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CONTINUED from page one Governor Calls on Voters to Defeat Moratorium Issue renewals and extensions of such loans must be made to enable the debtors to carry on. "The president has directed the United States department of agriculture to accept 25 per cent of the 1932 crop production loans and to renew the balance for a term of years under such conditions as congress shall prescribe. Undoubtedly, congress will, as in the past, require crop security as a condition to such renewals and extensions. "If our farmers can not give crop security for such renewals on account of the anti-crop mortgage law, the renewal privileges will be denied to them and the government will be compelled to enforce the collection of the entire amount of the loans due this fall." Moratorium Is Threat Of the moratorium measure the governor said that "the mere threat and agitation for this bill has already practically suspended our public credit. both within and without the state." Those who can pay taxes and other debts, the governor stated, "should remain under a legal duty to do so in the interest of maintaining the solvency of both public and private institutions." Serious damage, the governor said has been done to the state by agitation for the moratorium. "During 1931, the Bank of North Dakota had no difficulty in selling state bonds for farm loan purposes," he stated. "It sold over $3,000,000 of such bonds at rates ranging from 4½ per cent down to 4 per cent. It was able to, and did, make farm loans to North Dakota farmers in the amount of $4.074.300 in 1931. During 1932, up to July 1, it made $1,070,300 in farm loans. In June. this year, however. when it was learned a five-year moratorium measure was pending, the bond market was entirely closed to North Dakota bonds. Since the reinitiation of the present measure in August, it has not been possible to sell any new North Dakota farm loan bonds in any market at any price. Minnesota, on the other hand, has recently sold rural credit bonds and highway bonds at rates as low 3.90 per cent. The result is that the Bank of North Dakota was compelled to suspend the making of all farm loans on July 1, and no further loans can be made until this moratorium threat is entirely eliminated." R. F. C. Action Withheld Action on an application to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation by the Bank of North Dakota for funds is being withheld, the governor said. on account of the moratorium measure, while the regional agricultural credit corporation set up at Minneapolis to furnish emergency livestock loans to farmers of the northwest is limiting loans to persons of proven financial responsibility. The governor called attention to the fact that, due to the drought, the Bank of North Dakota loaned nearly $2,500,000 on certificates of indebtedness and warrants to counties. cities and school districts in the northwestern part of the state. "Since July 1, this year," he added "no further loans have been made by the Bank of North Dakota to any political subdivisions for any purpose," because "the value of these certificates, bonds, or warrants, as security. would be entirely destroyed for three years, should the proposed moratorium measure be adopted." The governor said adoption of the moratorium measure would result in "such a drastic drop in the collections as to make the conduct of both local and state governments impossible without heavy borrowing." and would make borrowing impossible "because it will destroy the foundation of public credit which rests upon both the ability and legal duty of the citizens to pay a substantial part of their taxes each year." Hundreds of rural and town schools will be obliged to close, he declared, unless the teachers are able to serve out their terms without compensation
