The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-09-17


casian race the ownership 0i extensive
tracts of land was considered as cluiva-
lent 10 the possession Of q patent * no.
biliiy. The feudal lords with their vas.
sal. held sway over such regions Ne they
were able tn keep Ivy fore of cunning,
rcgarilcssof the rights or welfare u less
powerful members VI the human race.
but In later years these lords, appre.
bending invaAon from neighborinS
tribes and nations, found Il necessary to
Join their forccs 10 rcpcl their enemies;
and while this step naturally resulted In
concentrating and consolidating their
interests In what has been q disposition
on tho part Of certain families IN retain
MI the land Of their ancestors. adding u
!. whatever Il was possible. The favOrs
granted tho "Lords OF the Manor"
and the power welded by them over
those who, through poverty, were COM
PEELED to tilf the soil, made those owning
no land or small tracts envious of those
more favorably situated. The English
Government granted patents to large
tracts of land in her American colonies
to favored few OF its subjects, and the
Dutch, although setting higher prices
on the land in the New World than the
English, were allowed to take up and as.
sumo control of pretty large farms. The
Spaniards were even more liberal than
their neighbors, and perhaps did more
in the way of land grants than any 9th.
er nation; and the curse of the system
is still keenly felt by the inhabitants of
New Mexico and California, where ev-
cry farmer and miner is compelled to
look carefully at the records, or find,
after it is too late to remedy the evil,
that his title to real estate is wiped out
by some old Mexican or Spanish land
grant.
But as a higher civilization was de-
veloped in the East, and manufactures
and commerce became importantin indus.
tries, the old idea that landed property
was the only safe and Legitimate source
Of permanent wealth began to decline.
An idea, however, which had been prev.
alcnt so long was too firmly fixed to be
readily discarded. This was especially
true in Great Britain, where it may be
said to remain almost in full force at the
present day, although commerce and
manufactures have received more atten-
ton there than in any other nation on
the globe. But there are circumstances
which make the people of Great Britain
look upon their landed estates in more
favorable, and, we might add, almost
reverential light than the inhabitants Of
other countries. I'm the first place, there
is but limited area of cultiyatable land
for anybody; and in the second, the law
of entail has kept certain estates in the
same family for 50 many generations
that the owners take a peculiar pride in
keeping the land undivided as patri-
mony handed down by their ancestors.
The early settlers Of this country were
as whole imbued with the idea of the
great value OF real estate, and while few
were in circumstances favorable for pur.
chasing large tracts of land, all would
have liked to do so. In many cases,
those who were fortunate enough to pos
sess means purchased more than they
were able to develop and turn to profit
able account. While not wishing to de-
tract from the intrinsic value of real es-
tate, whether it is city lot or farm of
thousands of acres, we think it patent to
the most casual observer that if our peo-
pie err at all it is in purchasing more
land than they can either pay for or
make profitable as an investment. We
need not 60 far into the country to see
the folly Of this land craze, for are there
not more city and village lots laid out
and streets opened in all our older States
than will be needed or even used for
building purposes in the next fifty or a
hundred years? This, we believe, is
nothing more than to allow the imagin-
alton to run away with good sense.
If we 60 into the country we find
nine-tenths of our farmers owning two
or three times as much land as they can
work with profit. A little capital is
spread over great deal Of surface, and
the results are small profits, if any are
realized at all. In the newer States it
is worse than in the older ones, because
the pioneer is usually poor, and has little
beyond his labor to help him make q
home or obtain living. But, rs land
is cheap, he makes an attempt to secure
. large number Of acres, with the hope
that by some stroke of good luck he viii
be able to pay for it in the near future,
forgetting that taxes, unfavorable sea.
sons, insects, and even i'll health may
interfere with his plans. Thousands Of
farmers have learned their mistake
when it was too late in purchasing too
much land, and to-day there is not a
town or neighborhood in any agricul.
! tural district in tho country whore farm.
ers Gun not be found who are, to use a
common phrase, s'land poor;" that is,
they hold more land than they can pos.
sibly work with profit, owing to wan,
| Of sufficient capital.
To obtain land and have it paid TO,
is but the commencement Of successful
farming; there must be some extra cap
ital with which to prosecute the bust
ness and make it profitable. Every yeal
about harvest time we hear OF localities
where the crops can not be gathered il
time, owing to the scarcity Of farm la
borers, the farmers having pursued thu
same policy in putting in crops tina,
they did In purchasing their land; ant
the result is loss FROM spreading theil
capital over too great surface.
From years Of observation and som,
/ practical experience in this matter, ",
are confident that . large majority o
the farmers of the United States hav,
from two to three times as much land q
they can work with profit, and il the.
would sell the surplus for just what /
would fetch, and put the money into tn
remainder, they would gain largely b,
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