The Washington herald., 1921-04-25
FARM FEDERATION
BUREAU ENDORSES
RURALCREDIT BILL
McFadden-Kenyon Multi
pie Insurance Plan
Also Favored.

The executive committee Of the
American Farm Bureau Federation.
which has been In session here Tor
two weeks, has indorsed the prin-
cipIss Of the McFadden-Kenyon
rural credits and multiple insur-
ance bill for agricultural produc-
tion. II was announced yesterday.
At hearings before the fedora
tionisy finance committee It was
shown that the cattle insurance
rates in some States were 22o per
cent In excess Of those in another
State. and that dre insurance rates
paid by the farmers in some States
were 900 per cent greater than in
other States, a statement of the
federation declared.
The McFadden-Kenyo bill pro-
videsr for the creation OF a Federal
multiple Insurance charter author-
king the issuance Of Insurance
against any and every contingency,
q privilege many foreign insurance
companies enjoy. II is the purpose
to induce one of the mutual life
insurance companies to accept such
a charter, so as to enable the COM
pany to write every class of in
sui AohSC uCSlI GU DS Ihc IdE IncE.
Sponsors of the bill claim that
IL the rural credit society and null
tiple insurance company had COM
mon agents, that the cost Of insur-
ance would be materially reduced
to farmers.
Measure Strongly Indorsed.
The measure has the strong in
dorsement of such men as Andrew
NJ Soule, president of the State
College of Agriculture, University
OF Georgia. who served on the Food
Administration during the war;
William Frear, vice director and
chemist of Pennsylvania State, COL
lege. and W. l. Mers. professor OF
agricultural economics and farm
management Of the New York State
College of Agriculture at Cornell
University.
Friends of the bill contend that
the average premiums on the In
surance under the plan advocated
would be less than IS. while many
premiums would be less than 81,
and IL the credit society has to send
ten. twenty or thirty miles for an
insurance agent to take that an
plication for insurance the travel
ing expense OF the agent would ex-
ceeds the net cost of the insurance
in many instances. Under the pro-
posed arrangement. they claim. the
applicant and insurance agent
would be together at the time the
credit Is granted. thus eliminating
all travelling expenses.
Contrast European System.
1T is also claimed" according to
a tsatement from the federation
that the reason the European farmer
obtained credit for agricultural pro-
duction at from 8 I-2 to { 1-2 Der
cent before the war was that he
offered better security through his
cheap and sound multiple insurance
than the average American farmer.
That Is, the European farmer did
not risk all his eggs in one basket,
but by insuring against unforeseen
contingencies he was not down and
out one year and living in clover
the next, a. Is too frequently the
case with the American farmer. An
other reason why such low interest
rates prevailed there, was that their
farmers had access to the credit
markets of the Industrial centers.
while our farmers operating only
on tho deposit banking plan have
their market limited to their re-
spective communities.
Rural Multiple.
TT is further contended," says
the statement, that the proposed
credit-insurance system would do
more to strengthen our present
banking system than the Federal
Reserve system In proof of this
contention 1t is claimed that there
has never been a failure of q single
rural credit society in France. SIM
ply because of the security offered
for credit and the further fact that
their farmers had access to the
credit markets of the Industrial CEN
ters of France"