966 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



stated, "In spite of state aid lavished on the central credit or- 

 ganization, the rate of interest is 7 to 8 per cent for money 

 advanced by the state gratis out of the taxes " ; and Doctor 

 Karacsonyi, also of Hungary, declared, " There are no successes 

 to be put to the credit of state aid. Money so lightly got is the 

 producer of extravagance." Similar utterances came from Wrabetz 

 of Austria, and from Chiousse and Durand of France. 



Legislation Proposed 



In conclusion, a sketch may be given of the bills now pending 

 in Congress for promoting agricultural credit. 



The American Commission published its report in the autumn 

 of 191 3 ; and about the same time a bill known as the Fletcher 

 Bill, the provisions of which were supposed to embody the 

 opinions of the Commission, based on their European inquiries, 

 was introduced in the Senate. It provided for the formation of 

 local and state land banks and a federal land bank situated at 

 Washington. The local banks were to issue debenture bonds, 

 which were to be guaranteed by the state bank, and, if necessary, 

 by the central bank ; and financial assistance from the United 

 States Treasury was provided for. 



Although the Fletcher Bill was supposed at the time to embody 

 the opinions of the Commission, it did not meet with the approval 

 of the administration, and was subsequently withdrawn. In its 

 place there was introduced, with the approval of the administra- 

 tion, the Moss-Fletcher Bill. This provided for the establishment 

 of National Farm Land Banks to be under the immediate direc- 

 tion of a special Commissioner, who should preside over a Bureau 

 of Farm Land Banks to be created in the Department of the 

 Treasury, Such banks might be organized by any ten persons 

 contributing a minimum capital of ^10,000, of which 50 per cent 

 was to be immediately paid up. They were empowered to accept 

 local deposits up to 50 per cent of their paid-up capital and sur- 

 plus, to receive postal-savings funds to the same extent on a par 

 with other government depositories, and even to engage in gen- 

 eral banking business. But their chief power lay in their right 



