Imperial Valley press., 1941-01-19

son OF poor lOallS, ana tnlS feature
in some parts of the county dis
couraged many good farmers from
borrowing from these banks. 1t is
hard to imagine a good business
firm borrowing money on such
plan.
New Loans
In 1888 congress eliminated five
per cent of this liability. At the
same time congress put into effect
other farm-loan plans. And later
still other land financing legisla-
ton was enacted with limitations
and restrictions The private lend
ing agency feature was incorporat-
ed in all, except the Tenant Pur-
chase plan. Furthermore they call
for such a high principal and in
terest payment annually. they have
not solved to any great extent the
problem. In 1899, the farm block
In congress tried to put into eff
fect direct government farm loan
system at three per cent interest
including other features with more
real help to farmers than has yet
oeen proposed. Like all previous
government land financing plans,
1t was bitterly fought by private
capital. 1t meant a loss of approx
lmately s350,00O 900 annually in
interest, if the present loans were
refunded by the government. AS
result Of this opposition the bill
was tabled.
Economic Factors
Without attempting to classify
N their order of Importance. some
Of the major economic factors en-
terlng into the making of farm
leans are as follows:
/. The low prices received for
the farmers product.
2. The ver-increasing tax bur-
den.
8. Periodical initiation of farm
land values.
4 Uncertainty of foreign export
markets.
5. Nonresident and ncn-opera-
tor farm owners.
6. Large scale commercialized
farming.
Farm commodity prices have not
been stabilized by farmer COOP
eratives to any great extent. Our
government has made many serious
blunders in recent years, trying to
stabilize these prices, but have
gained valuable experience, and is
now making some real progress.
However, it is very slow.
A farm is one of the most vul-
nerable pieces of property tax
assessor contacts. 1t cannot be
hidden away in safety deposit
box. A Persian king once said. The
authority of the prince must be
defended by military force; that
force can only be maintained by
taxes: all taxes must at least fall
upon agriculture: and agriculture
can never flourish, except under
the protection of justice and mod
Grafton"
In times Of war. and periods of
great prosperity more food is con-
sumed, The natural consequence is
prices Of farm products go up.
farmers want more land, and if o
reduction of interest rates is made
the result is inflated land values.
Surpluses
In past years the wide variation
Of tariff schedules have materially
affected the export IF our surplus
farm products During the last war
our farmers benefited very mater
tally by the foreign demand of
their surpluses. During the present
European conflict the conditions
are reversed. We arc constantly re-
when peace does ccme in
Europe. practically all nations will
be too poor to buy any great amount
of our surplus products, including
food our farmers can produce. II
is generally admitted this oondi-
tion Will mean staggering blow
to the American farmer, as we'll as
the rest of us.
AS stated in the previous article,
more than one-half of our total
farm lands are in the hands of
and share-croppers. This
clearly indicates We have far too
much of our farm LANDS in the