The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1914-02-20


them generally within twenty-four
hours. We can do this Because most
Of our members are near by. We get
everything little cheaper and Of bet
ter quality than do the regular traders.
In. nothing, however, has the improve
ment in quality been so marked as in
seeds and manures.
How a Farmers' Bank Loans Money.
Our organization loans money to
its members at 51s per cent. To de-
positors we give three per cent. on all
deposits. We thus do business upon
a margin OF 21a per cent On the 9th
er hand the joint stock bank nearest
here charges 81 per cent. interest,
but pays only ~ per cent. interest on
deposits. They require a margin OF
four per cent. on which to do business.
Not only have the joint stock banks a
wider margin on the loans, but the
worst Of it is you cannot get loan
from joint stock bank for more than
three months. They never loan for
longer than that time although some
times, Of course, they will grant re-
newals. The trouble is that these re-
newals are hard on the farmer. These
banks are only in the larger places.
Very often the farmer has to 60 some
distance, take his sureties with him.
pay their expenses, give them their
dinner, and am afraid sometimes
treat them tp liquid refreshments. If
we have q man who wants money and
he lives near by we simply ask him to
bring in two good men as sureties, and
IL they are all right and the man Is
honest and good worker and his
neighbors speak well of him there is
no difficulty and very little Formally
in getting the loan. In addition to our
deposits we have arranged for an over
draft from the Bank of Ireland at Dun-
dalk. They cooperate with us in q
friendly manner and help us much.
"There has been a wonderful inn
provement in this community since
the land tenure laws went into effect
and the tenants are getting to be own
ers. It is a wonderful thing. People
who were slovenly and whose premi-
SEES were absolutely unfit to live in
have now purchased their premises
and are improving them and are living
under much better conditions. They
used to be afraid their rent would be
raised If they fixed things up. The old
age pension has helped many Of the
old people, for there are many pen
sioners in this vicinity"
How Little 1t Costs.
The books Of the company show that
the only expenses incurred are the
compensation of the school teacher as
secretary and manager, $50 per year;
registration fees of So per year: and
in addition postage and stationery to
the amount of two or three dollars.
The total of these items is only about
$40, this being the only expense in
CURED for an entire year.
The demand for small rural credit
associations in Ireland is very great.
The joint stock banks are not SO well
scattered throughout the rural section
in Ireland as they are in some parts of
the United States. Often the expense
Of travelling to the bank and the pay
ing Of the expenses of the sureties, as
Quinn explained, is considerable. 1t is
said that these expenses In addition
to interest, make a small farm loan
cost 20 to 40 per cent. If q young
farmer is buying young stock, pigs,
for example, it is far beyond the period
of three months before they will be
ready for sale. If he buys fertilizers
he can expect no results for six to ten
months. Returns upon good seeds are
equally slow in coming in and on the
money placed in the new implements
and equipment he gets returns still
more slowly. For these men three
months loan is OF little use. The in
elastic city system of loans, does not
really help the borrower, but in a
sense cripples him. It is only fair to
state, however, that the large banks,
although their methods are unsuited to
the farmer, are on the whole honest
and just in their charges and prac-
tees. The difficulty is that their meth
DDS CT business male it absolutely
impossible for the farmer to deal with
them profltably.
How Character Counts.
But here in Inn1skeen and Wherever
In Ireland cooperative credit society
has been formed, any farmer, be he
tenant or landlord, with a good repu-
tation for honesty and industry, can
by furnishing two suroties from among
his neighbors get any reasonable
amount as a loan for one year. To do
this involves almost no delay or trou-
BILE or expense. The bank is near by.
Cooperative farmers are neighborly
citizens, ready to help one another
out, SO that sureties are easily secured.
The interest is at a low rate. The
borrower can rest assured that he
will not be unduly crowded as to re-
payment If misfortune should overtake
him, for those with whom he deals un-
derstand fully his circumstances. In
fact the committee which decides his
fate is composed of farmers like him