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Show The Delta farmers farm-ers Opportunity The Chronicle has devoted considerable con-siderable space toexplaining the new Farm Credit Law, and rightly right-ly so, as this is the most important impor-tant measure for the benefit of the farmer that has been enacted enact-ed since the homestead law was passed. Do the farmers - on the Delta Tract realize that this law affords them an opportunity to pay off their obligations to the Delta Land & Water Co. by borrowing, bor-rowing, the amount from the Government at from 5 to 6 per cent interest and having the loan run from ten to thirty years? The law provides that the farmer can borrow not less than iflOO or $10,000, or 50 per cent of the value of his farm to pay off existing obligations, or to buy more land. He can borrow 20 per cent on the value of his improvements im-provements to buy farm machinery machin-ery or make other improvements that increase the earning capacity capa-city of his farm, but he can't borrow money to buy automobiles, automo-biles, pianolas or other luxuries. It is the large annual payments pay-ments with heavy interest and perhaps compound interest charges that break the farmers' heart and make him get discouraged. dis-couraged. A loan of $2,000 for 20 years at 5 per cent would be no burden. It would be only $100 a year with certainly not more than $50 a year for interest, ff he gets an extra good year he can pay off as much of the principal as he desires, which cannot be done with an ordinary mortgage. The method of boirowingis simple and inexpensive. Ten or more farmers who want to borrow bor-row an aggregate of at least $20,000 can organize a Farm Loan Association. Each man pays in five per cent of the amount he desires to borrow. This is the capital stock, and it is invested in Farm Loan bonds upon which interest is paid and which is finally applied on the farmer's loan. Five directors are elected and an appraising committee to value the farms upon which loans are desired. This valuation is afterwards passed upon by a government appraiser. When the loans are finally passed on -the money is forwarded to the Association and paid over in exchange for the notes and mortgages of the seve-, seve-, ral borrowers. The notes have to be endorsed by each member of the Association, not as individuals, indi-viduals, but as an Association, and if the whole Association goes to smash, only the capital stock, and possibly as much more, can be lost, ff enough farmers would go 1 into such an Association another . desirable object could be secur-i secur-i ed; and that is the farmers could i secure control of the Delta Canal Company. We have no doubt the present majority stockhold-1 stockhold-1 ers would be glad to be relieved i of the responsibility and expense 1 of such management. Will the farmers take advantage of this ' opportunity? N. B. Dresser. |