The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-19
A sonth sen RnhhIe.

According TO northern newspapers, con-
gress is TO be asked to grant a charter TO
financial institution which will exceed
in comprehensiveness and Importance" the
famous Credit Foncier of France. The
scheme as outlined is very catchy and ac-
cording to the prospectus is designed to
make everybody, healthy, wealthy and
wise. The wisdom, however, would come
when the country and the people were
ruined. With the leading products and
the railroads in the hands of a few thou
sand capitalists it only remains for the
capitalists to gobble up the lands, and
then they would have it all. This gobbling
1t seems, is the purpose of the proposed
American Credit Foncer.
The plan in brief, is to organize COM
pany under a federal charter, with a cap
ital of $1OO,OOO,OOO. the stock to be offered
first TO mechanics, artisans, laborers and
other people" Ii is the expectation of the
projectors, probably, that the mechanics,
artisans, laborers and others would take
their savings out of the savings banks and
tumble over each other in their eagerness
to get into the Credit Foncier. If the
common people," as the prospectus calls
them, should not tumble" then syndi-
cate of capitalists would take the stock
1t is proposed to establish agencies of this
benevolent institution at every postofice
in the country. A farmer having proper
ty worth 50, 900 would be allowed to borrow
fifty cents on the dollar, or $1,000 on his
property He would mortgage his prop
erty to the Credit Foncier and get 81 600
in the bonds of the concern. These bonds
he would sell in the markets for what he
could get for them. If they were selling
in the markets for so cents on the dollar,
he would get $500, less cost of appraisement
and other expenses. No mortgage is to
be taken for less than fifteen years, and
they may run for seventy-fve years. The
loan is to be paid in quarterly install
ments, interest and principal combined so
that at the end of the time specified in
the mortgage the debt will be wiped out,
if the borrower is not wiped out long before
that time. 1t will be noticed that the $780,
100000 capital is not to be loaned. The
borrower is merely to get the bonds of the
concern, and will have to raise the money
on them for himself. The projectors of
the scheme say it is on the plan of the
building and loan associations of the coun-
try, except that it is gigantic in its proper
tons. Doubtless so. 1t is on the plan
of some Associations which have made
borrowers weep.
Taking into consideration the names of
the men who are said to be backing the
scheme, it seems altogether likely that
the American Credit Foncier, orsby what
ever name the scheme may be called, will
quite capable of doing anything demanded
by the capitalists and political bosses. But
if the people go into the scheme on the
scale which the projectors anticipate, it
viii not take much if any, more than fif-
teen years to bankrupt the country. The
temptation to borrow when it seems very,
very easy to pay, is almost irresistible.
With money in hand will come extrava-
gance, and with extravaganza invariably
comes ruin.
1t is expected by the projectors of the
scheme that the money in the savings
banks will be drawn out and put into the
credit institution. That would take away
from the local banks throughout the coun-
try a large part of their capital and in adj
dition would take from the banks the
profits from what funds they would have
left