The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1893-11-23
STARTLING PARTICULARS
ABOUT FARM MORTGAGES.
A Revelation Made by the Official
Census Returns for 33 States

The Result Of Comprehensive study
ny HeI bert Myrick of the Census
| Returns, Taken from his exhaustive
| Article in the Forthcoming Issue
ot tie American Agricuiturist for
| Dee .ilbei.
"Nine til, of oGr farms ure
moitgasel ior all they are worth ,
The It teneut las bs en- made so
often thai the heLer.., ilnpressi.n n
among all Classes III people is that
it ie. reseais no facts. Nothing
couii be u tLsr f.o.n the real truth.
But not until the census of farms,
homes aud mortgages was taken in
1890, was it possible to get at the
truth on this subject. These returns
are now sufficiently compiled to war
rant the following startling state.
meuts.
Three quarters Of all lie farms in
the United States are owned free IF
incunbrance. Only one-fonrtb OF
the total number Of farms it, the
United States are mortgaged. Or,
t, express 1t more specifically, out of
every hundred American farms, more
than 70 ar. fully pail for and less
than 80 are mortgsged.
The average mortgage represents
only one-third the value of the farm
upon which it is secured.
The total amount of farm mort
cages i'll the whole country is hardly
oae-:enth the total value of All our
farms.
Iu 1880, nearly oIe fifth OF the
mortgage indebtedness rested on
farms; but ia 1890, facm mortgls &
represented ouly one seventh of the
couutr,'s total Indebtedness IN real
estate.
Out Of every hundred families ou
American farms i'll 1890, Al owned
their farms free OF mortgage, &c
owned but with incumbrauce aud
80 hired the farus they lived on aad
workel
| OF those who cultivated their oWn
farms, 70 per cent owned without
iucumbrance ana only 80 per cell
had mortgages. Oithe farms occu.
pied by tcuants, less than ten p I
cent were incumbarc3.
-Four, fifths of the amount OF debt
on farms and homes was incurred
for ,hs commendabls purpose o.
buying and improving the propert,
AMI a ike proportion OF the numbers
of farms and homes were moftgaget
for The sama purpose.
The total real estate mortgage
debt that existed in the United
, States in 1880 is estimated at q bil
lions OF dollars, equally divided be
tween lots and acre tracts. l,
1890 the total amount of such in
cumbrauce had more than doubled
but only 81 per cent of it was OF
acres aud 66 per cent on urban prop
erty.
The total mortgages OH aetua
farms were about 525 millions o.
dollars in 1880, aud ten years later
was about S75 millions, an increas,
of $50 millions OF dollars 10 the de
cade.
During these ten years 10 les
than 100000 new farms were created
at,the west and south. IT only one
half of them carried the average siz
mortgage, this would readily accoun
for the increase In the total debt ol
farms.
Mortgages on other acre tract.
than farms proper We're in l6S'
about l163 millions of dollars. or al
increase OF 43S millions during tn
decade.
The mortgages on lots, that is
Oh city aud town property, amount
ed to 1850 millions of dollars at th
opening OF tue ninth decade, but il
1890 wefe estimated at nearly 400
millious. or an increase o: over 80
millions during the ten years.
The total mortgage indebtednes
In June, 1890, is estimated to hay
been some 5000 millions of dollar
as against $500 millions in 1880, a
increase of $500 millions.