The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1916-03-22
CREDIT UNIONS IN TEXAS
f. c. Weinert
Texas state Warehouse Manager

The Texas Warehouse and Market
ing Law is the outgrowth oil the IN
yegtigation Of the American Commls-
sion which recently studied rural
credits in Europe, as viewed by able
Texans who were members OF tnat
commission and who. in conjunction
with the Farmers Union of Texas,
were instrumental in having this law
put on our statute books. Sectlon q
of the law covers every feature OF the
rural credit union system, which sec
ton reads as follows:
Corporations chartered here
under shall have the right TO loan
money upon chattel mortgages, to
their members only, for the purpose
of enabling them to make and mature
their crops
The warehouse and marketing bull
Ietin No. %, OF the department, deal
ing with the marketing and rural cred
It's phases of the law, puts the ulti-
mate intentions of the law in the fol-
lowing concrete and concise language:
yet the greatest feature of the law
Is the marketing system. and when
once in operation it is conseryatively
estimated that the savings to the pro-
ducers Of this state will be many
times greater than all other features
of the law combined.
'In the provisions of this law there
Is the germ OF the rural credit sys-
tenn We wish TO call the attention
Of ali warehouses and of the people
| generally to the fact that the charter
of every permanent warehouse makes
OF il not only warehouse, but also
cooperative marketing system and
a rural credit association. Every such
/ warehouse has full power to conduct
cooperative selling agency in mar
I keting any and all products. 1t also
| has power, if its members so desire,
to extend credit to the producers on
| such terms as it finds practicable.
/ The charter provisions of every such
| warehouse are broad enough that,
with an adequate capital, each ware
house company can operate its own
selling agency and can finance all
produce stored with it, and make
loans to its customers. And under
| the same charter developed in its
| broader usefulness each warehouse
company may, and when provided
with sufficient capital probably will,
eventually be the connecting link be-
tween the farmer and the Federal Re-
/ serve banks in financing the cotton
/ crops, With experience the useful
ness of the warehouse companies, not
only for warehousing. but also as
marketing agencies and as genuine
and practicable credit associations
| for aiding the producers, will be con
stantly widening. We do not yet real
ize the scope, the usefulness and
| greatness of the warehouse and mar
keting law
THE farmer asks nothing but {
sqaure deal, and he is willing to deal
fairly with others, and the world is
getting to understand that he is de
termined to offer only a standard pro
duct. To this end, and at his de
mand, we have already provided fol
an honest bale of cotton, which shall
be what it appears to be and what
the market takes it to be. From this
! Will grow year by year through ware
housing, marketing and cooperative
efforts, an ever widening field of use
! fulness."
Lending money to the producers d
a favorable and low rate of interest
Is the vital principle of the rural cred
II system, and the rural credit system
Is based on the true theory that help
Ing the farmer helps the world. This
can De accomplished by the organiza
ton of rural cooperative credit unions
which can be organized and main
tanned under Section q OF the Ware
house and Marketing Law.
The organization of these union.
will be beneficial TO the banker ans
merchant as we'll as to the farmer
For example: Suppose 10 men OF
ganize into union with a giyer
amount for capital stock. Thu
union goes to its local banker an,
borrows the money TO carry its mem
bers through the year. The securit,
is gllt-edged and the bank can affort
TO let them have it at a low rate o
interest Tie merchant gets cash IN