THE FOOD CRISIS AND AMERICANISM 5! 



Moore, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Iowa Loan & Trust 

 Company, of Des Moines, Iowa; Mutual Benefit Life 

 Insurance Company, of Newark, New Jersey; the 

 Connecticut General; Connecticut Mutual; and yEtna 

 Life Insurance Companies, of Hartford, Connecticut, 

 and scores of other firms, individuals and corpora- 

 tions. 



Of the ultimate of this government experiment in 

 the farm mortgage business, I express no opinion. 

 However, its present stage of development seems to 

 have disclosed two facts. First : As an intermediary 

 between borrower and lender, it is the most expensive 

 that ever existed in this country. Second : That the 

 public at large is not inclined to support it by the pur- 

 chase of its bonds to the extent it was anticipated, so 

 it seems to have become necessary for Congress to 

 appropriate $200,000,000 to be invested in these bonds 

 during the next two years. As our Government was 

 at that time borrowing money at from three and one- 

 half to four per cent, interest, and this is now being 

 loaned to the farmers at five and one-half per cent, in- 

 terest, it is not difficult to figure out the cost of the 

 governmental machinery in making the transfer of 

 funds to borrower from lender. In addition to this 

 tremendous margin between the rate received by the 

 lender and that paid by the borrower one and one- 

 half per cent, to two per cent, per annum in the 

 beginning, the Government subscribed approximately 

 $9,000,000; that is, $750,000 to the capital stock of 

 each of the twelve Banks, upon which no interest is 

 to be received ; and also assumed the payment of cer- 

 tain salaries and other expenses. If our fanners were 



