Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-01-24

procedure Win Tue pEOHcI AluSAiaSAJ
of finance, to assure the farmer as
generous supply Of working capital
on as reasonable terms as is granted
other industries, was advocated here
Monday by President Harding in open
ing the national agricultural confer
ence.
"An industry" he said, more vital
than any other, in which near half the
nations wealth is invested can be
relied on for good security and GER
tain returns"
Declaring that on the matter OF
what may be called fixed investment
capital, the disadvantage Of the farm
err so impressed public opinion that
the federal farm loan board was estab-
lished to meet the need, the president
said that the farmer still needed some
provision for supplying him with work
ing capital
Compared with other industries"
he continued, "the wonder is that agri
culture, thus deprived of easy access
to both investment and accommodation
capital, has prospered even so well.
agriculture may be organized, he said,
! are suggested in the plan of the fed
eral farm loan board and in those
rural finance systems which have been
SO effective in some European coun-
| tries.
Incentives to Action
THE cooperative loaning associa-
tons of Europe have been effective in
entives to united action by farmers"
he continued. land have led them di
rectly into cooperation In both pro-
duction and marketing which have con-
tributed greatly to the sterilization
! and prosperity of agriculture"
Whether these organizations are
| considered as means to buying the
! farmers requirements in a cheaper
| market, he asserted, or to selling his
products in a more remunerative one,"
| the conclusion IN all cases is the same;
| it is that the farmer is as good bust
ness man as any other if he has the
! chance"
The manufacturer, he said. whose
| turnover is rapid, finds he can borrow
money from the bank on short time
notes when he needs working capital,
and his money will come back to him
in time to meet his obligation. On the
other hand, he continued. the farmers
turnover is long one. from a year in
most. crops to sometimes three years
in the cattle industry.
] Yet the farmer has been compelled"
1 dC dGIial GU IL HC DUIIO"S HIS WIN"
| ing capital, to borrow for short periods,
to renew his notes several times be-
! fore his turnover is possible and to
| take the chance that if he is called
upon untimely to pay off his notes. he
may be compelled to sacrifice growing
crops or unfinished livestock. Obvi-
ously, the farmer needs to have pro-
visions adapted to his requirement. for
extension of credit to produce his work
ing capital
No Difference of Opinion
The president said that Concerning
| the grim reality of the present crisis
| in agriculture, there can be no differ
ence of opinion among informed peo-
pie
THE depressions and discourage
ments," he continued. fare not peculiar
to agriculture and / think it fair to
say there could have been no avoid
ance of a great slump from war time
can have no helpful understanding by
suffering alone but we may fairly rec
ognize the fundamental difficulties
which accentuate the agricultural dis
couragements and menace the healthful
life of this basic and absolutely neces-
sary industry"
The farmer, he declared, from the
very mode Of his life, is individualistic
and therefore, because he buys and
sells as an individual, it is his fate
to buy in the dearest and sell in the
| cheapest markets" He contrasted with
this the corporation which, he said
| could effect economies and acquire a
power in the markets by combinations
The president said there was a mis-
conception regarding the financial status
of agriculture.
Difference In Debts
"If the mortgage Indebtedness OF
farms shows, over given period. a
marked tendency to increase, the fact
becomes occasion for concern" he said
"If, during the same period, the rail
roads or the great Industries controlled
by corporations find themselves able to
increase their mortgage Indebtedness
by dint of bond issues, the fact is her
aided as evidence of better business
conditions and Of capitals increased
willingness to engage in these indus
tries and thus inspire larger produc-
ton and better employment of labor.
Both the mechanism of finance and the
preconceptions of the community are
united in creating the impression that
easy access to ample capital is dis
advantage to the farmer and will bring
about his decay in prosperity; while
! precisely the same circumstances are
construed in other industries as evil
dence Of prosperity and OF desirable
business expansion"
st cannot be too strongly urged that