The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-09-04
NO HELP TO THOSE MORTGAGE
Free Silver Hardship, Not a Relic, ).
Most of Them 800

AAosp VI AheMs
People owning their homes and h,.
ing mortgages upon them should NJ,
be misled into thinking that n Fray o'
silver victory in November would no :.
assistance to them in meeting ~.
mortgages. A little examination vii,
show that on the average it will brna
hardship instead of relief. This would
be true, leaving out of considerato,,
all circumstances affecting wages and
incomes and combining the argument
simply to bare discussion Of tho
mortgage itself.
The great majority of morto,oos
especially the smaller ones on DWELLING
houses, are written for three or 8vs
years, and of this class the creator
number for the lesser period, wbile
many run for year or two. Durnr
the last few years a great MANY of
these mortgages have contained
gold clause. 1t is obvious that no ons
having such a mortgage on his house
would be helped in the slightest bv
free silver. 1t is equally plain that, on
the contrary, were gold at premium
it would be harder than ever to make
payment.
1t might also be remembered that
there are always, especially during
hard times, a large number of mort
gaes, especially on small houses, that
are overdue, and are being carried
along by the mortgage.
Bearing these facts in mind it seems
safe to assume that the average life Of
mortgages on this class of property in
| this city and its suburbs does not OK.
coed one year.
For free silver to be of advantage to
the mortgageor money must be more
plentiful and more easily obtained
| within that time than it is to-day. Is
there any reason to believe it would
| be?
| Even without special session Of
congress, called as soon as possible to
pass free silver law, such law could
not reasonably be looked for within
that period, much less an initiation Of
the currency, SO as to give relief to
debtors. In the meantime what would
be the situation?
| The crisis in financial affairs would
| follow Immediately upon the success
of free silver at the polls. Followingthe
withdrawal of gold there would be u
| sharp contraction of the money in cir
i culation, and, instead of more money
with which to meet indebtedness,
there would be less. Owing to the I'M
/ settled condition of affairs lenders
would be more unwilling than ever to
loan. and, as an inevitable result, pay
ments would have to be defaulted.
There is still another point. In the
very great majority of cases mort
gagees do not willingly foreclose.
They want their money and interest
rather than the property. This is es-
pecially true of the savings and coop
eratiye banks. AS result they often
carry mortgages that are due until
such atime as the ownercan meetthenf
But if they saw that they would receive
at some future time an amount iess
than its value in gold, and only such a
payment could be of benefit to tne
borrower, they would demand settle'
ment at once, and, if that was no1
Forthcoming, they would foreclose
And foreclosure in a panic means 'nol
. wiring out of equities.
: In the above statement no allowance
IS made for loss of earning power On |
the part Of the home owner IL Is y,
sumed. for the sake of argument 'na'
! he will have as much money as ne mas
now. Even on such showing Tree sn'
yer to the great majority would not y
a help but an injury.-Boston her"u'