El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-27

4 NN IneEe IS IN Rome an OIS dllld-
ton known as the International
7 Institute of Agriculture. 1t is supported
! by all of the civilized nations of the
earth, each of which has a delegate sta
TONED there, whose duty it is to take
! part in the statistical work of forecast
| ing the worlds crops, and to make him
self useful in watching the agricultural
! progress of the other nations and in
communicating his observations to his
country. 1t is in effect international
aid for the farmers.
The American delegate to the insti-
tute is David Lubin. The researches of
| the institute long since demonstrated
| the immense Importance that the gov
ernments of Europe attach to coopera-
ton among farmers, and showed how
the farmers succeeded under the patron
| age of\the government
| Mr.. Lubin made frequent reports to
| the Washington authorities on the sue
J cess of the cooperative credit system
/ OF Europe, and ii finally aroused the
! interest of those who would help the
| American farmer to help himself. This
| IN turn gave rise to a demand for a
1 thorough inquiry into the subject
Americans Make Investigation.
This movement was sponsored by the
I Southern Commercial congress and the
I American Bankers association, the
I former organization giving it a prac-
ucaI turn by resolving, in April, 1912,
! that the directors of the congress
/ should be asked to send a commission
70 EUROPE 10 study the question care
fully, and that this commission should
consist of two men from each state
Thereafter president Taft endorsed
/ the plan of providing rural credits by
calling upon the conference of gov
/ ernors to consider the subject and pre-
sentIng to them a report from ambassa-
dor Herrick showing what banking CO.
operation had been accomplished in
4 Europe, particularly in Germany IN
der the leadership of DR.. Clarence J.
! owen. director general of the Southern
commercial congress. and afterWard
4 director general of the American COM
! mission the three big political parties
! endorsed the proposed investigation in
/ their platforms in the 1912 campaign,
( and the senate of the United States
) passed a resolution endorsing the COM
| mission and invoking for it the diplo-
| matte consideration of the countries in
/ Guided IN its itinerary.
] With these credentials. the American
1 commission sailed for Europe in May
/ OF the present year. It was headed by
| seven delegates at large appointed by
/ president Wilson, who will report to
/ congress upon the advisabiIity of es-
/ tablish1ng a system of farmers CO.
| operative banks, and mortgage bank
! system Three-fOurthS of the states
| We're represented by delegates who will
I report TO a committee of nine govnOrs
l appointed by the last meeting of the
house of governors In this way il 10
! hoped to set in motion the wheels OF
{ both the congress of the United States
! and of the legislatures of the several
1 states
Lubin Makes Suggestion.
/ When the commission sailed it laid
out its plans with the assistance of Da-
/ vid Lubin. That he had practical idea
/ OF what ought to be done is shown by
/ his advice as to how the commission
should proceed in its work Before If
I was organized, he reminded the South
! ern Commercial congress of the neceS-
/ s1ty of appointing delegates of the
J right caliber, and called attention to
! the fact that the importance of the
work and the magnitude of the inquiry
would leave little time for sightseeing
/ and social functions He further OBJ
| served that there was neither time nor
place for mere JunketerS, amateurs and
| diletanti.
The plan followed in making the
inquiry was to have the commission
meet as whole in a few central places
IN each country, under the auspices OF
a reception committee of that country.
Here three daily sessions were held, and
at these a large number of people.
from the head of a banking institution
down to an humble 1O-acre farmer,
were questioned closely by the mem
! bers of the commission This body did
not limit itself to study of rural cred
| its, but also investigated the allied
problems of cooperation in production
and distribution. and the activities OF
| official and Semi-Official bodies in the
promotion of agricultural welfare.
After gathering the data concerning
these subjects on the continent the
commission went to Great Britain. It
was said here by a Forty from
| California that in their studies the
Continental countries had FURNISHED the
rock crushed and ready for the ANAL
gam pan: that Great Britain and Ire
To- he az ra1I loan ma nd h.a
British questiOners the quicksilver; and
that the findings were the bar of gold
ready for the refinerS' hands. these
hands being the American people and
the state and national governments.
Two Kinds of Credits Found.
After making the tour of the CONT
nent and of the British isles. the com
mission returned to the United States
and work was promptly begun upon the
task of digesting and making available
for the use of the public and the law
makers the results of its Investigations.
1t reported that two kinds of rural
credits were encountered in Europe
the long term based on mortgages. and
used in buying and improving prop
erty, and the short term credit, based
upon personal security and used in It'd
ing the farmer over from one crop sell
ing period to another. 1t found that
the farmer was able to borrow money
on short credit at rates ranging be-
tweent and - per cent
After making a preliminary report
covering the whole situation, the COM
mission effected a permanent Organiza-
ton with headquarters in Washington.
II has a membership from SO states and
from four Canadian provinces, and has
settled down 70 the work of aiding a
national propaganda for the utilization
of the lessons OF European rural finau-
ces in our own agricultural situation
The commission appointed two commit
tees TO carry forward the work; as
signed to one the task of compiling the
results of the Investigation, while the