’s 
message urging the half-mill re¬ 
duction came through, both houses 
were in a mood to give it considera¬ 
tion, and it passed. The Governor 
has not yet signed it at this writing, 
but of course he will. 
Naturally, we can not help but 
feel enthusiastic over the progress 
which has been made. It always 
brings a feeling of joy to any one 
to know that they have been able to help a little 
where help is most needed. We feel especially 
fine over this reduction because it wall mean a 
saving of several million dollars to the farm 
people of New York State, during these hard 
times when this saving will count for so much. 
However, it is only a beginning. Let us not 
slacken on our oars. While this is an indication 
of what can be done, yet a long campaign of work 
stretches ahead of us. We have outlined in recent 
issues of this paper some of the different jobs that 
must be done. With your help, and in full co¬ 
operation with your organizations, we are going 
to keep at this big task until government functions 
all the way along the line have been made simpler, 
more efficient, and less costly, with a correspond¬ 
ing reduction of taxes more in line with .what 
farmers are able to pay. 
On page 415 is the American Agriculturist 
tax petition. Cut it out, sign it, get your neigh¬ 
bors to sign it and send it in. Thousands upon 
thousands have already been received, but we 
have not yet reached the hundred thousand that 
we should have. If tax-reduction is to continue, 
you must help. 
