The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-05-05
of Western farmersr he wa.


asked.
My reply TO that" he answered, will
OF necessity be somewhat extended. -Four
or five years ago the first complete inves-
tlgation OF farm mortgages was made by
the Commmlssion OF Labor Statistics IN
Michigan. It related TO more than one
half OF the farms of that State. Ii showed
tnAt OF the farms investigated more than
one-half were free of any mortgages what
ever, and the other half were mortCaged to
less than one-half of their value. In other
words. as nearly as can recall the figures
of that debt. the total farm mortgage of
Michigan was less than % per cent Of the
value of the farm lands.
subsequently," continued Mr.. Atkin-
SOD. IAN appropriation of sl.O00000 was
obtained to secure census statistics upon
this subject. The duty was put upon Mr..
George h. Holmes, of Washington and Mr..
John ). Lord. of Illinois. two of the most
thoroughly competent men In the country.
Their Investigations are based on actual
records. and they have been ompleted to
sufncient extent TO prove the following
facts. Complete returns of Iowa and Mon
tana have been published. and nearly COM
plete returns of Ohio. Illinois. Kansas
and Nebraska, corresponding substan-
TALLY to the published statements The
general result of this investigation Is as
follows More than one-half of the West
ern farms are free OF any mortgage OF any
kind. Less than one-half are subject to
mortgage. The amount of the mortgages
taken as whole is less than one-half of
the value of the mortgaRed land. Half Che
money loaned on mortgages has been lent
by citizens of the same State in which the
mortgaged farms are. The Indebtedness of
mortgages OF Western farmers to Eastern
capitalists or others who DO not dwell in
the same State 10 less than l2l5 per cent OF
the true value OF the farm lands in the
States named.
The Western farmer is to greater ex-
tent O creditor than he IS q debtor. and one
of the causes of the recent embarrassment
or what are called mortgage security COM
Danies' is that the farmers who owned good
lande have lately been able to borrow
money at much lower rates than those
they formerly paid rs to have tempted
mortgage companies to loan money on
speculative Investments having no copnec-
tiOn with farms of any KIND. These facts
have an important bearing on the none
tary question. The solid sense of the pros
porous farmers OF the West is not being
excited. and will form an important factor
in determining tho quality of the money
which these creditors mean TO maintain.
Il am aware that these statements will
De received with surprise. They have not
surprised me, because my own lnvestiga-
ton led me to the same conclusion long
since. and did what l could to promote
the appropriation of the money for taking
the census of the mortgages. in full conf
dence that the result would prove that the
representatives or the farming industry OF
the West are less indebted than the repre-
eentatIves of almost any other important
branch of industry in this country. Final.
ly, these investi eations have proven that
the average life of the Western farm mort
gage IS less than five years. Scarcely any
are in existence that have not been nego-
tiated at the lessenIng rates of interest dur
ing the last five years Ii any one doubts
the statement reference may be made to
the special bulletins already printed and
to the census department for facts which
have not yet been published"