The Bismarck tribune., 1921-11-08
NORTH DAKOTA
IN BEST SHAPE
MEYER ASSERTS
War Finance Corporation Direc-
tor Astonishes Bankers in
Iowa BY Statement
GIVES N. D. THE PALM
Declares Financial Stringency
Aided Rather Than Hurt
North Dakota

4NO1 I'll OdAOl6
Fargo, N. N, Nov. S.-North Dako-
ia banks have asked for two and a
half million dollars from the War
Finance Corporation up to and in
cluding the end Of the first week in
November, according to the state
ment Of 2. J. Weiser, chairman of the
North Dakota committee assisting
in handling the money Of the Cor
poration. Money is awarded upon
the loans within six days of the time
the requests leave the Minneapolis
office or headquarters for Washing
ton, so Mr.. Weiser is of the opinion
that most of this money already is
within the state.
Great efforts were made by Secre-
tary Wallace of the National Depart
ment Of Agriculture to make certain
that the loans to agricultural sections
should be handled expeditiously. Mr..
Wallace, from his long residence In
the middle of Iowa, and his frequent
visits there since he took office, as
well as to other sections of the
middle West has made him very
conversant with the need for
immediate action for relief.
That other states of the middle
west are in worse financial condition
than North Dakota is the opinion of
Eugent Meyer, Jr., chairman of the
War Finance Corporation, as reported
in the Des Moines Register of Satur-
day, November 5th. The article in the
Register follows:
"Meyer Astonlshes Bankers"
Eugene Meyer, Jr., chairman OF
the War Finance Corporation, at re-
cent conference with Des Moines
bankers, is reported to have made a
statement which the bankers declare
proves conclusively that external
circumstances cannot be considered
wholly responsible for the present
plight .6f faTmers. when asked which
agricultural state In the middle west
is ingthe best state, Mr.. Meyer is said
TO have astonished the bankers by
giving the palm to North Dakota. 1t
had been supposed that the political
turmoil centering in the activities Of
the nonpartisan league in North
Dakota, and the financial stringency
the state experienced in c0nse-
quence had brought its farmers and
business alike to the verge of in
solvency. Exactly the contrary effect
resulted from the so-called financial
boycott, Mr.. Meyer is reported to
have said.
what the financial stringency,
did, the war finance chairman Is re-
ported to have declared, was to make
North Dakota farmers stop spending
and borrowing a full year before any
like halt was made by the farmers in
other middle western states. The
result was that, when the bottom fell
out of things, the net position Of
North Dakota was relatively good,
despite the losses its farmers had suf-
feSed afaiodsn having held wheat on
fa1lingtmarket.
'Gra;n Offsets Loss'
what they lost through the wheat
price crash they made up in substant-
ial measure by. the fact that, while
they were holding their grain, they
were not increasing their commit
ments or engaging in land specula-
ton. in consequence, Mr.. Meyer is
credited with having said the posi-
tion Of the North Dakota farmers, as
far as possession of quick assets to
current liabilities goes, is hostly bet
ter than that of farmers in any other
middle west state.
Conversely, the present situation
in Iowa is attributed in no small de-
gree to the fact that during the boom
the state had no such difficulties to
contend with as those which were
thought to be badly hurting North
Dakota. In Iowa bankers point out,
initiation and speculation continued
in full career for months after de-
flation was well under way in the
east. Readjustment difficulties now,
they say, will necessarily be proper
toned to the degree of unsOundness
that marked the transactions of the
initiation period. Another way in
which the same point is made is by
the statement that Iowa in the boom
time was left too free of restrictions
on borrowing and spending for Its
own good, and that it's potential
wealth was discounted to such an ex-
tent as to have been temporarily
transformed from an asset into a
liability. The inference is that some
times for communities as we'll as
for individuals, easy credit is not an
advantage.
PRES. KANE IN
NEW ORLEANS