davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

teen countries of Europe, from Russia to
ireland, from Italy to Norway, to study
at first hand the details of these systems.
: =
The apostles of the cause of ''agricul-
tural cooperation declare that there IS
nothing theoretical in their scheme A.
to the banking side of it. which would
seem. perhaps. the most difficult of real
ization, they point out that there are to-
day some 1900 such cooperative banks
i'm Germany intrusted with considerably
over S.sD,GOO0D0 of deposits and that the
mortgage credit institutions OF the Ger
man farmers have secured some S2,Oo-
100000 in loans for German landholders.
Moreover. experience has shown these in
situations to be even more dependable
than the commercial banking institutions.
Eminent American bankers who have IN
vestigated the question have declared the
theory of the plan sound from the DanK-
ing standpoint
The American commission is an organ
izatjon of federal and state delegates
gathered together under the auspices or
the Southern Commercial Congress. 1T IS
by no means ready .made COMMISSION
but has grown bit by bit, and as 1t stands
today is the result of two years incessant
effort.
Heading the commission are seven fed
eral commissioners bearing the creden-
tails of President Wilson and Secretary
of State Bryan. These commissioners are
Senator Fletcher of Florida, chairman
Senator Gore of Oklahoma, chairman of
the Senate committee on agriculture;
Representative Moss of Indiana, chair
man of the House committee on eXpendi-
lures in the Department of Agriculture;
Col. Harvie Jordan of Georgia. president
of the Southern Cotton Growers Associa-
ton: John Lee Coulter of Minnesota, the
governments expert on agricultural sta
tistics; Kenyon l.. Buttertield of Massa-
chusetts, president of Amherst College,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

a manufacturing plant which is develop
ed and made through artificial means 10
produce q yield far beyond that obtain
able at Its natural fertility.
Today farming conditions in the Initeo
States are changed The farmer no long
er is able to count upon new territorleS
to open up. He must buy his land ano
generally at high prices He cannot al
ford to wear out its fertility and throw
1t aside Instead he must add to II from
year TO year. He must employ the most
improved types Of agricultural machinery
in order to reap the greatest benefit from
the land. The farmer has become man
ufacturer.
He is in the same position az the men
engaged in other industries and he con-
seouently must rely upon credit. just as
they do, in order to conduct successfully
his manufacturing plant. To purchase
fertilizers, machinery. to irrigate or
grade his land. to improve permanently
his fields he must invest capital. II Is
not reasonable to expect him to put up
Ali this capital himself. He should be
able to make use of credit just as any
business corporation does.
Buf despite these present-day require
ments the farmer finds himself without
any adequate means to secure this credit
The banking system Of the country was
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11
SENATOR, DUNCAN UFtzTczHR ETi0uDA
PRESIDENT OF M< SOUTHERN C0NKRclAL CONGRESS
CHAIRMAN Or The IEpERAL COMMITTEE HEADING
THE AERlCAN COMMISSION

and DR.. Clarence j. Owens of Maryland.
managing director of the Southern COM
mercial Congress.
< !.
Congress appropriated $4,000 for the
compilation of a report upon the subject,
and also passed joint resolution indors-
ing the commission and requesting Sec
rotary Bryan to bespeak for it the diplo-
matte courtesies of the foreign govern
ments Accordingly, Secretary Bryan has
placed the diplomatic officers at its serv-
ice.
The Southern Commercial Congress
became interested in the question Of ag-
ricultural cooperation through its efforts
10 find some relief for the southern farm
ers from the evils of the store lien sys-
TEN II is common practice in many
southern states for the farmers to pur-
chase their goods of the local merchant
on credit. pledging their future crops as
security for the debt. When the crops
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

country This social service club dis
tricted the poorer sections of the city and
the members made systematic visits.
1T need not be emphasized that hos
pital treatment is in vain unless little
home training goes with 1t. OF what use
IS. 1t to bring child out of home
where the conditions promote disease and
after a brief treatment at the hospital
TO return it to the same environment?
Our work was therefore to make
house-to-house campaign in favor OF
sanitation, and to endeavor to influence
the poor to be clearly, to observe the
proper rules about ventilation and. above
all. cleanliness in the kitchen and where
plumbing and other modern accessories
are involved. We did some good. / hope.
and there are many noble women who
will continue this labor in spite OF rather
slow progress.
MY experience. like that of all work
ers In such fields, is to become saddened
by the vastness of the enterprise. We
can talk glibly to the poor about fresh
air and the necessity of leaving their
windows open at night. But when they
have meager covering for their beds II
is difficult to get them interested in
such rules. How to make them more
comfortable without danger of making
them dependent is another question. In
st. Louis the vast number OF workers in
factories. In foundries and in other in
dustrial plants make clubs where social
service is required OF great benefit to
the community. But / think those clubs
are most beneficial to the members.
believe in that sense OF responsibility
which imposes on every woman the obli-
cation of aiding those less fortunate than
herself. / hear that the problems here
are different, and when get more leisure
I shall take pleasure in learning some
thing of the charities which interest
Washington women"
*
Mrs Houston. though regrettui at spoil
ing a pretty romance. Is the authority
for the statement that she never studied
under her husband at the University of
Texas. The tale went that as most
brilliant student she attracted the atten-
ton of the professor of English litera-
ture and history. some time later cham
cellor of the Washington University. St
Louis. and now Secretary of Agriculture
This admiration soon ripened into some
thing greater. Mrs. Houston says that
her husband came to the Austin seat Of
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

these days OF corporate control Tho
butcher, the baker the candlestick maker
have all resigned their self sufficiency
before the superior strength OF corporate
organization. Only the farmer, the con-
servative OF conservatives, the backbone
OF indivfdualism, has chung tenaciously
TO the old-fashioned practices that make
the American farm family a complete
unit unto itself
What he needs he buys for himself:
not only does he produce his grain through
his own effort alone, but he is his own
agent in selling it. He borrows upon the
credit Of his own name or on the secur-
ity of his land alone. He thinks alone.
acts alone, and completes alone against
many And there are none to deny that
no prosperity. no economic gain. perhaps
could compensate for the loss of his in
diyiduaIism in the citizenship OF the ma
ton.
Now comes the doctrine OF co-Opera-
ton And the cry is raised The Amer
lean farmer would not sacrifice his indi-
yidualism to adopt such methods. 1t Is
ALI right in Europe where farmers can be
handled. but in America the farmer is
TOO independent"
But when does cooperation demand a
sacrifice Of indfvidualism! Cooperation
Is rather q means to secure corporate
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

From that country they We're carried inta
the other countries. and in each instance
there were notifications made in the
plans of operation in order TO make the
systems conform 10 the conditions and
forms OF government OF the country 10
which they We're transplanted. The same
thing viii have TO be done in order 10
secure satisfactory system for the
United States.
An instance Of this is the German sys-
tenn OF land mortgage associations and
tn French adaptation OF the same idea
In Germany. shortly after the seven
years war. King Frederick the Great
compelled his barons TO pledge their grea;
estates as security for loans which he
proposed to use 10 develop the agricul-
tural resources OF Prussia. which had
suffered severely from the wars Such
high-handed methods were certainly a
curious beginning for a system which has
developed into mutual aid association.
This compulsory pooling az their land
by the mobiles finally led 10 the formation
of the landschaften associa tons. organ
iZations in which the members voluntaG-
lily pledged their land as Joint security
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11
COTQnSSION

built in the interest of the merchant and
the manufa cturer. The farmer is an out
slider and secures generally but indiffer-
ent accommodations from the banks.
The national bankssare denied the right
to lend their funds on his mortgage. He
has the state banks and insurance COM
panies to depend upon, but apparently
they are not adequate. For short time
loans on personal security he is handi-
capped because the banks as rule have
no means Of judging Of his resources as
accurately as they may of the merchant
or manufacturer.
X n
There is no mercantile agency to list
the farmers. Also the banks are in
closer touch with the business men than
they are with the farmers. This. of
course. is not an invariable condition.
There are many banks which cater to
farm loans. The permission to establish
national banks with smaller capital in
small towns has probably helped great
deal But generally the banks Of today
are not responsive to the needs of the
farmers. The deposits of the country
are in the big cities.
The natural channel for bank funds to
take is toward the industrial or specu-
lative enterprises. The farmer is the out
slider. He may get money from the
banks. but he has to divert it from its
normal course to do so. There is no
system that carries a stream of money
into agriculture as it is carried toward
other enterprises.
In Europe the conditions of fifty years
ago We're quite the reverse of what they
were in the United States. The land had
long since lost most Of its natural fertili-
ty. It was like the cow which, the
farmers boy said. Didn't give no milk:
You had to take 1t from her." The land
had to be developed, exploited and money
was needed to do that So in Germany,
that most scientific of all nations. sys-
TENS of agricultural credit We're devised;
To provide the short time loans the
Germans formed societies of farmers who
pledged themselves Jointly liable for any
loans made in the name of the society
Then the society handled the funds and
in turn made loans to the farmers who
were members of the society. The princi-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

attempts TO strengthen the resources oI
the farmer in order to increase his pro-
duction. lower his expenses and to SIM
plify the present methods of distributing
and marketing food supplies If the
farmer can produce more food. cheaper
food and the swollen profits now demand
ed by the middleman can be squeezed out.
the American wife may yet find another
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

topic Of conversation for the dinner table
besides the high cost of living.
According to the new plan the farmer
is to be made a banker. a wholesale buyer
and distributor. The plan is based upon
the principle of cooperation. BY COM
bining groups of farmers, first into bank
ing societies and then into buying and
selling agencies, it is declared that the
methods of food production and distrlbu-
ton In the United States will be revolu-
tionized. In several sections of the coun-
try. chiefly among the fruit growers and
the dairymen of the north central states.
the practice OF cooperative distribution
has already been placed in operation.
The other two features of the plan, those
OF cooperative banking and buying. have
been perfected in many of the countries
Of Europe.
An investigation is aDout to be made
Of the European systems 1t will be one
OF the biggest and most costly investiga-
tons ever undertaken even in this age
and country of investgational mania A
commission of one hundred Americans
las just set off upon a trip through four
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

In st. Louis until the regular time Tor
summer fitting. But the lure Of Wash
ington is great and Mrs. Houston. after
Weighing all conditions. came to the cap
ital rather unexpectedly about fortnight
ago. She has established an ideal nurs-
cry in sunny corner of an apartment.
and with the excellent servants employed
for many years she is beginning 20 feel
comfortable in the circumscrfbed area of
an apartment house Coming to attend
The FIRST cabinet dinner. at which the
President and Mrs. Wilson were SO anx-
ious TO have complete roster of guests
81 honor. Mrs Houston has slipped quiet
Y into her place and has been receiving
and calling after the prescribed ritual.
Tall and spiendidly proportioned. the
wife OF the Secretary of Agriculture is
sne OF the most impressive looking wom-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

the gentleness and culture of the old
south.
Love Of home was one OF the predomi-
mating traits of the southerner, and the
cultivation of home virtues for its daugh-
ters Conditions have made 1t imperative
for nearly all Texans to be proficient
home keepers.
"For we all cling to our own vine and
fig-trees, and those VINO have the make
shift of boarding are not considered
really to live. 1t Is at the best merely
an existence. The servant question IS
acute, so we all have learned to COOK,
to sew and to take proper care of
home. No woman should fail to acquire
this knowledge and to practice 1t. nave
always wished for the leisure to learn
to cook from the scientific standpoint. for
1t is not only a fascinating study but the
most feminine of accomplishments: In
the Texas University domestic science
has been recently added and
1t is always crowded. l am very proud
OF my alma mater in that 1t mas more
than two thousand students and or these
more than seven hundred are girls. IL
seems SO much to the state to have these
splendid students influencing the national
as well as the home life"
r
Secretary and Mrs Houston have three
children, OF whom the oldest is named
for his father, David Franklin jr. The
little girl Is called Helen and the infant
boy Is Lawrence Reid, a family name In
Mrs. Houston's branch. 1t is some time
since a cabinet family possessed an IN
FAINT, the small daughter of George b.
Cortelyou being the last. The family OF
Walter Fisher. one of Mr.. Tafts council
ors, consisted Of eight children. but the
youngest was little girl, Mabel, three,
and q half years.
Mrs. Houston is the youngest Of the
cabinet circle, but her stately presence
and rather grave manner give her an
of more years than she is en-
titled to. She has been married seventeen
years and it is a happy omen that she
has to stop and calculate the exact time
before making a reply as to her marital
record. Her marriage occurred at her
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

for debts to be incurred by the society
These societies issued mortgage bonds
which were listed on the great financial
exchanges and dealt in as commonly as
are the best railroad bonds in the United
States today.
These bonds were based upon mort
cages given to the landschaften by any
member desiring to borrow. The pur-
chaser of the bond could depend upon the
strength of the entire landschaften for
security for his bond. The bondholder had
nothing to do with the borrowing farmer.
The society became responsible for the
farmer. and If he defaulted only the So
ciety suffered.
&
OF course. that made the bond a great
deal better investment than a farm mort
gage. and the investor was willing to buy
1t at a much lower rate of interest than
he would have extended to the individual
farmer on a mortgage. The system Sc
cured an enormous fund of money for
the German farmers at far lower interest
rates than were otherwise obtainable and
upon easier terms.
So the French decided to copy this
idea. But they went about Ii in an EN-
tirely different way. In the first place.
as the French have not the problem OF
dual government, as is the case among
the federated states OF the German en-
pire. It was decided, probably for econ-,
al mortgage system instead OF manyY
and to depend upon government controi'
instead of competition TO keep down the,
rates of interest to the farmers. -
Then, as ii was manifestly impractfca-t
BILE to pledge as security the farm lands.,
of all France. a cash capital was SUBJ
scribed instead. Upon these principles
there was built up the Credit Foncier OF
France, the greatest land bank in the
world Later the Germans borrowed the
French modification of their own idea.
but changed II a second time, organizing
the German land banks.
So the systems have been transferred
what each time. In the United States
there will undoubtedly arise problems
which will necessitate even further and
new notifications.
There seems little doubt that the ap-
plication of these principles In the United
States will radically change agricultural
conditions. Agriculture in this country
is not progressing. The production -
foodstuffs is increasing only about one
fourth as fast the population. and
consequently prices of foodstuffs are
jumping skyward every year.
The solution of the problem seems -
be the creation of better credit facilities
More capital put into farming would per,
init of a higher development of the land,
a more general use of fertilizers. OF bet
ter machinery and of the scientific meth-
DDS which the government has gone I"
such great expense to teach the farmer.
but which require much money 10 ap-
ply.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Gxaa3A@@@@0 0@@6

fathers home in Austin and was bril-
liant social event
Mr.. Bealrs family located originally
in Virginia and'were probably akin 10
the old family of Beales who came TO
Georgetown in the days before the capt.
tai city was dreamed Of The name was
formerly spelled Beale, but how it be-
came transformed into the present mode
Mrs. Houston does not know. her IA
theirs people, from whom he gets the
name Duvall, were French Huguenots
from Georgia and Carolina, but the
BeaIes were from Virginia. She intends
looking into the old records for the Beaie
history and to trace their progress from
Virginia to Kentucky, then farther south
until the Rio Grande stopped their prog
resS.
The Secretary OF Agriculture and his
wife are members of the Episcopallan
faith, as are the Burlesons. who are. like
Mrs Houston. natives Of Austin. Tex.
Mrs Burleson, wife Of the postmaster
General, was also born in AUSTIN. anu
that two of the cabinet hostesses should
be old friends and neighbors IS a pleas
ant coincidence. Mrs. Houston has al
ways been a member OF st. Pauis con-
gregation i'm Austin. but she has not yet
chosen a place Of worship here.
y
AS is fitting for the wife Of the Secre-
tary of Agriculture. Mrs. Houston is
devoted TO SrOWlHS lHHiSS, dhu Shc Ssooe
have a plot for a garden. She took great
joy in the superb vegetation and flowers
of Forest Park, and. she delighted to
wander through the dense woodland.
Being a Texan, she is. Of course, a fine
equestrienne, but recently the care Of a
saddle horse in a city has been too great
for the pleasure derived. She joined the
Country Club in st. Louis and for a
time kept horse there. She may return
to her favorite exercise here IL she can
find opportunity to do so. Mrs. Houston
plays golf and tennis and L. fond OF
walking. But just now her little ones
are an absorbing care, TO which must be
added the obligations of a cabinet host
esa She Is fond of social intercourse and
she accepts her role with keen anticipa-
ton. In fact. it augurs well for the So
cial side of Washington next winter that
the official hostesses expect to enjoy
themselves rather than to take up the
program with q sense OF finding II
treadmili. Mrs. Houston 10 dehseHha'
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

THE Farmer Is to Be
! Made a Banker, Whole
sale Buyer and Distributor.
Methods of Food Produc-
ton and Distribution Revolu-
tionized-Entire Scheme
Cooperative One-Commis-
sion Now Investigating Eu-
ropean Systems = Congress
sional Appropriation for Re
port Upon the Subject-The
System in Germany It's
Modified Use in France.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

developed into a network of credit or
CARNATIONS which supply every cent or
money used by the farmers of the Ger
man empire. Practically every farmer in
Germany Is a banker or can easily be-
come one. Instead of the German farm
ers remaining on the outside and get
ting what consideration they could from
another mans banking system, they have
built up one OF their own, which they
control.
These systems provide a regular chan
mel for the diversion of a portion OF the
savings OF the German people to the
development of their farms All over the
empire the little farmers banks are
found Week by week the village arti-
san, the butcher. the baker, the candle
stick maker place their little savings In
these banks and from there 1t goes into
the farmers hands.
And what is most important the farm
erS who receive this money must pledge
themselves TO spend it for some improve
ment to their land or for the purchase
of some implement or article that VIII
increase their production. increase their
income, increase the riches OF the en-
pire necessarily the machine goes
round, receiving money from everywhere
and turning it over to the farmers, ana
every cent that takes this route means
more wheat more food, more wealth Tor
the German people.
X
The most satisfactory feature of agri-
cultural cooperation is that it has been
put in practice in practically all OF the
countries of Europe. Certainly system
that has served with equal satisfaction
the needs of the farmers of fourteen
countries. Of fourteen or indeed many
more nationalities, should not be dismiss
ed simply on the ground Of non-adapt-
ability without thorough study. So the
American commission proposes to study
the operations of the systems. to observe
them at first hand among the Danes and
Germans, Z French and Italians, among
the many races of Austria Hungary and
among the farmers of Russia and Ire
land.
The field of study will be exceptionally
broad. The first agricultural cooperative
credit systems were devised in Germany
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

He problem of the
high cost of living
is TO be attacked
from a new direc-
ton. The effort to
hammer down the
prices of corn. eau
lifower and cram
berries through de-
vastating the mo-
nopolies of the
middlemen is to
be supplemented by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11
Not Always True.

MISS INEz MILHOLLAND said at
AVA tea in New York:
THE new woman-the woman who -
going to vote-has larger interests than
the woman OF the past The new woni-
an,s broad future contains all possibili-
ties The future OF the woman OF the
mast. on the other hand. contained but
one neutrality-suspicious.. It's no longer
true" Miss Milholland ended with
laugh, .'that, as the saying goes:
Man proposes and woman accepts.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

K $. ID A " I d
F r A n K LIN
HOUSTON is the
latest arrival IN
the coterie of cabi-
net hostesses. Hav-
ing an infant son
less than three
months old. and a
little girl not yet
three years. she
d e C | q e d against
changing her home
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

mutual love Of philosophy and Of litera-
ture was the first attraction.
Mrs. Houston Is the daughter of Duvall
Beall. citizen of Austin. Her grand
father was another revered citizen OF the
Texan capital, and was on the federal
bench, Judge Ezekiel Turner. and she
bears her grandmother's name, Helen
Turner. Judge Turner was rather in adj
vance of his generation in that he be-
lieyed that women should be as carefully
and as completely educated as men.
He induced his young granddaughter,