Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-12-11
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
GEES NO NEED FOR EASIER
LOANS TO FARMERS.
REPRESENTS ATTITUDE OF
WILSON ADMINISTRATION
Report Of Commission Shows System
Of Marketing Farm Products Is A.
tended. with Great Wasts-Farmsrs
Urged to Diversity Crops and to
Raise More Corn and Cattle.
Especial Correspondence

Especial Correspondence
Washington. Dec. 11.-That there is
no emergency which justihes govern
ment assistance to farmers directly
thu the use Of government cash or
credit, was the position taken by Sec
rotary Houston, Of the department Of
agriculture, in discussing rural credits
in his annual report, submitted to
President Wilson. Secretary Houston's
statement was regarded as indicating
the policy Of the administration.
Secretary Houston pointed out that
the new bank law takes just and par
ticular knowledge of the farmers re-
quirements." He suggested that any
credit needs Of the agricultural COM
munity beyond those cared for under
the federal reserve law. should be
cared for by system Of cooperative
credit associations" financed with
private funds, by means Of which the
combined credit of farming commune
ties could be utilized and by system
Of land mortgage banks, likewise,
privately capitalized.
Says Situation Doesn't Justify.
There seems to be no emergency
which requires or justifies government
assistance to the farmers directly thru
the use Of the governments cash or the
governments credit" said the report
"The American farmer is sturdy, self
reliant and independent. He is not in
the condition of serfdom or semi-
serfdom In which were the European
peoples for whom government aid was
extended in some form or other during
the last century"
II advocating a land mortgage bank
ing system and a system of co-opera-
tive credits associations the report as
serted that the use Of the funds loaned
for productive purposes on the farms
covered by the mortgages should be
insisted upon.
Marketing System Reviewed.
Mr.. Houston's report reviews the In
vestigation Of the marketing and dis
tribution system, and while the study
is not yet sufficiently finished to admit
Of final conclusions the work thus far
shows the need Of reorganization Of
the distribution process. He says:
During the present grass season. for
example, Chicago has received Next
can, Canadian and Florida cattlesat
about the same time. Steers raised In
California by an Oregon operator have
been shipped thru Denver to Omaha
and their beef sent to points on the
Atlantic coast. Hogs raised in Illinois
and sold at Indianapolis have been
slaughtered at Boston and part OF
their cured bacon shipped to Los
Angeles. Michigan dressed veal calves
~ Ano rk~1
mission houses at Chicago have been
points from which they came to fill
orders from local retail markets"
Special Fund Needed.
Secretary Houston asks congress for
an additional emergency appropriation
of several million dollars on account
OF the recent outbreak Of the foot and
mouth disease among cattle. He said
that If the interval between the last
and the present session Of congress
had been longer the department would
have been without sufficient funds to
meet the situation.
1.-THE department" he said, "has pur-
sued its former policy OF purchasing
diseased and exposed cattle at an APP
praised value and OF slaughtering them
very strict quarantine. The ex-
pense Of this task will be very great
and It will be necessary to ask con-
gress for an emergency appropriation
Of several millions Of dollars. The In
terests at stake are vast and justify
any reasonable expenditure"
No Advance in Corn.
While the production Of grain gen
,o,vo5 Great incroo ", the
crop of 1914, the report pointed ont.
the production Of corn showed no adj
vance. and the meat production showed
a distinct decline. In this connection
the secretary points out, lament
able neglect Of livestock production in
the south" a ~
In urging farmers generally to diver
sifv their products and especially to
product beef, swine and poultry, at
least for home consumption, the Sec
rotary said:
nIf farmers in the south had hereto
fore practiced diyersincation on suffi-
GENTLY large scale, producing their
own home supplies. that section would
not be in its present hard case. The
experts Of this department are labor
ing earnestly to bring about better
direction of the agricultural activities
Of the south"
The report received the increased ac-
tivttv of the departments information
bureau and included a statement Of
the plans for q reorganization Of the
department to increase efficiency The
opening up Of the forest reserve in a
manner that would aid local communi-
ties and at the same time preserve the
forests, and system whereby the gov
eminent could bear a part of the local
burden Of taxation to be charged
against future timber, where forests
are not at present available for TIM
herine. were recommended.
MEAT DIET RESPONSIBLE.
May Have Caused illness Of Captain
erickley, Of Harvard Eleven.
~. Cambridge Mass. Dec. 1o-Too much
meat in the training diet OF the Har-
ward football squad may nave been
responsible for the attack Of appen-
a.c!t.s ~.!c,. kept Captain Brickley out