The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-05-04
AMERICAN FARM HOMES.
Interesting Data Summed UP for
the United States.
Difference Between tho Urban and Rura,
Population iu tho Respect OF Pro-
prietorshlp-Racc and Sex
Percentages.

There are in the Uuited States H.
600, 152 families. OF these so 90 per cent.
hire the farms or homes which they oc-
! cupy, while 1880 per cent. own them.
! OF the farms or homes owned by their
occupiers 27.97 per cent. are mortgagcd
and 72.03 per cent. are free from mort
gage. To put the facts in another way,
let us take 100 families. We find that
on an average so hire their farms or
homes, Is own with incumbrance and
So own without incumbrance Of the
farms and homes which are both owned
by the occupiers and incumbered, the
liens amount to Sc, 1872, 040, 5G3, which
aggregate represents $3.50 per cent. of
the value of the mortgaged premises.
The debt bears interest ut the average
rate of Cos per cent. We should note,
further, that many more farms than
homes are owned by the occupying
families. Thus, among 100 farm fami-
lies, on the average 81 hire their farms,
10 own them with incumbrance and AZ
without incumbrance. Of 100 average
home families, on the other hand, G3
hire their homes, 10 own them with in
cumbrance and 81 without incum-
brance.
Let us look next, says the New York
Sun, at the difference between the ur-
ban and the rural population in respect
of the proprietorship of homes. For
the purpose of comparison the compiler
of the census bulletin takes the whole
country outside Of cities and towns
having each 5000 inhabitants or over.
OF 100 home occupying families within
this non-urbnn region there are on the
average sc that hire their homes, 10
that own them with incumbrance, and
"a that own them without incum-
brancc. We turn to the 42O cities
and towns that each have population
of 5000 to 100, 900. OF 100 home fami-
lies in these urban centers we find that
Ga hire their homes, and IL own with
incumbrance and "a without incum-
brance. Passing to the % cities that
have each n population of 100, 900 OF up
ward, we observe that, out of 100 home
families, II on an average hire their
premises, 0 own with incumbrancc and
IA without incumbrnnce. In the city
of New York no fewer than oS.67 per
cent. of the families hire the homes
they occupy; these figures maybe com
| pared with those officially returned to
Berlin, where in 1890 it appears that
| 90.65 per cent of the families lived in
hired homes. AS New York is the high
ly congested part of lnrge urban
region, what, for the purpose of this
inquiry, may be fairly termed the
greater New York, should be taken
into consideration. In New York
and in nineteen other cities, each
having population greater than
| 5000, and situated either in New York
state or in New Jersey, oil of the nine
teen being by interest and situation
virtually parts Of the commercial me-
tropolis, S6.37 per cent. of the whole
number of families hire the homes they
occupy. This percentage, large as it
is, does not greatly exceed that pre-
scented by Boston, where it is SI57.
Next to New York Boston is the city in
which the fcwcst families own their
homes
The effect of race upon proprietor
ship is distinctly traceable in these sta
tistics. Of white persons occupying
farms OF homes 81. 4S.per cent. own their
premises; of negroes but 1850 per cent;
of Chinese and Japanese only 1872 per
L
percentage of ownership is slightly
higher for women occupiers than for
men; the percentage of unincumbered
ownership is likewise higher among
women, whose instructive caution leads
them to avoid mortgages We remark,
lastly, that of the farm or home occu-
piers who have both parents native
born, 54.GG per cent asse owners, where
as of occupiers who have one or both
parents foreign born only 1881 per cent
own the homes they live in. Mr. Wright
cautions us, however, to remember that
in comparing these two classes of occu-
piers those whose parents were native
born are older than those whose par
ents were born in foreign parts. Many
of the foreign-born parents arc not old
enough to have children that have
passed beyond the earlier years of life,
and consequently large portion of their
children arc too young to have accum-
ulatcd the capital requisite for owner
ship.
Wooden Rails for n Florida Road