The Idaho Republican., 1917-08-03
CHEAPER MONEY FOR
FARMERS

Farmers are coming to their own
They are coming to be recognized
as one of the great factors in win
ming the war and In saving hungry
world from starvation.
Farmers are coming to their own
Efforts are being made to put then
in positions of the greatest possible
efficiency. Legislation is bending Its
energies to putting means into the
hands of the tillers of the soil. They
are coming to be recognized as great
factors in winning the war and In
keeping a hungry world from starva.
tion.
Farmers have, been crying for the
elimination of the middleman, and
never in the history of the world has
so much been attempted as Is now
under consideration for bringing the
producer and the consumer into
closer touch with each other; never
so much suggested and advocated
for placing capital in the hands of
farmers so they could multiply pro-
duction and profits.
The tendency of the past few years
has been to make it possible for the
farmer to borrow government money
at low rate of interest, but the
average politician has been playing
a double role and failing to get the
arrangements practical enough SO
the farmer could get the money into
his palm. Red tape, and claims OF
red tape, have stood in the way of
loans being actually made. When
the Idaho farmer has applied for
loan from the state school fund he
has generally been told that there
was nothing available, and he has
gone to the bank and paid higher
rate. But of late years the money
has actually been in the public treas
ury and the farmer has been permit
ted to borrow and use it.
Irrigation schemes used to be
framed up on the supposition that
purchasers of wild land could buy
and subdue the land and pay for 1t
and the water right in five or ten
years. That has all been tried out and
found wanting, and now the irriga-
tion schemes contemplate 20 and 40
year periods of payment. The state
has learned that wild land lying idle
produces nothing for the state, and
that when it is put under cultiva-
tion it begins to yield something and
it becomes a power for the produc- |
ton of wealth. Following that line
of reasoning, the state would better
give the land free to actual farmers
and remit their taxes for a term OF
years than to let 1t lie idle.
In the same line of reasoning the
state has learned that when 1t has
money in the treasury earning moth
ing, it would be better to loan it
without interest to farmers IL they
will furnish proper security and use
1t in improving the land and increas-
ing production. 1t increases the
wealth and taxable property of the
state, therefore any rate of interest
that it receives from such loans is
desirable. 1t would not be fair for
the state to loan its money free and
thus injure the banking business, any
more than it should go into the
hardware business and undfrsell the
hardware merchant, yet it does seem
lair for the state to loan ifs. money
1T such rates as are estabFshed by
The big money markets of the world,
and especially in view of the claims
made by the banks that the& "have
lot enough money to go round"
,ven at the higher rates.
If the farmers are capable of using
Ill the money the banks can spare
md all the state can spare, and |
hereby increase the production OF
ood and wealth, the good work 6
hould 60 on. We venture the pre- !
Iiction that as the state loans in {
;rease, the banks will be more pros '
)erous. IL
In this issue we have report OF i
tate Treasurer ]. w. Eagleson i
howing the amounts of money in O
he various funds belonging to the I
tate, and readers will observe that a
e urges the enactment of more lib 4
raj laws to enable the state to keep a
IS money working thru farm loans. h
Tr. Eagleson tried to have such a Z,
leasure enacted during the last ses- d
lon of the legislature, but there was a
OF sufficient interest to put it thru. W
I people are interested in these mat r,
,rs they should have them in mind n
hen they go out looking for men II
,r the legislature next year. r,
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