The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-10-01

The state Departments inveStIgA-
don Of European systems Of eoopera-
tive credit has now reached the second
,Gf6go In which study is made Of the
mortgage bond societies and the mort
gaze banks. Il Is expected that this
s. the form Of cooperative credit
Which, under one plan or, another, win
Be proposed for adoption in the United
States In connection with President
;Taft's efforts to extend this assistance
to the American farmer.
AZ compared to the present AmeEt
can system OF farm land loans this
form OF cooperative credit would &C
oompliGh two things Tor the farmer:
Flrst-Tt would permit him to repay
his. loan through an easy system OF
.al1urtization extending over long Pc
.FtPd OF years and would remove efec-
t11ely the menace OF foreclosure or
ronspll (which hangs like the sword
Of DamocIes over the head Of any Dor
r0lRer fF0ra,a private individual under
short time mortgage.
Second.-It would unlock the doors
Ol 6Q9 GE9GsS A4SASy SSA4CSS0 ~ 49,
farmer OF the rem0test regions and
give q security to the investor In New
York, 20 that he would need have no
concern with knowing anything OF the
eoxt Of security offered by the farm in
Texas or Oregon on which the money
he lends Is to be spent
This means to the farmer low rates
OF interest and easy terms for repay
ment. What It would mean. in more
specific terms to the American farm
Or can be easily seen in a comparison
OF conditions in Germany Of France
and In the United States. Here Is the
statement OF a dealer In land mort
cages In our southwest, made at a
meeting in New york city. The
speaker was describing the business
Of a company financed by British cap
itaI which makes mortgage loans on
firms in the southwestern states:
eve have been leaning money at 8,
9 and 10 percent. loaned money i'm
the Panhandle twenty-Reven years age
and for the first threa or four years
never got less than 3 per cent a month
That iB incident to a new country.
Now our bank rate is 10 per cent. Our
land loans that We have been making
the arBt year or SO through that gee
ton OF the country have been made
on an 8 or per cent basis. However.
4 am very frank to say that think
the rates ought to coma down and
that We ought to be able to get money
from that section Of the country at
or z Per cent"
In comparison with this statement
the Credit F'oncier OF France Is able to
loan money on farm lands at 4.3 per
cent and the German societies and
banks at about or As per cent. AS
the speaker quoted above says, the
high rate Of interest In this country is
probGbly 70 q large extent due to the
fact that Il 10 new country and that
money Hero IL more actively employed.
It iG doubtful whether, even with the
adoption Of the European machinery,
the interest rates on mortgages could
be brought down as low in the United
States 0s they are in either France or
Germany. It q the opinion OF no less
an authority than Charles A Conant,
however, that they could be brought
down to per cent. A mortgage at
8 per cent with the advantage to the
farmer Of repaying his loan little by
little through an unburdensome plan
OF amortization might be accepted as
the sum total Of benefit to be expected
by the American farmer from the
adoption OF some such system-as. for
instance, the German mortgage bank
plan.