Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Co-Operative Farm Products Marketing How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done in America to the Profit of Both Farmer and Consumer f*y Mi\THfcW S. DUDGWJN (Copyright. 19M. Wi-atcrii Newupuitoi Union.) THE "GOMBEEN MAN," 1 ? Where the Gombeen Mart Flourishes Among the Rocks. 2 ? Paddy Gallagher Tells the American Visitors How the Gombeen Man Charged Him 144 Per Cent. Interest. Dunglow, County ^Donegal, Ireland. ? Tliis in the old haunt? the habitat? _ Tef the gombeen xnan." He la our American city "loan- shark" trans planted with all his blood-Hucking propensities and his starvation in ducing (lualities into ?ural Ireland. Hero conditions are right for his activ ities. Whore the need for money Is greatest ho prospers best. The poorer . the country, the richer he grown. And poor enough this country certainly Is. Wide, low-lying peat bogs stretch be tween Kreat. slopes of rising hillsides ?where the t^oil shows only between masses of outcropping roclcs. No fields are. there here large enough to offer opportunity for work with horses even ii plowing and cultivating were not made impossible by the huge half buried rocks. Every enclosure de mands fertilizers as a condition prece dent to production. Nature is stingy and hesitates to let go of any product of value to humans. Yet here and there is a cottage upon a barren hill Bide; around it we see children that are not starving nor insufficiently clothed. ' "Gombeen Man" Passing.' Here was the haunt of the gombeen roan. Hut as relative prosperity comes In he goes out. They tell us that co operation has numbered the days of the gombeen man and that he Is pass ing. As ho formerly operated his business here ho was the worst enemy to rural prosperity to be found upon the island. "The gombeen man is | worse than the non-resident landlord," i says Paddy Gallagher of Dunglow, which is an extreme statement when made by one whose father and family have suffered cruelly from many evic tions. Seldom was the gombeen man ad mittedly In the loan business. Fre quently he was a trader or shop keep er. Generally ho kopt a public house. Often ho was a dominating influence politically, and held some office. In variably he was an economic scourge and made rural prosperity Impossible. We have spoken of him In the past tense, not because he has altogether [ ceased to exist but because co-opera tion seems to bo developing a plan for rural credit which will eventually put him out of business. Patrick Gallagher's Story. Patrick Gallagher, now tho man ner of tho local co-operative society, probably knows as much about the trials of the poor farmer in Ireland as any one. He was born in a little one room farm cottage and was at nine years of age forced to leave home and hire himself out as a farm laborer re ceiving tho wage of three pounds for six months' work. From these begin nings he has risen to be a rural finan cier In County Donegal and has raised the condition of the poor farmers from . abject poverty to cbmparatlve comfort through his co-operative enterprises. Here is what Paddy Gallagher says of the gombeen men, speaking from his personal experiences and verifying rouch that he says from documents and account bookB: "Here is one transaction of my own *ith the gombeen man. On the 28th of May, 1906, my father and I bought j seven stone of flour and one hundred height of Indian meal, each. My father paid for his $4.25. I was not in * Position to pay for mine until the Hth of .July, 1906, forty-four days later The gombeen man then pre ?*ntod me with a bill for $5.31. I dis puted his rtRht to charge -mc $1-06. In ternal on $4.25 fon.only forty-four day? *&d pointed out to him that my father ??uf?ht the ?vj>od.'' on tho same ' Kued 'th. f4'25" The gombeen. man ar- j gued that my father paid $4.50 and ? on? n* tVaH ?n,y charK,nK eighty- ! terest n?B eXtm' ?r 144 per ceut in* i terest per annum. During the twenty ! famU "!y fathGr WaS brlneinK up his : "?-> Pald lntereBt at this rate. 1 *>1? is u *rit that was issued j f8 jo?7ra P??r farmer- The amount I here 18 th0 Pa?? book whrtch proves that $18.2G of that is in erest. You will also note that the | gombeen man charges this customer , ??r?e?n stone of flour; on the. same date the co-operative society's price was $2.25." flvorvh'^ gombeen lna,? was robbing everybody as he tried to rob Paddy Gallagher and his friends. An Old Man's Story The ?tory that -we get in Dun- ! Sow tallies with the account which Sir Horace Plunkett and his col leagues in Dublin gave us of the situa tion. But as scientific investigators we are anxious to get as much mate rial from original sources as possible. So on Sunday afternoon "it is us" for a jaunting car and a ride into the . country in search of fundamental facts^ We hear of a patriarchal citi zen Ave miles out who they say is as ' honest as the day is long. We find Donald O'Boyle (otherwise Shane ge) in a habitation which from out ward appearances hardly merits the name of cottage. But when warm hearted Irish hospitality invites us inside we find a neat, clean, com fortable placo, that is indeed home to the family which haB been for genera tions the tenants of a line of non evicting landlords. Shane O'ge, with his son, his daughter-in-law, and some shy, blue-eyed little grandchildren, welcomes us warmly. The mother is feeding the children mashed potatoes and milk from a bowl (about all many Irish children get to eat). To them this is much more interesting than a discussion of the gombee^ man. Yob, he and his father knew well the gombeen man. "We'd buy of the trader but we'd not know the price at all," he said. t "It would do us no good. We'd have to pay In the end what he'd ask us anywff^ when ho had the money. It was halrd to get it round here* we mostly had to go over and work in the Scottish harvests to . get any at all. When we had the money we would, ask what we owed and the trader would tell us what it was. We never knew what the items were. We never dared to ask. Ha would say, 'How dare you dispute my books?' And it's more than one poor man I've seen kicked out for asking a civil Question. But everybody says they charged the highest price the Btuff had been from the time it was bought until we paid for it and I guess that b the truth, and of course the added interest, though I don't know how much. And so of course, we paid what they asked ? and enough It was ? though we never' know much about It. They let us get meal or anything else on crodlt without money for they , knew it meant more to them In a high Price besides interest. Things are dif 'erentnow; they're a lot better " Co-operative Credit Conquering. I nrC ^^erenl ,n Ireland now. The farmers themselves are driving out the gombeen man. Co-operative credit associations have changed all this. As that eminent Irishman, Sir Horace Plunkett, says in his book on Irelnnd In the New Century: "Tlfr exact purpose of these, organisations Is to create credit as a means ol intro ducing capital into the agricultural in ?Instry. They perform the apparent zidrueitf of giving solvency to a com munity composed almost entirely of iittg^ent individuals." Paddy Gallagher In telling u# how the association operates here at l>un? glow, says: "A credit society in Dun? Klow wmh organized and established In j October, 1903, by the 4hah Agrioub , tural Organization society and baa boon regularly audited and Inspected by that body ever since. Although we had at flrBt only 1S220 of working capital, we have now a reserve of 16s. The members are equally . responsible for the success or failure of the society. Bach man has one vote no mutter how much or bow little his investment In the concern is. They take such keen Interest in it . that during Its nine years working there has not been an over duo loan at the end of the year. The society Is undoubtedly of great assistance to the people iu the district. We want the time to come when every man can j walk up the street In IHinglow and say he owes nothing." Capitalizing Character. These cooperative banks have, aa it were, capitalized character. The early organizers of co-operative credit associations held, und experience has confirmed the opinion, that In the poorest communities there Is a per fectly Siife basis of security In the J honesty and Industry of its members. This se.curity in not valuable in the J ordinary commercial sense. The or dinary banker has no intimate knowl edge of the character of those who apply for a loan. Neither has ho any way of testing whether or not those Who borrow "for productive purposes" .actually apply the loan to such pur poses. The borrower muHt bring two sureties, who like the borrower him self, must be men of approved char acter and capacity. The character of these three men Is the sole basis of credit. * The rules provide ? and this is the characteristic feature of the eystern- ? that a loan shall be made for a "pro ductive purpose" only. That is, the borrowed money must be used for a II purpose which, In the judgment of II the committee, will enable the bor- 1 rower to repay the loan out of the results of the use made of the money. II The farmer buys a bow to raise pigs; he must have fertilizers; he needs 11 some high-grade seeds; he wants to I build better shelter for his cow ? all I these are productive purposes. In one II case money to send the borrower's I boy to school for eight months so as to Increase his earning capacity was II considered a productive purpose justl- II fying a loan, ae It proved to be when I the boy himself repaid the loan. The I rules of the co-operative society pro- I vide for the expulsion of a member II who does not apply the money to the II agreed purpose. It is said, howeve?, II to the credit of the Irish members of I these societies, that there has never I been the necessity of putting this rule I in force In a single instance anywhere II throughout the entire ieland. Social and moral influences seem to be quite I sufficient to secure obedience to tbo rules and regulations of the Boclety. Co-operative Credit Is Good. There are other advantages. The regular bank is generally miles away. It costs money for the borrower to go and take his sureties, paying car fare, meals and maybe drinks, while the co operative aseoclation is right at hand. The bank will loan for only 90 days, while the co-operative society will make It up to a year. And a 90-day loan gives the farmer no chance to realize on seed or fertilizer or stock bought with the money borrowed. But hero in the local credit bank if a man i is honest he can get the loan he needs. I Ho must bring two .sureties, but co- 1 operation breeds and develops neigh- 1 borly helpfulness and they say no I honest man ever fails oecauee he can I get no sureties. Neither the association nor its mem bers have any considerable capital, j When they organize they begin by bor- j rowing a sum of money on the joint and several liability of the members. I Deposits are received from both mem- 1 hers and non-members. The society I usually borrows at four or five per cent, and lende at five or six per cent. J In some cases government funds ha,vo been loaned to them at three per cent., thus onabllng them to make a very 1 low loan to their members. The ex pense of administration Is almost noth ing. Lesson for Rural America., It is such societies as theso that are putting: the gombeen men out of busi ness in Ireland. We have in rural America gombeen men. They are not so called, but American loan sharks and credit men are first cousins to the Irish gombeen men. The question we Americans Jure try ing to answer is this: Have Irish rural credit methods a lesson for the rural sections in our own lantH Can our loan shark, whether in city or country, bo fought and conquered by similar American co-operative societies? Ttiere are hundreds of poor farmers who must ask credit either of mer chants and dealers or must securo loans from some source. Most of them got credit of the local merchant. It is, of course, well recognized that any dealer who extends credit not' only charges interest but charges a higher price than when he gets cash payment. Why cannot the American farmer get a loan at a nearby bahking insti tution for six months or ten months or a year instead of for 90 days? Why caunoL he capitalize his character as does the Irishman? In so"me states thore are under existing laws plenty of small Joint etock banks throughout the smaller towns^and villages which are accosisiblo. The directors and of' ficrrs know the farmer's needs. They are so intimately acquainted with theme who might iwrcomc borrowers that thoy could do as the Irish credit hanks do and arrange for capitalising character. Rut they don't it. Valuable Farm Property For Sale 5.1 o in'it*h, more or known as the Spencer Place, <#ltuutcd 12 miles South west of Camden 011 t In.' C '<> 11 1 1 ?> r*H Furry Koad ; 1 00 acres of open lantl, two horse farm under cultivation ; land lies well; goyd h1 roam running water; plenty of wood and good 1 1 1 1 a 1 1 ( i t >- - of timber on this tract. price (10.00 per acre, l',nrni of \V. 10. IH?| joarlio, slMuito 2 l -^ miles Southeust of Camden, containing <{'7.0 acres; I f> <? acres of open land, pari of thin under cul - tlviitlon; timber and wood enough for place; land pi?pd ucing well; ad jf tiling lands have wold for $80. On per aere; one live room dwell l ? 'K. a good barn and seven ??*-?... bonnes. l-'or ?al?' at (.ft 5 .00 per aere. % The I place, contniniiit: l*?o acres miles of llluiiey; 250 acres open lantl, a pil.H of this under cultivation, I0u acres pasrure laud nudci w irv? , -wMiit* mood oppn rreelv I.tiid, jilt III) <1 Wood Ullil some limber on the- place; good buildings; out* oveiKeciB house; 1; tenant houscj and two barUty. Twenty-five in He crook runs lhrouRh this prop erty. Price (7,r?00. Terms; I. 1 <* ush, balance in three years at th* usual rale of interest . ;ttil ucit'H on Town Creek, four miles pouth of Camden ilu acres open land; two tenant houses. Will sell at a bargain. I'lat of hiiuh* can l>9 seen aL our office, 1:17 acres <m l/ockhart Road known as the Wheat Place; seventy one acres under c.ultivation ; ft tenant homes and one dwelling. Price* 3 - 2. 00 per acre. I bo acres three miles I'rotu Caiudci- between the Kershaw and Liberty Hill Koad; f>0 acres under cultivation; one four room dwell ing' and barns. Price (ft&.OO per acre. 75 acres adjoining; City Limits, known t.is Knee Track Place of II. (I. Garrison; one- good ovcr-seeVs house, ' .several tenant houses and barns; improvements first class; lands in high state of cultivation. Price Reasonable. 1,!H>0 acres eiglit iiiIIcn fnmi Camden on Charleston Koad, on Southern Railway with siding and ware house; one new Over - seer's house, eight tenant houses, I' large barn, 1 gin house and <;<julpnfent and 1 cotton iiouse. 1,200 acres swamp land, excellent for cattle or hay culture; (>60 acres upland, 300 acre.K of the upland being of finest land In the state and in the Itlghcst state of cultivation ; Price (2 1 an acre. Very c^sy terms. We also have listed with us a good selection of jflly property . ? - C. P. DuBose & Company A, Unequal Natural Division. The Cordilleras which form the backbone of both the northern and southern continents, are relatively near the Pacific OCean in Guatemala, and thus divide the country into two unequal drainage areas, of which the Arctic is much the greater. The Pa cific slope, though comparatively nar row, is exceptionally well watered and fertile between the altitudes of 1,000 and 5,000 feet, and 1b the most dense ly settled part of the republic. Bank Stock For Sale I am offering for sale, within 30 days. Five Thousand ($5,000) Dollars worth of stock of the Loan & Savings Bank, of Camden, S. C. L. L. CLYBURN DeKALB. S. C. BANK STOCK WANTED 1 hereby offer Five* Thous and Five Hundred Dollars ($5,500.00) for the Five ^Thousand Dollars of Loan & Savings Bank Stock, (50 shares) advertised by L. L. Clyburn, that is to say, ten per cent, above par. Henry Savage QAMDEN, S. C. Funerals Directed We supply the best of burial goods, con duct funerals and relieve families and friends of many unpleasant duties ince ?$ dent to death. We are always prepared to serve those who need our service. B. R. McCREIGHT, CAMDEN, S. C. Profit By The Experience of Others Increase your yield by using the Fertilizers that, given best * results. We nre agonts for Congareo Fertilizer Company. The many satisfied customers will attest to the merits of the fer tilizers that we handle. Wo havo told you in our former ad vertisements wherein the superiority of these goods lie; Full stock on hand of AmmoniaLed?goods, Acid Phosphate, Ivainit, Potash and Nitrate of Soda. See us before placing your order. Now is the time to plant your Garden. We have just re ceived a large shipment of Seed Potatoes: IRISH COBBLERS, EARLY ROSE and BLISS SEED POTA TOES. PULL STOCK OF GARDEN TOOLS. We want your business and can make you close priccs. Why? because we buy in largo quantities, Wholesale and Retail Gro ceries and Heavy Goods. Inspect our stock of farm implements, Disc Harrows, Subsoil Plows, Guano Distributors, Steer Deam Plows, Cotton and Corn Planters. We are agents for the Wm. J. Oliver Plow Co. A full stock of Buggies, Wagons, Mules, Horses. , and in fact any thing that a farmer needs. Agents for Arab Horse Feed, I^arrow Cow Feed, also have just received a car load of Cotton Seed Hulls, car Oats, Car Corn and Car of Piedmont Flour. Get prices and save monoy. SPRINGS & SHANNON Camden, S. C.