Evening star., 1923-02-05
THREE FARM BILLS
5. PENDING IN HOUSE
Prophesied They Will Be
Passed and Signed by Presi-
dent in Next Two Weeks.
SENATE HAS APPROVED
All Measures Are Designed to
Make Finances Easier
for Planters.
IN DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID LAWRESCE.
The first milestone IN the farmer
fight for the same facilities Of finance
as the manufacturer and promoter d
Industry has been reached, iarse
bills passed by the Senate now VIII
be put through the House in the next
fortnight. and President Harding.
who pledged himself 10 those meas
ures at the agricultural conference at
the White House last Thanksgiving.
will sign them.
Broadly speaking. the effect oil the
farm credit legislation Will be 10 re-
duce interest rates to the farmer. lie
has been paying : and per cent. ana
IN some cases as hieh as 10 per cen.
10 get money, while his more :orf't-
nate fellow citizens in the marts Of
urban finance have been getting
money for generations at " per ceut
and less. This discrimination has
not been one of intent but accident
For the farmer has had no maChiner :
of credit built up for him whereby
capital could be secured in an crderiy
fashion and under conditions that
would appeal to investors at large.
81 regard the Lenroot-Ander rSon
bill" said Secretary of Agriculture
Wallace today. "as the response OF
the administration to the farmers de-
lnand for an effective form of inter
mediate credit. 1t will go a long way
toward reducing interest rates ulti-
lnately and will give the farmer the
longtime credit he needs in the turn
over of his products. Both the Cap
per bill and the Strong bills should
also have tremendous benefits
aIr. Wallace estimated that even II
interest rates to the farmer are re-
duced only liz per cent II would
mean the equivalent Of a 20 per cent
reduction in freight rates, so far as
comparative benefits TO the farmer
are concerned. He believes that COM
mercial and manufacturing and imam
cial communities everywhere Shouid
legislation, because il will tend to re-
ieve the farmer Of many OF his
troubles and enhance his productive
and purchasing power.
Concerned With Finance.
The three measures which have
passed the Senate are concerned al
most entirely with new methods OF
financing domestic markets. All the
bills which have for their object the
financing of exports probably will be
held in allegiance, as the adminlstra-
lion is no more certain of a way 70
insure an export trade for farm prod
ucts in the present disturbed condl-
tons Of foreign exchange than it Is
of q method to safeguard any other
kind of foreign trade.
There is a feeling in some quarters
that the Capper bill ought to be suf-
The farm bloc doesn't think SO and
neither does Secretary Wallace. The
Capper bill is aimed to strengthen the
federal reserve system.
1t authorizes the formation under
federal charter of agricultural credit
nnar2finR
capital under the supervision OF ths
controller Of the currency. and makes
possible the grant Of advances on paper
secured by warehouse receipts repre-
senting non-perishable commodities
and having a maturity not exceeding
nine months, on paper secured by chat
lei mortgages on live stock fatteneo
for market, such paper maturing in not
more than nine months. and on paper
secured by chattel mortgages or
breeder, stocker or dairy herds and
maturing in not more than three years
The Capper bill authorizes the incor.
poration also of rediscount corpora
tions under federal supervision. and
through these companies undoubtedly
the agricultural corporations will have
access to city capital. The measure
also extends the life of the War
Finance Corporation nine months, and
permits federal land banks to lend a
maximum of 1000, instead of $4,000
to any one borrower.
Lcnroot-Anderson Bill Urged.
But the champions of the other two
hills, namely the Lenroot-Anderson
and the Strong bills, while admitting
the merits of the Capper bill say it
Will help the livestock industry
chiefly, and also those producers who
are organized now or are likely to
he organized in cooperative associa-
ions The latter can make advances
TO individual producers because the
cooperative has a binding contra ct
TO market the crop. The purpose of
the Lenroot-Anderson bill is to reaci,
the individual farmer who is not in
cooperative and who needs money
for farm improvements or to handle
crops with long turnover of credit.
Under the Lenroot- Anderson bill
credit departments will be formed in
will total $60000,0OO. and further
capital will be obtained by selling
debenture bonds in the open market.
Ultimately these bonds ought to sell
for about 81. per cent, at which fig
ure the present farm loan bonds used
in starting the land banks are selling.
The federal land banks at present.
however, lend money on mortgages
which are secured of course by the
land itself. The farmer, however. in
the recent depression, didn't have
anything 10 offer as collateral be-
cause he was already mortgaged to
the limit. He had the skill to raise a
crop and the land. but not the capi-
tai to see him through In the busi-
ness world he would get capital large
lT on the strength Of his ability to
produce and his character and rclia-
biGtN. but the farmer who went to
the country banks found them fearful
of lending for any more than ninety
days. and frequently We're unable to
renew because of apprehensions con-
cerning the need of funds by the
larger banks in other channels Of
trade.
Plnu Three-Year Credit.
Under the new bills the farmer can
in some cases get three years credit.
There would be set aside capital for
agriculture purposes wh;cn cannot
lie disturbed by needs Of other indus
tries In order to make the new
farm loan bonds attractive it is pro-
posed to make them tax exempt
Secretary, Mellon doesn't like this
because he says it is Inconsistent
with the administrations effort to
abolish all tax exempts by constitu-
tionsl amendment. But the answer
nf the farm bloc is that the farm loan
bonds issued for mortgage purposes
now are exempt and that other tax
cNempts are in the market now and
until all tax-exempt securities are
forbidden by the Constitution, which
may take two or three years to get
through all state legislatures the
farmers might as well go into the
borrowing market on as attractive
terms as possible.
The Strong bill would correct GER
tain defects in the farmland bank
organizations permitting government
Supervision instead of allowing them
ros be indtffereEtly managed by pri-
vate hands.
On the whole. the administration
is proud of the farm program and