Newspaper Page Text
PAGE FOURTEEN
FARMERS' BANKS WILL SOLVE
CORN PROBLEM.
(Continued from Page Seven.)
East at small interest rates when
it ought to be employed to better
advantage at home.”
Campaign of Education Needed.
Evidently a campaign of education
is needed among country bankers,
most of whom are well intentioued
if narrow in their views. According
to an observant lowa farmer, there
are two classes of rural bankers —
the old fogy and the chancetaker.
The latter is risky, the former a ver
itable brake on the wheel of
progress.
“The old fogy banker is in a hope
less rut,” he said. “He will lend
money on a mortgage, but whenever
he does any business locally it is on
a cinch basis. What money he can
not put out in the neighborhood at
excessive interest he sends East at a
low rate. Broach a local enterprise
to him and he is horrified.
“Not long ago, I introduced the
subject of putting a half-dollar min
imum figure on the corn crop of lowa
and refusing to sell a bushel at less
than that figure, suggesting that local
banks advance up to 30 cents on corn
in the crib to permit growers in need
of money to pay their obligations in
cash. He threw up his hands in
agitated protest.
“ ‘They wouldn't stick together
thirty days,’ he asserted. ‘You can’t
put a price on any commodity that
way. ’
“It was simply a case of prejudice
with him, and yet 70 per cent of the
deposits in this bank were farmers’
money.
One Kind of Banker Not Needed.
“We have another class of bank
ers in lowa, or had, for it is to be
hoped most of them have been weeded
out. I refer to the high financier
who organizes a bank, usually utiliz
ing a few farmers as bait, accumu
lates deposits of considerable vol
ume and proceeds on a get-rich-quiek
career by betting the money on long
chances, either in Wall Street or on
the Chicago Board of Trade.
“Sometimes he appears as a land
or mine boomer, but in most cases
results are similar. When he reaches
his ‘string’ the bank is closed and
he either skips or is enmeshed by the
law, a process affording little conso
lation to his dupes.
“A nice chance a farmer desirous
of carrying a crop of corn would have
of negotiating a small loan with a
banker of that calibre. He wouldn’t
even get a pleasant smile.”
Ask SIOO an Acre for Farm.
At Wall Lake, lowa, the other day,
a Chicago man, charmed by the land
scape and fertility of soil, asked
what he could purchase a farm for,
and was astounded when handed a
list showing quotations of SIOO an
acre and upward.
“What makes land around hero
sell so infernally high?” he asked,
adding facetiously, “perhaps tho
owners need the money.”
“No, that’s the last thing that’s
troubling them,” was tho response.
“Real estate is the only reliable de
pository we have. I don’t think you
could buy one of those farms if you
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
made a bid because somebody in the
neighborhood has a previous option
in case the owner should sell.”
“But,” protested the Chicagoan,
“at such prices the money would not
earn 3 per cent.”
“You are right, but the average
lowa banker will not pay that much
on deposits, and when farmers re
member the long list of lowa bankers
who have gone to the wall by the
speculative route in recent years, us
ually with severe loss to their de
positors, they are reluctant to place
their capital in jeopardy.
“The result is they buy land re
gardless of intrinsic value. A farmer
closed a deal with me for a forty
acre tract recently, and on paying for
it produced drafts on Chicago banks
three and four years old. He had
been shipping live stock to Chicago
and receiving drafts in return. Ow
ing to several bank failures in lowa
he decided to keep his Chicago drafts
as a measure of safety. Now his
money is earning between 3 and 4
per cent in land —and he knows where
it is.”
Lack of Confidence in Own Ability.
The Chicago man, ignorant of the
American Society of Equity idea,
asked why farmers did not get to
gether and organize a bank of their
own?
“Lack of confidence in their own
ability, and also in any man who
would be compelled to hire and man
age it,” was the response. “If the
agricultural interest could develop
a system of banking with a competent
management it would be a boon. We
have too much money locked up in
lowa —money that is out of circu
lation. Millions are concealed, ei
ther in currency of the farmers, or
in drafts on Chicago banks, which
are getting the use of the naoney
without interest.”
Prospect of the formation of a
chain of farmers’ banks would doubt
less result in a sudden change in
front on the part of “conservative”
bankers, who regard the farmer
merely as a depositor. None of them
want opposition, especially in the
matter of deposits, and a strong
farmers’ organization would be able
to talk business at the bank. It has
been suggested that such an organi
zation as the American Society of
Equity could facilitate the task of
financing crop control by developing
a system of credit not available to
the average banker without consider
able expenditure.
The Everett plan of co-operation
with banks disposed to handle the
farmers’ business on a reasonable
basis finds general favor and will
doubtless be the final solution of the
most serious problem in connection
with the movement for control of
marketing of the principal crops of
the United States.
Throughout lowa there is a grow
ing disposition to insist on half-a
dollar for corn and a “fifty-cent
corn ’ ’ campaign would be an even
easier task than making a dollar mar
ket for wheat, as the latter cereal is
grown all over the world, while the
metes and bounds of the com belt
are well defined.
lowa, Illinois, Missouri and Kan
sas could stop shipping corn thirty
days and put the price to any rea
sonable figure growers demanded.
Fifty cents for corn is regarded equal
ly as $1 for wheat.
Cost of production has increased
seriously in recent years. Ever and
anon the harvester trust boosts the
price of machinery, the railroad com
bine never disturbs freight rates but
to mark them up, land is constantly
appreciating, and labor is a serious
item in the farmers’ bill of expenses.
And all the time fertility of the
soil is being depleted and yields di
minishing.
There is enough money in the corn
belt to finance a 50-cent campaign,
but the financial ammunition is not
in the right hands, and probably will
not be until the Society of Equity
banking proposition is in effect. —
New York American.
CARD FROM MR. CARTLEDGE
CONCERNING AUGUSTA
TRIBUNE.
Editor Augusta Herald: —
Gentlemen:
An article yesterday afternoon un
der heading, “Mr. Edenfield Explains
Affairs of Augusta Tribune, ’ ’ con
tains some references to myself and
the management of the paper which
I cannot in justice to the stockhold
ers or in fairness to myself pass un
noticed.
The president of the late Augusta
Tribune in his effort to hide to some
extent his utter failure to manage
the paper successfully for a brief
period of seven weeks has placed him
self in a very ludicrous predicament
before the public, and I am not will
ing that he should remain so if I
can place him right.
The president says that I over-es
timated the value of the plant, $6,-
737.06, which showed that I was los
ing money at the rate of $421.06 per
month for 16 months. *
I caiinot account for this very
funny statement in any other way
except that the president must have
been exceedingly worried about some
thing and that in the confusion of
the moment he became sadly mixed.
Os course I always felt like that I
possessed reasonable intelligence and
business capacity, but I had no idea
that the president would ever get
off far enough to admit that I could
induce him and other gentlemen of
business experience into an invest
ment where the assets were capable
under ordinary circumstances of
such sudden shrinkage.
Again it appears funny to me how
I was able to run the business at a
loss of $421.06 a month for 16 months
while the president was only able to
run it seven weeks at a loss of only
$53.27 a week, and the ludicrous
statement climaxes when the presi
dent admits that he piled up more
debts upon the concern in seven
weeks than I did in 16 months. This
is indeed remarkable.
Let me “explain” briefly, and I am
sure that it will not appear half so
badly for the president, and maybe
not quite so unfavorable as he in
tended in his confusion to mean for
me.
Over 12 years ago Mr. Henning
and myself started the paper under
the most unfavorable circumstances
and without financial backing and
capital of any kind except the intel
ligence, energy and devotion we pos
sessed which we put in the work
with all of our might.
A handsome building and area-
sonably equipped modern newspaper
plant.
Few people know, except Mr. Hen
ning and myself, the unceasing la
bor toil and sacrifices that were made
in accomplishing this result —a plant
that cost over $30,000 with less than
$17,000 of debts owing on it.
Through political alliance some 18
months ago a majority of the stock
in the paper was sold to Mr. Eden
field and his friends, after a full in
spection of the property and a thor
ough acquaintance with all the facts
of the business.
The old management surrendered a
majority of the stock in 'order to
guarantee good faith, and so that if
any difference should ever arise the
majority would have the right to
take hold and manage the business to
suit themselves.
The plan with the new and asso
ciate owners of the business was to
sell the remainder of the capital stock
—76 shares —and lift the entire debt
off the machines and plant, except on
the building, which would then put
the management of the business in
a position to operate easy and make
further desirable improvements in
publishing the paper.
But this was never done. Not a
dollar was ever raised or put in the
business by the new owners and the
old management struggled along by
hard work and rigid economy to pub
lish the paper and meet all of the
maturing obligations of the company
—principal and interest —for 18
months. In the meantime waging a
successful city campaign for Mr. Ed
enfield and his party absolutely with
out cost. I am truly sorry that the
president felt called upon to beg the
situation by admitting that he finally
did sell 10 shares of stock to meet, a
maturing obligations on the plant. If
the stock had been sold as promised
all of the obligations on the plant
would have been lifted and there
would have been no “pressing
claims” to meet.
In the face of the sacrifices Mr.
Henning and I were making for the
paper, the injustice of the antagon
ism to Mr. Henning’s candidacy for
council is apparent. Adding insult
to injury they sought to silence him
in his own behalf and put him out be
cause he refused to be thus humil
iated.
It is true I love the paper and the
business, as did Mr. Henning, as no
words may describe, having the labor
and investment of years of hard toil
in it, but I could not afford to work
on, while my friend, who had equal
interest with myself, was so grievous
ly wronged, and I quit.
The new management took charge
seven weeks ago, and the paper is
now dead. I regret it, of course I
do, because I am a heavy loser, but
I am not responsible for the failures
of the new management or the shrink
age in values of the property incident
to such failure. Respectfully,
J. L. CARTLEDGE.
The net earnings of the steel trust
has been $5.78 a second since January
1, 1906. And the tariff on steel re
mains the same. It is estimated by
the highest financial authorities that
the trust’s net earnings for the pres
ent calendar year will exceed $150,-
000,000. It will make a great effort
to get the people to “stand pat”
next election.—The Investigator.