The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1877-07-04


italists will loan money on mortgage Of
farm property, for one reason, among
others, that should the property come
into his hands, in default Of payment,
it would be completely useless to him,
it not u costly burden on his hands. At
the same time farmers pillow undrained
fields, feed the poorest kind of stock,
cultivate untertilc soil, and work with
their hands instead of with machines
and steam engines, being-to use an ex.
pressive, we'll understood term-"land
poor" 1t is very plain to one who has
money to invest, that if tho owner Of a
farm, offered as security for u loan, can
scrapc but !. poor living from his farm,
there is more than ordinary risk that he
canuot :neet the burden Of interest on
borrowed money, or be prepared to re-
pay the loan when it becomes due.
This is Il very effective reason why such
loans are difficult or impossible TO pro-
cure.
There seems to be but one remedy,
and that is u slow one, and not imme-
diately effective. 10 reach it, both
farmers and capitalists need to be edu-
Gated to it, but it seems to be Inevitable
that it must come about in course Of
time. 1t is Il change Of ownership of
the soil, and the creation Of i class of
landowners on the one hand, and Of
tenant farmers on the other. Something
similar, in both cases, to what has long
existed, and now exists, in the older
countries Of Europe, and similar, ALSO,
to a system that is common in our own
State Of California. Those farmers
who are land poor must sell, and become
tenants in place Of owners of the soil.
The boarded Idle capital must be in
vested in these lands and turned over to
the poor farmers, who will at once be
set upon their feet; not to go and loaf
about towns and villages spending their
money while it may last, but to buy
with this money stock, fertilizers, i'm.
plements, machines, and go to work to
cultivate the soil proftably. Instead of
their money being sunk and dead in un-
productive acres, it will be invested in
COWS, sheep, swine OF improved breeds;
in guano and fertilizers, by which the
crops will be doubled or trebled. 1t
will thus become active and productive,
and capable of doubling itself within
the year. The farmer will be relieved
from the burden Of bad Investment on
which he now makes no interest, and
his money will be placed where it will
do the most good. He will at once be
lifted from poverty to financial estate,
and in place of an unsuitable farm, he
will have to show for his money some
property that will realize all that it is
worth at public sale at "a hours no.
tice. Very much more than this is im-
piled in this change that is so obvious
to the practical man that it need not be
particularized.
The trouble at the bottom of all this
springs from our system of ownership
Of farms. Heretofore. this has been
matter Of pride with our. agricultural
class. 10 own the farm free from in
cumbrance has been a matter for con-
graduation, and basis for comfvrta-
bic independence. But things are not
as they used to be. We have changed
all that. Years back the farmer and
his wife dressed in homespun, and his
children helped in the farm. work.
There was sort Of sturdy yeomanship,
Industrious, contented and thrifty; with
no artificial wants, and few needs for
money except to pay the light taxes and
buy the few necessaries that were not
raised on the farm. There were no
pressing bills to meet at the years end;
no notes to pay; no costly modern i'm
provements about the farm or home
stead, and the farmer never troubled
himself about how the capitalist felt
about making loans. Then, to own u
piece of land was to have farm, and
the only floating or active capital needed
to cultivate it was, the, muscles Of the
farmer and his industrious family. Then
to Ego west. was synonymous with en-
tering a promised land of plenty, and
wealth. Now, the possession Of piece
Of land brings a man face to face with
poverty. AS he views his possession
he feels how hopeless he is without Il
few hundreds or thousands Of dollars.
The ancient ak and hoe, reaping- hook
and fail, which suficed our forefathers,
are now substituted by the steel pillow,
the costly team, mower, reaper, thresh-
ing machine and all the other expensive
accessories of the farmstead. "A crowd
Of new wants meet the new or young
farmer at the outset of his career, and
as the means to purchase these must be
borrowed, a load Of debt at once weighs
him down and clogs and hobbies him.
Now, too, our taxes are very serious
incumbrance on the profits of the farm.
Comfort and happiness are fled from
the farmers home, and care and anxiety
take their place. Formerly, farmers
worked hard, but borrowed no trouble
on that Or any other account; now they
ara dnwntrOddpn and worriad and wor .