The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-10-07
A BUSINESS VIEW OF IT.
How q Boston Man Looks Upon the Con-
dillon of Kansas Inyestmenta.

y BUSINESS VIEW OF 1T.
How q Boston Man Looks Upon the Con.
dltion of Kansas Investments.
A Boston man interested in Kansas
securities issues circular this month
in which he says:
''In 1881 land in northwestern Iowa
went begging at IS per acre; now it is
worth strong $50 without improvement.
In Kansas, that much-tslked- about
state. good farmers, though having had
combination of unfortunate happen
ings, are to-day getting in as good con-
dition as the farmers of any section of
| the country.
"The Kansas farmers in 1887 and 1888
were troubled with dry weather, short
crops and low prices for farm products,
and the same has been experienced in
every part of the country. Every east
ern investor called his money from the
state. Can any place stand that? If
every man owing mortgage in Massa-
chusetts was called to pay up at once,
what would be the result? No new
money could be borrowed; nothing could
be realized for real estate: defaults must
/ follow. Would anyone say otherwise?
! This is a parallel case with that which
made the good farmers in Kansas and
other parts of the west delinquents.
/ Then sprang up the Farmers Alliance
/ to further mar the credit of various
places. No person who has an honestly
made mortgage in any of the leading
western states need lose z penny. My
/ personal records that have never lost
dollar in the west, for myself or any
/ of nv clients. and feel confident that
my experience and observation during
the past four years of companies and
/ investors in trouble have placed me be-
yond any resona ble probability of ever
getting misled in investing my own
money and that OF my clients in west
/ ern securities"
The Atchison Champion, commenting
on this circular. says:
at is not true that every eastern in
vestor' called his money from the state,
/ but it IS true that several loan COM
plnies became frightened at the Wild
schemes of the last legislature and or
| dered their agents to collect as rapidly
as debts matured and to loan no more
money in Kansas. But the eastern in
vestors' did not all Withdraw. We
| know of two concerns. one in COnnecti-
| cut and one in New York. both of which
continued loaning money in northern
| Kansas, and less than sixty days ago
| the agent of one of those companies
/ told us that when the other companies
/ pulled out of Kansas his company in
structed him TO keep on lOaning money
on good Kansas farms, but to advance
the rate of interest and the rate was adj
vanced. in some cases one per cent. and
! in no cases less than One-half of one
per cent per annum The increased
rate of interest paid to them by Kansas
borrowers is the direct result of the
foolish and wicked talk of reputation;
| the wild-eyed speeches of Elder, Doster,
| PETER. Jerry Simpson. John Davis. Con-
| gresham Baker and fellows like them.
But the eastern investor has
/ learned that the wild-eyed fellows do
not control Kansas sentiment or Kansas
| legislation or Kansas public policy.
/ They watch the tide of public seuti-
ment, and are confident that the BUSH
ness interests Of Kansas will not be
I dllONG& ~ StAiCl any III litCA II oAh BO-
litical or financial lunacr."
The circular makes a good point
when it asks: IF every man in Massa-
chusetts owing a mortgage was called
to pay at once, what would be the re-
sult?" The fact Is that Kansas is as
well off in the matter of debt as any
other state of the same age. If every
bank, every factory, every store, had
to pay its debts at once, bankruptcy
would follow. That has ever been 50
and ever viii. Mr.. Blaine aptly Illus
trated the situation several years ago
in a speech in certain city in New
England a man in the audience in
terrupted him with this question::
''Mr. Blaine. how can the people pay
their debts when the circulation of
money is less than the Indebtedness"
Mr.. Blaine promptly replied:
This city has twenty thousand peo-
pie Your undertakers probably carry
one hundred collins in stock. II the
people here all die tomorrow, how are
you going to bury them?"