<Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1047 
The Delay in Cashing Checks 
Inferring to the matter of unpaid checks due to the 
failure of a bank, the law of commercial paper is quite 
different from most of our law. It is old. international, 
well-known, well-established. One statute adopted in 
every one of 48 States and most Territories, uniform, 
practically word for word, in all. has been substantially 
stationary for 25 years relatively unchangeable, like 
the laws of Modes and Persians, were at the crest of 
their advanced civilization. It is Unique. A check is one 
of the best known of the commercial instruments. Its 
characteristic features are that if is a species of bill of 
exchange, is always drawn on a hank, payable an de- 
iii mi(I, and purports to be drawn against an adequate 
deposit which drawer warrants be then Las in the 
drawee bank, and which lie directs the pa nee. and holder 
In iio and get forthicith. It is an instrument for imme¬ 
diate payment. It is drawn for immediate presentment. 
The law expressly says it must be presented within a 
reasonable time. 
If you don’t like this kind of an instrument and these 
rules, ask for an amendment, or easier, ask for an in- 
slrurneut payable at a future time. If you take a check, 
the drawer is deemed to have said to you: “I now 
have funds at that bank to pay this check. Go get 
them. Hut don’t wait; don't hazard my money, at my 
risk, at that bank too long.” Through the rural de¬ 
livery the farmer can forward the cheek for present¬ 
ment as easily as the city man does through the post 
office. Failure promptly and properly 40 present dis¬ 
charges the indorsers at once absolutely, whether or not 
he has suffered any loss directly resultant therefrom. 
Failure to so present promptly releases the drawer, hut 
Only if and to the e.etent of his direrI loss flowing from 
tin delay, as by way of failure of the bank. Here the 
failure will be partial only, as a rule, and the loss and 
release partial only, e. g„ 25 cents or 50 cents on the 
dollar. 
What constitutes a reasonable time is left, very nat¬ 
urally to the courts to decide as occasion arises. The 
courts have laid down, however, well-known general 
rules. Outstanding among these is that presentment 
to a bank in the same town when the check is issued 
shall be made on the day of issue or on the following 
day. If the drawee bank is in a distant town, then 
presentment shall be made by or with the same dispatch 
as if by sending forward on a regular mail on the day 
following its issue. The sending forward preferably 
should be direct to a rival bank in the town of the 
drawee bank. This collecting bank is the forwarder’s 
agent, and must present within the time within which 
the check would ordinarily have reached the drawee if 
it had been forwarded direct to the drawee bank on 
the day following its issue by regular mail. Of course 
Sundays and holidays are not appropriate for presenta¬ 
tion. You see, under the rule here the time for presen¬ 
tation increases with the distance. The farmer has the 
definite advantages of mail forwarding. 
There are instances enough in which predatory wealth 
is pampered, hut this is not one. Rich and poor of all 
States and of almost the whole world, are governed by 
this law. CARI. SARGENT. 
TT is well to have this subject thoroughly discussed 
X and understood. It is evident that only a court 
can decide in each individual case what constitutes 
reasonable time. In some cases it seems to have 
been held that H> days was not unreasonable. We 
find no decisions affecting farmers. In the present 
ease in Pennsylvania the checks were delivered in 
January when roads were bad and weather inclem¬ 
ent. Mail connections were slow. Fanners were, 
busy with their dairies. The custom was to use 
I them as payment for local hills with tradesmen. All 
this the drawer of the checks well knew. "Reason¬ 
able time," under these circumstances, is quite a 
different thing from what might he expected from 
business men in the city or trade circles. City cus¬ 
toms should not be applied as rules for the country, 
and would not he if farmers had a voice in the mak¬ 
ing of the laws. The experience, however, suggests 
the earliest possible collection of checks. 
July Milk Pool Price 
T 1IE Dairymen’s League Co-operative Association 
announces a gross pool price for July of $1.(38 
per 100 lhs. This is for milk testing 5 per cent but- 
terfat and is a base price at the 201-210-mile zone. 
Each individual farmer's price will vary for freight 
differentials, determined by his distance from the 
market and for the amount of butterfat which his 
milk contains above 3 per cent. 
Out of the gross pool price $.028 is deducted for 
administrative expenses; $.002 to.be sent to locals 
for their expenses; $.<m»s for advertising expenses; 
$.002 for insurance against had accounts, and $.02 
for extraordinary depreciation, making a total ex¬ 
pense deducted of $.0(3 per 100 Jbs. This leaves a 
total to be paid the farmers of $1.02. Of this. 20c 
per ewt. is borrowed by the association on certificate, 
of indebtedness plan for investment in milk plants 
at d equipment, to he owned by the farmers through 
the association. 
Not all of the reports on July operations have yet 
been received from the dealers, but those which 
have been received to date show that the association 
pooled for July the milk of 58.71)8 members. Of this 
number 39,035 delivered milk to 047 plants operated 
by dealers, and 14,163 members delivered to 130 
plants operated by the co-operative association. It 
will he noted from these figures that the co-operative 
association handled itself nearly one-third of all the 
I moled milk. Many of these men for whom the as¬ 
sociation provided a market would either have been 
without a market had it not been for the pooling 
plan, or would have placed their milk upon the fluid 
market, thereby bringing about even lower prices to 
everybody than those which have been received. Be¬ 
cause of the necessity of taking care of the surplus, 
these lowered prices to the farmer would not have 
benefited the consumer. Yet in spite of the fact that 
the association was obliged because of non-co-operat¬ 
ing dealers to provide hurriedly markets for thou¬ 
sands of its members, the pool price is only a little 
under what it was last year. Reports from the 
dealers for July show that there was a total of 
815.535,002 lhs. of pooled milk. Checks covering pay¬ 
ment of this milk delivered by members of the co¬ 
operative association during July will he mailed on 
or before August 25. 
Protection for Investors 
INE hanks in Binghamton, Emlicott. Johnson 
City and Union. N. Y., have combined in an 
advertising scheme to help protect investors. Every¬ 
day big advertisements appear in the daily paper. 
Here is one of them, reduced in size: 
: An automobile corporation whose stock : 
: hundreds of residents of this community 
: rushed to buy has just been put into the 
: hands of a trustee for the benefit of the : 
: creditors, : 
: "There is no money in the treasury,*' says : 
: a news dispatch. : 
: Thousands upon thousands of dollars in : 
: hard-earned savings went into the treasury : 
: from this valley. : 
Thousands upon thousands of other hard- : 
: earned dollars went into the treasury from : 
: many another town. : 
: Where has all the money gone? Much of : 
: it, of course, into an expensive and flamboy- : 
: ant stock-selling campaign lasting several : 
: years. Such campaigns rarely leave much : 
: money for actual manufacturing. 
: Remember this when the next sensational : 
: stock-selling campaign comes along. And : 
: don’t forget next time to 
: Ask Yofr Banker 
That country is full of shoemakers and other work¬ 
men who are well paid in cash, and who are con¬ 
stantly tempted to invest in wildcat propositions. 
Many of them do so. and thousands of dollars are 
lost through such folly. The hanks have combined to 
try to stop this waste, if possible, by giving sensible 
and cold-blooded advice to those who ask for it. It 
is the business of a bank to know about such things. 
To invest money in any proposition which your hank 
would not loan money on is a gamble—worse than a 
horse race or a game of cards. 
Dr. G. F. Warren For Senator 
The Democrats and Republicans have been comparing 
notes and trying to find out. not the sentiment of their 
party, but whom the bosses and leaders think can get 
elected and do the best in shaking the plum tree. I 
have wondered why some of the leaders in farm 
tbongnt through the State have not suggested someone 
interested in the farmer and his problems, besides get¬ 
ting his interest money. 
It is getting late in the season for such things to he 
discussed long, hut if the old parties insist upon brush¬ 
ing us farmers aside and telling us to stay home and 
"slop the hogs,” l believe in putting up a candidate. 
The man I would present 1 do not know personally, 
hut have heard him from the platform at Ithaca. X. Y' , 
during Farmers' Week. He is Prof. Warren, of the 
"Warren Formula." I believe he is an authority in 
farm economics, and would be a progressive Senator, 
and work for the State us a whole and not. one party. 
Prof. Warren luts been called to Washington several 
times by committees for consultation. Why not put him 
there, so that he will be in a better position to give 
advice, and also able to introduce constructive legisla¬ 
tion? J. P. FORMAN. 
O UR opinion is that Prof. Warren would represent 
Xew York in United States Senate much as Prof. 
E. F. Ladd represents North Dakota. The last-named 
State has never had a more useful representative at 
Washington. A .trained scientist, with his feet on 
the ground and deep sympathy for common people, 
ought to make an ideal Senator. We fear, however, 
that the suggestion come.? too late. The machine 
politicians have killed the primary in New York as 
it relates to the nomination of Senator. There is to 
be a "State convention" which will he nothing move 
than a gathering of wire pullers and hand-picked 
politicians. Senator ('alder has already been select¬ 
ed as a candidate. The "convention" will he merely 
a perfunctory endorsement of him ana of his record 
Senator C'alder will he the most unpopular candidate 
ever foisted upon the fanner- and country people by 
the Republican party. He has no popularity among 
our country people, and has done nothing to justify 
his re-election. In a primary such as was fought out 
in Indiana, Iowa or North Dakota, Caldc-r never 
could he nominated. And there is little chance that 
the Democrats will do any better, for the "conven¬ 
tion” plan of nominating has given the politicians 
full power to dictate nominations. We might as well 
look the facts right in the face. It is not impossible 
that a strong third ticket will be nominated. If it 
is there will be a big vote for its candidate, for. 
whatever the politicians may say. there is deep dis¬ 
satisfaction and unrest among our farmers. 
New York State Notes 
The masters of the State Granges of the United 
States held a two-day conference at Syracuse to discuss 
important matters for the good of the order. One of 
the items given out to the press was that they emphat¬ 
ically disapproved of the proposed national ship subsidy, 
with equally emphatic approval of the prohibition 
amendment and equally emphatic disapproval of the 
action to rescind it. 
Some of the fanners in the vieiniry of Oneida are 
sitting on pins and needles these days since the suit of 
the Indians of that section recently was decided in their 
favor. This suit was a test ease to the title of 55 acres 
of land on what is known as the Moyer farm, two miles 
south of the city. There are 3,000 acres in the same 
area that the Indians have been trying to restore. On 
Saturday. August 19, the Indians are arranging a 
gathering of the tribe, at which time many matters of 
interest will be discussed. Meanwhile tic- farmers along 
what is called the West Road are watching the progress 
ot claims in the courts relative to other claims of the 
Indians for title to the land they once occupied, from 
which they were ejected years ago. 
The annual meeting of the New York State Feder¬ 
ation of Farm Bureau Associations will be held at the 
Onondaga Hotel, Syracuse. N. Y\, on November 21. 22 
and 28. Effort is being made to have J. R. Howard, 
president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, 
speak at this meeting. 
The Oneida County Poultry Association is employing 
a culler to do the culling for member- of the association, 
who wish to employ some one with considerable experi¬ 
ence rather thau do the work themselves. Already 40 
poultrymen have signed up to have tbi- work done. The' 
expense of the work is $2 for the lirst 100 birds or frac¬ 
tion thereof handled, and two cents a bird for each bird 
in additiou to this number. The pnultryman having cull¬ 
ing done boards the expert while he is on the job, and 
transports him to the next association member to have 
the culling. 
The Tri-county Guernsey Breeders’ Association of 
Western New York will hold a field day at the Taber 
& Mignin farm at Castile on August 21. Guernsey 
breeders of the surrounding counties were invited and 
the association that was started last year was com¬ 
pleted. There was a basket lunch at noon and the 
ladies were asked to come along and have an outing 
with the men. W. E. Davis, the newly appointed field 
secretary and manager of the State association, was 
invited to be present to give a talk and tell of plans of 
the State association. 
In spite nf_ the busy times farmers from the potato 
sections of Wyoming County turned out well to atteud 
the annual potato tour. Over 35 cars were in line. In 
the morning the Wilson storehouse, which is worthy of 
observation, was studied. The glowers then went to 
• he Wilson farms near Gainesville, where the American 
Giant variety is being grown on a large scale f<>r the 
seed market. The W. K. Holmes farm at Lamout was 
the second stop. Mr. Holmes is also a Giaur producer. 
Stops were also made at the farms of Thomas McCor¬ 
mick. near Java Center; Ed. Maurer’s, Arcade, and F. 
C. Gibbs at Filmore, the home of the famous Gibbs 
Heavyweights. At all of these places time was given 
ro the comparative study of fertilizers, study of diseases, 
cultural disease and seed production. The one impor¬ 
tant thing that was pointed out on the trip was the 
importance of the seed plot, where the grower could get 
his seed for the next season. 
The State wool pool is practically completed. There 
are some very encouraging things about the pool, and 
one is that a number of so-called fine wool counties have 
increased the amount of wool pooled over the year pre¬ 
ceding. This association. 1 believe, is one of the out¬ 
standing examples of how an association of a co-opera¬ 
tive nature can increase the price at a local point. A 
number of breeders were influenced to break away from 
the pool by buyers. This has its advantages, however, 
as it automatically sorts out those who cau be depended 
upon. 
"Old times were different." so -aid the hop growers 
s’s they gathered at their forty-fifth annual picnic at 
Sylvan Beach. Madison County. There were two of 
the members of the association who were present who 
were charter members of the association. They have 
seen a rise and decline of the industry. Tweuly-five 
years ago records show that the Lehigh Valley brought 
t!7 conches of picnickers, while the Ontario & Western 
carried 106 coaches. For some years it was the custom 
of Sylvan Beach bu-iness men to pay a certain assess¬ 
ment for the privilege of having the picnic held there. 
In some years this amount has meant the dividend of 
from $5 to $10 to the members of the association. On 
one occasion the amount was said f" have reached $20 
to each member. In later years the amount is said nnlv 
to have been sufficient to pay the expenses of "tie • r 
two bauds, badges for members and other incidental 
expenses. While the hop industry has meant a decline 
of agricultural industry, one cauuot help but feel that 
we arc the gainers after all when wo consider that for 
which most of the hops were used. 
The State Fair Association has -et aside $1,600 for 
the best exhibits iu New York State. This exhibit can 
he made by a Farm Bureau. Fotnona Grange or by a 
breeders’ association. To visit some of these exhibits 
is to marvel at the range of products that New York 
Stare produces. 
After traveling through the boarding-house section of 
Sullivan County one is impressed with the way the big 
crop for that section is hit this year. Many of the 
houses formerly keeping boarders are nearly empty. 
This condition may he due to the cool Summer or the 
general business condition. At any rate, it is hitting 
some of the farm people hard, because they have grown 
to depend on the boarding-houses for their special Sum¬ 
mer market. E. a. f. 
