The Cairo bulletin., 1912-08-24
BANKERS AND FARMERS.
FANNY p Hacker

| ers' Association is impressed Win
the bankers obligation TO and de-
pendence on agriculture and has
led in interesting the bankers in
building MP pnd maintaining our
agricultural resources.
Mr. Harris says Our apparent ag-
lricultural prosperity is due to the
rise. in the price Of land. Land spec
ulators have grown rich A few
| farmers have won a competence
from the soil, most of them have IT,
/. tie profit TO show aside from the ad~
vance in the value of their land, thu:
average farmer making but bare
| living,
Capitalizing soil fertility, not add
| ing to its assets.
In. Europe on farms constantly
used for a thousand years the aver
age is 20 TO 40 bushels of wheat an
acre.
In this country the average is 1871
and fifty million acres is planted
in wheat yearly.
Europe did not always farm this
way. but the competition of our
| cheaper and more fertile farms ana
low transportation forced her to
these methods, so much better and
| more profitable than ours
| We have the better land as good
or better tools, no question of brains
| Why not properly employ them all"
This would add nearly million of
! dollars annually to each county in
| Illinois One bushel extra per acre
| on the improved land in the United
States would require 1880 extra
| trains of so cars each to transport
An 50 bushel corn crop will make
more net profit in one year than a
80 bushel average for four years. 1t
takes forty bushels yearly to come
ont even on high priced land
When you have thought that out
and put it into practice you have
the basis OF permanent prosperity.
and lit is required to bring better
roads and schools, with farm life
| comforts the real basis Of successful
agriculture as we'll as of republic
In Germany, France, Italy, Don.
mark and other European nations
have had for long time, co-opera-
| tive banking, marketing and pur
chasing organizations. In Germany
| there are 24,000 such organizations
About 10000 Raiffeisen cooperative
banks. exclusively for farmers. ard
Of farmers, doing an annual business
of a billion dollars, with billion
two hundred thousand customers and
farm loans of $500 900 900 Operat-
| ing on the debenture basis, the far
mers giving their mortgage to the
banks and the banks borrowing at
long time and low rates on the az
gregate MORTGAGES.
I We have two members OF our
American Bankers association com
mittee on agriculture now in Europe
making study of il.
We hear the protests of the con
sumer and the farmer due TO the
pressure of organized finance and
| commerce. 1t would be reduced if
agriculture were as well organized.
Protest against big business is idle
We can only regulate and control st.
Such control on the part of the
| farmer will re-establish the balance
between the factions and economic
factors of this country necessary to
maintain our pre-eminence.
California and a few other states
have shown what can be done in
handling and marketing of fruit,
grains, etc, as well as fire insur-
ance. telephone purchasing and even
| banking organizations Cooperative
organization must have as it's basis
! service, not profit, and the profit, L
any. divided in proportion to CO.
operation as we'll as stock holddng, II
any
The benefit TO the farmer and to
the country. in teaching him his
strength in organization and how
TO use it as a twin to financial and
political account will solve the
problem of the cost Of living.
The law of supply and demand
has less to do with this than We
| think, it is more the question OF
too many middlemen, too expensive
systems of marketing. The rise in
the cost of living abroad in II
years is about 10 per cent In the
{, s 40 per cent. This simply
means the European dollar ha2
shrunk to SO cents, our dollar meas
ured by its purchasing power Of ne
cessities Is II cents.
What is to be done? We are han
dicapped by Europe Il cents on thu
dollar The answer seems to be tina