Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1896-03-27
AMERICAN FARM HOMES.
Interesting Data Summed Up foI
the United States. ~
nl6erence Between the Urban and Rural
Population in the Respect OF Fro.
priotorship-Race and Sex
Percentages.

; There are in the Uuited States 49,
GOO, 1872 families. Of these $3.50 per cent
hire the farms or homes which they &C.
cupy, while 1880 per cent. own them.
OF the farms or homes owned by their
pccupiers 27.97 per cent. are mortgaged
and 72O3 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 50 hire their farms or
homes, IS own with incumbrance ana
IS own without incumbrance. OF the
farms and homes which are both owned
by the occupiers and incumbered, the
liens amount to $2,152, 949, 563, which
aggregate represents $3.50 per cent. OF
the value of the mortgaged premises.
The debt bears interest at the average
rate of 6.65 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 "a hire their farms,
10 own them with incumbrance and Al
without incumbrance. OF 100 average
home families, on the other hand, SO
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 inlla bitants or over.
OF 100 home occupying families within
this non-urban region there are on the
average 56 that hire their homes, 10
that own them with incumbrance, and
"a that own them without incum-
brance. We turn to the 400 cities
and towns that each have population
of 5000 to 100000. OF 1907 home fami-
lies in these urban centers we find that
81 hire their homes, and - own with
incumbrance and "a without incum-
brance. Passing to the % cities that
have each a population Of 1oo,o or up
ward, we observe that, out of 100 home
families, ~ On an average hire their
premises, own with incumbrance and
II without iIcumbrance. IN the city
of New York no fewer than SO 81 per
cent. of the families hire the homes
they occupy; these figures may be COM
pared with those officially returned to
Berlin, where in 1890 it appears that
$685. per cent. Of the families lived in
hired homes. As New York is the high
ly congested part OF a large 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 a population greater than
5000. and situated either in New York
state or in New Jersey, ali 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 S1.57.
Next to New York Boston is the city in
which the fewest families own their
homes.
The effect Of race upon proprietor
ship is distinctly traceable in these sta
tistics. OF white persons occupying
farms or homes 81. 4S'per cent. own their
premises; of negroes but 1850 per cent.
of Chinese and Japanese only 3.72 pei
cent. Sex also makes difference. The
percentage of ownership is slightly
higher for women occupiers than fo1
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 occr1'
piers who have both parents native
born, 54.66 per cent. are owners, where
as of occupiers who have one or both
parents foreign born only 43. 81 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 are not ole
enough to have children that have
passed beyond the earlier years Of life
and consequently a large portion Of thei1
children are too young to have accum
ulated the capital requisite for owner
ship.
Wooden Rails for q Florida Road.
The citizens of Avon Park and Haines
City, Fla, forty miles distant, have de
cided, according to q correspondent O.
the Manufacturers Record, to build {