The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-05
FARM MORTGAGES.
yACTs BROUGHT OUT IN THE CEN.
suB INVESTIGATIONS.

CIlrEegA TO D6SAL hA4O SAcsSS A4Ou6V
Of Real Estate improvements - Its
Relation to City Developments.
Nor.n and South Contrasted.
From the Washington StGr.
The census office investigation of mort
ssvrs and farm and home proprietorship,
nnfIer the supervision Of George K. Holmes,
~ 50 far as the collection of statistics is con-
,,erned, nearly completed, aud great deal
n the statistical work Of the inquiry has
baan tsbuIated. An examination and aualy-
sic of the statistics already obtained and of
the bulletins put out by the census Office
leads 70 and warrants some interesting de-
ductious and conclusions respe sting the
,rbiect Of home and farm ownership
and mortgage incumbrapce in this
conntry. Tue labor involved In this inquiry
will rever be eomprehended ,outside Of
the census office itself. Many hundreds Of
sDecial agents have been employed in every
county in the United States, hundreds upon
brndreds of clerks have been employed IN
lac Office and many millions Of schedules
md slius containing the returns have been
received and filed away. 1t has been found
that during the ten years, 1880 to 1890, the
real estate mortgages made in the United
states numbered 100000. but these are not
ali existing mortgages, as has often been
enormously stated. In regard to every one
of these mortgages report was obtained
covering variety Of particulars and in the
aggregate requiring an incslculable amount
Of labor.
It has also been ascertained for nearly all
of the -, $50, l52 families OF the United
States whether each one owned or hired the
farm or home it occupies, and, IL owned,
!, -, d.,
if so, report has been received in q principal
proportion of cases as to the amount Of in
cumbrance. the rate of interest borne by it,
the reason whyi it was incurred, aud also the
value of the farm or home. There are also
many details of information In, regard 80
each owner aud in regard to the head of
each hiring family. When tabulated this
description will disclose, among other things,
to what extent the colored people have
become owners of farms and homes !:
how far ownership is invested IN
wives; at what age ownership has more
generally been acquired; whether the cir
circumstances of unmarried persons are
suoh as to lead considerably to ownership:
whether the Irish or Germans have been
more successful in becoming owners, and 30
with the Italians, the Swedes, etc. whether
the Germans have acquired longer or
shorter residence in this country than the
Irishman has before owning his farm or
home, and so with people of other nativi-
ties. The tabulation will disclose to what
extent the citizenship of the foreign born is
related TO their ownership, and establish a
comparison bstween the sexes in the owner
ship Of farms and homes and the depend
snce Of ownership upon the various occupa-
tons Of the people.
This is the richest field for statistical work
In social science that any government has
sver before entered 10 calls for as much
labor as wes involved In any United States
census previous to that of 1850, and In this
respect is not exceeded by any census prev
ious to that Of 1870. The units, for which
description has been obtained, are so numer-
GUS that she printing of about &c, OO0, 900
blanks has been necessary. all of them to be
handled at least a few times and a large
proportion of them many times
HIGHLY INTERESTING RESULTS.
Highly interested and usual results will
come from this investigation in regard to
the affairs OF the people within a domain
never before entered by the census office.
There has been much assumption that
mortgage indebtedness Ia forced upon
debtors, and that they have had a sort of
Hobsons choice, with the terrors of the
mortgage as one alternative and some mis-
fortune otherwise to be suffered as the
other. The census office investigated this
In all parts OF the country and enough has
already been published completely to dis
pei these popular uotions II is now
demonstrated that the making of
real estate mortgage is just as VOL
untary an act in almost all GASES as the act
Of man who begins business undertak-
ing, the result depending chiefly upon his
Judgment and foresight, as well as upon his
equipment for success. Reference to the
bulletins that have beea issued by the CEN
sus Office shows that generally speaking,
from two-thirds TO nine-tenths of real es-
tate mortgage Indebtedness was incurred to
secure the purchase money of real estate
and to pay for real estate improvements.
the chief Item Of which consists of new
buildings Even In the older parts Of the
country these proportions hold good, When
to these purposes Of Indebtedness are added
business purposes aud the purchase of
various articles OK personal property
such as farm stock and machines.
FOOLS OF trade, etc., almoss the entire
real estate mortgage indebtedness lie ac-
counted FOR. The percentage OF the debt
incurred tor these purposes is generally
from IS TO IS per cent The real necessities
that are discovered In these statistics are ex-
penses incurred for sickness and food TO
replace losses incurred in farming and va
rous other items which are included in the
description OF farm and family expenses.
Inc proportion Of the Indebtedness due to
sHeeo SoSes - rarely as &reat as per cent
and generally ranges from to por cent.
having established the voluntary char
acter of mortgage indebtedness, the census
STATISTICS next esta blish the fact that the
purposes Of this Indebtedness are, for the
most part legitimate; that it is incurred
tor the purpose of accomplishing under
Akings and promoting enterprises which
are generally undertaken by sensi-
DC men endeavoring to support themselves
and their families aud to accumulate props
eFtY for rainy day; that is to say, these
Istlstlcs warrant she conclusion that in-
ueotedness, IL entered into with moderation
sha Judgment. is good thiags, and that the
ueVeiopment OF the United states has been
promoted beyond calculation by means of
lake the marvellous growth of Chicago,
tor instance. From 1880 to 1889 the real
SSate mortgage debt incurred yearly in
GolK county, in which Chicago Is situated,
Increased about five times, until In 1889
mortgage debt of $50, 723. 1855 was incurred
an, Inc existing mortgage indebtedness in
aaS county is Sl61 per capita, while in the
30 .ae OF Illinois outside OF Cook county it is
So' The increase In the population in that
county during the last decade was 90. 10 per
venE against general increase of "a. So for
we whole country. St. Louis presents the
tS ,sast OF city whose growth in populs-
~ 'tOn LAS been only slightly greater than that
S.o aus whole country, the percentage fer the
iGsoaue being $3.50. In this CITY the exist
hs S ueot per capita is $91. or noe more than