White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1924-01-11
Banke7;S,r 1 T5snsTmer Team w ork

A<O |
A MONG the md. "a said
"A by D. H. Otiss ,-.or Of the
agricultural commission of the Amer
lean Bankers Association, at the an
nual convention of the association
recently held at Atlantic City, New
Jersey. the following stand out as
the strong points in his very inter-
esting address to his fellow bank
ers:
Teamwork implies teammates. A
good horseman admires a we'll
matched team. A rowing coach must
have men who measure at least five
feet ten inches and who weigh at
least 100 pounds. More than this,
these men must work in perfect har-
mony. An outstanding individual who
fails to work In unison is absolutely
worthless In the crew.
"The' same principles apply to busi-
ness. The banker may properly be
considered the team-mate OF the far.
mer, and as such must work in per-
feet harmony. Why? Because eco
nomic conditions demand it; the
work is too heavy, 1t requires a
team. The interdependence of the
farmer and banker is SO close that
self-preservation demands that they
pull together. If agriculture fails we
all fail. There are no two indus
tries that offer greater opportunities
for mutual helpfulness, for increas-
ing profits and bank deposits than
does banking and farming.
'The banker-farmer movement pre-
sents a program that reaches down
through the surface to the very roots
Of things. It recognizes the truth
that bank prosperity depends not up
on the prosperity of few but upon
the prosperity Of all and especially OF
the average man and the average
woman. In the last analysis we must
recognize a community Of interest,
each for all and all for EACH
Periods Of Low Farmer Purchasing
Power
| Periods of low farmer purchasing
power are invariably followed by a
decided increase in the number of
business failures. Business failures
since 1866 reveal the close relation
between agriculture and business.
Further, when the income per acre is
increased from one to two dollars
there is direct effect in decreasing
the number Of business failures and,
vice versa, with decrease of one
to two dollars in the income per acre,
business failures mount steadily up
ward. If this difference Of one to
two dollars in the farmers income
per acre, promptly and effectively In
fluences the number Of business fail.
ures over the entire country, can any
business man question his interest
in agriculture?
There are some fundamentals in
farming with which all business men
should be familiar. Success in farm
ing is the basis Of farm life. Good
homes and modern labor-saving de.
vices are not part OF the unsuccess.
full farmers equipment. Further.
more, the unsuccessful farmer Is not
buying the products of the factory
and OF industry.
IA bank would not long succeed If
it should continue to use its capital
stock for running expenses. Neither
will the farm. No matter how large
the bank account at the start may
be, 1t will not stand continual check
ing without the addition of deposits.
The lamented DR.. G. g. Hopkins has
well said that the farmers of this
country have been living not upon
the interest from their investments,
but upon their principal; and what
ever measure Of apparent prosperity
they have had in favored localities
has been largely taken from their
capital stock. The boastful state
ment that the American land owner
has become scientific farmer is as
erroneous as 1t is optimistic. Al
most every effort by the American
farmers has resulted in decreasing
the fertility Of the SOIL &
"The banker who drives into the
country and observes this process of
mining the fertility from the land
should feel that to that extent the
resources OF his bank are being
sapped. 6t
Three and four years ago some
of the southern bankers were living
in clover I should say cotton
Large crops with high prices brought
in large sums of money The farm
ers, business men and bankers all
were happy. What happened in the
two years following the high prices
for cotton? To use slang express
sion, all were busted
"And yet some of our bankers are
continuing to loan money to the one
crop cotton farmer. may be wrong,
but have notion that when such
farmer comes around for a loan
that the banker should make the loan
on the condition that he keep at least
one cow, one SOW and a couple OF
dozen hens, at least enough livestock
to feed his own family.
"It was surprise TO me to find
in one of our southern states 20 per
cent Of the farms not producing a
single egg, 81 per cent not raising
even one lone chicken and 36 per
cent not having single dairy COW.
In another state, we'll adapted to the
poultry industry, the annual importa-
ton of poultry products amounted to