Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1914-03-26
AMERICAN BANKER HAS SOMETHING TO LEARN

Berlin, GerIndny.- OOlho VI W.
rubes are laughing a little at the
bankers" said a successful farmer 10
as before we left the states. we
have actually farmed successfully Ior
years. have studied farming In agrl-
cultural colleges. We think we kno"
our business fairly we'll. It's certain
ly funny to read speeches by bank
ers telling us how to farm. l nave
come to the conclusion that the BANK
ers know so little about farm loans
that they would do better to STUDY
and discuss their own business than
to try to teach us ours" And We
have concluded that there Is some
force in what the farmer says.
The American Bankers associa-
ton and thirty state bank assocla-
tons are actively promoting agrlcui-
tural advancement The work under
taken by them includes soil surveys
experiments with fertilizers, hiring ex-
perts to make practical demonstration
upon the farm, education in road mat
tiers, and so on indefinitely. The bank
ers are duplicating what the federal
agricultural department is doing
what every agricultural college is 10
ing, and what every farmers institute
is doing. They are going into the
fSeid Of production which Is important
but which after all is one IN which
the farmer remarked, zone is led 10
think that the bankers of the country
have unanimously concluded that they
know their own business 80 thor
oughly that their elevating eouca-
tional instincts can get opportunity
for expression only by doing mission
airy work among US lowly farmers ana
elevating this ignorant class to their
own high plane of intelligence.
Worst Banking for Farmers.
We have been going through Eur
ope accompanied by agricultural ex-
merits. We have talked with leaders
in agriculture in several countries
We have read bulletins and books ga
lore on agricultural methods aDroau'
We consulted government speclallsIe.
We have seen and heard and studleo
about all the most sclentlnc up-eo
date farming methods. But neltner
the experts with us nor we ourselves
have been able to recall single loea
on agricultural production that IS not
being more or less widely WORKED OUT
in America by these loWiy farmers
whom the bankers are so benevolent
lv and condescendingly iRstructlng.
On the other hand so far as we can
discover the United States is the only
country in the civilized world where
banking methods have not been IN
any degree adjusted to the needs Oh
the farmer. Sometimes over mere III
Europe the joint stock bank does tne
work. More often it is cooperative
credit bank that loans to farmers.
But some bank stands ready TO
meet the farmers needs everywhere
except in the United States. III
America. as nowhere else, the banker
takes the terms calculated to accom-
modate the city merchant and imam
ciers and infiicts them upon the pro-
testing farmer, Sixty and ninety day
loans are Just what are needed in the
city, DuL LU6y dIO Va az P~pS
the farmer A merchant or commis-
sion man gets his returns promptly
and can meet ninety day paper at
maturity. But the farmer cannot Duy
calves or pigs and fatten them, mar
ket them, and get returns short OF
much longer period. The rural Dor
rover who invests the borrowed
money In seeds or fertilizers cannot
hone to realize upon his investment
short Of six or eight months. IL Is
not 80 much a question OF interest
az Of terms and methods. In many
localities interest rates are fair. In
acme places interest on farm loans is
roo high. But it is true everywhere
an America that the bankers STUD
bornly refuse to the farmer the SORT
OF loans which he needs. And the
banker who sits behind the cashier
desk writing speeches about better
farming drops his facile pen lopg
enough to crowd down the throat Of
uome farmer patron who should have
an eight months loan, three months
loan which is as apt to cripple as
70 help him.