Imperial Valley press., 1921-09-22
HOLT BRINGS
T|D|NGS Of
CHEER TO
RANCAERS
Local Banker, Member Of
War Finance Corporation
Il Tells Of Plans to Aid Pro-
ducers in Marketing Crops

EPresident' Leroy Holt Of the First
National Bank returned from Los An
gehs this morning where he has been
In5attendance at a meeting of the. re-
gional committee of the war finance
corporation of which he is the ranking
member, next to Chairman Henry M.
Robinson, president Of the First Ma
s.fional Bank and the Los Angeles Trust
and Savings bank of that city.
s3 This meeting was for the purpose OF
organization and preparing the way ~
%aid The farmers and ranchers of Tie
Southwest in financing their crops
through loans to, be made by the war
finance corporation. .a.....
The fund available for this purpose,
according to Mr.. Holt is 500, 100000
and portion of this vast sum, several
millions in fact, has already been ad-
vanced to farmers, ranchers and cot
ton growers Of the South and Arizona.
The chief meeting of the committee
was at a luncheon given the members
by Mr.. Robinson, at which Eugene
Meyer, Jr.; chairman of the War Fin
ance Corporation. outlined the methods
by which the corporation is perpared
to aid the producers of Southern Cali
fornia and Arizona in the marketing
of their products.
In attendance at that luncheon as
guests of Mr.. Robinson, were some 35
to 40 bankers of Southern California
and the members of the regional COM
mittee composed of Mr.. Holt, R. d.
McCook of San Bernardino, H. l.. Nc.
Clung of Phoenix; M. l. Powers of
Flagstaff; Charles S. Toll of Los An
geles, and Fred Bixby of Long Beach.
In his address Mr.. Meyer stated that
the War Finance Corporation will
function to the producer through the
Federal Reserve system and member
banks and also through the great CO.
operative marketing associations
which are growing up throughout the
United States and which are founded
on the principles established by Cali
fornia orange, lemon and raisin pro-
ducers.
Mr.. Meyer said in part:
"My western tour is made for the
purpose of examining into actual con-
ditions existing with the producers.
Mills may stop but growing goes on,
and the producer and the bank which
directly finances the producer must
have at least temporary aid. The War
Finance Corporation was first created
to aid in international trade, and our
early loans were largely made to cot
ton producers in the South. The Eu-
ropean buyer before the war bought 80
per cent of the crop during the six
months of the harvest period. Now he
buys less than half of that amount,
with the result that we must ware
house and finance the marketing of
cotton in an orderly fashion.
"In other words, the international
buyer formerly furnished the credits
for marketing our cops. Today the
pocess is to some extent reversed.
"The cooperative marketing move
ment of Southern California is gradu-
ally spreading, ard we now are dealing
with the cooperative organizations on
a large scale. In fact, our cotton loans
made in the South so far have been
S25,OO0,000 through banks and $S5, 900,
600 through cooperative organizations
in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas" "
Mr.. Holt was most enthusiastic and
optimistic in his report of the outlook
for the farmers and ranchers of the
Imperial Valley and Arizona in the
matter of securing financial aid to
market their crops. Under the plan
of operation adopted by the commit
tee Of the war finance corporation
will pay out money through the Fed
eral reserve banks to the country
banks for the accommodation of the
ranchers, and the banks will function
on these loans in their usual manner
Money will also be advanced in the
same way through the cooperative
marketing organizations, such as the
fruit growers and vegetables grower.
associations, and plans are being laid