The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-09-12
THE PART THE FARMER
PLAYS IN THE FINANCE
OF THE NATION

! noated abuse was heaped upon the
farmer by the hasty minded. II was
claimed that he was neither buying
bonds or fighting as he should. These
were hasty conclusions and like most
hasty conclusions, they were wrong.
They were wrong and unjust in every
particular.
The farmer right then was carrying
his part of the load. In the final
loans nothing more was heard about
the farmer doing his share. He was
doing it and little bit more. He has
been since the loans ceased a consist
ent buyer of W. S. S. He, did his lev
ell best at time when the draft was
reaching out and taking his hired
men, taking his sons, taking the farm
err himself from his lands and from
the fields and the livestock that need
ed him. Even in the first and second
loans his quotas when they were
cleared up and Strengthened out made
splendid showing but it was the
third, fourth and Victory loans that
the avalanche of farm dollars was felt
heaviest.
He learned much about the value of
U. S. Government securities through
| Liberty Loan campaigns and those
farmers in Missouri, Kentucky and Ar
kansas who bought bonds through pa
triotism then are buying Treasury
Savings Certificates now because they
know they are the best and safest in
vestment they can make.
In the history of the Liberty Loans
it has been noted that the first states
cover the top" were the great agri-
cultural states, the commonwealth
where the farm dollar is the biggest
and most plentiful dollar. It is
worth noting, too, that the Eighth
Federal Reserve District, that led the
way in the Liberty Loan campaigns is
repeating in the War Savings cam
paigns, and its purchases of War Saw
ings Stamps and Treasury Savings
Certificates are in keeping with the
splendid record it made in the Loan
drives.
The farmer has advanced in the last
few years. He has learned his pow
err. He knows now that he is one of
the most important parts of the in
dustrial and financial fabric of the
country. Now the best automobiles
are not too good for the farmer. The
homes are not what they were when
the middle aged American was boy.
Then the life of the farmer and the
boy on the farm was hard one. There
was neVer-ending work. Recreation
was not thought of often, and luxu-
ries were never dreamed of. The
mortgage was the biggest thing raised
on the farm.
But he was coming into his own
right along. There was not a big
movement like the labor unions to put
him in his commanding position. He
just grew by sheer ruggedness and
sticktoitiveness. Hhis physical body
was developed and his mental attain
ments grew.
The farmer was just in the right
strategic position when the war be-
already been largely vanquished. lie
was in position to largely increase
his output. Everything he raised was
in big demand. He was urged to in
crease his production to the maxi
mum.
There was no objection anywhere to
the farmer receiving just recompence
for his products. The farmer is no
gan. That mortgage bugaboo had
"gorger" or profiteer. In the past the
"middlemen" have fixed the farmers |
prices. But the government stepped |
in. The government recognized the |
farmers worth. 1t wanted him to |
prosper. The price of 1918 wheat was |
fixed at 1926. There was no strike |
threat" needed to bring this about. |
EN,nr,,thi,,nr 81
was priced in accordance with wheat |
price.
Old debts were wiped out. The
farm was improved. New acres We're
added and developed. And still the
farmer had a surplus. The govern
ment that had done so much for him
needed money. 1t would pay a fair
price for this money-four per cent
compounded quarterly. The security
itself, which is called U. S. Treas
ury Savings Certificate, looks not
unlike Liberty Bond.
The security behind it is what APP
peals to tho farmer. He knows that
behind it is every acre of his own
land and every acre of every other
farmer in the country. He knows that
every city sky-scraper, every city
home, and every vestige of property,
real and personal, in the United
States is behind it. He knows it is
safer than wheat. There is no chance
for loss. Every certificate is regis
tered. And he knows the $40 he in
vests in a Certificate in September
will be a $1,000 bond on January |,
1924, and that he will get his money
if he lives and if he dies his estage
will get it.
The farmer is not among those who
are trading these Liberty Bonds and
Treasury Savings Certificates off for
stocks in concerns that promise fab
ulous returns, but that often are not
worth the expensive paper they are
printed on.
COOPER ALIVE CREAMERY