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Show "OFF AGIN, ON AGIN" Secretary Flannagan and Rural Credits ! Letter Xo. 5 from Cousin Bi'n to Farmer Sfd Shows How h'ai'iiKtrs May I5e j Fleeced I I Washington, D. C, Oct. 31, '16. Dear. Ned : - ., I have just come from the office of the Farm Loan Board. My old friend W. W. Flannagan is secretary I of the Farm Loan Board. He is a j Democrat. He is an experienced banker, and was at one time president presi-dent of. the Southern Bank of New York City. He is a recognized authority au-thority on financial economics. He was telling me today that he had just been offered the presidency of a $5,000,000 bank, to be organized under the joint stock plan of this now Democratic law. He said they offered him a higher salary than I what he was getting as the secretary of the Farm Loan Board, but that he refused to consider it. In the first place,' he regretted that the law authorized au-thorized joint stock banks at all, for their existence and their offering in the financial market their own bonds, based upon farm mortgages, in competition with the bonds which the Federal Land Banks will offer, based upon co-operation mortgages, will make rival bonds of the same kind. Mr. Flannagan's judgment is that they will force the rate of interest inter-est on both kinds of bonds up about one per cent. Now, as there is in existence about $4,000,000,000 of farm mortgages, that one per cent extra on the bonds will cost the farm borrowers an extra $40,000,000 a year. The rate of interest on the mortgage will always be regulated by the rate of interest on the bonds, yet there are some who think that the Democrats were very ingenious to put in this rival system, even if it does cost the. farmers $40,000,000 extra. "What is $40,000,000 anyhow" any-how" to a Democratic "administration, "administra-tion, which, in one single session of Congress, appropriates more than a billion dollars in excess o its own estimate of receipts? Well, I started to tell you about Mr. Flannagan and the offer of the Presidency of the $5,000,000 bank, which he refused. He said he asked the parties if they had their $5,000,-000 $5,000,-000 all subscribed yet. They answered, ans-wered, that they were organizing a. force of salesmen to sell the stock of the bank to the farmers at $2 00 a share, although its par value is $100. They said that they were going to sell it to farmers, who are not familiar famil-iar with stock, at $200, by explaining that after paying the trifling cost of organizing the bank, the extra $100 a share will form a surplus and make a strong bank. Confidentially, they told Mr. Flannagan that the promoters promo-ters were going to take $50 a share for their own profit on selling the stock. So, for organizing this one bank, the promoters expect to fleece the farmers out of $1,250,000 and that is only the beginning. They will have a great army of stock salesmen to solicit subscriptions subscrip-tions from farmers all over the United Uni-ted States, and the farmer who wants to borrow from the Joint Stock Bank will be obliged to invest at least 5 per cent ot his loan in tne bank stock at double its par value. Banks are not allowed to charge commission, but what is to prevent them from selling the unsuspecting a parcel of watered stock, before they will consent to make a loan? Now I think you understand a little lit-tle about the new remedy which the 'Democratic party is offering the farmers. I will be very glad to answer ans-wer any questions on the subject, for yourself or your neighbors. Write me, and you will soon hear from me. Don't you agree with me, Ned, 'that this law, in its present shape, is nothing but a "gold-brick," and that if the farmers ever do get a real rural credits law, they will get it through the party which gave them the first Farm Life Commission to investigate farm conditions, the party which first investigated the subject j ot rural credits through its ambass-'adors ambass-'adors to Europe, the party which first pushed through Congress a law to send a commission to Europe to 'investigate rural credits? -Why, Ned, the party that has done everything every-thing for farmers which established establish-ed the U. S. Agricultural Depart-'vnent, Depart-'vnent, which enacted the Homestead Laws, which enacted the Irrigation Laws, which established the Agricultural Agricul-tural Colleges, which protects the home market for farmers, thereby maintaining high prices on farm products is the Republican party. Which would you rather have today: Farm conditions as they were in Grover Cleveland's time, with wheat ; at 40c a bushel, potatoes at 6c a bushel, with corn so cheap that they used it for fuel; or farm conditions where all the factories and com-! com-! mcrcial houses run at a high rate of speed, and millions of farm customers custom-ers have plenty of money with which j to buy. three good meals a day? If I you want to make money on the farm as well as have your credit properly financed "DON'T FORGET HISTORY." HIS-TORY." Do not be fooled by the temporary tem-porary opportunity to feed war-stricken war-stricken Europe and to feed the mil- ;: lions of Americans who are now busy making all sorts of supplies for the European armies and. the storv- i.ing families in the war zone. We cannot we must not depend on such a blood-stained market. Our prosperous and independent home ; mprket is of far greater importance ' j to the prospjerity of armors, for that is our own. We must be 100 per cent American with our spirit responding only to "America first and America efficient." I'll answer your question about how a farmer without land is troitig to be helped "by any rural credits, the next time I write. But if you apply that question ques-tion to the Democratic scheme, I'll answer now He won't. Yours truly. Bon. |