The semi-weekly messenger., 1907-04-26
BANKS AND FARMERS.
DIR. S. A. knapp's Criticisms in Tis
Pineshurst Speech Answered by
Joseph g. Brown, President of the
Citizens National Bank of Raleigh.
News aad Observer

1
| To The Editor: In one of the best
| speeches ever delivered in this State
Dr. Saman A Knapp said to the edu-
| caters at Pinehurst the other day:
Farmers can deposit in a bank but
| they cannot borrow from that bank
| even their own money to make a crop.
1t requires at least six months to
| make an average crop upon farm
Banks can loan only for ninety days.
Suppose all the deposits Of a village
bank were made by farmers. that
money must be loaned upon short
time and hence is not available for
crop-raising to any extent. Thus the
banking capital of our country. q con-
siderable portion of which belongs to
farmers, has not promoted agriculture,
but has stimulated cOmmercialism and
by its concentration in cities has fCs-
tered gambling in stocks. The great
fluctuations in the values Of farms
and farm products lies in the fact that
money of the country is not backing
them. 1t has been loaned TO the mer-
chants, the manufacturers and the
specializing interests"
The above from the lips of so we'll
posted and gifted a man as DR.. Knapp
is but one of the straWs that show the
misconceDtion about the attitude Of
the banks to the farmers. Among
many of the most intelligent farmers
in this section there has been, and y
4
sion that the banks. and especially the
National Banks, will not lend money
directly to the farmers. There is
nothing farther from the real state Of
the case. The writer has been con-
nected with National Bank for 50
years Every dollar of it's stock is
owned by home people and it consid-
ers itself as much citizen of North
Carolina as any domestic corporation
can be. It's officers and directors, as
We'll as its stockholders, are home peO-
pie and they are in fullest sympathy
with every local enterprise, whether
it be in the city or on the farm Among
the customers of the bank are not a
few farmers and none of it's patrons
are more thoroughly appreciated than
they 1t has been always a pleasure
to deal with them, and no class of |
people have been found more trust f!
worthy, and more certain to pay theil |
debt~-and | say it deliberately. a |
bank can have no more desirable Gus |
toner than an honest, substantial far
mer. My own bank has never failed |
to encourage their business. and our
experience is, | am sure, a common
one. We are carrying today a large |
of farmers paper for money
loaned directly to the farmer and we
think no assets of the bank are safer.
But the trouble has been that MANY
0t our farmers have been imbued with
The idea advanced by DR.. Knapp,
namely, that the farmer cannot bor-
row from the bank and without
they have sought need
ed help through other and frequently
more expensive channels-for the
banks are usually satisfied with the
egal rate of interest. NY own bank
never charges more than 6 per cent.
n this section the principal security
hat the farmer has in his cotton. and
can there be had better COL
ateral 1t is hard to realize that an
Intelligent man in this day and time
;Ould be led to believe that a bank.
wen a national bank, would not be
glad to have its loanabe funds in the
lands Of substantial farmer and Sc
;ured by cotton. And yet Just a short !
while ago one of the most intelligent !
men or Wake county, who was a GUS !
Omer OF our bank, wanted to borrow
money upon personal endorsement,
md expressed regret that we wouldn't
end MIN upon his cotton in the ware
louse, and yet the personal endorse
nent that he offered us was not worth '
dollar, although we were willing to
end our customer because we knew
le would personally take care of it. 4,
Out OF his endOrser we could not
ave collected a cent by law, while
ny day We could have sold his cot
on Tor twice the amount of the loan.
How much more desirable, then, the I
OttOn loan than the present one 1
1t IS true, as DR.. Knapp says, that q
banks funds are supposed to be .
oaned on a short time say not longer
han 80 days. 1t is equally trN, how
Ver, IN an agricultural section like
'urs, that no bank expects to be able
o collect within ninety days the mon
y 1t lends locally in the early part of
he year. The farmer goes to the mer-