The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-28
PRESIDENT TAFT
 REPLIES TOLETTERS Continues Campaign for
 Farmers Bank SUCCESS IN EUROPE
Declares Adoption of Co-0perative Credit Will Be of Great Advan- tage to Farmers--Massachu-
 setts as an Example
< . lngton. October s7.-Presideut Taf'

x = ington. October 27.--Presideut Taf. . ? led his campaign for farmers CO.,
 r 2 i've banks and agricultural credits
 by making reply to letters that Q 2 reached tho White House intimatlng the plan would benefit only the big 2 mers The President quoted from the g port of Ambassador Herrlek statistics howing the business done by the Raif- fesen banks of Germany.
 The size of the average deposit for these institutions is around ss7o.' said the President The average loan they make amounts to only s15o. and the mem- sg per cent farmers It is plainly evil dent from these figures that this is not a big farmers plan. In my letter to the governors the first recommendation which I made Is for the adoption of some such form of cooperative credit
 Massachusetts as Example
 "on the contrary the adoption of cooperative credit in this country will be of great advantage to the small farm CT. It was in the interest of the peasant farmer of Europe that this plan was established, Massachusetts has law permitting the establishment of co-opera- tive societies of thls type. Under this law the Myrick Credit Union of Spring field Mass. was organized, I think, in 1909 and in 12 mouths It had 105 mem bers, capital of $500 and si0,0oo of out standing loans.
 ''rhe results obtained by the adoption of this form of cooperative credit in sf-. H. f~xI. fulness. There Is one bank for every 1eO0 of population in Germany. The rate of interest charged Is frequently a point or two lower than in commercial circles yet the banks make fair profit, which. In the case of the Raiffeisen banks. is all carried over as a reserve fund so that each year these banks are strength ening their position and becoming a more important factor in the empire. The to- tai of business done annually is astound- ing. If Is in the neighborhood of s5,000, ,Oo0
 ''The principle upon which these banks are conducted is not unknown in the United States. Our mutual life insurance societies. fraternal societies and building and loan associations have met with good success. Four-ffths of the savings of the people today are deposited in mutual saw ings banks, which are organized for much the same purposes as the small cooper atfRt Sot1etleH UT itbIbpts oHiS m lNf United Sta.ef slae .aperafions of those in- stitutions are confined largely to the cities The cooperative society which recommend would affect mutual saw ines institutions devised particularly to give banking facilities 10 farmers for small loans on personal credit and for short time. The farmers themselves would control the management of these societies.
 ssaf safa .1t bring these societies into being. It will require time and most of the work will have to be done by the farmers them selves That Is as fl should be, for unless the farmers themselves made the effort I doubt very much whether the idea will ever be successfully estab- lished in such a country as the United States.
 People Take to Idea
 'The reception accorded my advocacy of the agricultural credit idea has i'm pressed me greatly. The tone of the letters which l have received or az many of them as I have been able to read, for to read all of them would force me to give up all other work. shows that the people are seriously studying the ques- tion- It is a question that requires se- rious study. There are several different forms of cooperative credit The small cooperative societies of which l have just spoken; for instance, are quite diff ferent from the mortgage bond socie- ties which are designed for larger loans for far longer periods and would be the means of securing the farmers the money necessary to the improvement of their lands.
 But where such interest is exhibited 1t is certain that study will follow and have every hope of seeing intelligent and wise opinions urged upon the state legislatures for the adoption of the diff