With reference to the live-stock interests in the State, we feel the result more notice, able. As soon as the War Finance money was being distributed in the State the live-stock man was enabled to hold on to his live stock that was immature or growingwhich withdrew from the markets immature and growing live stock. This decreased the marketable supply; consequently the market was not flooded with immature stock, resulting in better prices. Further * it enabled growers of live stock to conserve their present herds and flocks and did not put them into the forcedseller class. This condition has created a spirit of hope and confidence in the livestock man to work out from under his indebtedness.

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The effect of the corporation's extension of credit through loan companies and to some extent member and nonmember State banks was noticeable. Markets relieved of absorbing forced liquidation were to a certain extent again subject to the law of supply and demand, resulting in the restoration of a price level such as its operation decreed; indebtedness of banks decreased; there was a noticeable check in the drain of deposits, and the commercial activities of the communities were stimulated in the degree that there had been a restoration of buying power of these basic producers.

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The advances of the War Finance Corporation in this district have prevented a great deal of forced selling of produce and live stock which might otherwise have taken place. It is our opinion that the outside money supplied by the corporation together with the increasing ease of money due to industrial and commercial liquidation, has enabled the farmers and live-stock men to conserve their resources and market their products in an orderly way.

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There is such a thing as morale in every community which is greatly undermined and weakened by economic troubles. To the extent that it strengthened the credit situation in many communities, lessened the pressure on debtors and gave time for readjustment, the War Finance Corporation undoubtedly helped agriculture to recover its morale. Throughout the farming districts of the country, a better feeling has been evident for the past six months. This was directly due to the improvement in prices of farm products, but indirectly to the assistance of the War Finance Corporation. There is no question that the credit furnished by the corporation prevented dumping in the markets of farm products.

At the time the corporation commenced to make loans under the enlarged act the banks in our territory were in a very precarious position and the help was immediately felt both in respect to the morale of the depositors and the ability of the banks to relieve their communities.

The placing of the Government funds with the farmers and live-stock growers of this section, and coming just when it did, in my opinion, brought about a wonderful change and saved the live-stock industry from almost a total collapse.

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The restoring of confidence made the live-stock men realize that the future for that industry was bright and brought about new energy and effort on their part, and dispelled the gloom that seemed to be cast over them for the past two years. The Western States have passed through perhaps the hardest winter for the past 30 years, and the losses to live stock have been greater than for many winters. The relief now offered to the live-stock men enables them to hold their young breeding stock for this and next season, at which time the range should be again fully stocked, and without the assistance given by the War Finance Corporation the small banks of this section would have been compelled to insist on the selling off of all salable live stock in order to build up their reserves.

There is no doubt whatever but that the corporation has been of great benefit to the farmer, the feeder, and the stock raiser. Advances made to the country banks relieved the pressure and made it possible for the bank to give the farmer and the live-stock interests more time in which to conduct their operations. The net result has been beneficial-very much so in view of the improved market conditions.

The great good resulting from the last 12 months' operation of the War Finance Corporation is easily visible. Not even the most optimistic person could have stretched his imagination so far as to foresee the great liquidation that has been effected in the past few months and the general feeling of confidence which now prevails.

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We truly believe that the fact that the War Finance Corporation was authorized to lend $1,000,000,000 for a period of from one to three years, together with the fact that it has been properly functioning in its authorized duties, has been the sole stabilizing influence needed to restore necessary confidence.

The effect of the work of the corporation on the agricultural and live-stock interests has been good. The advances made by it to cattle and sheepmen stopped the indiscriminate shipping to market of breeding herds and encouraged the holders of these herds to continue in the business. When the corporation began loaning, many of the owners of live stock were so discouraged that they were ready to abandon any further effort to hold herds together. I could see a great difference in the mental attitude of them from the very beginning and it has improved continuously since.

The effect of the work of the corporation on the banking situation has been equally beneficial. The advances made by the corporation to the country banks and cattle loan companies enabled them to loan to farmers money for the most needful requirements in their business. *

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The general result has been beneficial in every way. Social conditions have improved for the reason that the farmers are again hopeful and have the will to do and, with anything like a normal crop condition this year, there will be a tremendous improvement in the buying ability of the farmer, and in that way it will help the employment of labor.

Prior to the time that the War Finance Corporation began to function here the morale of the live-stock men of the State was at about as low ebb as it would be possible to conceive, and inasmuch as this has for a long number of years been one of the chief industries of the State, it necessarily operated to discourage the bankers and business men throughout the entire State.

I am convinced that your work has saved a very large number of men in the livestock business from bankruptcy, and indirectly has saved a very large number of banks from suspension and of other business houses from failure.

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I do not recall any work having been done in this State that had so great a beneficial effect as the work of the War Finance Corporation.

The hopelessness of the situation in the agricultural and live-stock interests following the complete collapse in commodity markets in the autumn of 1920 and the present prospects and hopefulness mark the progress of the workings of the War Finance Corporation. The 100 per cent increase in the value of cotton within the past 12 months, while not altogether attributable to this one influence, could never have taken place without it. Eight months ago mules, horses, and most other live stock were a positive liability instead of an asset to a farmer. He saw no use for them and no hope in the price of anything which he could produce with them if he did use them. Formerly the basis of credit, they were now without standing or value. The aid afforded by the War Finance Corporation to the live-stock interests and to the farmer through the small banks has given the producer a new hold and a new hope.

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The loss of nerve and the despair following the wreck of so many hopes built on the after-the-war inflation have already given away to a more hopeful feeling * * and many have been made to realize by the workings of the War Finance Corporation that the Government is interested in their welfare, and will go as far as possible to help.

The War Finance Corporation stepped into the breach and by its activities provided the remedy, with the result that city correspondents are now able to care for requirements, the country banks in most instances are comfortable and able to continue until another crop can be harvested, and the agriculturist, in turn, has been enabled to conserve all his resources awaiting the outcome of another crop; and in the case of cattle and hog districts, awaiting a marketing at an opportune time and a favorable market. Conditions have continually improved since the corporation began its activities, and to the corporation and its activities may be attributed, in a large measure, that degree of stability which exists at the present time.

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The benefits have been great, both materially and psychologically; materially by the vast sums loaned to the community; psychologically, by the restoration of confidence.

we have daily indications that these advances have enabled growers to maintain their herds and have to a very great extent eliminated the danger of serious depletion of herds which was imminent had immediate liquidation or partial liquidation of accounts been forced.

These results are direct and tangible and in my judgment attributable to the activities of the corporation. In addition I believe that the very existence of the War Finanace Corporation has been a material factor in the bringing about of the improved conditions. as inspiring confidence which seemed to be lacking during the earlier period of the recent depression. The ability of the growers to obtain advances quickly and without unnecessary red tape has in my opinion tended to restore confidence essential to recovery from such conditions as we have recently passed through. *

In general I would say that the War Finance Corporation has been the one thing which has saved the live-stock industry of this section and no doubt of the country, and has provided the means of continuing all branches of industry and commerce vital to this community.

We have found that * * all applications have been acted upon and advances made available within a very few days after receipt of the same, and this fact is one of the principal things which has made the corporation's work particularly effective. The relief has been given at the time when it was needed most and when delay meant possible collapse of the whole economic structure of the section, recovery from which would have taken years.

It (the War Finance Corporation) has saved both the great live-stock industry of the Southwest and our banking industry. I can mention one instance that shows the great change in this short period. Our company received an application for an advance from a stockman through one of our member banks for $70,000. The application was approved by this company and the State Agency of the War Finance Corporation for the amount applied for, but before receiving the approval from the corporation and closing the loan we were advised by our member bank that the Kansas City bank which had been carrying the loan "had persuaded the applicant to renew his paper with them." Such an expression had been foreign to this section for the past few years.

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The work of the corporation has undoubtedly restored the morale of the stockmen and bankers of this section; it has brought the majority of our bankers together in closer cooperation; and has likewise brought the stockmen and farmers in closer cooperation with their banker.

The results are gratifying. Look at the small farmer or the extensive live-stock raiser who was threatened last fall with the necessity of selling his products or live stock on a rapidly declining market, who faced the loss of the accumulation of many years' hard work, but who fortunately can now smile with the knowledge that he has saved his property, reestablished his credit, and can dispose of his cattle at $10 to $25 per head, according to quality, more than he could in October or November, 1921. The percentage of increase in price of hogs is substantial and the value of sheep in some cases increased 100 per cent.

Witness the 2,700 members of the local wheat growers' association who were the recipients of a distribution of $1,200,000 and who were able to apply their proportionate share on their banking obligations, or what they owed the local merchant, or to spend on purchases *, or increase their credit balance at the bank.

Had the War Finance Corporation, apart from the material financial assistance it has given us, done nothing but inspire the hope and determination of our people to overcome the adverse conditions that seemed about to overwhelm them, its value would have been a hundredfold greater than its cost of maintenance to our Government.

The loans of the War Finance Corporation have been the largest factor in preventing the absolute depletion of our stock cattle, and arrested the downward trend not only in live stock but in agricultural products.

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The activity of the War Finance Corporation, and its loans to agricultural and livestock interests, brought about a realization that such commodities have more than a nominal value. It restored the bankers' confidence in those commodities. The mere fact that the War Finance Corporation was willing and ready to loan money, in my opinion, was the turning point of the recent slump. The result has been that the bankers, live-stock interests, and farmers now have a better knowledge of each other and a better understanding. This knowledge and understanding are now based upon something larger than collateral. Bankers now know what the farmer and live-stock men need, and they realize that 90-day loans are of no real assistance to them.

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* The work of the War Finance Corporation * is generally conceded, in this district, to have been the one great saving activity of the serious situation which confronted us last fall. The net proceeds realized from the sale of agricultural products and live stock are, in many instances, yielding 100 per cent more to the producer than last fall. * When funds were made available for legiti mate activities in the agricultural and live-stock industry, a return of confidence gradually became apparent on every hand. Many instances of bankruptcy were permanently averted by enabling the producer to market commodities in an orderly manner, rather than compelling him to sacrifice his all on a depressed market and during a period of stringency.

At the time the War Finance Corporation was revived the agricultural and livestock interests of the country were practically helpless, having an enormous volume of debts created during the period of high prices; and with the buying power of the world destroyed, they not only could not find a market for their products at any kind of a price but could not find anybody who wanted to loan them any money on what they had. In addition to that, every one to whom they owed money wanted settlement at once, as their creditors were in turn debtors to some one else.

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When it became known that the War Finance Corporation stood ready to loan a reasonable amount of money for the orderly marketing of farm and live-stock products, this fact gradually began to bring confidence back to the minds of the buyers and in the financial circles, so that in a little while the market commenced to pick up and the producers to market their products in a somewhat orderly manner at a very much more satisfactory price than they would have obtained except for the stabilizing influence of the War Finance Corporation.

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As the producers have commenced to get out of the slough of despond and to see a day ahead when they may be able to market various products in an orderly manner at a price fair to everyone, hope has begun to revive in the breasts of thousands who had about given up in despair. With this has come a feeling of patriotism which means much for society as a whole.

The greatest benefit was its effect in helping to restore confidence at a time when pretty much everybody in the agricultural field was despondent and disposed to regard the problem as impossible of solution, predictions being freely made that it would take many years before we could get back to anything like a working basis. The first relief, of course, was noticeable in the cotton districts, where your operations were started earlier; but perhaps the most striking change of all was in the live-stock country where young stock was being sacrificed to the serious injury not only of the live-stock grower of the present but of the general business situation of the future. In the grain sections the results were slower, but the benefits derived, particularly by the corn growers, were perhaps the greatest in dollars and cents of any single class.

The effect on the banking situation, particularly the country banks, was most helpful. Many of them that would undoubtedly have been in liquidation had this relief not been forthcoming are to-day serving the community in which they are located as efficiently as ever they have done in the past.

I believe you extended credit to about 800 banks in this district, of which about 83 per cent in number and about 80 per cent in amount were to nonmember banks. The assistance rendered unquestionably enabled these banks to furnish much needed assistance to the agricultural and live-stock interests that would otherwise not have been available.

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Up to the time these advances were available, forced liquidation of herds was taking place continually. particularly, in a great number of cases through the advances made by the War Finance Corporation, foreclosure and serious bankruptcy were prevented. The immediate effect was to overcome the confusion and hysteria which had affected not alone the live-stock men but all engaged in agricultural pursuits, because their bankers in turn were under tremendous pressure due to the lines of slow and difficult paper carried for live-stock men and other producers. The steadying resulted first in the stabilization of prices and slight advances which gave good protection on the advances made by the corporation and also stabilized the value of the loans still held by the banks.

The fact that the corporation was prepared to make loans had a very stabilizing and stimulating effect on all sections and when the loans were made this effect was broadened. Its effect in stabilizing cotton alone would have justified its operations.

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As you know, last fall there was great pressure on the farmer to dispose of his corn. * I think at least 50 per cent of the corn crop would have moved at 25 cents or less had it not been for the War Finance Corporation. This also naturally gave the live-stock grower an opportunity to market his stock orderly. *There has been nothing in the past few years that has given as much relief to the State as the War Finance Corporation.

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Of course, the general situation has helped things greatly, but there can be no sort of doubt that the immediate effect of the operations of the War Finance Corporation was to give confidence, provide credit facilities, and to inspire hope both in farmers and raisers of live stock, with the result that there was an immediate increase in values throughout the district, reaching in respect to sheep almost 100 per cent, and a very heavy though not so great an increase in the values of other live stock. I think the psychological effect of the movement, coming at the time it did, was very great. In the mere knowledge of the fact that the War Finance Corporation was prepared to extend needed relief a good many lenders of money were encouraged to come to the rescue, and the value of the work of the War Finance Corporation has been not alone in the actual advances made by it but as well in the fact of the encouragement it gave other lenders both large and small, in the district and out of it, to make advances on live stock.

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The loans of the War Finance Corporation have been pretty well distributed and the effect has been not only to help the industry but to relieve the banks, which were very hard pressed, of considerable paper which they were carrying with great difficulty. It enabled them to take care of the expenses of the herdsmen and the demands of agriculture and generally has strengthened the whole situation in the livestock belt.

The normal liquidating period was reached and the farmers did not possess the ability to liquidate. This brought about an immediate stringency which promptly affected the banks and reacted against business generally. The necessities of the case threatened widespread foreclosure. This would have meant to the farmers the loss of land, equipment, crops, live stock, and, in fact, everything, with consequent ruin to this section. Needless to say, the banks did not desire to foreclose, but without the aid of the corporation they would have been driven to it. I feel that it is certain that the work of the corporation prevented a disaster to the farmers.

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The general confidence inspired by the work of the corporation so far improved the situation that almost 50 per cent of the banks which had been closed were subsequently enabled to get their affairs in shape as to reopen. * Naturally the prevention of disastrous foreclosures against farmers and the improvement in the banking situation contributed very substantially to the bettering of general commercial conditions. * * When the rural banks were enabled through the corporation's activities to extend the indebtedness of the farmers, and when increased confidence and normal liquidation had begun to improve the general credit situation, business began to show an immediate reaction and the improvement has gone steadily forward. No one factor so largely aided the bettering of conditions as the work of the corporation and the direct and indirect effects thereof.

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