The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-05-21
A STRONG LETTER FTOM FAR
AWAY KANSAS.
ASHLAND, Kansas, April 26, '89.

Mr.. ED1ToR:-Your very kind and
f~raternal letter duly at hand, and in
answer to your inquiry, What about
the mortgaged condition of your
farmers, and is it as bad as repre-
sented ?" they will best be repre-
sented by citing some historical facts
pertaining to the present conditions,
which appear phenomenal to the mind
of the casual observer, who is not &C
quainted with the basis upon which
the apparent prosperity and develop
ment rest, of what the base is com
posed and by whom controlled and
owned. Within the confines of the
State are 50, 572, 100 acres Of prairie
land, of which less than 3 per cent.
was timbered when the State vas ad-
mitted, January 20, 1861. The pop
ulation has increased from 10, 0O0 in
1861 to 1885 of which &c per
cent. are engaged in rural pursuits,
while the minority, "a per cent. are
classed as pursuing professional and
personal services, manufacturing and
mechanical industries, trade and rams
portation and that of mining. The
major portion of the "a per cent. are
residents of the one hundred and
seven cities and towns within the
State that contain apopulation of over
one thousand each A majority of
the settlers that participated in the
great emigration waves of l874-'80
and '85, that swept over the West,
two-thirds Of the State had but little
or no ready money with which to
carve out a farm and build up a home
on the t~reeless prairie, hence they
were compelled to borrow money.
There were no available natural re-
sources except the rich nutritious
grasses or the product of the virgin
soil when broken up and cultivated,
hence the first years outlay usually
exhausted the available ready means
of the settler, and in case his crop
partially or entirely failed, he was
compelled to abandon his claim or
borrow money at usurious rates of
interest to tide him over another year.
The first mortgage on the quarter Sec
ton averaged over the State about
$500 and the rate of interest ranging
from II to "a per cent. per annum.
On short-time loans the rate ranges
from 2 to 4 per cent. per month.
Many of the presumption holders were
without money to pay even the gov
eminent price of $l.25 per acre and
were compelled to borrow with which
to pay out on the claim, to purchase
lumber, farm implements and seed.
If he borrowed $500 and the rate
asked by the money loaner was II,
and the borrower, after taking the
II per cent. commission and the fees,
would get about $3.50 in cash. At
the end of the year he would find that
the interest due vas $50, and based
on $500 instead of the $3.50 that he
actually received in money. The sum
of the commission, $40, and the in
terest, $50, was $3.50, which was over
80 per cent. on the money actually
borrowed. In ase his crop partially
or wholly failed: then he was either
forced to get ar extension, let the
money loaner foreclose the mortgage,
or take out the second mortgage,
ranging from $500 to $500 more than
the first one and pay off the first n
and create a new basis Of increased
Indebtedness. Thus it has gone on
and is still going until on many farms
ever the third loan has been placed
until the interest demand in thousands
of cases is more than the profits of the
farm amount to in an average crop
year. 1t is estimated by some that
the aggregate of farm mortgages in
the State is, about $500, 600, 900. but
the more careful and ~considerate
statisticians compromise it at about
$3.50, 900, 900.
According to the Sixth Biennial
Report of the State Board of Agricul-
ture for the years Of 1887 and 1888,
the total value of the thirty leading
farm products was $275,23l,373,
about half Of this sum, or $~137,615,-
686, Representa- the value of the crop
for 1888. There are a number of
conditions other than that of $25, OOO,-
900 annual interest on farm mort
cages and none of greater Importance
than that of transportation. Up to
December 31st, 1888, there we're
8,799 miles of completed railroad in
the State, or one mile to each 9 l-3
square miles of territory, and but six
of the one hundred and six counties
without road-doubtless a larger ratio
of railroad mileage to population than
is in this or any other country. The
total stock and debt of the roads in
the State is 1922, O7O, 344. The total
amount of expenses, including divi-
dends for 1888, $83, 185, 6O2.14; aver
age gross earnings per mile, $4,575 AT;
net earnings, $1,671.77, or 364 per