Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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.