The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-02-22

was tempted to invest that $4,000, in
creased by borrowing of $1,000, in a
place of ten acres somewhere in the
remoter and least accessible parts of
the suburbs. He made the purchase
last winter. Then with a shrewdness
that would have delighted Booker
Washington, the colored man divided
this crop into lots, selling them for
$3.50 lot. He has recently closed
out the transaction, and has been able
to pay of the $1,000 borrowed, got
back his original investment, with
$4,000 to the good besides.
On the other hand, one of the high
er officials Of the steel corporation
ventured a year ago to purchase 1000
acres about six miles inland from
Long Island sound, and some thirty
miles near New York. He must have
bought this for about $500 an acre.
What he would make in the way of
profit upon that purchase no one
knows, since he is not willing to sell,
but that mere investment tempted 9TH
ers in that vicinity, so that farms
bought year or two ago at from 500
to $3.50 an acre have turned over dur
ing the past spring SO as to yield
profit of from $500 to $1,000 per acre.
A publisher of New York a few
years ago bought a tract of thirty-two
acres within three quarters of an hour
of New York city, paying $500 per
acre. Recently he has sold from it
one plot OF three acres, upon which he
had built house, for $4,000, and var
ious other plots of from two to five
acres have been sold at relatively
large profit.
According as the point of view is
taken, these transactions do cause
stringency or do not. One authority
has argued that this stringency is APP
parent rather than real, since the
money withdrawn from the savings
banks, or from other institutions or
from private boards really goes i'm
mediately into banks after it has been
used to pay for real property. There
fore, the money is in constant circu-
lation, as assumed. The statement is
correct as far as it goes, and yet the
demand for funds continues so that
this cash or these credits are immed-
lately made use of for further real es-
tate transactions. If there were no
speculative or healthful investment in
real property, much of this money
would be available for other purposes
of trade and as cash, especially avail
able for financing the crops during
the summer and fall. OF course, many
Of the transactions involve the use of
a small amount of cash, what are
called purchase money mortgages be-
ing employed in payment of the ball
ances.
What is in progress in New York
is only a feature of the general spirit
prevailing throughout the country. II
is regarded as fairly we'll proved that
the recent disclosures and the recent
stringent legislation contemplated in
congress and perfected in many of the
states have intensified (having first
stimulated) the disposition to make
investments in real property. The
wiser of the bankers believe that there
could be no greater assurance offered
that the great body of the people are
not reactionary in disposition, but are
disposed to be law-abiding and to fav-
or constructive improvement, than the
widespread ownership by individuals
of real estate, unless this ownership
involved very large aggregations of
agricultural land in the hands of
few individuals or corporations.
Robert Louis Stevens0n's House Sold.
DR.. Solf, the German governor of Sa-
moa, has been authorized from Berlin
to acquire Robert Louis Stevenson's
famous house, Vailima, as an official
residence. The news shows one of the
curious changes wrought by time, for
Stevenson was one of the ablest and
most active opponents of German SUI
prenacy in Samoa. He openly aided
and allotted Mataafa, the Samoan rebel
chief, who gave the Germans much
trouble and on one occasion almost an
initiated German force.