The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-11-28
A ra1k with rhe Farmers.

CHRONICLE / will make few remarks to
you which 1 hope may meet your
approval and, some day prove great
benefit to the farmer. First of all I
must say have watched you very care
fully ever since was old enough to re-
member and your constant aim has been
to restore and maintain honest justice
to all alike. You have formed in So
cieties and secret orders to try and help
your depressed condition but it all seems
of no avail so far and the banker and
speculator grows richer and richer while
you are either holding your own or get
ting farther behind. Now there is GER
tainly some unjust cause for all this and
I believe if the right cord was pulled,
things would take change and the
hard working farmer who owns a farm
and attends to his work would not suffer
to see his property sacrificed to meet his,
necessary expen ses. Our laws are such
that few men may get together and
call themselves bankers, incorporate,
deposit bonds and issue bank notes and
they pass anywere in the United States
III AlOI1Oy dA0 lis ldC0 NdIuC.
A farmer can borrow this money by pay
ing ten per cent interest and all neces-
sary expense provided he can give good
security. The interest must be paid at
least once year. If he has $500 bor-
rowed the interest will be $50. In five
years time he has paid out $40o interest.
In ten years he has paid out $500 and
still owes the principal. Our law
makers tried to help you little by say
ing that no one should charge more
than 10 per cent. which only causes a
worse depression in money matters and
money lenders only get heavier bonus
by this law and now have a better
chance of robbery than before, because
these larger companies have left the field
and you have to take what you can get
and pay all they ask. And even then
when these large loan associations were
making so many large loans all over the
country did yon ever stop to tkink what
it was bringing upon your shoulders?
Say for instance the Scotch Loan COM
pany was to loan a million dollars in
this vicinity and charge 10 per cent. and
in five years take it all out again. They
would take out the million and send it
back to Scotland; that part is all right
for that much was their money, but
what about the half million interest
money? How much of it would be used
in manufactures and mills and other
Improvements to help build up the
United States? None. It would all go
to Scotland together, very likely, never
to return. How long can you farmers
stand this drainage. There, you see.. is
a constant leak. Maybe it may not be
you who are paying this leak, but your
neighbor gets short and can't pay you
what he owes you, SO you can not pay
some one else and so you are all short
and have plenty of good debts if you
could only collect them, to pay all you
owe. If a banker can put up bonds and
make money, why can't farmer bond
his land tor an appraised value and
issue certain per cent. of money and
thereby save taxes and interest and let
the bonds stand as long as he likes and
use the money, pay no interest and loan
it to his neighbor at a very low rate of
interest, say 2 per cent; let that de-
pend upon the demand. If every
farmer who owns decided piece of land
was allowed to issue upon these bonds
reasonable amount of money, and
it not cost him anything except
how much foreign money would be
loaned at 10 per cent or even one-half
that amount? and besides all the inter-
est. Money would be kept at home and
increase instead of decrease. Some may
think that this plan would flood the
country with money, well if it does let it
flood the country, better do that than
see your neighbours last wagon and
team or home sold at sheriff's sale and
bring fifty cents on the dollar of what it
is worth. Another advantage in this is
where there are some people who could
not keep mortgage off their home.
Now if they have their place mortgaged
for $500 and pay 10 per cent in five years
they pay $400 interest and the cost of
making out the papers etc., and on
the other hand if they bond their home
for $500 in years they have only to pay
the cost of making bonds etc., no in
terest to pay and the bonds can stand as
long as the government of the United
States does, SO long as the taxes above
the p,ice of the bonds are paid which
would be very small amount and you
can leave your land to your children to
use their life time, when if it was mort
gagged it would have to be paid or sold
Bonding home would be sure death to
the mortgages and still a man could