The Palatka news and advertiser., 1915-07-23
ONE-CROP CREDIT.
Evils of the Present System
in the South-Key to
the Situation in the
Hands of Bankers
and Credit Mer-
chants.


flee of the Secretary, an official of
the department stated that before any
sound system of diversified agricul-
ture was possible in the South BAN
kers and credit merchants must take
an active part in promoting it. In
their hands, he said was the key to
| the situation.
For many years cotton has been the
one money crop in large sections of
the country. In consequence, it has
come to be regarded as the one Sc
curity for farmers loans. If man
grew cotton, he could obtain credit;
! if he did not, he could not. What is
now needed is to put the shoe on the
other foot, to refuse credit to the man
who persists in risking everything on
the chance of a good cotton crop
with a good market for it, and to eX-
tend credit to the man whose farm
under the worst circumstances is GER
tain to feed his family.
Under the present system it is the
custom to live off next years crop.
The farmer who grows nothing else
must nevertheless live while his cot
ton is growing. He obtains his sup
plies on credit from the merchant and
pays for them after his crop is in.
This is credit of most unfortunate
kind The borrowed money is used
for no productive purpose, and for
the interest which he pays either di-
rectly or in the form of higher prices
for his supplies the farmer gets moth
| ing in return. He is perpetually IN
debt and, in consequence, perpetually
compelled to seek cash in the most OBJ
vious way-gambling on a good cot
ton year.
The power to break this vicious cir
Gle rests with the banker and the
credit merchant. "Can you blame the
farmer" it was asked, Especially the
little. or tenant farmer, if he does not
follow the advice of agriculturists and
does not diversity, when he well
knows that when he goes to the small
banker or supply merchant of the
South the basis of his credit is fixed
on the number of acres of the one
cash crop that he is going to pro-
duce?"
The present reluctance to advance
money on any other crop than cotton
is to be attributed largely to the lack
of reliable markets for other products.
The establishment of such markets
is, therefore, necessary accompani-
ment of a successful campaign for di-
Iversifcation. On one occasion car
load of hogs had to be marketed in
the North, although the State in
which the hogs were grown buys $20,-
100000 worth of northern pork each
year. Much, however, is already be-
ling done to remedy this condition. In
Texas a number of counties have
marketing associations, and one
southern city was mentioned in which
a produce ASSOCIATION had been form
ed by the merchants and two men en-
ployed to help the farmers in mar
keting by showing them what the
markets want and by assembling and
shipping farm products. Underlying
this cooperative activity is the prin-
ciple that only by sound, profitable,
safe farming can money be brought
into the country and the whole COM
munity made prosperous.
Through their ability to grant or
withhold loans according to the pur-
pose for which the money is to be
spent, local banks have an unrivaled
opportunity to demonstrate in the
most practical of all ways the value
of sound farm management. Not
only can they give advice; they can
see that it is taken. During a pro-
tracted drought in Oklahoma, for ex-
ample, it was found that some of the
grain sorghums, such as kafr corn,
were much more certain to produce
fair yields than corn. In consequence,
the banks insisted that farmers who
wished loans should plant certain
number of acres to these sorghums.
In the same way in North Dakota
wheat farmers have to plant enough
corn to feed their live stock. In sec
tions of Mississippi and Alabama the
appearance of the boil weevil led
banks and merchants to insist that
farmers grow their own supplies in
order to minimize the amount of
money they were compelled to borrow.
In all these instances the same mo-
tive actuated the lenders-reluctance
to advance money to any business so
speculative as one-crop farming.
On a self-sustaining farm borrow
ed money is wanted not to meet cur
rent living expenses, but to effect
some productive improvement. Mon
ey loaned to such farms is stimulus
to prosperity; money loaned to ena-
BILE farmers to live while they wait for
cash crops merely drains the re-
sources ofsSthe community to the ex-
tent of the interest charges. 1t be-
comes of the utmost Importance,
therefore, for the lender to know
whether or not the borrower is self
supporting. For this purpose the
following rate sheet was suggested:
Data Regarding Borrower.
Date Name Address Married
---- Single Age Number chill
dren at home: Boys ---- Girls
For the purpose of securing credit
at the Bank of II make the
following statements:
l. | own and occupy as a farm the
following real estate: Incum-
brance against real estate,----
2. | am renting the following-des-
cribed land: ----------
8. My lease is for Years,
ending -------------
4. | own mules; ----horses;
nn441n &c ao,,-,