The Washington times., 1912-04-09
FINANCE AND FODDER.

That there is vital relation between the state
of the bond market and the weaving of cloth or the
making OF shoes no one who knows anything Of the
modern industrial world will care to dispute That
there is like relation between the interest rate
and the growing Of wheat or potatoes is not as yet
so obvious in the mind Of the average man.
We know, all Of u.s. more or less clearly the
story OF the decline of the handicrafts and the rise
of the machine-made fabrics; Of how the Hreside
loom surrendered to the factory Of how the cobber
was driven from his bench by the machine, of how
the village smith yielded to more powerful Vulcan
the dominion over iron and steel. We know that
clothes and shoes and things made Of metal are
cheaper and more plentiful now than they we're in
the days before the big mills began to and whirr
And we also know that the development of the
modern factory system Gts good vastly greater than
its eviD was due alone to the discovery that by the
use of the drag-net of stocks and bonds many peo-
Piles money could be brought together and used as
ii it we're all one persons money.
But we don't think in this way when we think
of the farm. There we have introduced machinery,
il is true, but we have not introduced cog-wheel e.
nance, farmer must use his own money, his own
credit, and his own only. He can't use the credit of
his class, is he permitted to discount the future
returns of his business.
He offers to the banker the best security in the
world, and he pays the highest rate Of interest His
are the first loans to be called in times Of trouble,
and no clearing house or credit association ever
stands between him and foreclosure. He is financing
his business on hand-loom basis.
Those OF US who live in town complain of the
high cost Of living, and we urge he farmer to pro-
duce more, to study the science of agriculture to
make each acre do its best, to multiply every blade
and root.
The farmer hears us and he knows better than
the town-bred, that it can be done.
But the farmer cannot improve his methods OF
production without capital any than manufac-
turer improyelhis methods of production without
capital And under our present money system the
capital costs the farmer more than the return is
worth. NJ
That is why the farmers of the South at meet
ins in Nashville last week discussed the relation o
finance and fodder. That is why commission com
posed of the representatives of the farmers Of every
State in the Union will visit Europe this summer tc
study rural financial methods in vogue over there
That is why the farmer is planning to pool the Sc
curity of the farms and capitalize each farmer tc
his need the credit of all the farmers of the country
To reduce the rate of interest that farmers mus
pay for borrowed money is to encourage the produc
ton Of more and better farm produce. To produce
more and better farm produce is to reduce the cos
and enhance the value of living. To reduce the cos
and enhance the value Of living is to make men hap
pier. To make men happier is the chief aim of every
true agency OF civilization.
1t is to be fervently hoped that this movement
for an improved system Of rural finance in this coun
develop from movement into fact. .