The Fallon standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1920-1958, 1922-11-15
Long Term Loans
Need Of Farmers
war FINANCE Corporation Director
Advocates Adjustment OF system
To Meet Present Needs

Bankers Association, Eugene Meyer,
Jr., Managing Director OF the War
Finance Corporation, outlined his
views regarding u nationwide poll
cy for agricultural financing. The
keynote OF our national policy" he
said, should be development oil the
usefulness OF the Federal reserve
System To the maximum. New ma
cninery snou1d DE held 10 the mini
mum. 1t would be uneeonomieal and
unsound-it would be the height OF
folly-to set up other agencies Tor
aoing the things the System can and
should do.
Agricultural financing" contin-
ued Mr. Meyer, Must be based, first
of all, upon the fundamental facts
OF American agriculture and, second,
upon the existing economic and fl
nancial structure of the country. Not
10 meet the first requirement is to
force agriculture into the impossible
position OF endeayoring to make
production and distribution conform
TO banking practices. Not to meet
the second is to weaken, rather than
strengthen, the financial machinery
OF the nation.
~ hose who object To the adjust
ing the eligibility rules of the Fed
eral Reserve System to the time re-
quired for the orderly marketing OF
agricultural products seem to fear
that the soundness of the System
will be ieopardized. But the System
suffers from friends as well as from
foes-those who defend its every act
and policy and who stand for the
immutability of its present law and
regulations may be as harmful as
those who are extreme in their de-
nunciation OF the part played by 1t
in the collapse of commodity mar
kets and prices. The true friends of
the Federal Reserve System are
those who are willing to see its ma
ohinery adjusted along sound lines
To meet changed conditions, both in
this country and abroad"
Rapid Improvement in Eighteen
Months
THE acute phases of the agricul-
tural crisis of 1920-21," Mr.. Meyer
stated. -.e low happily passed The
aftermath, In the form of a burden
of debt on the farmers and stock
men, still remains, and some thous-
ands of banking institutions in the
country districts are still in an oy-
er-extended condition. But probably
at no time in our history has there
been so rapid and extensive an i'm
provement in our economic condition
as during the past eighteen months.
The position of the farmer and
stockman has been immensely
strengthened, the harvest prospect
Is favorable, and, although there
were declines recently in the prices
of some commodities, most staple
farm products are considerably high
er than they were IN the summer and
fall of last year.
Now is the time to determine the
features OF our recent experience
which may properly be classified as
unique and therefore unlikely to re-
cur, and those which may be attrib-
uted to definite changes in our eco
nomie position, internally as we'll as
internationally. With exact knowl-
edge of the facts and with a thor
ough understanding of the complex
forces that have been of chief infiu-
ence in the crisis, we may hope to
arrive at sound conclusions as to
what notifications are necessary to
adapt our banking methods and ma
ehinery to the needs of agricultural
finance"
Need for More Gradual Marketing
Mr. Meyer pointed out that the
crisis served to emphasize one out
standing faot-the need for the more
gradual marketing of agricultural
products. with longer term financing
to correspond with this slower pro-
cess. "Unquestionably," he said.
ut would have been advantageous.
even under pre-war conditions, To
market our products more gradual
ly Under present conditions, II Is
more than matter of advantage
II is an absolute necessity.
1T is idle to designate as specu-
lation the carrying of agricultural
commodities by farmers or farmers
organizations for orderly market
ing, or to say that by forcing the
products out of the hands of the
producers speculation will be avoid
ed Somebody must carry crops be-
tween seasons. When an agricultur-
al product has been produced, either
the consumer must buy ii and carry
IL until il is actually needed ,or the
dealer who supplies the consumer
must do so, or the jobber must stand
between the producer and the manu-
facturer who ultimately takes 1t for
distribution to the consumer, or, go
ing back still farther, the producer
himself must find ways and means
of carrying his product and market
ing 1t gradually"
Liquidity OF Loans Depends Upon
Security Back of Them
Paper based upon the security OF
non-perishable commodities" Mr.
Meyer stated. should be made ell
gible for rediscount for the length
of time necessary to market a seas
on's product before the next harvest,
The view seems to prevail In some
quarters that paper in order to be