The Washington herald., 1921-05-09
WESTERN BANKERS
AT PRESENT FACING
A TRYING PERIOD
Must Finance New Season
While Carrying Many
Old Accounts.
RICHES NOW IN BINS
Huge Stores Tied Up Indefin-
itely Which Cannot Be
Sold at Profit.
RICHES NOW IN BINS

KANSAS CITY. May S.-BankerS
OF the Middle West are passing
through what is normally their
most exciting period. Demands for
loans. not for Iuxuries but the
necessities involved in farm opera
tions. seasonably increase in late
spring, and this year shows no
change from custom. 1t has, how
ever, two unusual factors. One is
the heavy loan account already car
ried by the banks, some of which
is many months old and should
have been cleaned off the slate with
the sale of products in autumn. The
other is the potential wealth lying
in wheat bins and corn cribs, none
of which can be disposed OF at 4
profit and some of which seems
likely to remain indefinitely. Pro-
ducers seem to have reached a state
of mind which indisposes them to
make much effort to market COM
modities. They prefer to wait on
circumstance and are perhaps i'm
bued with a hope that something
will happen before fall to raise
price levels to more satisfactory
heights.
Improvement With Next Crop.
All this, of course, means added
necessity for bankers to devote
their energies and resources TO
keeping business going and makes
So insistent a call at home as to
allow OF placing little surplus in
cceptances or Other foms Of Iuvest-
ment. They are content IL deposits
maintain their ratio to loans and
they are able to extend crediI where
Il is needed. They realize more fully
man last winter that there is not
10 be expected any material change
in financial conditions until the new
wheat crop Is ready for market. 1t
is the general feeling that then we
shall see a freer selling both of ihe
new crop and Of the large surplus
that has been carried over. To be
sure, the new idea of pooling the
products of the farm is making
are that It will not be perfected
sufficiently to affect this years
output materially. The plan of COM
puIsary pooling has been practically
abandoned, and il is not likely that
ia
headway this year. whatever may
come after The agric ultural States
will ned all the credit possible un-
til marketing is general and nor
NAL. This means that money will
continue close. and the banks Will
have to conserve their strength.
Watch European Developments
Interior bankers are watching the
Euopean situation eagerly con.
WINGED that until we have eStab.
| lished trade relations abroad we
cannot hope for nOrmal makets 70.
or products. The expansion OF last
year is still showing its effect. Many
/ dealers who nave been able to carry
on for several months have this
spring come TO n point where Il was
| necessary to make settlement and
| they have taken their losses. But
they are chary Of entering again or
new enterprise and are inclined tc
wait on events. One chain store
company. for instance. that rented
| ninety storerooms and INTENDED to
open as many stores ast Novemb beI
postponed action and invested its
surplus in bonds. Now il has post
poned opening until next Noyembs:
or later.
The saving grace is that the in
terror has commodities in store that
in emergency can be marketed and
soon will nave another wheat crop
to increase this resource. The neNI
ninety days must be bridged over
however, and the bankers duty just
now is to induce cooperation in
carrying on until world events give
a fairer outlok.