New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-01
CONDITION OF FARMERS,


When a great body of people come for"aru
,ssorting that they are too poor and TOO op-
nrossod to live decent lives and that they repre-
cont substantially all the farmers OF d certain
State and in effect the farmers OF the eh'i0
West il is no longer political but Social anu
ominently a National question Also Whe'ner
+boir claim is true The official returns OF illoIV-
,,co Indebtedness in Kansas, just puDllshea ny
rho Census Bureau, have therefore pfolouhu
National interest to everybody who has been Ill,
clinod 70 credit the reports that the farmers ol
tLot State were destitute and suffering. In TINS
rotnrn the amount of mortgage Indebtedness on
acros which il mainly on land held for farming
,,,,,no..s i distinguished from the amount OH
citv or town lots. The latter amount Is oo''
. a O63. and might be dismissed from luI'iIci
consideration but for the fact that large PIo-
,ortion Of the whole is directly tracelDe 10 Vho
croyv "booms' in few cities when nave
brought such discredit upon loans in that region
Tbrs Sodpvicll County, which leads al the Coun-
,;os f tho STATE in amount Of mortgage lndepUeu-
noes includes the "boCm" city oil NIchl.''
and no one who knows its history Will Nolucr
that tbe lot mortgages in that county amount TO
s11 5O7 LOG. more than a sixth OF the amouh'
in the entire State. Wyandotte County comes
next. with SS,O37, O35 in mortgages on io'S,
which the history Of Kansas City, hanSaS' anu
Argentine fully explains.
Hut in these same counties there are also
found TIE largest amounts of mortgages on acres,
- o75947 in Sedgwicll and S4592,9Ol IN
Wvondotta. The fact that the mortgages on
acres also arc greater in these counties than IN
much Of the property so mOrtgaged has been IN
Aated by speculation, and bought ana SoIU III
connection with the expected miraculous grown
IF the new cities within those counties. II inc
truth could be known probably most OF the mort
oace Indebtedness in these counties IS not on
farm land at all. but is simply on land over
,,bicb new cities were expected to spread them
.olvcs within a few hours or days. OBVIOUS
lv more than a tenth and presumably a much
loroar proportion of all the acres morgaged III
Kansas is Of this sort. as appears when the .o'a-
ZION If the acre, is considered with reference 70
centres of recent crazy speculation in real estate
The total amount of acre mortgages was
S167145. 039. and yet this IS less than nall inc
,mount of mortgages on acres recorded uuflhS
,be last ten years alone. Thus 1t appears that
,,o,o than half the mortgages on acres recorded
during the last ten Yeas has been paid, ana inc
oncill returns further prove that there was a
orc,r reduction during three months of the cur
r.nt wear. before the new crops OF this year
had Iean harvested and sold. still larger
mart il is safe to say, will have been eXuh-
guished before next fall from the proceeds OF
The great crops just raised. But II the lafm
mortgages, properly speaking. were as much rs
$4,000, 600, exclusive of those on property
held, for speculation and near boom cites
what TART does this bear to the value OF Kansas
FIRMS? The returns do not answer the inquiry
eyactly. and yet that sum is less than half the
yonortcd value of farms in the State ten years
400 and the agricultural growth Of the state
dnring the ten years has been wonderful.
Tho total assessed value of the property in
tbo S.a.e was S16O,S91.6S9 in 1850, and
s24s.559.944 in 1890. From official reports
ION years ago it is estimated that the total value
8 nronertv must now be 1876, 100000. and
l.be mortgage Indebtedness OF all kinds Is but
SO per cent Of the true value Of all property.
Rut when the vast accumulation OF mortgages
near centres Of speculation is observed, the in
ference is justified that the proportion of strictly
| farm mortgages is not 4 per cent, but less than
ore-tenth Even this moderate proportion Of
Il
pdebte mess it appears, the farmers have rapid
" reduced already this year, and will reduce
sill further before the year ends. This surely
i not record which exhibits condition OF
agricultural restitution and pauperism and it
must be concluded that politicians have Wiley
slandered the industrious and thrifty farmers
of Kansas.
The record would not be complete if the fact
were omitted that fully three-quarters OF all
e1is ing mortgages were for purchase money and
improvements When the returns OF mortgages
by communities are compared with the enormous
increase in population of the agricultural coun-
ties il is made clear that the purchases Of new
settlers account for large share OF the debt
There are found counties which have increased
IN Uopul4tion twofod threefold, fyefold, and
even tenfold, within the decade, in which mott
cages on acres exceed S1,00O,O00 in amount.
Rut is il strange or an evidence of disaster that
600 or 5000 new settlers have yet unpaid
from $500 q $500 each on their farms? The
,fsicial report finely vindicates the great body
Of farmers in Kansas against ISLANDERS which