10 



application came in, they did not have to go through all that 

 red tape. 



Mr. Robinson. You tell them, Mr. Newkirk. 



Mr. Newkirk. Well, after this association is formed, then 

 if there are other applicants who wish to come in to the asso- 

 ciation and get a loan, they do not have to go through all 

 that red tape that the organization did. They just make their 

 application to their officers, and it is filed right into the 

 office and pushed through with much more rapidity than the 

 charter member organization. 



Mr. Ford. I would like to ask you, IVIr. President, is it 

 impossible for a man in, we will say, the town of Dalton to 

 go this morning and borrow money on a farm to be used as 

 a farming operation unless there has been an organization of 

 ten. 



Mr. Newkirk. Yes. 



Mr. Ford. I suppose there is an organization in Pittsfield. 



Mr. Newkirk. Yes, there is; there is supposed to be an 

 organization in about every county. There is an organization 

 in Pittsfield, one in Greenfield, Shelburne, Northampton, En- 

 field. Those organizations are already in that western vicinity 

 there, and you could apply to any one of those organizations 

 and send in your application, and it would be acted upon and 

 put through at once. 



Mr. Wheeler. I would like to ask Mr. Robinson if he 

 believes in the proposition that the credit of the bank should 

 be extended direct to the farmers, so the farmers could apply 

 directly without going through the loan association. 



Mr. Robinson. I will make a confession, Mr. Wheeler. 

 When the act was before Congress I favored that very step. 

 I foresaw that the need of an organization of farmers as a 

 preliminary to getting loans would take time. But these 

 organizations, these formal associations have worked out so 

 well, that although it did of necessity take more time than it 

 otherwise would for making a loan direct, I wouldn't for a 

 minute advocate, at this stage of the game, the abolition of 

 these National Farm Loan associations. 



Mr. Parsons. I would like to inquire the rate of interest. 



Mr. Robinson. That is a very sore spot you touch. Our 



