Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-01-22
Or. T. |. MVEY
IN ADDRESS
Financing the Farmer Subject
of College President at Grain
-. Growers Convention

This is the. third time that | have
appeared before the Tri-State Graf
.Growers' association in the capacity
of a speaker upon cooperative ant
financial enterprises related to agrl
culture" said DR.. Frank l.. McVey
president Of the university of North
Dakota, in. opening his address a
Fargo. The recent discussion OF
this matter in the congress OF the
United States and the Introduction OF
a bill by Mr.. W. r. Bond in the leg
islature of our own state calling fol
a constitutional amendment which
will permit the establishment OF cred
it societies, he continued, makes II
unnecessary to apologize for a dis
! cussion of the same topic another
! time.
) The Financial Problem.
I'm their essence the fundamental
problems OF agriculture are financial.
and whichever way the farmer turns
he is confronted with the problem OF
meeting the financial side of his bust
ness. Speaking broadly, there are
three divisions of the problems OF
farm management: First, those that
relate to investment; second, those
that deal with administrative prob
lens in the conduct of the business;
and third, those that oncer the
marketing of the product.
1.-THE first group of problems re-
late to the securing of land, what to
! produce, the scale and character of
reduction, and necessarily the kind
C. equipment. In the supervision of
t;o farm work, the ascertaining OF
the time of planting, and in the man
agement of stock and the keeping OF
accounts, the farmer has the nucleus
of the second group of problems; and
i nthe determining of when to buy,
how to buy, and through what agen.
cies to buy, together with the various
questions that arise in the selling Of
his product, he finds the third group,
or marketing problems.
Much Credit Business.
1T is characteristic of the business
Of today that it is almost wholly done
on credit. The business man relies
upon the commercial agencies and
the banking facilities that have been
built up along his line, but for agri-
culture the credit facilities are dis
tinctly inadequate. 1t is true that
the well to do farmer has no difficult
ty in getting credit and meeting all
of his financial needs, but the ordi-
nary farmer, the man who is strug-
Cling on his way upward, he it is
who is confronted all the time with
the problems of credit at a fair in
terest rate. "
"YAs things are now organized. there
are no means by which the farmer
can secure a long time loan. Neither
does agriculture have the first use Of
the wealth which! it produces. TNe
consequence is that the farmer de-
ponds upon the merchant, upon the
implement man, and upon other PEG.
pie to carry him along from year to
year. Credit is absolutely necessary,
and If it is not secured in one way,
1t will be in another, and the way in
vogue in the United States is for the
agriculturist the most expensive.
Shows Big Debt.
According to the census of the
United States, the farmer debt in
1910 vas nearly $4,000 900, divided as
follows:
Store debt 49,. rs ESQ, 900, 900
Cotton liens ........... 800 ,OO0,0 900
Miscellaneous debts -. 417, 900, 900
Chattel mortgages So. 700, 200, 900
Real estate mortgages :. 1913, 00O, 900
"The same authority places the in
terest rate upon this debt at 7 3-4 per
cent. Another authority, no less a
one than Ambassador Herrick, says
the Indebtedness in the United States
Of the agricultural population is no
less than six billion dollars, on which
they pay no less than s IL per cent
interest. -.
"Eut the agriculturist of the United
States is face to face with new and
important needs, in the reorganiza-
ton of agriculture on a new basis, in
the requirement for change of meth.
cd, and in the necessity for rebuild
ing and restoring the soil to it's orig
inal fertility. In agriculture, there
fore, as in every other business, there
is need for two kinds of capital: For
fixed capital for. investment in land.
buildings. and general equipment, and
for circulating capital to meet the re.
quirements of everyday business. To
meet this need it is necessary to
have a system of financing the agri-
culture of the country, and it is to
our shame that it can be said that
there is not in a single state in this
country a satisfactory law upon which
could be built a modern system of
agricultural finance. The banks can
not meet the need. because agricul-
ture requires credit for too long a
period. The returns are too small.
Nor is it possible to finance the needs
of agriculture from the deposits in
banks, trust companies and savings
institutions. There must of necessity
be an investment of capital from all
sources in the business Of agricul-
ture. The farms ct America are
worth approximately $41, 900. 900, 1000,
and of this amount the land has a
value of SOS. 5G0 n10 600 The ANIMAL