The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1923-10-05
A GOOD WAY TO
UPSET PRICES
Further Exposures Of How Edl'
son-Ford Money Plan Would
Fail to Aid Farmer.

Ths way the EdIson-Ford "commod'
ity money" scheme. aimed to stabilize
monetary values, would have exactly
the opposite effect, is discussed In the
present article, which Is the second In
A series prepared by the American
Bankers Association, reviewing the ex'
posture of the weaknesses OF the plan
as presented by William t. Foster, d.
rector OF the Pollack Foundation tor
Economic Research.
Briefly stated, the Edison-Ford plan
provides for Government warehousins
OF basic commodities, against which
currency would be loaned to the pro-
Queer without interest, up to half the
average value of the products for the
previous twenty-five years. Thls
currency would be cancelled as the
commodities were Withdrawn ana
oassed into trade. On the other haif OF
Che value the producer would receive
Gequity certificates" which he coulo
sell or use for bank loans. On these
pointS Mr.. Foster says:
UpsettIng Price Equilibrium
STEADY price levels depend mainly
on the balance between the volume
of goods on the market and the vol
pme of money offered for goods
The Edison plan is designed express
lv to unset the balance. A farmer de-
liYers, say, two thousand bushels OF
wheat to the Government warehouse
and the Government delivers one
thousand dollars in new money 10 the
farmer. When the farmer sells the
wheat he repays the loan and the Gov
eminent destroys the money. mus
the volume Of money Is Increased
precisely when goods are stored; and
the volume of money is decreased pre-
eisely when these goods are marketed
In other words, each transaction De-
gins by placing In circulation goods
without money to match the soods'
Dollar demand is created as the sup
ply OF goods is withdrawn; the sup
ply Of goods is created as dollar dS
mand is withdrawn.
"Would II enable the farmer TO Dor
row more money on his productS
snan he can now borrow? When MN
edison contends that farmers would
obtain larger loans on their cropS
than they can now obtain from banks
no ia confronted by this dilemma:
Either the banks are now refusing
TO make sound loans, or, under the
Edison plan, the Government would
make unsound loans.
Neither Mr.. Edison nor MT Foro
can consistently contend that banks
now refuse to make sound loans, IoF
that Is the way banks make most o.
their profits, and Mr.. Edison and MI
Ford have no doubt that banks arc
conducted for profit. 1t follows thaf
the plan would yield larger loans to
farmers only II the Government met
the risks of unsound banking. IN thal
case all that insolvent borrowers
gained would be paid by the rest o.
tha population, which, to say the least
is not q fair deal.
CuttInq Down Farm Credit
Apparently, however, the Govern
ment is not expected to run many
risks. for the farmer is allowed to
borrow an amount no greater than
one-half the average value OF MS
product for the previous twenty-five
wears. But prices have risen so high
since 1896 that the farmer could DOT
row on most products much less than
half the present value of the products,
II would be much less, therefore,
than the farmer could borrow directly
from the banks on graded products;
on products not graded no Govern
ment loans would be made, for there
would be no way Of determining the
twenty.flve-yea price average.
However, the farmer, having OBJ
tanned the stipulated Government
loan on his goods, could then offer his
equity certificate to bank Tor an adj
ditional loan. But the equity certih-
cate is virtually a second mortgage,
and no bank would prefer a second
mortgage to first mortgage.
Suppose the Old National Bank
was willing to lend a farmer eight
hundred dollars on one thousand
bushels of wheat Suppose, however
the farmer deposited the wheat In q
Federal warehouse and obtained five
hundred dollars from the Government
Certainly the bank would not lend
the farmer three hundred dollars on
the equity certificate. The protec'
ton OF the bank would be greater II
the farmer relied on the bank for the
entire loan: for in that case the bank
could realize on its security without
being Obliged to pay five hundred dol
lars to get the wheat out OF Govern
ment storage. The farmer can now
borrow more money from bank on
standardized farm products than
under the Edison plan"