The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-09-04
LOANED $500, 100000
TO AMERICAN FARMERS
Life Insurance Companies Enabled Them
to Increase Their Supply of Food
for the Entente--Average In
terest Rate Was 5K
Per Cent.

/
New York, Sept American life
insurance companies loaned $500, 000, 00C
to American farmers within two years
and nine months ending Oct. /, 1917. en-.
abling them to increase their supply Of
food for the entente nations. About
S270, 100000 of this was loaned to farm.
ers or on farm mortgages in nineteen
states of the West and South. These
states are supplying the bulk OF Amer.
| lean foodstuff TO this country and its
allies in the war. The average interest
rate on farm loans up to 1917 was
| per cent or less.
These facts are shown in report sub
mitted TO American life insurance com.
panies to-day by George I, Wight of
New York City, manager Of the Associa.
tion of Life Insurance Presidents. 1t is
compiled from original statistics and
covers 1915, 1916 and nine months Of
1917.
If this increase in life insurance loans
TO farmers has continued since Septem.
Der, 1917 Mr.. Wight indicates, life in
surance companies have invested in farm
loans Sl,0O0O00,O 900. This more than
one half Of all their real estate mort
gage loans, which amount to nearly S..
000, 900 600.
The report shows that the real estate
mortgage loans Of the companies on
both farm and city property increased
from $lT06,000,OO0 to 81 ,s92 600 600
during 1915 and 1915 During the same
period" continues the report, "the life
insurance companies increased their farm
mortgages in figures from 655 millions
to S45 millions, a net increase of 100
millions. The rate Of increase for this
two-year period for farm mortgage loans
is 20 per cent. The rate of increase Of
all assets of life companies for the same
period is IL per cent. II is seen, there
fore, that farm mortgage loan invest
ments Of life insurance companies have
recently increased about times as
much as the concurrent rate Of increase
of their assets generally. During the
same period there was a two per cent
reduction--20 million dollars-in the
amount Of money loaned on real estate
mortgages on other than farm property.
IAN analysis of the new data, there
fore, indicates clearly, in this decided
change in the character of their invest
ments, that the American life insurance
have been very positive fac
tor in the increase in the production Of
foodstuifs demanded by the conditions
created by the world war and, further,
may indicate change in their invest
ments of a permanent character. The
change noted is the very distinct trend
from city real estate mortgage loans to
farm loans While this change had set
in sometime before the beginning of |
hostillties in August, 1914, the statistics
show noteworthy speeding up Of the
process during the two-year period Of |
1915 and 1915. If this trend has con
tinued at the same relative rate, farm
mortgages to-day form more than one
half Of all the real estate mortgage
oans held by such companies.
"The great agricultural sections of
he country were those which attract
ID most of the new farm mortgage
money of the life insurance companies
Turing these two years, the Northwest
eadinR with $86,000000, an increase of
10 per cent the Southwest shows an in.
rease of S46,000,000, or nearly % per
ent; the central northern, Sl9,000000, H
II 1873 per cent; the Gulf and Missis-
ippi valley, Sll,000,000, OF "a per cent,
which is the highest rate Of increase In
NY section Of the country The South
Atlantic shows an increase Of $9,s00,- |
90, or 4s per cent. It thus appears that
While the largest amounts of money
ave gone into the Northwest and South
rest, the rate of increase has been
reatest south Of the Potomac and Ohio
ivers, and east of the Mississippi.
1.-THE nineteen states having the great
ulk Of life insurance farm mortgage
money produce nearly seventy five per
ent of the country's essential food /
rops. In addition, according to the agri-
ultural year book, these nineteen states
reduce nearly 20 per cent of the food Il
vestock tcattle, hogs and Sheep of
he country. 1t, therefore, appears that
he life insurance companies have loaned
bout 05 per cent of their farm mort
age money in the states that contrib
Re approximately three.quarters of the
ulk of the country's staple food pro.
uction." i'll