The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1932-01-08
LAND BANKS DEMAND POUND OF
FLESH FOM TOILING FARMERS

The 100000 addition,
funds for the Federal Land R.Sd
which has been approved bv ~
house and which will be IN Ns
mended to the senate by the oOa
mittee on banking and cur,s sU.n'
will be a means for the stab;l;S.
ton of the shaky land banks I'd
not for the benefit of the sr auO
and middle farmers who ca s,,laa
pay the interest or the prino;.',s
on the loans they have from a.
land banks.
The bill as it goes to the ga,
ate will not have the provision =.
a five year moratorium that NJ. -.
included in the house bill m.
house moratorium proposal M.
that if the Federal Land RAM.
thought it proper they could Az
tend payments on the installmsnt.
for five years or less. The fest
mony of the heads of four Of n.
Federal Land Banks before Az
senate committee showed ele.rI.
what would have been the reVuI.
of the moratorium propOsal-ahsn'
lutely nothing for the tOII,nv
farmers.
Those who testified at the cOm.
mittee hearing included John FieIS
j president of the Federal lana
Bank at Wichita; P. D. Hogan
president of the bank at Omaha.
Ward Netherland, president of the
bank at St. Louis and M. H. Cos.
sett, president of the bank At
Houston, Tex.
Increase In Delinquencies
Gossett testified that during Ii.
past year the number of fOreclOr
! ures and delinquencies had IN
: creased one hundred per cent m
his district.
Mortgage loans delinquent IN
the area served by the Wichita
t Land Bank, Fields listed at 1874
5 per cent as of Nov. 80 compared
5 to 8 per cent a year ago and "a
/, per cent two years ago.
2 The percentage Of loans mvOlv-
ed in foreclosures and judgments
\ as of Nov. 80 is 2.98 per cent Of
the net mortgage loans In Kansas,
SGT per cent in Oklahoma, 2.s2
] per cent in Colorado and 2.O8 per
: cent in New Mexico. The average
loan is 5000, he stated.
: Hogan gave the number Of
: loans in his district as follows,
y Iowa 100; Nebraska 1900; South
! Dakota 1895; and Wyoming 26S
! Delinquencies, he stated, increased
/ from last year to this as follows
s Iowa 80 to 1874; Nebraska S.6 u
n 17.6; South Dakota 81 TO S5.6 AMI
1t Wyoming Al to 1879
l. "Out of 1885 loans in our dis
II trict we have 8,275 delinquencies,
Netherland testified. Of 1,lS
that should be foreclosed, approx
imately 95 per cent of them haV
be reached their present condition be
l. cause of other Indebtedness an
I92.9 per cent of them are not tax
ing care of their taxes this yea
~ he said.
- Demand Pound of Flesh
The pound of flesh policy
y the Federal Land Banks was o.
emily stated by John Fields, Of Il
D Federal Land Bank of WIGHT
!. 'Our standing rule has been TIL
e there would be no sense in for
e closing on a borrower, if we cOu
'ir get no more return as rent. =
= operating we have been able.
e keep our business in good shape
e so OPERATING, operating
e that they got the last cent out
e the farmers before they fOreclO
e ed, because they could then 9
more out of the land by rentn
ct. it TO some other farmer who h
an been driven from his land som
he where else and was willing to
oe tempt to pay the amount the La
'eI Bank demanded at rent by slaV
of ing himself and his family 81
,,,o further.
-: s Against this oppression by
u Land Banks the toiling Ia
W masses must organize for MI
~ refusals to pay their interest
'lt mands, organize to prevent
eu' Land Banks from evicting
lus farmer from the land.