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Show ' SEEN IN A VISION. How to Borrow Money Thru the New Law. LKTTKK X I'M HER OXK COUSIN liKX TO I'AliMKIt X'EO. Washington, D. C, Oct. 3, 1010. Dear. Cousin N'ed J Your letter telling about the hog cholera and the black rust is discouraging, dis-couraging, and I admire your spunk in not allowing your bad luck to give vou the blues. 1 '.visit I could confirm your high expectations about getting quick relief re-lief out of the new Rural Credits Law. I happen to know how that law works, for I was a secretary, you know, of a member of the American Amer-ican Commission, which went to Europe Eu-rope to study this question' I made the trip and attended the investigations. investiga-tions. But there was no such a double-back-action flabbergasted law as this in all Europe. Don't let them stuff you with big words about the Landschaft System and the Raffeisen System. We have neither; we have the Democratic Complicated Conglomeration Cong-lomeration nothing like it anywhere any-where else. Of course we need a Rural Credits Law; this is the only civilized country coun-try in the world that has not some oulu pjoviaioii tui iiimncing us larui-ers. larui-ers. But I am too well posted on the intricacies of this Hollis Law, passed by the Democrats this summer, to be fooled by it. They can't sell me any such a gold brick, and I see that they haven't fooled the Republican party, for in its platform it declares: 'We favor an effective system of Rural Credits, as opposed to the ineffective in-effective law proposed by the present pres-ent Democratic administration." You know, Ned, I'm something of a prophet, and I have had a vision about this Hollis Rural Credits Law. I'll tell you my vision now, so you can file it, and a year hence check vrinr actual experience with what XVect to borrow through the newy. Credits Law .and I'll explain ex-plain it all to you in my vision.- All you need to do is this: Tell your neighbor-farmers all about your being hard up. Explain to each one what you will do with the money you want to borrow and convince him that you are sane and know how to farm as well as he does. By talking over your need of putting put-ting a forty-year first mortgage on your farm for half its appraised value, val-ue, draw out from your neighbors that they too need money. That will give you an insight into their affairs, af-fairs, which you can talk over with the whole neighborhood; it is cheerful cheer-ful thus to talk about. Bill Jones' mortgage, with all the township. It will interest the merchants with whom Bill carries an account; also - the banker who holds Bill's note, due next month. Discover nine or more neighbors who are just as hard up as you are. Bill Jones can help you. Call a meeting meet-ing of all who' want to borrow. The whole ten or more of you must borrow at least $2 0,000 or you cannot can-not get a cent. If your land, aside from any buildings, build-ings, or other improvements, would sell under a sheriff's sale for $4,000 you are entitled to borrow $2,000 on it. f there are buildings that cost you $2,000 to build, five years ago. they may be appraised now, say, at $1,500, and you can borrow $300 on the buildings no more. That makes a loan of $2,300 on a farm which has an actual value (according (accord-ing to appraisal) of $5,500 under the sheriff's hammer; you probably think you could sell' it some day for $7,-000 $7,-000 or $8,000. But you cannot really get all that $2,300, for you must buy stock in your Credit Union, which you and your nine neighbors formed in order that you might borrow. bor-row. Buy stock when you are already hard up? Certainly; you must buy $115 of the stock, or you cannot borrow the $2,300. so it leaves you $2,185 to use. but you pay interest on $2,300. You may get some dividend div-idend on the stock, so cheer up. The interest you pay is certain, the dividend div-idend is well you know how stocks go. You got a dividend if there is any net prolit. left after paying all expenses of the Federal Land Bank located several hundreds of rntle from you. Anyhow, you get a handsome hand-some lithographed certificate of stock not live stock, just "stock." which carries a double liability on it. What is a "double liability?" Why. that means that you may lose the $115 that you have been forced to invest in the handsome stock certificate; certi-ficate; that is one "liability," Then if Bill Jones, or any of your other eight or nine neighbors fail to pay ) their notes, you maye be called upon to help pay the loss to the amount of another $115; that is the second liability. That makes the "double liability." In order to borrow the sum of $2,300 you have to invest $U5 in stock and get only $2.1S5 net. and you lun'e to guarantee your neighbors' debts to the amount of $230. Of course, you know your neighbors neigh-bors are honest; have you ever endorsed en-dorsed their notes at bank? Still, since you need to borrow for yourself . you may think of the wife and kiddies kid-dies in your own home and consider what would happen if you had to lose $230 through that "double liability." lia-bility." It would buy a lot of clothes for the family. But you risk it. Maybe it will turn out all right, if crops are good, year after year, and those neighbors all use good scientific methods in farming. So you and the neighbors decide to go ahead, form your National Na-tional Farm Loan Association and borrow $20,000, if your ten farms are worth over $40,000. You appoint ap-point a committee of three to appraise ap-praise all your farms. Of course, a different committee must appraise the three farms of that first committee commit-tee of appraisers, but that's easy. I I What is an appraisal between friends? You may think Bill Jones has nerve to expect his farm to be appraised at $6,000 when it is only a quarter section, and that southeast quarter of the northeast quarter is swampy and the creek spoils the west half for plowing, but you keep still, so Bill won't say a word about the alkali on your farm. You are wondering all the time if Sam Slick is nut on the committee to appraise your farm what he will do to you. Of course the mare you traded to Sam, three years ago, did have a touch of heaves, but Sam never asked you about heaves and when you kept her from stuffing herself with hay, she didn't show it not much. You are hoping Sam won't be one of your appraisers, however. You say, there must be three appraisers ap-praisers and the other two can outvote out-vote Sam, anyhow, but when I remind re-mind you that the a.nnrnisal unanimous you exclaim: "Eh? What? All three appraisers apprais-ers must agree unanimously? Well, by George, that's tough to expect three farmers all to think alike." I'll write you next week about what you are going to do in that dilemma. Your cousin, BEN. (To be Continued) |
