The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1933-10-12
FEDERAL, LAND BANK INEFFICIENCY
PROVEN

Sunday mornings Pioneer Press and Minneapo
lis Tribune carried lengthy articles which Shove
the complete inefficiency Of the Minnesota Feders
Land Bank The articles were both in line with tn
editorial criticism the Herald editor made fe'
weeks ago.
Investigation discloses that the ineffciency wa
even worse than suggested by the Herald. For IN
stance $4,000 in actual loans to the farmers hav
been made. In the meantime officers and employ
ees of the Federal Land Bank have been paid $500
in salaries The Pioneer Press article gives s.
much additional light the ineffciency of the Fed
eral Land Bank that the Herald publishes 1t here
with:
Minnesota Democrats will lay charges be-
fore Farm Credit Administration officials TINS
week that the administration In the 81. Faui feu-
eral Land bank area has spent more for salaries
in recent months than it has lent as relief tunos
to farmers
The charges which will be part of Demo
cratic demand for shakeup of farm credit per-
sonnet in the Northwest also will allege that the
farm loan commissioners office and the feoerai
Land bank in st. Paul have taken away from the
farmers in appraisal fees several times as much
money as they have actually lent farmers TO re-
lieve thier distress
The allegations, prepared in St Paul last sat
urday will be laid before national farm credlt
officials including Henry Morgenthau Jr, COVER
nor of the administration, who leaves Washing-
ton for St. Paul Tuesday
The officials are making the trip to establish
in st. Paul general agent for the Farm Credit
Administration and set up two new credlt
AGENCIES a cooperative loan bank and crop ana
livestock production loan corporation, in add
tion to the present Federal Land bank ana In
ternediate Credit bank of this district
The charges prepared Saturday included state
mentS that:
The farm loan commissioners office. after
approving 100000 worth of loans between
Nav % and August 81, actually lent only
$4,000 to farmers and during that time paid
out $4,000 in salaries to employees.
With S35 100000 available to this section OF
the country from $2O0,O00OO0 fund appro-
priated by Congress, only few thousand
dollars actually has been loaned as relief to
farm credits.
At the same time about $1,Ooooo0" has
been charged to withheld from farmers
OF this section for appraisal fees, or many
times the amount of Federal money lent dur
ing May, June July and August
The latter figure, it was explained Saturday,
was estimated basis of about 10000 Land
bank loans, for which an appraisal fee OF $Zo is
charged and about 10000 appraisas by the farm
loan commissioners agents for which fee o.
$40 is charged
The charges were made by FORMER official
of the Farm Credit Administration who said he
would demand that the credit administration
officials face the fact of the failure of the ad-
ministration to function for the benefit of
Northwest farmers under its present personnel
He also charged that out of 100 applications
from Pope county only eleven have been acted
and only granted None have been grant
ed in Aitkin Morrison counties he said, or
mad not Deen August 81. Nnly Two lodnS DC
.tually have been paid in Renville county, he
charged.
In a statement of the situation he it,
this former Farm Credit Administration official
said Saturday:
The Land bank commissioners office opened
in st. Paul May %, 1888 From that time until
August 81 over $50 loans totaling about 100000
were approved.
Treble that number of loans could have been
approved had the Federal Land bank caused
appraisals to be made and the reports filed in the
Land bank commissioners office AS early as
July II about 2,4O0 applications for loans had
been referred by the commissioners office to the
Land bank for appraisal and out of that number
the bank had only furnished the commissioners
office with 800 reports appraisals by August 81.
1T was the duty of the Land bank to close the
loans for the commissioners office. Up to and
including July L. total of 149 applications had
been approved by the commissioners agent and
deputy agent with total of approximately
$245,OO0 The application for loans were acted
on by the agents as speedily as the applications
for loans were acted on the Land bank and by
August 16 the commissioners agents had ap-
proved 392 applications totaling approximately
100000 and yet out of the community up to
August 81, only about "a loans totaling approx
mately $4,000 had been closed.
There were four applications in May eleven ap-
plicatons additional by June Is, and 80 applica-
lions additional by June 80, approved by the
commissioners agents, making 95 applications
for loans approved up to and including the June
Ii. The Federal Land bank should have been
able to have made some disposition Of these ap-
proved applications during the 60day period
ending August 81.
THE Land bank charged with the work of
closing the commissioners loans. During the
interval from May % to August 81 the salraies
paid to the Federal Land bank and the commits
sioners officers and employees exceeded the total
amount paid out from the commissions funds.
Out of approximately three million dollars in
loans approved, only $4,000 was disbursed
three months for the relief of distressed farm
owners in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and
North Dakota
Intelligent supervision of the appraisal de-
partment should have produced three four
times the appraisals returned to the commits
sioners Office.
Inehiciency, mismanagement and incompet-
ency has been exhibited by the Federal Land
bank in the way it mas handled work for the
commissioners office, and it would there
has been deliberate intent the part of Land
bank officials to impede and obstruct the farm
relief contemplated by the act under which the
commissioners office functions"
WITHOUT PRESIDENT