Omaha daily bee., 1916-09-08
CITY FARMERS MAY
p USE THE NEW BANK
Books Show that Douglas
County Would Be Entitled
to Borrow $S,000,000.
HALF OF THE LAND VALUE
By A. R. GROH.

You wouldn't think that lot Of
people in Omaha are benefited by
the federal rural credits act. But
they are.
A short visit to the, offices OF Harry
Pearce, register of deeds, and Harry
Counsman, county assessor, revealed
some astonishing facts.
The rural credits act, alias the
farm loan bill" provides ways and
means for farmers to borrow money
from the government.
They can borrow any sum from
$l00 to $4,000 for periods from five
to forty years.
And the federal farm loan banks
Zone of which we expect to get to
grace our fair city, as you doubtless
know cannot charge the farmers
more than E per cent interest.
Without giving the two columns OF
fine print which comprise the text
of the act, let US hasten on to divulge
the result of our Investigations in the
offices of the two Harrys hereinbe-
tore mentioned.
We discovered that numerous peo-
pie in Omaha own little tracts of
land around the city, in Douglas coun-
ty. Some OF them live on their land
and go to and from work in the city
by. street car or automobile or, per-
chance, bicycle.
These May Borrow.
All these people are entitled by the
rural credits act to borrow money
from the government to the extent
of half the value of their land and
one-fifth of the value of the perma-
nent improvements thereon situated.
And outside OF residents of Omaha
the figures in the offices of the two
Harrys are astonishing in regard to
the number of acres of farm land sltu-
ated in Douglas county.
How many would you guess. wen,
there are l78,350 acres OF farm land
in this county outside of Omaha's
limits. When you remember that
$40 acres make square mile you real
ize something of the size of the Doug
las county farm area, 1t would make
a strip one mile wide and 279 miles
long. ...
This land without its improvements
is valued at the sung little sum OF
$15,S26,775, or $8S.75 per acre.
Includes Low Lands.
"You must remember" says Mr..
Counsman, apologetically, that this
Includes some poor bottom land that
pulls down the total valuation ma
terially."
Still. $88.75 an acre for land without
its Improvements isn't SO bad, en-! ;,
Z Knd the improvements on this laud
are worth an additional $l,s72,77S.
Under the provisions of the rural
credits act, therefore, Douglas county
agricultural land is good for" loan
of $8,227,e42.
lust how much use Douglas county
farmers will make of the federal farm
loans is problematical. Real estate
men say there will be little demand
for the government loans unless they
put the rate of interest very much
lower than E per cent.
"The new act seems to me unwork-
able, in this part Of the state at any
rate" said Harry Reed, the abstract
man. There is considerable for
mality about getting the loan and nu-
merous restrictions on the use to
which the money is to be put.
Rate is Low Now.
Money is being loaned on first
class Douglas county land at 5 and sH
per cent, and some even as low as W
per cent. The government banks can
hardly beat that"
One of the attractive features of the
federal loans is that they are paid off
by amortization. It's the same thing
as the well-known installment plan.
The installment plan is good thing,
though it has come into disrepute in
recent years by people who used it to
buy plush albums, crayon portraits
and many other nonproductive arti-
cles.
When used by farmer in paying
off money which he has invested in
agricultural equipment that is produc-
ing wealth the installment plan is
fine thing.
BY this amortization or INSTALL
ment plan farmer who borrows
81 900. for example, can pay it off in
twenty years by annual payments OF
$80.24. These twenty payments make
up the principal, 81 900, plus the inter-