The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1916-01-21
RELATION BETWEEN
BANKER AND FARMER
d. w. Davis, in Address, Points Out
Way to Finance Farmers

DOioS-lu d speech uellVeI6u DeIOTi
the Swine Growers Association, re
Gently in convention here, d. w. Da
Wis of American Falls, banker, anC
a candidate for the Republican guber
material nomination, said in part:
Every developing community de
ponds largely upon the banker for as
sistance, whether it's industries be
farming, stockgrowing, mining, OF
manufacturing. Bankers should be as
liberal as good business methods will
permit, but they can not do impossi-
BILE nor unbusinesslike things. Some
people may at times think that bank
ers are tight-fisted and lacking in the
milk of human kindness, when in fact
they are only taking reasonable bust
ness precautions to conserve their
customers deposits. When l look in
to the past and review some of my
experiences with many who were ma
king their first start in life, or estab-
fishing themselves in new homes,
cannot escape the conviction that
must have had lot of confidence in
human nature. The American Falls
country, where l have been engaged
in banking and farming for the past
ten years, was settled mostly by poor
people, many having only sufficient
means to pay their homestead filing
fees This calls to mind an instance
where family came to American
Falls from Kansas. The husband and
fathers introduction to me was
request for loan of $42.S0 with
which to finish paying the freight on
his car of household goods, machin-
cry and a little livestock. He had
a wife and six children but not money.
l asked him how on earth he expect
ed to live in country like his,
where there was no work to be had, |
without means to see i'm through the
winter. He replied tn at he had fig |
ured on having enough to lard him i,
on his homestead, having paid his
freight in advance, but an error had |
DSSh uldu0 Ill Ju6 rate anu ne NdS
confronted by the shortage above re-
ferred. He told me he had two tons
CT flour in the car and four barrels
OF cured meat. He was three years
in paying off the note, but l have
the satisfaction of knowing that to-
day he has well improved farm
with good home, and is doing fairly
well.
PLUCK WON OUT
Another instance as the arrival of
three husky German lads who, after
fling on three homes leads, had about
515 left between tn en- They could
speak little English, but notwith
standing this and tb fact that they
we're without means , they were not
discouraged. They worked for their
leighbors, many of whom were prac-
ically without money themselves but
lad teams and few farming nipple
nents, exchanging labor for the use
f teams and i'm plements on their
wn homesteads, and in this way de- {
clipping their ow n farms. Last year /
lese boys harv, ssted about 10000 {
ushels OF grain, and they are now |
onsidered first class risks q
The problem of financing such a
where in one year more /
ian 100000 acres of land were ia ken {
homesteads' or state land leas es,
18th good sprinkling of people u S
ost wholly without means, or who {
ould be before their lands were pro I'd
lctive, is no small item. Lumber =
r buildings, seed, implements, at
'rses, and sometimes even groceries \ W
I've to be supplied with borrowed th
oney. I'm the earlier years of our liz
velopment one of our four nipple &C
ent houses placed an order for three of
rs of implements for it's years Sn
ock. 1t shipped in ten straight cars ins
fore the season closed, and was i'm
ten forced to pay local freight on gre
Is than car lots, to supply the de- att
lpd, and we loaned the money for she
cash payment on many of these bre
plements, the dealer taking con nov
ct Tote for the s7lance to make Dire
nself safe. The first of June we 7
157 automobiles in the county sho
100 combined harvesters. This The
not include the combines ordered the,
1915, which numbered thirty. For the
) year, forty orders for combines of i
e been placed with one factory. bee
he financing of development like str
is a tremendous task. No coun- is
bank can supply more than a no
III part of the money needed The to