American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1916-07-27
RURAL CREDITS.
State Should Sell School Bonds and Give People the Use
of the Six Per Cent Money Tied Up in Them.

Rural credits is a subject pressing
for solution. Idaho does not need
the aid Of congress in establishing
rural credits. Nearly two and a half
millions of our endowment funds are
tied up in school bonds. These bonds
could be sold under present condition
Of the money market for a substan-
tial premium and accrued interest.
Why not give Idaho people the use of
this money, and reduce their interest
payments.
Do not understand me as being op-
posed to the states buying school
bonds, because / am not / favor the
states buying school bonds when the
issues are too small to be attractive
to bond buyers, but when the state
has an accumulation of bonds, say
from 5 $4,000 to 500, 900, and the state
has a demand for the money for farm
mortgages, we should sell the bonds
and give the farmers the benefit of
a saving in interest. 1t does not mat
ter to the school district whether
these bonds are held in Idaho or some
money center of the east, because the
interest rate is the same, but it does
make a difference to the farmers
whether they pay six or nine per cent.
Farmers and st0ckmen should
be able to secure money on as
favorable terms and conditions as
any other commercial line. They
have a class Of security that is
unexcelled. The biggest business
of the United States Is its agricul-
tural business. The annual wealth
produced on our farms is valued
at more than ten billions of dol.
lars, more than six times the
money in all the banks Of the
United States. 1t is high time
that the people who are pr0duc.
ing this tremendous national as.
set should be assisted rather than
penalized by having to pay high.
er rates Of interest than manu-.
facturers or other commercial
lines. By disp0sing Of our school
bonds and capitalixing our re.
sources Idaho can establish a bet
ter rural credits system than con-
gress q give us, a system de-
void Of red tape, without the or.
ganizatiOn of slOw.mOving ap-
praisement boards, dealing with
foreign banks, pledging the prop
erty Of enc for the payment Of the
debt Of another, the payment Of
commissions or subscriptions to
banking stock, or any Of the an.
nOyfng features of state land banks
or government rural credits.
The demand for rural credits exists
now. The farm mortgages in force
in Idaho will approximate 500, 000, 900.
The average interest is about nine per
cent. If supplied with state money
at six per cent, the annual interest
saving to farmers would be about
5000, 900, an amount not much less
than the total taxes farmers are now
paying. Idaho farmers would be glad
to replace this nine per cent money
with six per cent money. If we had
all our converted into cash
or securities we would not have money
enough to replace all these loans, but
we could go far toward relieving the
situation, and by adopting the system
OF reinvesting our earnings. could
eventually supply cheap money fol
all.
By converting our as
shown in tables No. 1 and No. Q. We
would have the amounts shown in the
first column below available for loans
each year, with the annual saving O
interest to borrowers shown in thu
second column: