Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-05-28
TEXAS INVESTMENTS.
Prae8csi Testimony oil Foreign Capt.
tasssts and Thsir Agents that
Tyxgs Ia a Safe State
secord Annual M.rang OF ths Land Mort
gage Bank of Texas OF England.
q Eevareblo Rupert
london Flaanclsl MOVE, May Z.


ofica, so Blshopsgate stree, Mr.. Alder
man Bss jsmin s. Brigg in the chsir.
Mr.. Alfred T. jay, the mausgsr, read
the nosice conveDing the meeting, and
the report OF the directors was taken as
read.
The Chsirmsn-When the chairman OF
q company meets the shareholders in an
nusl meeting aud has to announce to
them that since their previous
meeting the capit.l Of the company
has doubled, that its business
has dou Died, inst It's revenue is three
times Whist 1t WAS year ago, and thai its
net earnings, which last year were ECU "
silent to 5 per cent, were this yesr
equivalent to Ii per cent, do not think
there requires either very much skill or
msny words to commend the balance
sheet and statement OF accounts to the
shareholders for their acceptance. The
amount invested is stated in our hslshce
sheet at fl57, 00o odd, and the revenue is
put down st little over $4,000, but the
average Of the full twelve mouths Of cepi-
tI employed by the company has not
been Ei57 900, but has only osen some
fI04 ,000.s
Our IDSHt SNctUSS sOCub IUUU cUCu J
there are go Of them, so that the money
we receive is not being lent 10 large sums
and II Is not being entrusted to very
few hands. The average advance that we
have made is about II shillings per acre.
Ali the lands on which we make loans
must be appropriated lands, having q
proper owner. The land must be fenced
ard it must be suitable for cropping or
- lac HI AS two
ton OF cotton, maize, sugar or other
crops that are grown in Texas. l think
there cannot be much lands of which the
fee simple is not worth IL shlllings sn
acre. This view is confirmed by the ap-
prsiser's values which accompany our
loans made and where they value the
land st
THREE TIMES THE AMOUNT
of our advances. What is termed the
agents close cash value, or what We
should term the auction value, is more
than double the amount we lend, and
that the agent errs on the right side is
proved by the sales that have tsken place
being invariably at a Eigh azure than
cur loans. Our loans are not in one To-
cslity, but they are spread oyer forty-two
counties, and We are constantly enlarg
Sillimen has prepared and sent. out to the
borrower tabulsted form Of questions,
and those questions contain many partlcu-
lars that are Of considerable interest.
need not trouble you by reading the
whole, but they ask am ongst other Things
whether the property is advertised for
sale; II so, at what pr ce; what the prop
erty is considered to DE fairly worth |;
hi has mt hnt
been put in circulation since the loan was
made; what has been saved in improve
ments and what are the prospects Of the
coming year. There are questions OF
that kind, and these nave been answered
by almost all, II not oil, Of the b0rro ~ers
in most satisfactory manner. Very
nearly sll OF them speak OF very good pros
poets for The coming year, and many Of
them show that considerable sum Of
money has been spent in improvements
since the loan was msde, thst more acres
have been put into cultivation, thus in
crossing the value of the lsnd Itself.
These returns, I msy say, are interesting
in another way, that they bring the COM
pany directly into communication with
the borrowers, and we have what is not
q legal, but what is still . moral proof
that every msn to whom we have lent the
money has received the money; he &C.
knowledges his indebtedness to the COM
pany, and thst he is using that money for
the purposes for which it was lent. But
after al, gentlemen, I think you will
agree with me that the best proof that the
loans are good loans lies in the fact that
the
INTEREST Is PROMPTLY PAID
Aoxuu and n cpuornI iyafanroa fho hor-
rower's security has improved SO much
that he has not only repaid the loan, but
he has added voluntarily q handsome
bonus for the privilege OF paying that
loan before maturity. l believe the last
instance Of that kind left the company
something like l6 per cent. ss the annual
return for the loan. As regards the sec
ond question: Will our business con-
tinue? Is there reasonable prospect of
that2 With us every avenue Is so
crowded that think we fail to realize
that there are lands to which our con-
ditions do not apply, and believe
such land as Texas. may say tnat we
are, both as directors and sharehol ers,
extremely pleased to see q gentleman
with us to-day, who will be able from re-
cent personal experience to give on this
question 3 far more authoritative opinion
than csn do. Ii you think only Of the
extent OF Texss-you can draw straight
line 1000 miles from east to west, and
you can draw line 800 miles from north
to south. It is longer than Germany or
Austria or France, and yet, notwith-
standing thst, 1t hiss only at present 3
population Of nine to the square mile; It
must be admitted that 1t has slmost
boundless possibilities. And the popula-
tion is not staguant one. It is grow
ing, and
GROWING RAPIDLY,
being 80 per cent. more than it WAS in
1880. As the people increase, 80 may
also the demand for capital increase. It
ie that demand which our company meets,
and believe our capital will continue to
meet that demsnd long after the invest
ment OF money interests the youngest
shareholder we have. On this point
should like to quote two opinions, one
from Mr.. Slllimsn, In which he says:
s'There Is q movement to induce desir-
able immigration and more capital to
this state" Another opinion, that Of the
manager Of one OF the most successful
companies of the kind, Is that we shall
not be able to meet the demand for
money In Texas at 10 per cent. / give
these opinions, gentlemen, as being
worthy OF all possible weight. Well, I
think we nave hardly done with our pru-