Gunnison news-champion., 1913-07-25
BY Edward kesssax,
Consres~man al large fToa Cokas.ds

Washington ID c.
Uacse SON 10 beesnasne " sasdus-
sand thai he docs not ksos = ~
The old seutiemsa has ksasd -
many sneers ss the expense a ~
-ssnossat foreigners" and he -
gwen ear 10 % Hach clap sssP shoss
cheap foressn labor, shsa - saans
he has fels thai the unfortussAss UAo
hved on the other side Il ths No
mill pond, known ss the Aslansse
Ocean, we're both enslssed end -
nlghted. lie believed the void
could teach him little, bet masy -
cent events have sadly dlss~rtsd
our uncles complsceacy, snd III
truth rs dawnlng on him. that, wksls
America taught the world the psss-
ciples ef Democracy, tie world kss
far out stripped It's mentor in che
practical application Of those prin-
ciples, that while we have besa ia-
dalgine in such vain boassins ean-
eernIng the institutions founded by
our fathers the older countries have
been boldly and insistently seskiAg
the paths 10 industrial freedom
All Of which brings us to Q con-
sideration Of the activities of the
commission named by the presideat
to visit European countries for The
purpose Of studying aericslsssal
corporations aad rural credits. Yos
remember some twenty years ago
we wasted good deal Of cheap wit
on the Populists' scheme to have ths
government loanmoney to the fsra-
er on his crops and on his land ct .
reasonable rate Of interest. 1t ves
denounced as chimerical or sooe-
thing like that, and the farmer coa
tinued to pay the banker from Q 10
II per cent for the little accomuO-
dations he required. Since then The
country has adopted practically eli
the plsnks in the Populists' platform
Wilson, Roosevelt and Bryan have
led the movemeut--andn nov we find
that the European countriss have
seized on this Populist scheme
for rural credits. And, wonders of
wonders, Kaiser Wilhelm's country
has developed the idea more success
fully than any other nation. have
before me a letter from one Of tie
most distinguished members of the
Presidents s commission, David Lub-
in He has been studying the land
banks in Europe, and he says they
have proven of incalculabe benefit to
the farmers of Europe and could be
made of equal benefit to the farmers
of the United States-if properly
safeguarded by State and National
government. Lubin lays great en-
phasis on that last provise. Euro
pean land banks have been successful
solely because the government has
rlgidly supervised them and kept
them out of the hands of exploiting
spectators.
PRUssIA's PLAN
Lubin is convinced that the most
adaptable plan and the one which
would permit of the widest applica-
tion in the United States is the
Lsndschaften system of Prussia
The plan of the Landschaft is very
simple. A Landschaft is land
bank and the laws Of Prussia pro.
vide that these banks may be organ
lied under government supervision. |
They have limited and well defined
functions. They may accept mort
cages on land and issue bonds for
the face value of the securities. The
bonds are then sold by the borrower
on the open market. Practically no
capital is required to establish Al
landschaft. A body of citizens in a
certain locality band together for the
purpose of organizing a land bank |
They applytto the government for a
charter. After an investigation i, j.
granted and the government names
the president of the institution. Hel
rs an expert and holds Office for life