became well known and a ready market for them was in existence, the importance of these circulars diminished. The third group of publications includes those intended for a more restricted audience and are of a more technical nature. These are the various interest and amortization tables and the regulations of the Board, which are distributed for the information and the use of the land banks and the national farm loan associations.

The law also authorized the Federal Farm Loan Board to "disseminate in its discretion information for the further instruction of farmers regarding the methods and principles of coöperative credit and organization." So far no use has been made of this authority, which would seem to involve a duplication of work within the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture.

CHAPTER III

ORGANIZATION

The Federal Farm Loan Bureau is divided into a field service, consisting of the examiners, appraisers and registrars, and the central office at Washington. In March, 1924, there were thirtyeight employees of the Bureau in the field service and fifty-seven, including the members of the Board, in the Washington office.' The employees of the Bureau were exempted from the civil service regulations by the Federal Farm Loan Act, but the President can place them in the classified service."

In Washington. The Washington office is divided into ten divisions or units:

(1) The Administration. This is headed by the Federal Farm Loan Board which is responsible for and directs all the activities of the Bureau. Although the Board as a whole formulates all policies, the work of the Bureau has been divided among the six appointed members for their special supervision. One of them, as required by law, is designated by the President as Farm Loan Commissioner, and as such is the general executive officer of the Board. Each of the other members of the Board has special charge of one of the following: federal land banks, joint stock land banks, intermediate credit banks, national farm loan associations, and appraisals and securities. The Secretary of the Treasury, who is ex-officio a member of the Board, has no special assignment of this nature. In addition to the members of the Board there are in this division an Administrative Assistant, who in 1923 devoted his time to the intermediate credit banks, the Secretary of the Board, and the private secretaries of the six appointed members of the Board.

1A detailed list of personnel is given below in Appendix I. The figures given there and in the above are subject to change, as employees are added or dropped or are shifted from division to division as circumstances require. 239 Stat. L., 360, 361.

(2) The Appraisement Division consists of a Supervising Appraiser, six Examiners of Securities, a stenographer, and two clerks. The work of this division is to examine the original applications for loans, the reports of the loan committees of the local national farm loan associations, the reports of the executive committees of the federal land banks, and the report of the federal appraiser in order to pass upon the soundness of the security offered. This Division also examines the applications for loans and other reports to make certain that they comply with the legal restrictions fixing the maximum amount of any loan at 50 per cent of the appraised value of the land and 20 per cent of the value of the permanent insured improvements and limiting the purposes for which the loans can be used. In 1923 the Division passed upon 80,074 individual applications with the appraisers' and other reports.

(3) The Charters and Reports Division is composed of five employees. This Division is charged with the supervision of the organization of national farm loan associations, federal land banks, joint stock land banks and intermediate credit banks. In the case of the national farm loan associations, the Division supervises the approval and granting of charters; keeps a corrected record of officers, directors, amendments, and the notices of annual meetings of shareholders; examines and checks the quarterly and other reports to keep informed of the condition of the associations. In the case of the banks in the system the division keeps a record of the names, addresses, compensation, and the terms of office of the directors and of other employees; examines and records organization certificates and by-laws; and checks surety bonds. The work of the Division was especially heavy during the early years when so many charters were being granted and so many problems of organization were met. Of late years its principal work has been on the regular reports from the associations and the banks, although in 1923 there were 428 applications for charters and amendments received.

(4) The Securities Division includes the Custodian of Securities and five other employees. The duty of this Division is to receive and guard carefully the various farm loan bonds and debentures printed by the government, to transmit them to the registrars and to the banks for authentication and attesting, after which they

would be received again by the Custodian of Securities and again shipped out by him when sold, and to destroy canceled bonds, interim certificates and coupons. The importance of this work can be appreciated from the fact that in 1923 the number of pieces handled amounted to 1,261,512, with a face value of over one billion dollars.

(5) The Bond Division has two employees. A record is kept by this Division of all matters connected with the issuance of the bonds of the federal land banks or joint stock land banks and of the debentures of the intermediate credit banks. During 1923 some 3384 applications for bond issues and substitutions were received and dealt with by the Division. When the Bureau was first organized the Securities Division was included in this division but later became a separate unit.

(6) The Statistical Division is composed of seven employees. As its name indicates, this Division compiles and tabulates all the statistical data for the Bureau to which reference has been made. Every application for a loan and every appraiser's report goes through this Division so that the amounts, purposes of the loan and other significant information may be recorded.

(7) The Accounting Division consists of the Auditor, an Accountant, and a clerk. Financial statements and reports from the various examiners in the field and from the banks and national farm loan associations are received and examined by this Division.

(8) The Federal Intermediate Credit Bank Division consists of the Bank Examiner and one other employee, who make examinations of the twelve intermediate credit banks and of the institutions for which they discount agricultural paper.

(9) The Files Division, of two employees, does the clerical work indicated by its name.

(10) The Messenger Service consists of four employees.

The Field Service. The employees of the Federal Farm Loan Bureau who are stationed outside of Washington consist of the registrars, the land bank examiners, the national farm loan association examiners, and the supervising or reviewing appraisers. Of these only the registrars are permanently located at one place. The others are assigned to different territories which vary from time to time with the pressure of business.

The principal duty of the registrars is to act as trustees for the federal land banks and the joint stock land banks issuing farm loan bonds. As such they receive and have the custody of the first mortgages and bonds offered by the banks as collateral security for the farm loan bonds issued. The registrars receive applications for issues of farm loan bonds from the land banks and deliver the bonds to them when received from the Federal Farm Loan Bureau. Each registrar must see that the bonds delivered by him and outstanding do not exceed the amount of collateral security held by him.

There is a registrar in each of the twelve cities in which the federal land banks are located.

District No. I includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey and has its federal land bank at Springfield.

District No. 2 includes Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and Porto Rico, and has its bank at Balti

more.

District No. 3 includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and has its federal land bank in Columbia.

District No. 4 includes Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio and has its bank in Louisville.

District No. 5 includes Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and has its bank in New Orleans.

District No. 6 includes Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and has its bank in St. Louis.

District No. 7 includes North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and has its bank in St. Paul.

District No. 8 includes Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, and has its bank in Omaha.

District No. 9 includes Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico, and has its bank in Wichita.

District No. 10 includes Texas, and the bank is in Houston. District No. II includes California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, and has its bank in Berkeley.

District No. 12 includes Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, and has its bank in Spokane.

The land bank examiners, who are subject to the same requirements, responsibilities, and penalties as national bank examiners,