Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-04-23
CENSUS BULLETINS.
Statistics of Mortgage lndebt-
edness in Iowa.
AMOUNT RECORDED IN TEN YEARS.

A Grand Total of s43I, ass. 5is, of Which
80 Per Cent was on Acres, and $780,
o34s956 is still Existing-So,ne Com
ments by Superintendent Porter-Fig-
ures on Comparative Density of Popu-
lation-Peopie Pretty Thick in Little
Rhody" Treasury Statement of Elk
ports and Imports. ~
WASHINGTON CITY, April 23,-The
census office yesterday issued a bulletin
on the results of its Investigation of the
recorded Indebtedness and thEownership
Of homes in Iowa. The amount of mort,
gage Indebtedness placed upon record
during the ten years 1ss0-1s9 was $43l.
2SS. 542, a part Of which has been paid
About one-Quarter of the debt is found in.
the counties of Clinton, Des Moines,
Dubuque, Linn, Marshall, Polk, Potta-
wattamie, Scott and Woodbury., contain
ing respectively the cities of Clinton, Bur-
lington, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Mar
shalltown, Des Moines, Council Bluffs,
Davenport and Sioux City. These coun-
ties contain q per cent. of the population
of the state.
Objects of the Mortgages.
An Indebtedness of 1924 ~, OBJ, or 20 q
per cent. on the whole amount, was re-
corded against acres in the ten years.
The Indebtedness place on lots was $780,
s04, 5ll, or a 10 per cent. of the total The
average mortgage for the ten-year period
was $3.50 50; for acres, S952 AZ; for lots,
$3.50 p. The average life OF mortgages,
not allowing for partial payments, is
computed at five years. Personal inquiry
as to the objects OF mortgaging real estate
shows that the prominent ones were:
Purchase money, improvem ents. to buy
more land, repay borrowed money, farm
stock, speculation, living expenses and
undescribed debts.
Total Existing Debt.
The counties selected for this special in
quiry were Cass, Crawford, Delaware and
johnson. The total existing real estate
mortgage Indebtedness of Iowa is $780,
034, $50, "a. q per cent. of which, or SI4S,-
Sl4, CAS-, Is on acres and p. % per cent, or
$50, 22O, 81, on lots. In Clinton county the
debt is a, az, $40. Des Moines county, 81
365, 700; Dubuque county, s., 81 ,S34; Linn
county, S4,6lS, 40; Marshall county, 81,
6O', SO2; Polls county, Sll, 0S4, 16l; Potta-
wattamie county, 1861, 626; Scott comfy,
SO, III, COZ, Woodbury. county, Sl4, 366, $50
These are the principal counties in the
state and their existing Indebtedness is
~ per cent of the total Indebtedness of
the state, while their proportion of the
states population is 81. 40 There is an
average Indebtedness OF S1O4 to one Of
population i'll the state
Value of the Statistics.
Concerning this report, Superintendent
fG Il ha1S H.
time a government has ever attempted to
invade Tor statistical purposes the realm
of private Indebtedness. At present writ
ing it is impossible to estimate the full
benefits which will be derived from such
an investigation. The employment of a
small army of 2, 500 special agents and
clerks to make an abstract of every mort
gage placed on record in every county in
the United States for the last ten years at
tracted attention to the dangers of these
Membranes; to the enormous burdens
in the way OF interest; to the alarming ex-
tent to which usury is practiced, and to
the effectiveness of these records in all
parts OF the country.
Work of the Special Agent.
THE agents of the census Office have, as
a matter of fact, overhauled the records
in every state and territory They have
travelled on horseback and on foot through
the most sparsely settled districts of our
vast domain in search of mortgages, and
have done their work so industriously and
so thoroughly that we now have on file in
Washington as a result of their labor the
abstracts of about 100000 mortgages.
Some months before the inquiry was be.
gun, congress, and through congress the
public, was put in possession of the scope of
the plan adopted. That plan, with
hardly any change, has been carried out"
Density Of Population.
Another bulletin issued yesterday was
on density Of population. Rhode Island
has the most dense population of any of
the states-32O to the square mile OF land.
If Illinois were as densely populated it
would contain 1900, 600 population. and
Texas $1,000 600. The total settled area
IN the country, two or more to the mile,
has increased from 200, 600 miles ia 1860
to ! ,g47, 900 miles in 1890 The settled
part of the country is now peopled as fol-
lows: Two to six to the square mile.
59l. 900 miles; six to eighteen to the
mile, 1893 600 miles; eighteen to forty-fve
10 the square mile, no. 900 miles; forty
five to ninety to the square mile, 235, 900
miles; above ninety to the square mile,
"A, 900 miles.
Illinois and Wisconsin.
All of Illinois is settled, and none of it's
area more sparsely than eighteen to the
square mile, Forty one thousand square
miles have from eighteen to forty-fiye
population per mile, and l4O00 miles
from forty-five to ninety. 1t has no area
more densely populated than ninety per
mile, except in cities which are excluded
from this calculation Wisconsin, nm tba
other hand, has AGA square miles. contain
ing a population of ninety or over. and
5000 square miles containing less than
six persons to the mile
UNCLE SANS FOREIGN TRADE.
A Favorable Balance for aHear of NearIv