62 THE AGRICULTURAL BLOC 



first to join in the call for relief from Congress. 



Had the credit needs of agriculture not been 

 thoroughly canvassed just a few years before 

 there might have been more excuse for the 

 Administration overlooking this situation, but 

 the matter had been fully agitated and it had 

 been repeatedly shown that the ordinary deposit 

 bank could not of itself take care of farm needs 

 because credit for production and often for 

 marketing must exceed the ordinary thirty to 

 ninety day loan with which other business can 

 operate. The farmer's period of credit varies 

 greatly in the time he needs the money and he 

 is often unable to know how long he will need 

 the money when he makes the first investment. 



When the Joint Commission of Agricultural 

 Inquiry began its investigations into the credit 

 situation, the depression was at its worst, and 

 the testimony of those who appeared before 

 the Commission reflected the hardships and 

 losses most intensely. The Commission found 

 some significant facts which should be consid- 

 ered in their logical order. The following ex- 

 cerpts present the conclusions : 



Farm indebtedness has doubled in the last ten 

 years and the drop in prices has the effect of 

 again doubling this indebtedness. 



