The record-union., 1892-03-16
LAND MONOPOLY.
Opinion Expressed by the Los An
geles " Times"
The Laws Should Take Hold OF the
Evil and Deal With
1t Strongly.
nos Angeles Daily Times, March 1ath.l

~SS~A@J
In the Sacramento REcoRD-UNIoN of
recent date William II. Mills publishes
thoughtful and exhaustive article, seven
columns in length, on the evils of large
lapd-holdings in California. Mr.. Mills
takes the broad ground that no other
form of monopoly usurps the opportu-
mites of men to such an extent as the
holding of lands in large private owner
ship.
Statistics cited show that the large land
holdings in the State, and principally
those in the valleys of the Sacramento
and the San Joaquin, have increased very
rapidly in the past ten years, both in
number and in acreage; and also that
wherever this increase has taken place
there has been a corresponding loss in
population. For example, in the four
great counties of Yolo, Colusa, Butte and
Tehama there were in 1880 seventy-one
holders, having 5000 acres and upward,
whose aggregate holdings amounted to
T97, ,76l acres. In 1891 the number OF this
class of holders had increased to 106 and
the aggregate amount of their lands to L.
479, 104 acres. In 1900 the largest single
holding in the four counties was 81, ,I67
acres, and in 1890 the largest was 1890
acres. In 1880 the four counties had a
population of 81, ,5S2, and in 1890 popu-
lation of 30, ,l79. The natural increase in
the ten years should have been 10. .5S3,
whereas the increase shown by the CEN
sus was only 3,049. A further considera
ton, however, shows the matter in a
worse light still, for during the decade
the five towns of Colusa County gained
l,ll6 in population, one town in 4olo
gained 9lS. two towns in Tehama gained
GAL, and two towns in Butte gained $40, so
that in the towns there was a gain of 366
more than the entire gain of the four
counties, showing that the rural districts
of these fertile counties have actually de-
creased in population.
Thus it is plainly shown that the ten
dency of large land-holdings is to drive
the well-to-do classes into towns and
cities, while the agricultural lands are
titled by hired laborers or tenant farmers.
The evils of absenteeism are at once in
troduced, for the owners of these large
estates have no fancy Tor living In the
midst of the Semi-barren wastes which
their grain farms maintain. The proceeds
of the lands do not go into local improve
ments, but are diverted to the luxurious
centers of population. Thus the wealth
of the lands is drawn away, and they are
impoverished in a double sense. Mr..
Mills says:
"a system like this, which is over
crowding the cities, depopulating the in
terror, eliminating the class of independ-
ent small holders, Is fraught with danger
TO the perpetUity OF republican lnstitu-
tions, and in the face of such menace
the natural question is, what is the
remedy?'
The writer concludes that the increase
of the large holdings is due to the rapid
growth Of accumulated wealth and the
constantly augmenting volume of idle
raT1jtol This naroito1 SnalyS Safo
ment. An acre of land that will pay 81
per apnum is better than a Government
bond for 500 with 2 per cent. coupon at
tached, and, as loans are readily obtained
on it, land has become preferred saw
ings deposit. Idle capital, therefore, is
rapidly being invested in land. and the
process Will grow rather than diminish,
unless checked by legislation. AS to the
best form of law to effect this purpose,
Mr.. Mills suggests several that
would probably be beneficial, such
as the Limitation and restriction of the
extent to which land may be used as a
basis of security for the repayment of
cruing upon mortgage should not go to
the accumulation of the mortgage nor be
collected out of the equity of redemption.
These laws would prevent the large ac-
cumulation of land simply as an invest
ment, and by Withdrawing idle surplus
1IOiu ttSI1l WOulu lcdN0 llOIll
the hands of men who will cultivate and
use them. AS the statistics show, further
more, that the death of the proprietor
does not subdivide the landed estate, it is
suggested that there should be law ab-
solutely prohibiting any man to devise
in his will more than one thousand acres
of land, and declaring that all in excess
of that acreage shall be sold by the courts
for the benefit of his estate, the sale to be
made at the rate of one-fifth each year for
five years, SO as not to iniiict loss.
Mr.. Mills is doing excellent service for
California in leading campaign against
these large land-holdings. They have
long been recognized as an evil. and the
fact that this evil shows little tendency to
abate itself makes it manifest that the
laws should take hold of the matter in a
strong way.
Mr.. Mills has exemplifed the faith that
is in him by inducing the Southern Pa
cific Railway Company, of which he is
the Land Agent, TO purchase large tracts,
subdivide them into small farms and dis
pose of them to actual settlers on easy
terms. This is the correct policy for the
redemption of the semi-arid wastes of the
State.