Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-04-23
KANSAS MORTGAGES.

Porter Replies to Critf- |
cismstThe Census once DESTROYS of the |
Aid of Farmers
WASHINGTON, April 17.@Some days !
ago Superintendent Porter, of the CEN
sus bureau, received from S. McLallin, |
editor of the Advocate, Farmers Al
lance paper published at Topeka,
Kan, letter criticising the work of
the bureau in its farm mortgage inves-
tigation, alleging among other things
that it was being conducted for party
purposes
In reply to this letter the superin-
tendent has written Mr.. McLallin:
'sThere is no evidence nor is it fact
that the census Office has conducted
the mortgage investigation for partisan
purposes The desire has simply been
to ascertain the truth, and as far as
possible the whole truth, in regard to
the recorded Indebtedness of the people
of the United States Insinuations
against the integrity of the census Office
expressed in your letter are entirely
without foundation or plausibility. 1t
would be foolish to claim that the
amount of existing mortgage indebted
ness can be aScertained without error,
whatever the plan may be. 1t is simply
q question of choosing the method that
can be practically employed with the
least degree of error; and it is expected
that the plan adopted by the census Of
fee will be regarded as such a one
when it is fully understood and its re-
suits are known A bulletin contain
ing results for Alabama and Iowa will
be issued in a few days, and / shall take
pleasure in sending you a copy, conf
dent that it will convince you that you
have treated the census office unjustly.
The amount of mortgages uncanceled
of record but paid in full is everywhere
an implement of description l. rei-
ance is to be made upon the face of the
uncanceled record then are the partial
payments that have been made upon
the mortgages in force and it allowance
is made for these there will be an aggre-
cation of the existing Indebtedness to
the extent of probably 10 per cent or
more, although the percentage is much
lower in Kansas.
I'm the efforts of the Kansas alliance
to ascertain the amount of existing
mortgage Indebtedness, I understand
that second mortgages given for the Sc
curity of interest and commissions have
been taken as principal instead of being
converted into an addition to the rate
| VI hlSTSSl luSy SuouIu oc- IL ILLS Ills
take has been made another large ele-
ment of error or eXaggeration has been
added to the other errors mentioned.
What these errors OF investigation are
doing for you viii appear in Lyon coun
| ty where the census office made a special
| investigation and aScertained the
! amount unpaid upon every uncanceled
mortgage recorded during the ten years
1SSO-9O, a period including all of the
mortgages in force. 1t was ascertaineC
as a matter of fact that the debt of thai
county January 1, 1890, was B, 541, 464
The face of the uncanceled record:
not including interest and commission
mortgage eXaggerate this indie btednes:
GAL per cent, and the inclusion of in
| terest and commission mortgage eN
plains the remainder of the eXaggera
ton shown by your debt of So, 466. 476
| allowing also the debt incurred during
the first eight months of 1890. Will
such errors as these underlying YOU
estimates of existing mortgage indebt
ednesS upon farms in Kansas L do moi
understand why you place that indebt
edness at only S141, 900, 600, which is mo-
likely to be very far from the existing
debt established by the census Office
estimating from an examination O
partly made tables At the present
time the census office is completing the
collection of facts in regard to farm ana
home ownership in Kansas and neigh
boring states and needs the cooperation
of the farmers, at whose request tn
investigation has been undertaken"