Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-09-12

the wheat crop of the United States
as of December 1, 1911, farm value,
was SAB million dollars. Practically,
the interest account }of the farmers
ate up the total wheat crop of the
country.
How much heavier this burden is
than that which tie European farm
er has to carry, Nj. Yoakum explains
by pointing out that the German
farmer can borrow on mortgage
from the "Landschaften' or Ritter
schaften," associations of land
credit, at an average rate of 4.4O per
cent.
Under these systems the farmers
in a certain territory form into CO.
operative societies, syndicating their
farm lands under negotiable bonds
which are offered jointly as security
for the credit they need. The indi-
vidual then borrows from this COOP
erative society. 1t is just as though
all the small farms in a Texas
ty, no one of which is more than 100
acres, were pooled into one great so
ciety which borrowed on a single
bond against all this property, and
then lent to any individual farmer
forming this pool as they needed
money on mortgage. This system
has been in general use in Germany
for more than one hundred and forty
years and a not be regarded as an
experiment..
The French farmer is equally for
for the Credit Foncier,"
derived from the sale
Of 3 per cent bonds to the public,
has lent more than two billion dol
lars at a rate which is at present
100 per cent entirely on farm lands.
"The loans, moreover, are made
ten to seventy-five years, and
are retired in very small install
nents year. by year. If a farmer pre-
'ers, however, he may borrow on
short time loans running from one to
nine years without paying off any of
he principal year by year. If a
wishes to build on his land,
can obtain through the Credit
a mortgage credit based
IN the value of the land and the
building to be put up. This is tenn
oorary accommodation, and when
he building is completed, it's cost
,an be added to the loan"
When it I'M to borrowing
money for current needs, the Euro
bean farmer again has all the best
If 1t, according to Mr.. Yoakum,
the system Of rural credit
banks known in Germany as
'Raiffeisen'' banks, from their orig
and adopted in France, Italy
and other countries.
"In the German empire in 1909,
under the purely rural system, about
u 1000 little country banks did a
business of approximately 1 billion
six hundred and thirty-four million
dollars at an average interest rate of
less than 5 per cent. A very large
part of this lending was done on
current account, much of it without
any security except the promise to
pay.
ut is more than sixty years since
this system was founded, and in
that time there has not been a single
instance of a failure of a Raiffeisen
bank. In other words, through all
kinds of conditions, including one
tremendous international war-the
Franco-Prussian war these little
rural banks have gone on perform
ing their functions without any such
period of catastrophe as is almost in
variably predicted when a new sys-
TEN of banking is launched"
Mr.. Yoakum declares that Amer
lean agriculture can not reach its
highest development until some new
system of farm finance is adopted.
This, he believes, is sure to come.
"The rapidly OF its realization
he concludes, depends upon the
farmers Of the United States. They
are the first to receive the benefits.
If they do not rouse themselves to
wipe out this terrific annual tax up
on their industry no other man can
accomplish the purpose for them. If,
on the contrary they through their
organizations and representatives in
congress, demand legislation to &C
complish this purpose,I have no hest
tation TO say that the annual inter-
est saved ten years from now will be
enough to pay the ruling at al that
time on more than 4 billion dollars