The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-08-02
OVER BILLION IS
 STILL AVAILABLE
(Acne)
(Continued from Page D

(Cont1nued rom Page D the Farm Credit Administration and Commodity Credit Corporation, however, would add more than $1,- 900 100000 to the total lending auth ority available.
 The REC actually was authorized to lend $3,0O0,000 000. but 1t now has outstanding loans of about $1,- 700,000000.
 The figures listed in the above ta- ble for the REA and FSA represent appropriations made by Congress for the current fiscal year which be- gan July 1. The export-import bank has authority to make loans up to $100,000,000 and at present has an outstanding indebtedness of $56,- GOO 1000.
 One of the primary objectives of the lending bill was to stimulate em- ployment and industrial activity through expansion of self-liquidat- ing public projects. REC officials said that that corporation has au- thority to make loans to public bodies, such as municipalities, bridge and highway authorities for self liquidating projects. It was empha- sized, however, that the REC inter- est rate on loans of that type is 4 per cent compared with the es- timated rate of approximately 2 Ia per cent that would have been charged under the lending bill.
 The REC also can make loans to business; to drainage, levee and ir- rigation districts; to open and closed banks and insurance companies; to railroads; to building and loan as- sociationS; to mining concerns, and to public school authorities.
 President Roosevelt indicated that he did not think the objectives of his program could be achieved un- der the RFC's authorizations. He said that specific legislation seemed necessary to take care of "litty bitty things"
 Mrs. Roosevelt denounced as un- fair the allegation made by admin istration opponents that the lending bill was designed to circumvent the $45, ,000,000,000 statutory limitation on public debt of the federal gov- ernment: that the loans would be federal debt. He cited an example to support his contention.
 Supposing, the president said, you have in your small town bank with $1,000,000 belonging to residents of the community. That $1,0O0,0oO rep resents 8 direct debt to the people who put the money into the bank. Now, continued MT. Roosevelt, would 1t be fair to call attention--in Con- gress, on the stump or editorially- to the fact that this bank has a debt of $1,000,000? Wouldn't it be fair, the president added, to say the bank has debt of $1,000, ,000 but also has assets sufficient to meet the debt and more besides.
 He applied this analogy to govern ment lending. Wouldn't 1t be fair | similarly, he asked, when 8 govern ment has lent certain millions of dollars to recall that it has received certain assets and certain good re- turns for the money it has borrowed and put out on good credit basis.
 Congress appropriated $143000, 900 to the farm security administration to make rural rehabilitation loans and grants. Unobligated balances brought the total available for this purpose up to $159,000,000. It also appropriated $40,000,000 for farm tenant loans. Under the Senate ver- sion of the lending bill $500 O0OO, ,0OO woud have been available for farm tenant loans and the same amount |