The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-02-27
The Land Loan Bills.

| u.
The Land Loan Bills.
The National Economist publishes
the following article on the two land
loan bills before Congress. It isvalua-
BILE and suggestive-and we wish the
alliances would act upon the matter:
One of the demands adopted at Oca-
la provides for government loans di-
rect to the people on real estate at
per cent interest per annum, with
proper limitations upon theQuantity
OF land and amount of money. There
arenow two bills before Congress relat-
ing to such loans, one introduced by
Representative Featherston,t the other
by Senator Stanford. While the bill
OF Mr.. Featherston is not perfect, it is
not open to the many serious obiec-
tions that are found in the meas
ure proposed by Mr.. Stanford.
These objections are of such
a character as to preclude the idea of
ever being adopted or advocated by
the Alliance. 1t neither meets the ex-
pressed nor implied demands of the
| Alliance, but runs counter to both.
Among the minor objections are the
| high salaries, cumbersome and expen-
sive methods, and the length of time
given the loans. 1t provides for a
foreclosure fee of not over $500, when
it should be limited to not over $25.
The most serious objections to the
| bill, however, are found in section z.
| which is as follows:
''That every person who is citizen
| OF the United States, or has declared
his intention to become such, and who
Is the owner, in fee, of unincumbered
agricultural land, may file with the
bureau an application for loan to
be secured by a lien upon such land,
valued for agricultural purposes.
Such application must be in the form
prescribed by the chief of bureau, and
must describe the land, and state it's
actual cash value for agriculture, in
dependent of improvements, and also
it's assessed value for taxation pur-
poses, for the year previous to appli-
cation, the amount for which the loan
is sought, which must not exceed one
half the assessed va lie of the land,
and the time for which the loan is to
run, not exceeding twenty years, to-
gether with such other facts as the
chief of bureau may by regulation pre-
SCRIBE No loans shall be made upon
land of less than $500 in value nor in
sums less than $780,"
A careful reading of this section dis
closes the fact that neither the guam
tity of land nor the amount of the
loan is limited, which is in direct op-
position to the demands of the ALI
ance, and as consequence placed be-
yond even consideration by the or
der. Mr.. Stanford's bill provides for
the valuation of land Independent of
Improvements. This provision is al
together too vague for discussion. If
it means a valuation exclusive of
houses, barns, fences, ETC., the valua-
ton for loaning purposes would be
| different from one based on the value
of native or uncultivated land. A
loan of SO per cent to the average
farmer, estimated upon the value of
his farm less the buildings, would,
especially in the north and west, be
exacting. But a loan OF the same
per cent of value based on uncultivat-
ed lands would be of no benefit
whatever. In fact, the general
tenor of this bill seems to favor
large holders of wild lands for
speculation. It would benefit the
Spectator, but would fail to bring
relief to the struggling mortgage
ridden farmer. It is not the
desire of the Alliance to advance
/ any measure that will aid the land
speculator, or make his efforts any
more remunerative than at present.
It is to assist the real farmer. the
tiller of the soil, in his efforts to save
his farm from the sheriff's hammer, to
preserve his home for his wife and
children, that this demand of the AL
lance was made. This proposed
bill of Mr. Stanford is a side-track for
the honest intentions of the Alliance,
and if permitted to become law in
it's present shape will benefit the land
Spectator at the expense of the farm
er. Mr.. Featherston provides in his
bill that:
"Any citizen of the United States, or
any person who has declared the in
tention of becoming citizen, who
owns and resides upon any tract of
land containing not less than ten nor
more than three hundred and twenty
acres of land, and who has at least
| one-half of said tract of land in actual
cultivation, shall be entitled to apply
for and receive from the Treasury of
the United States loan, in amount
not to exceed one-half the assessed
value of said tract of land and the
improvement.
Sec. 2. That all loans under this
| act shall be for q period Of not less