Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1891-01-14
Radical and Conservative.

Business men ma 1t necessary to
borrow money. Whenever a panic
comes and money is difficult to obtain
down goes business house after bust
ness house, and usually howl goes
up about the banks boarding money.
During the last few weeks the banks
have been locking up money to the
great distress of commerce. 1t has
been difficult to borrow money on
what would usually be considered
gilt edge collateral. Business men
feel the restriction severely, and have
good reason to complain. But do
these people ever think that their
present condition is precisely what
the farmers condition always is.
The banks are practically shut against
him all the time; and he needs
money at times just as badly as the
merchant and manufacturer need it.
The average merchant and manufact-
urer, however hard pushed for money
they may be, can pay their debts at
any moment if they choose. How ?
Sacrifice their stock sell it for what
they can get for it. But they do not
wish to do that. They do not wish to
bankrupt themselves when little
money would tide them over and en-
able them to sell their goods at an adj
vantage.
The farmer, however. is constantly
compelled to sacrifice his crops be-
cause he cannot get money to tide
him over. or if he can get it he must
pay such runous rate of interest
that he cannot stand it. The farmer
as well as the merchant has debts to
pay and under our present system
of combination among middlemen,
the buyers, knowing the farmers nec-
essities. pay him what they like for
his products and store them for
future rise. When prices are highest
our farm products are usually in the
hands of the spectators. Now some
system of finance should be devised
by which the farmer could get money
upon as favorable terms as the mer-
chant and the manufacturer can get
it. During all these years of national
banks they might have been authoriz-
ed to loan money on mortgage. and
that would have helped the farmer
greatly. But the government, while
always ready to hel p the gamblers Of
Wall street, has not taken the trouble
to make even this easy provision for
the relief Of our producers. Indeed
such proposition even now will be
considered radical, but why consider
it radical Real estate security is
the best security in the world, is it
not? A mortgage on good farm is
quite as good as the promissory note
Of the merchant or manufacturer,
is it not? We should say it was.
And some of the most prominent men
in the country are now advocating
the establishment of some sort of
banking system which will favor the
farmers interes Is.
There is no doubt in our mind that
the government will yet do the bank
ing Of the country, and as the Rural
has said a hundred times, there is no
reason why it should not. The pres
ent national banking system must
necessarily give place to some other
system, for as the national debt is
paid, it has less and less foundation to
stand upon. 1t must expire by nat
ural limitation. 1t is useless longer
to abuse the national banking system,
for whatever has been bad in il has
already been inflicted, and every day
brings it nearer to its end The thing
now to do is to devise something to
take its place, and the government