The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-04-12

New Orleans Democrat
a correspondent of the New York San
breaks out in violent denunciation of the
Western farm-mortgage system, which,
he declares, is ruining, at the same time,
the farmers Of the West and those snail
Eastern money leaders who, from fear Of
banks, or through desire to get q
heavier interest on their money. prefer to
place it on farm mortgage IN Kansas or
Nebraska. f
The greater portion of the West, he
claims, is heavily mortgaged, and cities
where, out of 1880 farms, 1900 are mort
gagged for 81 500, 900, or at the rate of
about s. per acre for very mediocre
land.
The sale of Western farm mortgages
has become a regular business 1t is car
ried on mainly by the Western loan and
trust associations, located in the larger
Western towns, with agents in the East
to negotiate the loans and raise the
money on mortgages, and agents in the
West to hunt up farmers that want to
borrow it. This, of course, necessitates
large number of employees, supported at
very heavy expense, who consume nearly
all the money that comes in. Thus, the
trust association insists on keeping 10 per
cent for its trouble in investing the funds,
while the agent who inspects the farm on
which the mortgage is to be placed wants
his or 10 per cent. \ $1,000, therefore,
invested in Western mortgage, is re-
duced to at least $3.50 before the farmer
receives il, while these charges sometimes
a. % %ha
lar interest charged is 10 per cent, it
will be seen that the Western farmers
pay really from ~ to Is per cent. on his
money besides what they pay out on
chattel mortgages, machine notes, store
bills, etc. With such weight on his
farm, it is impossible for farmer to cul-
tivate with success land, which, although
fertile, meets every third or fourth year
with a complete failure of crops, either
from grasshoppers, drouth or some other
visitation. The farmer pays his interest
regularly as long as he can harvest good
crops a bad year comes, his grain fails,
and he is ruined. His only resource is to
move off his farm at once, and turn 1t
over to the mortgages. How much of
this moving has been done it is lmpossl-
BILE 10 state, but II Is certain that a large
majority OF the Kansas farmers would be
glad to give up their farms to-day, i'm
provements, mortgages and all, if they
knew Of any other place where they could
settle. This fact will serve to explain
the great desire shown in the State to
open the Indian Territory to settlement,
since this would enable the Kansas farm
ers to get cheap lands for less than the
annual interest they are now paying.
A specimen case Of this removal to es-
cape excessive mortgages and burdens
beyond endurance was that Of the town
Of Baxter Springs, some years ago, when
the entire population moved out of the
town and settled few miles off because
the town was mortgaged beyond its
value.
Nor are the lenders OF this money on
mortgages much benefited by the high
interest bargained for, as they are apt to
find the farms thrown on their hands at the
end of few years The Kansas farmers
are thus ground down, while the Eastern
investors lose large amount OF their
money, the only gamers by the whole
affair being the loan and trust associations
with their heavy commissions and charges.
The evil would seem one easily RENE
died AS we have shown in many articles
published In the Democrat, land can be
purchased in this State as cheap as the
interest paid on Kansas mortgage, and
free from any danger of grasshopper or
drouth Moreover, if the Eastern capt.
talists are unwilling to leave their money
idle in bank, and want to invest it where
it will draw a large interest, they can do
it in thousand Southern enterprises now
inviting their aid and cooperation.
1t is certain that the Western farm
mortgage business has reached its limits.
All the good land is mortgaged, and the
trust companies are now deceiying their
Eastern patrons by investing their money
on those arid acres, where one crop in
three years is considered lucky. The Sun
warns these victims to beware of the
fraud and seek some other field for in
vestment and we can supplement this
by saying that the field they should
seek is the South, where Thousand en-
terprises want little capital only to
achieve success.