Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-08-07
FARM MORTGAGES AS INVEST
MENTS

ike tH1S, WtleTe QeVelOp1ne1lC require.
capital beyond the simple ownership O
the land itself, that farm loans may b.
available at reasonable rate of interes
and on such favorable terms as shall
benefit the farmer who is required t.
make the loan.
In this connection, it may be said tina
the state itself, through the farm loar
provision of its school land fund invest
melt law, has made stable the securit,
Of farms loans as investments. Thest
loans, however, are made upon such ;
period of time as might be undesirabl,
to the farmer not wanting to extend hi.
interest payments over twenty years
The constitution and laws of the stat,
provide for payments of principal ii
fifths, at fve-year periods. &...
In recent issue of the Financ;a
World, Arthur E. Swanson, a banker a
Barlow, this state, calls attention of in
vestors to the desirability of farm
loans as investments, and says:
For an investment possessing
more than an unusual point of mer-
it, there is no security in my opin-
ion that can equal North Dakota
farm mortgage loans. The reason
for this is that farms that are held
as security for loans produce a very
liberal income and the margin of
security to the loans continues to
increase as the farms advance in
value. 49,. .sts
Farm mortgage loans in this state
do not exceed 40 per cent of the &C
tual marketable value of the prop
erty, and these loans net the invest
Or the very attractive rate of six
per cent annually Interest is usual
sly paid annually and default in in
terest payment to my knowledge.
never occurs, ,1,- ,.s5ss5 -a {.
,s North Dakota is destined always
to be one of the greatest agricultur
al states in the union because it pos
sesses the most productive land of
any OF the western states. The
farms are conveniently located,
and the owners Or occupants pos
sess all the modern conveniences.
North Dakota is only in its infancy,
and at the present time, when only
about one-fourth of all its land I'M
der cultivation, the value of the ag-
rlcultural products per capita is the
] highest of any state in the union.
The World, itself, in commenting
upon this statement, says:
We publish in another column
the answers of a number of deal
ers in farm mortgages to questions
which have been submitted by this
paper to find out the prevailing rate
OF interests in their sections, the
basis of values on which loans are
generally made, and to what ex-
tent foreclosure proceedings were
necessary, either to force the Dor
rover to pay or to dispose of the
! collateral to realize on the loan.
These answers, which we believe
are all made in good faith, reveal
uniformly satisfactory record all
over the country for such charac-
ter of investments. =.
Loans are made on a yery con-
serYatiye valuation of the land, and
on percentage that provides
large enough equity to protect the
lender of money. The income such
investments yield, although varying
IN different states, is generally salts
factory. Foreclosures, according to
these reports, are remarkably rare
when due consideration is given to
the millions of dollars that are in
vested in this manner, which is
more remarkable when comparison
is made with other forms of invest
ments; but one explanation for this
is that the farmers are men Of I'M
usually high character, and subter.
fuges to avoid just obligation is
something very few of them resort
to. Their is their home, and only
real poverty can force them to sacri-
flee it. The only drawback farm T
mortgages have, which is minor
one, is that they may not be read
dly convertible into cash, but that
is more than made up in the in
creased income they bring But buy
y ers Of farm mortgages are after
safe income and farm mortgages
are not wanting in this respect when
well selected
st------------------- III