The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, March 20, 1914, Image 7
(By couri??y of 8?nator Cunningham of Ohio >
Modest Home of the 8ecretary*Trea6urer of a Rclffason Bank.
iAAAA A ft ^ ^ ^ A A A- ?* A A A * A A * *
Co-Operative Farm
Products Marketing
How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done
in America to the Profit of Both 1
Farmer and Consumer
By MATTHEW 8. DUDGEON.
( Copy right. 1#14. We?twn Newspaper Union.)
WERICAN BANKER HAS
SOMETHING TO LEARN
irlin, Germany. ? "Somo of us
8 are laughing a little at the
[era." said a successful farmer to
?efore we left the states. "We
i actually farmed successfully for
b. have studied farming in agri
iral colleges. We think we know
business fairly well. It's certaln
unny to read speeches by bank
telling us how to farm. I have
b to the conclusion that the bank
know ? so little about farm loans
they would do better to study
discuBs their own business than
ry to teach us ours." And we
i concluded that there Is some
> in what the farmer says.
e American Bankers' associa
and thirty state bank asBocia
i are actively promoting agricul
advancement. The work under
ti by them includes soil surveys,
rimeuCs with fertilizers, hiring. ex
} to make practical demonstration
i the farm, education in road mat
; and bo on indefinitely. The bank
Eire duplicating what the federal
lultural department is doing,
[ every agricultural college is do
ftnd what every l'arxner's institute
ping. They aro going into the
tat' production which is important
kvli icli after all is one in which
fanner remarked, "one is led to
t that the bankers of the country
unanimously concluded that they
r their own business so thor
ly that their elevating educa
1 instincts can get opportunity
xprevBion only by doing mlssion
vork among us lowly farmers and
iting this Ignorant class to their
high plane of Intelligence."
Worst Banking for Farmer?.
b have been going through Eur
accompanied by agricultural ex
I. We have talked with leaders
griculture in several countries,
lave read bulletins and books ga
on agricultural methods abroad,
consulted government specialists,
have seen and heard and studied
t all the most scientific up-to
farming methods. But neither
Bxports with us nor we ourselves
i been able to recall a single idea
gricultural production that is not
g more or less widely worked out
America by these lowly farmers
n the bankers are so benevolent
nd condescendingly instructing.
:he other hand so far as we can
>ver tho United States is the only
try in the civilized world where
ting methods have not been in
degree adjusted to tho needB of
farmer. Sometimes over here in
>po the Joint stock bank does the
t. More often it is a co-operative
It bank that loans to farmers.
it some bank stands ready ^ to
t tho farmers' needs everywhere,
pt in the United States. In
riea, as nowhere else, the banker
B the terms calculated to^ccom
ite the city merchant and flnan
i and inflicts them upon the pro
ng farmer. Sixty and ninety day
i are just what are needed in the
but they are of no possible use to
farmer. A merchant' or commis
1 man gets his returns promptly
can meet ninety day paper at
Irlty. But the farmer cannot buy
6s or pigs and fatten them, mar
them, and get returns short of a
h longer period. The rural bor?
>r who invests the borrowed
By in needs or fertilizers cannot
to realize upon his investment
t of six or eight months. It is
so much a question of interest
f terms and methods. In many
ities Interest rates are fair. In
> nInceR Intnrpst oYi farm loans is
high. But It is true everywhere
imerlca that the bankers stub
(y refuse to the farmer tho sort
>ans which he needs. And the
?r who sits behind- the cashier's
writing speeches about better
Ing drops his facile pen long
Rh to crowd dojvn the throat of
farmer patron who should have
ght months loan, a three months
: which is as apt to cripple as
Hp him.
How the man on the farm can bor
row money advantageously^ and eco
nomically is an Important question.
It may not be bo important as good
marketing but It is important enough.
His loan should be on terms which
meet his occupation and his financial
Resources. If he cannot get these
terms from his banker he will
nhturally try to got them elsewhere.
The question is will the banker force
him to seek loans elsewhere, or will
he meet the needs of the farmer.
There is little doubt that the banker
could give longer time on safe per
sonal paper. There is little doubt
that he could arrange for loiig time
real estate mortgages. When a farmer
borrows to buy a farm and gives a
mortgage for the loan there Is no rea
son why it should not be a long time
amortization mortgage permitting re
payment in annual or semi-annual
payments extending over ten, twelve
or twenty years.
Gilt Edge Security.
A good first mortgago on real estate
running for a considerable period ol
time is recognized the world over ai
a gilt edged loan. Financiers are ac
customed to advise it as the safest in
vestment for trustees, widows am
others who are not able to pass upoi
the character of miscellaneous invest
ments.
The president o t one of the great
life insurance companies makes th?
statement that his company in its his
tory of forty-six years has loanec
$133,838,049.44 to 75,102 farmers, se
cured by mortgago on 11,462,363 acres
the average loan being $1,782. The
net loss after paying all costs, fees
assessments and penalty Interest
rates was fourteen-hundredths of one
per cent. This Is substantially the
history of all properly organized farm
land mortgage business. Some $600,-s
000,000 in farm mortgages are carried
by our life insurance companies ? an
amount equal to 36 per cent, of the
total farm mortgages shown by the
census.
If a farm loan for three years la a
good loan, one for ten or fifteen or
twenty years la good, too, but no
American bank makes these long
loana. Why? We have never been
able to get any adequate answer to
thla question. The general responae
la an unsatisfactory one, "It lan't good
banking to -make such long farm
loana," which la another way of Bay*
ing what we have said before, that
the city banker will not meet the
needs of the farmer borrower.
There 8eema to be therefore no rea
son why thla fact that a long time
farm loan is a gilt edged loan should
not be taken into account In fixing the
interest. It is not possible that the
Interest on these loans should be near
the rate which is received upon bonds,
either municipal or industrial. The
city banker will investigate fully the
Integrity and earning capacity of
every factory that wanta a loan. la
there any reason why the American
banker should not put himself In a
position to investigate the honesty and
earning capacity of the farmer who
needs money, thus permitting him to
J capitalize his character as do bankers
4 abroad? On the whole after looking
over the situation at homo and abroad
It Is not surprising that the farmer
sometimes suggests that bankers
: might well study their own activities
| rather than to be butting In upon the
farmer's business.
Over here In Germany the bankers
were formerly as slow as those of
! America are now to meet this demand
j for rural credit-. So 4 co-operative
, credit came and it came to stay. It
does the work and It does it well.
The question that la up in America
is simply a question as to whether or
: not the American banker Is going to
j insist that the American farmer soWe
j his own difficulties or whether he,
, the banker is going to solve It for him
! and be his financial backer.
Mortgage Loans In Germany.
A co-operative loan on long mort
gagee U no new experiment. Ofte
j hundred and forty years ago the
Landschaften were Organised In Pros
*!?. A war like peri >d culminating It
tho Beven Years' War had reduced
the greater part of Fruaala 10 a pitl
ablo mate of devastation. The own
era of large estate* which bad born?
the brunt of the war charges) wert
poverty stricken. Hence . In 176U
Frederick 11 issued a royal decree en
abllng these owner# of largo landed
estates to- secure capital necessary to
revive their agricultural interest# by
joining together in aectirfbg a co-op
erative loan. While at first these
loans were granted to only the own
era of the large estate this system
wan afterwards adapted a t> that the
smaller land owner could profit by It
The owner who wishes to secure a
loan gives a mortgage to the assooiQ
tion. Ho I,h required to pay interest
at the rale of from throe and a half
to four per cent. und may Jjorrow up
to two-thirds of the value Cf his
farm. This valuation in arrived at by
capitalizing the income which he can
get off from It.
It lb characteristic of European
finance that the farm values are fixed
largely. by consideration of the actual
earning capacity of each farm. Appar
ently the price which a neighboring
farm may brinjl has little to do with
the value which is placed upon any
particular farm. The theory Ik and
it Beeins to he sound, that the value
of the farm is not so much whore it
lies ah H is what will it earn.
When the association baa a group
of these mortgagee it pledges them
by a trust deed, and issues a serine
of bonds Becured by the pledge ol
the mortgages. Those bonds are then
sold and usually bear an interest of
from three to three and one-half per
cent. The association not only pledget*
the association itself so that In o
Renso every member of thfe associa
tlon is back of the bonds. These
bonds have always brought a good
price even in the most difficult timet
financially.
The mortgage given by tho lane
owner is not due at the end of a cer
tain number of years, at which time
the entire principal must be paid ,ap
jire American farm mortgages. In
stead they run for from twenty to
sixty years with an agreement incor
porated into the mortgage that pach
year the farmer shall pay a certain
sum of money which shall include lu
terest and a small installment upoi,
the principal. In this way the mort
gagor gradually pays off his mortgage
paying little more than tho amount
which would In America be required
as interest alone. The chief advantage
to the farmer is in this fact that lie
is allowed to pay off the loan by mak
ing small annual or semi-annual pay
ments. Other advantages are that he
will never have to renew the mort
gage which will continue to run until
the payments have cleared the farm
of the dobt; ho will never be com
pelled to pay any renewal commis
sion, and will never have to go to the
expense of bringing down his title or
having it examined every two years,
as is done under our American sys
tem.
Reiffeson and Scl.ulze-Delitzsch.
The Reiffeson and Schulze-Delitzsch
banks are smaller community institu
tions, organized upon the co-operative
plan, and are not operated for profit
to the investor. Reiffeson banks op
erate more particularly in the coun
try while the Schulze-Delitzsch banks
operate largely in urban communities.
The Reiffeson is the most purely co
operative. While the Reiffeson banks
loan money for a long period of time
they do not generally loan for bo long
a period of timtf as do the Land
schaften. They receive deposits from
their members, paying them Interest
as do savings bankn. The one at
Cassel, Germany, wftichcan be taken
as a fair representative of. Its type
eliarges 6*4 per cent, on short time
loans. They pay 4% per cent, on de
posits, which are left with them for
an agreed long period of time, and
4 per cent, on deposits left for a
shorter time. It is found, however,
that the rate of Interest varies In dif
ferent places. Since these banks must
meet the .competition of the joint
stock and savings banks in each com
munity. They generally are able to
compete successfully for the reason
their expenses are very light, their
officers usually serving without salary
and since they do not wish to make
any large profits to- pay off any In
vestors as do the other banks.
Go Slow.
The best rural credit system In the
world, if actually In operation would
not prove a cureall for our present
rural ailments. It would not get you
anywhere. The farmer who has ne
gotiated a loan upon the most favor
able terms has made no actual ad
vance. He is Just where he was be
fore. If I am running a losing busi
ness the more money I borrow the
worse off I am. If I am not produc
ing a good product which I can mar
ket readily and profitably, the less 1
put Into my business tho better. Rural
credit without good farming and good
marketing is a delusion and a snare.
Easily obtained loans are no substi
tutes for brains and business sense
and a marketing system.
Rural credit can do just one thing.
It can enable a man to get possession
of a farm and the equipment with
which to farm. If tho farming busi
ness into which the loan launches him
is not a paying business the loan has
simply injured him by getting him
into a losing venture. I said a loan
will enable him to got possession of
a farm and equipment. This posses
sion is temporary and will be of no
permanent advantage unless he makes
the land and equipment his own by re
paying the loan and of his honest and
hard won earning. After ail it is rural
earnings which spell success and good
marketing conditions whether co-op
erative or otherw'so are an absolat?
esseAtlal. " % -?
MALAYS NOT OF ONE RACE
Common Error, But Travslsra Know
That It Has No Foundation
In Fact.
Take the Java Malay, b? lie Java
nese, Houndaneua or Madout^ae.
Watch him climb a cocoa nut palm; In
Iohh than no time ho la at the top of
'the smooth trunk, fifty or sixty feet In
height Notice him In the street,
squatting hla toea, like thoae Of u
monkey, prominent ? on the edge of ?
atop or pavement, note his ainuoua
movement*! Is he not a man of nature
all over? All the aboriginal Inhabi
tants of the Malay archipelago are
Malay*, but In Java atone you llnd the
calm, quiet Snundanoso of West Java,
the true.' Javanese of Middle Java a
much liner race- and tho truaehoroue
Madourese of Mudouru and Ktt&t Javu,
It la therefore o-vldent that to talk
about "Malaya" la really Incqrrect.
Anthropologically only Is It really
correct to term all these peoples Ma
lays; one would not think of terming
all white people Aryans. The term
"Malay" merely refers to one of tho
groat families of mankind. The Malay
men folk taking them as u whole, do
not make us near to good an impres
sion as their women Contrary to
what they really are. they look puny;
they are al.-o shell, have shifty eyea,
a broad in; so, perhaps a n uytaeho, boI
dom a beard; they uro la'.y, untruat
worthy, will harbor revenge for yeara,
are usually ugly. Heing Moslems, they
aU .vear a head covering, made of col
ored linen. Tho lower clasBoa wear
this carelessly, although the Malaya of
higher standing are very careful in ar
ranging it, which they do very Ingeni
ously. It looks incongruous to see a
Malay with a "topee,' or helmet, above
his usual head covering; nevertheless,
this is general. A pair of cotton
pants, a shirt, and a girdle of printed
cloth, called a "sarong," form the av
erage Malay's garb, and he is seldom
without his "kris,' or dagger-like
knife. ? T. P.'s Weekly, London.
WOULD BE OF GREAT VALUE
Idea for a Laboratory of Safety De
vices Has Been Put Forward by
Employers of Labor.
Why not have u laboratory of safe
ty devices is the question asked by
many manufacturers who havo been
giving honest attention to tho subject
of preserving the health and physical
well-being of their employes. With tho
many safety dovlces already offered,
the average manufacturer is some
what In the dark as to the appliances
which host could beflt his business.
With this idea in view, it Is pro
posed that a staff of competent engi
neers bo appointed whoso solo duty it
Bhall- be to test the numerous appli
ances ottered and decide whether they
aro fitted to the various industries
they represent.
Fire prevention naturally would
prove one of tho biggest subjects to
be taken under consideration. Many
inventions have to do with hoso, doors,
shutters, etc., and under present con
ditions tho only way for a factory
owner to determine their value is to
put them to A test ? those teBts oft
times being mado under conditions
where a groat loss in human life re
sults.
A Useful Dunce.
During the CJ.vil war. General Sedg
wick had on his staff a very dull lieu
tenant, who seemed never to be able
to do anything without making mls-^
takes. One day a friend asked the
general:
"Why do you keep Jones on your
staff? He seems a perfect dunce."
"Db you know," replied General
Sedgwick, "Jones Is one of the most
useful members of my staff? Before I
issue an order, I always have Jones
read it. If ho can tell what it means,
I am sure there can be no chance that
anyone will misunderstand 1L" ?
Youth's Companion.
Keats a Great Poet.
One of the highest of authorities
declares the "Odo to a Nightingale""
to be "one ot the llnal masterpieces of
fliuman work In all time and for all
ages." The same high authority re
fers to the odes to "Autumn" and to
the "Grecian Urn" as being unequalcd
and unrivaled, tho "triumphant ac
complishment of tho very utmost,
^beauty possible to human words." In
Keats' larger poems aro passages that
approach very near to poetic perfec
tion. Keats died at twenty-six. And
yet he lived long enough to have writ
ten tome of the finest things in litera
ture.
Georgia Invasion.
"It's been the dream of tho old
man's lifo to see Wash'ton," said
tho IMllville matron, "an' now he'B
a-goln' thar, an' I'm a-goin' with him.
'I won't be unknown thar,' ho says,
'fer I've been a member of six Georgia
legislatures, an' any one of 'em could
beat congress a-raisin' of the place
whar Satan lives at an" a-doln' of
nuthin!' Hut what we want to Bee
most is tho placo whar they make
the money, an' find out how come an'
why wo don't git our share of it " ? At
lanta Constitution.
Poets Put to Hard Labor.
Tho sixth grade of a certain fchooi
in a foreign settlement ln.Suui.u Da?
kota was learning the uso of possess
lves.
The book required tho pupils to cor
rect nnd expand into a complete sen
tence the following expression: "Mil
ton and Shtfkespeare's works." Joseph
KlScodvna handed 1m this sentence:
"Milton and Shakespeare work in a
col! u.nW - -Youtfi'a Companion.
90
Funerals Directed
We supply the beat of burial goods, con
duct funerals and relieve families and
friends of many unpleasant duties ince
dent to death. We are always prepared
to serve those who need our service.
B. R. McCREIGHT, CAMDEN. S. C.
MURCHISON
Wholesale Supply Company
There is a big concern in
America advertising that
"There is a Reason." We
claim there are "Numerous
Reasons" why you should buy
from us.
MURCHISON
Wholesale Supply Company
' ' "? " : ? o
"Our Terms Are Strictly Cash to Everybody"
SEED POTATOES, UNION SETS
And All Seeds For Your Garden
Nasturtium, Sweet Peas and Other Flower Seed
DON'T TRY
to Raise Chicken s CONKEY'S STARTING FOOD
Without Using 25c Package
W. ROBIN ZEMP'iS DRUG STORE
TELEPHONE NUMBER 30
Profit By The Experience
of Others
1 Increase your yield by using the Fertilizers that gives best
results. We are agents for Congareo Fertilizer Company, The
many satisfied customers will attest to the merits of tho fer
tilizers that we handle. We have told you in our former ad
vertisements wherein tho superiority of these goods lie.
Full stock on hand of Ammoniated goods, Acid Phosphate,
Kainit, Potash and Nitrate of Soda. Seo us before placing your
order.
? Now Is the time to plant your Garden. We have just re
ceived a large shipment of S ed Potatoes:
IRISH COBBLERS, EARLY ROSE and BLISS SEED POTA
TOES. FULL STOCK OF GARDEN TOOLS.
We want your business and can make you closo prices. Why?
because we buy in large quantities, Wholesale and Retail Gro
ceries and Heavy Goods.
inspect our stock of farm implements, Disc Harrows, Subsoil
Plows, Guano Distributors, Steel Ream Plows, Cotton and Corn
Planters. We aro agents for the Wm. J.~ Oliver Plow Co. A
full stock of Buggies, Wagons, Mules, Horses, and in fact any
thing that a farmer noeds.
Aficuiw for Arab Horse Feed, Larrow Cow Feed, also havo
Just received a car load of Cotton Seed Hulls, car Oats, Cap
Com and Car of Piedmont Flour. Get prices and save money.
SPRINGS & SHANNON
Camden, S. C.