78-10-A5

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Stanley Yankus

Transcript As a veteran of the mashed potato circuit--my name for the after dinner speaking-- I'm always on the lookout for interesting anecdotes. The other day on a flight to the Midwest I was reading the newspaper when a familiar name caught my eye. It wasn't the name of a well-known public figure, but it had been a part of a speech I'd made almost 20 years ago. Stanley Yankus was a chicken farmer in Michigan back in the late 50's when our government was deeply involved in the control and regulation of American agriculture. Some of you will remember those days of acreage allotments and subsidies for now growing things. It was not the best of times for farmers and coincidentally, there are signs that Washington is anxious to return to those days. But back to Stanley Yankus. His chicken farm was the culmination of a dream. He had worked for years in Chicago as a hog butcher, saving for the day when he could have his own farm. With his dream realized he worked from dawn till long after dark when he and his wife would candle eggs on the back porch. Maybe I'd better explain to a younger generation that candling meant holding each egg up to a light to make sure it wasn't a fertile egg containing an embryo chicken. Stanley was a good family man and citizen, serving on the local school board and educating his children. He raised wheat on his little farm which he harvested and fed to his chickens. Then in the late 50's the government told him he couldn't do that. The government had a wheat control program in which farmers were given allotments of how much wheat they could raise . Yankus protested that he wasn't in the wheat business, he was just raising enough to feed to his own chickens. He refused to plow his wheat under as the government ordered him to do. The government attached his small bank account. When he still didn't give in they fined him $5,000 and threatened him with worse penalties. I can remember citing his experience and a judge's ruling that said in effect, "the government had usurped the right to tell a citizen what he could raise on his own land for his own use." Stanley Yankus said--QUOTE--"This is the action of a police state--the sort of life we were brought up to detest."--UNQUOTE-- He sold his farm to pay the fine and became the first American I know of to leave the United States in search of freedom. He and his family moved to Australia. There, unfortunately, he learned life was also pretty much regulated by government. Becoming a salesman, he started in to reclaim his dream of once again having a farm. A few weeks ago, 19 years after he had left America, his dream was near realization. He bought a 10 acre almond farm in his new homeland and was awaiting plans for the house he would build on his own land. Stanley Yankus was then 59 years old. He died of a heart attack before the house plans arrived. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 78-10-A5 Production Date 07/15/1978 Book/Page RPtV-334 Audio Youtube? No
		Added Notes Stanley Yankus