The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1910-09-01
LAND AND AUTOMOBILES.

|
Scratch country banker and
hear him yell about the farmer ruin
| ing the country by automobiles, said
an automobile man on the street to-
day with much indignation in his
voice; but scratch the bankers bank
| book and you will find country bank
ers borrowing and investing in specu-
lative lands, $40 for every 81 that
has gone into automobiles, he CON
Guided. Rather unpleasant manner of
expression, but full of sagacious
financial wisdom.
The farmer buying automobiles is
not the fellow who makes money
| tight. Ten millions invested in these
machines by Iowa people this year av-
erages only 100000 to the county,
whereas bank deposits must average
three or four millions to the county.
Purchases which constitutes one
fourth to one-third of one per cent
of the total available bank deposits
in county can't be said to be ruin
ing the country.
Land speculation is doing it; only
it isn't Where fifteen or twenty farm
ers are spending $4,000 for auto
mobiles, one village banker is Dor
rowing and investing twice that
amount in western, northern or
southern lands; specializing. And as
you go long the street, every mer-
chant, every professional man, MANY
artisans and some retired farmers
who have surplus or can borrow
have taken flyer in land Even the
active farmers are into it and it is
safe to say that ten farmers in Iowa
today are holding speculative land to
one who rides around in an auto
mobile.
The trouble is we can all see the
automobile. In the course of an even
ing 1T will whiz by three or four times
until we become confused and get as
panic stricken as our intoxicated
friend who saw six heads and six
feminine night caps in the bed where
one wife ought to have been. Tomor-
row we will sober up and forget it.
The automobile is here to stay. The
farmer whose farm lies six to ten
miles from town by buying an auto
mobile, has moved his farm, in eff
fect, up to and adjoining the town
plat. Instead OF full days journey
TO town he now puts in full days
work at home, turns his tired teams
into the lot, does the chores and he
and his family comes to town in the
auto in few minutes spent after
supper. Tomorrow he will haul loads
OF live stock and produce to town and
drag his farm machinery back and
forth across the fields with his auto
mobile
The village banker should square
himself around and face the farmer
in his auto. Five years ago the farm
er was making just as much fuss
about the auto because it scared his
horses. He met it by climbing into
the auto seat himself and he is salts
fled. Let the village banker face the
inevitable and cut out the land spec
ulatlon If money is tight. Land is
sure thing as money maker, to be
sure, but it will keep until few of
this years deals have been cleaned
up. Then new ones can be taken on.
The village banker with $4,000 to
$oO,OOO OF borrowed money invested
IN land is in poor position to rail at
the farmer who buys an automobile.
why, one old gray mare, if registered,
can run in the pasture and with her
progeny pay for the machine before
it wears out. She isn't kicking about
it. While the land can only be paid
for by moving people out of Iowa to
dig crops from the soil. II we are
ashamed OF a red nose. let's don't
crltlclse the sen sen without first
blaming the -Marshalltown
Times-Republican.