The record-union., 1896-07-05
BUREAU OF INFORMATION
Some Odd Questions Briefly Answered
Herein.
Information Given to Inquirers on
Subjects of More or Less Gen.
eral Interest.

Eds. Record Union: Is it or is it not
true that seven-tenths of the farms in
the United States are mortgaged? Win
You give us the facts, there is so much
dispute about it now among political
takers out our way. S. q.
Gait.
1t is not true According to the census
o3 1890 it is very far from true Under
that census the first time the actual data
was gathered - far as could be done
on first trial. The work was continued
UP TO 1894 and the result is opposed to
what is generally talked by the pes
simists. The following deductions from
the published statistics were prepared
by Herbert Myrick for the american
Agriculturist." We give extracts
only:
The mortgaged farms constitute but
one fourth of the total number of farms
in the United States, the other three
quarters being owned free of incum-
brance. The average mortgage repre-
sents one-third the value of the farm
upon which it is secured, but the total
amount of farm mortgages is hardly
one-tenth the total value of all our
farms. In 1880 nearly one-fifth of the
mortgage Indebtedness rested on farms,
but in 1880 farm mortgages represented
| only one seventh of the country's total
Indebtedness on real estate Out of
every 100 American farms more than
seventy are fully paid for and less than
thirty are mortgaged Out of every
! zoe families on farms in 1890 forty
seven owned their farms free Of mort
gage, twenty owned, but with incum-
brance, and thirty-two hired the farms
! they lived on and worked. OF those who
cultivate bheir own farms 10 per cent.
own without incumbrance and only so
per cent. have mortgages. Hardly 10
! per cent of the hired farms are in
numbered. Four-fifths of the amount of
debt on farms and homes was incurred
| tc buy and improve the property, and
| like proportion of the numbers of
| farms and homes were mortgag ged for
the same purpose.
| These are the results indicated by the
census returns as far as made up-one
! inquiry complete for thirty y-three, the
other for twenty-five out of our forty
nine States and Territories. Can any 9TH
er nation in the world make so favorable
1t is the more remarkable here because
of the marvellous changes in American
agriculture since the war, the vast area
Of new land that has been converted
| into farms and the consequent down
ward tendency to values of farms and
! farm products.
| Probably no other industry in Amer
| lea carries anything like so small a
proportion of real estate Indebtedness.
In the farmers case the mortgage rep
| resents the bulk of his indebtedness,
| except in the South and those sections
| of the Western States in which large
personal Indebtedness is borne in the
shape of chattel mortgages. This form
of debt is probably greatest in those
Southern States where the obligations
on real estate is least.
The most wonderful fact is that,
| taking these States noted in the table
| below TO fairly represent the whole
country, real estate mortgages amount
| to only II per cent. of the estimated
value of the lots and acres that pay
taxes The mOrtga ges on acres are
only II per cent. of their value, ranging
from Z in Arkansas to % in Kansas.
About one-third in number of the taxed
acres are mortgaged. according to the
average of fifteen States, Tennessee
having mortga ges on but little more
than one-tenth of her assessed acres,
while in Kansas the proportion is near
ly twice as great
Regarding only the mortgaged acres.
their Indebtedness average A per cent.
Of their estimated true value, being
from 30 per cent. in Indiana to almost
double that proportion in Missouri Yet.
though Missouri farms which are not
paid for bear a debt exceeding half
their value, ii should be observed that
in this very State only about one-f fourth
OF the taxed acres are mortgaged This
indicates that the breadth of Missouri
farm land which is not paid for is COM
paratively small, but farms and village
pieces of an acre or more in extent that
are not paid for are mortgaged for
| more than half their value
The Indebtedness averages $13 per
acre on mortgaged land, the true value
of which is some $50 In Massachu-
setts, Rhode Island and Illinois these
figures are abnormally large by reason
of the considerable proportion of su-
burban mortgage on acres that are
necessarily Included But in othe.
States the money borrowed on rural