St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-07-07
LABOR BUREAU FIGURES.
c0M.RIS Si0NER POWERS CLEANS STA
7ISTicS FaOM FARM OWNERS.
AVERAGES IN IL COUNTIES.

The Labor Bureau Varies but
Little From the Federal Cen
sus Farmers Born in the
United States Have the Greater
Average Prosperity Di~ersi-
fad Farming Creates Wealth.
The state bureau OF labor in the sum-
mer OF 1898 had two of its agents t
work in the agricultural sections OF the
state gathering certain line of stauSti-
cal information. The counties in which
| this Information was sought we're:
Grant, LIE Sueur. Martin, Mower, Ohm
sted, Otter Tail. Polk, Redwood. Rem
Vile, SOley, Slearns and Rock.
Answers or statements were secured
| frou LOSS farm owners ana PAS farm
tennHts. The farm tenants MAKE up
| 1851 per cent OF the whole number. The
Investigations Of the census department
| show that 1925 per cent of all Name
| sU,a farmers are tenants. The tables OF
the bureau include, therefore, a slight
! relative excess of owners over tenants
as found for the whole state. The fig
ures of the bureau upon three things
| cover questions investigated by the
| census. A comparison Of the results
arrived at by the two studies of farm
prosperity in Minnesota is suggestive.
| The tables of the bureau give To the
farm owners All average uf sos worth of
| live stock. Tue farm tenants POSSESS
| on all average $43O. The average for
| all is &495. The corresponding average
shown by the census OF 1899, $49S. The
| average value Of farm machinery and
| elements by the bureau was for own.
| erS $l66. and for tenants $40, and Tor
| both 1853. The corresponding average
| shown by the census WAS Sl45. Tie
CELSIUS only gives real estate mortgage
debt. This averaged ABOUT S400 per
| farm. or little over l2 per cent of the
value OF the agricultural land. The
bureau gives an average OF all debts.
| for the tenants 1910. The percentages of
| debt to all possessions is for owners
| substantially II at of real estate. II per
cent. The tenants have higher Ratio
| Of debt To possessions, viz, II
per cent. The results secured by
the bureau and census upon the
three foregoing subjects show marked
agreement. A variation is exhibited in
land values. The land of the average
farm is shown by the bureau to be
worth. in the opinion of Its owner,
| S5,3i2, and its buildings S605, or total
value for the farm of SS.97. The aver
aye farm, according TO the census, was
worth in 1890 $4,000. The bureau figures
are So per cent higher than those of the
census. This variation is doubtless dua
in great part TO the fact that laud
values over great part of Minnesota
| advanced between 1890 and 1898 sub
| StanIially i'll the ratio shown by the
different results of the two inveStiga-
tiUns.
The 1855 farm owners whose sched-
ules were secured had been farming in
Minnesota OH all average seventeen
years Zach. They began with all aver
age OF S791. and were worth at the end
S4, 1855 over and above their debts. The
average accumuiatlonS after paving all
living expenses were 1929 per annum TO
each individual. The 243 tenants had
tarmed in Minnesota All average of nine
years. They began with property
averaging $50, aud after nine years
work were urth, over and above debts.
,U44. The average accunnlations or
SAVINGS were SoS annually tor each.
This is small, and yet IL is greater than
the annual addition to the average fam.
lily wealth of the United States from
1851 to 1890.
The average saving Of the farm own
erS reporting 10 lne LABOR bureau IS
three times that of the tenants, and
hence three times the savings of the
average family of the United States
from 1880 To 1899. Had the average
family in the United States increased
its wealth proportionally with these
farmers, the national wealth would
have increased from 1880 to 1890 by a
sum greater than the wealth Of the ma
ton in the latter year.
The nationality of the farmers-own-
ers and tenants-is of interest in this
inquiry, and in the counties given was
found to be: Minnesota, IA; United
States, 1877; Germany, 3l7; Great Brit
ain, rs; Scandinavia. 464; Bohemia, 81;
British possessions, At; other countries,
II. The Scandinavians began farming
with the lowest average wealth of any
nationality, and that fact is an lmpor-
tant element in giving them the lowest
net possessions at the present time.
Contrary to popular ideas, the farmers
born in the United States show the
largest average net possessions at pres
ent. This Is for farm owners, So, S45.
They also show the largest average saw
ings-S30S per annum. The tables
show the Bohemians with the smallest
average annual savings.