Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-12-31
THE WAY OUT.

terest AbsOrbs the Total Product of Their
Labor.
In late issue of the Fort Scott Moni-
tor, an editorial artical headed THE
Way Out" begins this way:
Among the Ii e airy aecessioas of the re-
cent polit cal campaign perhaps the most
remarkable. as well as most obtuse, is The
way Out" being fir ancial theory evolved
by the editor of the tnsas Farmer With
out referring further to this remars able dis
QUESTION, which W. confess cur Inability to
mprehend, we desire to suggest another
way Out" which, whatever may be its
faults, is. We believe. within the ordinary
reach Of comprehen i,n. We start by recog-
nizing the binding force of an obligation to
pay.
After discussing the Grinding force
of an obligation" the writer concludes
that the way out is to pay out" That
is what theauthor of ''The Way Out"
teaches in the little book and he has
pressed the same thought many, many
times on the attention of the rea, ers of
the Kansas Farmer and upon listening
assemblies about the platform So
here and now, we repeat and indorse
the Monitors statement of the case
THE way out is to pay out" And then
what? THE people of Kansas to-day
are rich in the midst of their poverty"
says the Monitor. What does our
neighbor mean by that? Are we both
CD and poor? Aye, indeed, for, as the
Monitor puts it:
The boundless and fer lie fields and varied
and useful resources of the state, considered
In their relation to the restless energy an
enterprise of nearly a million and a aft of
people. suggest the wealth f Cr9sus as
among the possibiit of the future, while
on the ether hand IL the remorseI SIS de-
mand Of m TT age and bond, which must be
p id, pa ling energy and limiting comforts,
and yet there is but lone way" out and that
to pay out
Now we understand each other We
have 'boundless and fertile fields;" we
have varied and useful resources;" but
there is the remorseless demand of
mortgage and bond VIII CHI must be paid.
How are they to be paid? Only in one
OF two ways: We must pay with money
or the lands which are pledged for the
debts will be taken and sold A mort
gagged farm is bound for the debt. and
the Government State or National, will
come to the creditors rescue in every
case. 1t is the money or the land.
Municipal debts are paid in the same
way If county or township or school
district is indebted and fails to paw
Its bonds, or the interest as it falls
due, the courts, on application. will or
der levy OF taxes to pay the debt, and
in case of failure on the part of the peo-
pie to pay the taxes so levied. their
lands will be sold to the highest bid
der in order to raise the money. Leav-
fT16 iot,1 al Aoh e
present, let US confne the discussion
to farm mortgages How are they to be
paid? Where is the money to come
from? And if the money is not forth
coming, then what? The home is sold
and that without remedy; without priv
ilege of redempt on; without any re-
course whatever.
Let US face this matter squarely.
Taking the last six years farming in
Kansas has been Improbable, not be-
cause we have not had average crops,
but because, on the whole, market
values of farm products have not been
remunerative After paying taxes, in
terest and necessary expenses of family
and farm, nothing was left. In many
cases farmers have been unable to keep
up their interest payments. Last Au-
gust the Topeka Capital showed by
official reports that Kansas farms
are now being sold by the courts
in payment of mortgage debts at
the rate of $500 a year A syn
dictate with a capital of $40, 600, 900
has been formed, with headquarters at
Topeka. for the purpose of getting UNI
der one ownership and one control all
the Western farms which are fast going
into the hands of loan agents and
money-lenders. The regst of deeds
OF one of the southwestern counties told
the writer hereof few weeks ago that
his Office work then consisted chiefly in
recording deads of farms voluntarily
transferred by their owners to the hold
ers of the mortgages The last issue OF
the Greenwood County Republican con-
tains thirty-two advertisements of
sheriff sales of farms. The ''remorse-
less demand of the mortgage" continues
and will continue to be made, and the
crop of mortgage sales will grow until
the debts are paid or the lands sold
What is to be done? Shall we stand off
and sing hallelujah to the land OF the
farmers? Will that pay our debts?
Shall we advertise our ''boundless re-
sources" and nraise wonderful. hsant'
full Kansas? VIII that bring us money
will that pay our debts?
The reason we are not paying out
is because we can not And why not?
Our lands are as fertile as thew
were, our farmers are as industrious
and frugal What then, s the matter?
Farming does not pay. Prices of farm
products have fallen so that there is
really no profit margin in agriculture
And there Is no reason to expect any
improvement in this respect so long as
present conditions prevail. Ithas come
to this, then. in fact. that large ma
jority of farmers who are in debt can
not pay out without some change VIII CHI
will work relief. Some farmers can keep
their interest payments up. few of them
can do more than that, while many
come short of it But suppose they
could borrow money at one per cent. in
teresk In that case five to fifteen per
cent OF the farm indie btedness could be
paid every year, and in twenty-years
every farm now encountered would be
clear, some Of them m uch sooner. At
one per cent SO would pay all the an
nual interest on 81 900 of debt and what
ever could be pad over and above that
amount would apply on the principal
50 as to any other amount Of debt One
dollar is one per cent on 500; IS IS one
per cent on $500, and so on. Vita i'm
terest at one per cent the debt cloud
now hanging over farmers would disap.
pear in few years It would not only
afford relief in the matter Of rates of