The St. Johns herald., 1901-05-18

That landlordism and tenant farming are increasing with surprising rapidity in the United States is one of the most important facts developed out of the census reports issuing from Washing ton. According to a statement of l.. c. Powers, chief statistician of the agri- cultural division of the census, it ap- pears that for at least twenty years the percentage of farms op- erated by tenants has increased heav- fly in all parts of the United States except the extreme West. For the whole country this percentage has in- creased in the last ten years nearly twice as fast as the per cent of popu- lation of the nation, four times that of the purely agricultural population and twice that of the farms operated by their owners. MT. Powers sug- gests that this unprecedented increase does not show a degradation of the rural population, but an uplifting, from the fact that 1t must be largely com posed of negroes in the Southern States and of farm hands or farmers sons who have become tenant farmers. It is declared, however, by many who are watching the tendency, that large numbers of those who have indeed ris- en out of these ranks to become tenants would have become farm owners in stead under other conditions, as did the young men of a generation ago. To whatever extent this army of tenant farmers has been recruited from the ranks of those who had been but wage earners, it is a matter for satisfaction. To the extent that 1t includes those who have sunk from ownership or might have become owners it is not good. It Is impossible to separate these classes until the full reports of the census are issued. Out of the we'll
 known conditions in the middle West, however, with these preliminary fig ures at hand, 1t is possible to discover some interesting material for specula- tiOn. Many farmers are moving into the towns, selling their farms outright or renting to tenants. In the latter in- stances each farm is forced to become the support of two families, which is apt to prove a heavy burden on any property calculated for one family. Capitalists recognize that farms pur- chased and rented to tenants are among the best investments, principal and income being peculiarly safe. 9th CT capitalists who wish to invest in farm loans are finding, in many in stances, that their money is a drug on the market. The farmers who own land are so prosperous that they do not need loans; those who are tenants have no security upon which to borrow. Mer- chants in the smaller towns are now complaining that their trade is suffer ing by the increase of tenant farmers. The latter are not as prompt in paying bills, they cannot afford to buy as much. and they do not improve their places with the same energy and mod ern agricultural methods and machin- cry as do the ones who own their farms. Tenant farmers have not the interest in preserving the farm prop erty that the owner has when he is the resident. Nor, indeed, is the tenant so interested to protect the permanent fertility of the soil by the most care full farming methods. It is recognized that either In city or country the best performance of the duties of citizen ship comes from those who own their homes. With that fact in mind. no one can fail to regret the immense growth of tenant farming indicated by the census