The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-04-16
CREDIT BANKS.
CAN BE MADE TO GREATLY ern,.
AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES y

Dsnks They Cou,d
Borrow at Low Rates of Intere,t-r,
Would Then BE Free to BUY In =,
Cheapest and Sell In the Deares+ No..
The American Agriculturist. ono :.
the leading farm journals of this conn
try, has been running series of erco,
lent editorials on the subject Of crad;,
banks for the benefit of farmers Ono ~
the first, in the issue of Nov. 21. 1sos
discussed the agricultural credit han,,a
Of England. 1t attracted considerable at
tentlon, and the Grange and Farmars,
Alliance in several states are serionslr
considering trial of the system tho
outlined
A recent editorial showed some Of III.
benefits of the Scotch credit banks wbioh
loan small amounts to borrowers viii
out collateral, but who can give at least
two good sureties By this means a %.
pable and trustworthy young man can
obtain few hundred dollars, at a mod.
crate rate of interest, with which 70
stock farm which he has just bought
He does not have to pay interest on
dollar more than he actually uses and
at any time can return any part of what
is borrowed and stop interest on the mart
returned. Dunning Macleod, a great an.
thority upon banking, says that this sys.
tenn, introduced years ago, gave Scot.
tish agriculture a prodigious stimulus
while to 1t also he attributes the mar.
velous development of manufactures
and other industries in Scotland in the
face of adverse natural conditions. Mac.
leod declares that the use of this form
Of credit has been more helpful to Scot.
land that the richest gold or silver mines
would have been.
The Agriculturist then described the
special benefits of the branch banks of
Scotland and Canada. Ten Scotch banks
have 1000 branches. Each little town
where there is an agent of one of these
ten banks has practically the same bank
ing privileges as though the headquar.
ters of the bank We're in the town,
whereas the American towns facilities
are confined to the little bank located
in its midst, or, more likely, in larger
town, village or city 10 or 20 miles
away, for it is often 90 and sometimes
100 miles from points in the south and
west to the nearest bank.
We quote the following from one Of
the more recent editorials in The Agri-
culturist:
The agricultural credit bank de.
scrlbed III our previous article, or our
own very successful cooperative build
ing and loan associations, might also es.
tabllsh branches or agencies. Thus one
society could have representative in
every town or hamlet in county or
group of counties, bringing its advan-
tages home to depositors and borrowers
everywhere. In this way, even in a
sparsely settled farming country. CO.
operative banking society could get
enough business to be soundly success
tul. The agricultural credit banks de-
scribed i'll the editorial referred to en-
able the honest poor to cooperate in
other matters. The testimony of hun
dreds OF similar institutions in Europe
shows beyond all question that these
credit societies have encouraged CO.
operation in all its forms, stimulated
thrift and self help and improved the
whole moral and material condition of
their members. The need is certainly
urgent for similar effort at self help III
very many farming communities in this
as we'll as among workers i'll
other occupations In these times, when
the margin of profit is SO close in farm
ing, as in other business, it is all the
more necessary for farmers to be able to
their affairs with the utmost
economy, for which purpose capital at
rates of interest is an impera.
i've necessity.
Whatever opinions are entertained
the standard of values, there
mould be unanimity in an effort to per-
ect sound plan of cooperative bank
ng that will enable farmers to help
themselves. How great this need is can
hardly be exaggerated Taking the
United States as a whole, we doubt il
of our farmers use banks or
re within convenient reach of banking
accommodation. Without it they cannot
Iaploy credit i'll the true sense. Yet
line-tenths Of the volume of business
by other people is done with
redlt instruments. But the average
armer is able to use only the credit Of
cred by the crossroads store, which
mllks' him to the tune of 10 to 40 per
ent by taking his stuff in trade at far
elow market price, charging big profits
n what the farmer buys, and on top OF
his exacting exorbitant interest.
No legitimate business can stand
his sort of accommodation, certainly
OF agriculture The evil exists whether
rlces are high Or low, currency plenty
scarce. The deeper one delves into
his matter the palmer it appears that,
7hatever is done about monetary stand
rds, better banking recommendation
aat is, better facilities for the use Of
redit instruments, such as checks,
RATS, etc.-are vital to the farmers
'elfare. Nor can he, need he OF will he
ay more for these facilities than do
lose i'll other business. -
A Good Example.
Ihe action OF the silver Republicans
Hap1HInu 70 ~.