The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1916-10-04
RURAL CREDITS IN A VISION
COUSIN BEN TO FARMER NED

for you must buy stock in your Credit
Union, which you and your nine neigh
bors formed in order that you might
borrow.
Buy stock when you are already
hard up? Certainly; you must buy
S115 OF the stock, or you cannot Dor
row the $4,000, so it leaves you $2,1S5
TO use, but you pay interest on $4,000.
You may get some divident on the
stock, so cheer up. The interest you
pay is certain, the dividend is-well
you know how stocks go. You get
dividend if there is any net profit LEFT
after paying all expenses of the Fed
eral Land Bank located several hun
dreds of miles from you Anyhow.
you get a handsome Autographed GER
tificate of stOck-not live stock, Just
stock" which carries double liabil-
ity on it.
What is double liability" Why,
that means that you may lose the $115
that you have been forced to invest
in the handsome stock certificate; that
is one liability" Then if Bill Jones,
or any Of your other eight or nine
neighbors fail to pay their notes, you
may be called upon to help pay the
loss to the amount of another $115;
that is the second liability That
makes the double liability" In Or
der to borrow the sum of $4,000 you
only $2,185 net, and you have to guar
|antee your neighbours debts to the
amount of $3.50.
Of course, you know your neighbors
are honest; have you ever endorsed
their notes at bank? Still, since you
need to borrow for yourself you may
think of the wife and Riddles in your
own home and consider what would
happen if you had to lose $3.50 through
that double liability 1t would buy
a lot of clothes for the family
But you risk it. Maybe it will turn
out all right, if crops are good year
after year, and those neighbors all use
good scientific methods in farming.
SO you and the neighbors decide to go
ahead, form your National Farm Loan
Association and borrow 100000 if
your ten farms are worth over $40 900
You appoint a committee of three to
appraise all your farms Of course,
a different committee must appraise
the three farms of that first committee
of appraisers, but that's easy. What
is an appraisal between friends? You
may think Bill Jones has nerve to ex-
pect his farm to be appraised at $4,000
when it is only quarter section, and
that southeast quarter of the north
east quarter is swampy and the creek
spoils the west half for blowing, but
you keep still, so Bill won't say a
word about the alkali on your farm
You are wondering all the time if
Sam Slick is put on the appraisal COM
mittee to appraise your farm what he
will do to you. Of course the mare
you traded to Sam, three years ago.
did have a touch Of heaves, but Sam
never asked you about heaves and
when you kept her from stuffing her
self with hay, she didn't show it-not
much. You are hoping Sam won't be
one of your appraisers, however.
You say, there must be three ap-
praisers and the other two can out
vote Sam, anyhow, but when | remind
you that the appraisal must be unani-
nous you exclaim:
"Eh? What? All three appraisers
must agree unanimously? Well, by
George, that's tough-to expect three
farmers all to think alike"
I'll write you next week about what
you are going to do in that dilemma
Your Cousin,