Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-11-23
THE DR0UTH'S ALLY
High interest and Commissions
Make the North Dakota
Suffering.
A Financial Problem That Is Hard
to Solve by the Set
tiers.
The People Are by No Means AK
ious 10 Leave the Country,
but Their Resources
Are Exhausted.
The Mortgage and the Drouth.

The Mortgage and the Drouth.
CANDo, n. d., Nov. l4.-In several
sections Of North Dakota the misfor-
tune Of the present is o~yershadowea by
the prospective necessities of the flu
ture. Immediate want may not, in
many instances, be pressing. Such 10
not claimed in the sense Of a direct APP
peal for charity in behalf Of universally
starving people. But the mortgage of
last year has been renewed for the
present year with, in too many cases, an
increased rate of interest. Such an
imperative accumulation Of debt signi-
fies its owndisastrous result. A simpler
computation shows that at present
prices Of grain or stock, q crop yield
largely in excess of the most sanguine
hopes would DC necessary TO ovrrtaSe
and pay off the increasing interest-an
interest which has already dwarfed the
principal. In some quarters the plan of
removal has been freely ventilated.
The question arises, how can people be
removed, and where to, with their real
and personal property mortgaged, and
the notes following them from place to
place? Here is a financial problem
worthy of a expert.
This condition represents the present
attitude Of many farmers. a large ma
jority of them in the counties Of Ro-
lette, ToWaer, Pierce. Benson, Ramsey
and Nelson, Immediate and substantial
relief for some Is required and is being
received. But permanent relief can
only come through the establishment
of some system whereby the present
high rate OF interest, which ranges,
with commissions from 3 to . per cent.
q month, can be reduced to q limit that
Will allow good crops in the future,
aided by careful management, to benefit
the present unfortunate mortgagor. 1t
is a condition, surely, and not a theory,
that now confrOnts the farmers of this
section of North Dakota. by the time
a farmer in this locality receives money
borrowed on real or chattel security, it
has passed from the original eastern
loaner through five or six different mid
die men, each extracting q commission
that in the end renders the use of this
money by the borrower the most luXuri-
IA and ruinous extravaganza. 1t is no
exaggeration to say that this element
of high interest is one that has worked
against the farmer hand in hand with
a partial failure Of crops for the past
two years.
a borrowed $50 eighteen months
ago." said a man TO me in Ramsey
county. To-day the original loan looms
up TO $685."
''And has the security been increased"
! asked.
ss0nco: but it vas pretty larGe-At
"Nhat was the price of SEED wheat
last spring."
''From 1885 to S1.55 per bushel."
"How much did you raise per acre
last season.
II threshed four bushel per acre from
thirty acres"
This illustrates the point regarding
the condition of the farmers Ia this
section. One hundred and twenty bush
els of wheat, at present prices, 81 cents,
represents S6s.40. 1t required to seed
thirty acres at least forty-fve bushels,
purchased, say at $3.50 per bushel,
$500. Net profit on cash investment,
with nothing for labor, 90 cents.
Considering than the frost ruined the
crop in 1883. and that drouth caught it
the present season, it can readily be seen
that new settlers in this locality must
necessarily be in severe" financial straits.
Now the time has come when they can
mortgage no further. But the present
liens must be met. Thus the appeal for
aid. The people are by no means
anxious to leave the country. Their all
Is invested here, their locations good,
land rich, hay plenty. They are plucky
to an eminent degree. But their indus
try for the past W years goes unre-
Warded. True, some have left, but
their last words left no stigma on the
country. These very men know them
selves to be the victims OF an unusual
series of events. They were new set
tiers, and, Of course, were caught in q
misfortune which, while distinctly
local, would not occur again for a series
OF years. But the question how to re-
gain q footing was one they were un-
able to solve satisfactorily.
! talked with a man on the train from
Bisbee, Towner county, to Cando. He,
with his wife, was IN his way to Illinois.
He said: Il have been here two years,
but i believe myself to blame for COM
ing here with SO small a capital. Had
l secured one crop out of the two, 1
guess l could have ~weathered IL. But
now | don't owh o thing. a COW, q pig or
a horse, yet If I should try 70 pull
through the winter, tho cows, pigs and
horses would look to me for support. /
propose to let them accept tho charity
OF the Eiortgagors. | don't want any
charity myself. Il. F. s.