The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-01-21


the small farmers will not complain
OF a fair valuation provided they get
six-mOnths' school term for their
children, and provided plans are made
al the same time for getting the city
mans personal property. income. and
solvent credits on the books at a fair
valuation, and provided the large
holdings of farm land timber land
the water powers, the lands held for
speculation. and our big Industrial
enterprises, railroads. etc. are taxed !,
on an equal basis.
To insure equality in assessments
district boards should be appointed. |
each board having charge of. say.
three or five counties with ample
power to eQualize assessments within
each group Of counties. Then a State
tax commissioner or tax commission
ers should have authority after
thorough investigation to eQualize as
! SesSments by districts
IV-The TOrrens System OF Register
/ ing Land Titles.
Next, the farmers want the Torrens
system of registering land titles. The
! TOrrens systems means simply that
| instead OF having to pay lawyer
| from $40 to $50 to investigate your
title every time you wish either to sell
a piece of land or borrow money on
it, there will be one single investiga-
ton of the title, and the State guaran-
teed title is given you once for all.
The Farmers Union and other
farmers organizations are now In
tensely interested in providing better
facilities for rural credit. The first
step in this direction must be the
adoption Of the Torrens system OF
registering land titles. Considering
the expense Of having the title inves-
tigated, the fees for registering mort
cages. ETC., etc, there is little doubt
but that it costs the average farmer
IS per1 1T. instead of for the money
that lI< VOWS. Or if when he needs
money! avoid the expense and
trouble o. >l1ing mortgage and
having the Investigated, he pays
"time prices u what he buys. his
, credit probabl -. IT'S him at the rate
of from 80 to 6< >cent year. No
wonder thousand. y d thousands Of
( farmers have lost - " homes and
4 lifelong slaves to debt, as the result
. Of such a system Of grinding the faces
: Of the poor. No wonder the towns
e have grown while the country has gone
n down in view of the fact that the town
:, man has been able to get money at
/ 6 per cent. while the farmer has had
= his profit, and often his labor itself
confiscated by having to pay from
: three to ten times as much. Give us
s the TOrrens system of registering lanC
e titles" DR.. John Lee Coulter, Of Wash
f ington, D. G., remarked to the writer
n a few weeks ago, land your Southern
: farmers can borrow money at ) pei
n cent"
O A Torrens system certificate will bt
) as good as a State bond or share
e Of cotton mill stock, and it will be a.
g easy to borrow money on it, except
: LOT course, that the wife's signatur.
e must be obtained as we'll as the hus
e bands. good friend Of ours whC
= thad not thought much about the mat
t ter, asked the other day ie the Torren
n system, by making it easier for tn
s. farmer to get money, might not caus
IS some farmers to lose their land. Th
l. answer to this is. whether farmer i
more likely to lose his home whel
he can get money at 6 per cent o
,f when he must pay from Is to 60 pc
h cent. The TOrrens system has com
h to help farmers keep their homes no
$ to lose thm. Our farmers are no
II idiots that they must have guardian
to keep them from giving away thei
N property Heretofore thousands o
l. them have been forced to lose thei
e. homes. because when disaster over
4 took them and they needed money
l. they had to pay exorbitant tim
SIS prices for their supplies. or borroy
re with rulnouS uSury from none
Of sharks. or pay excessive fees to law
Id yers for investigating titles and writ
e. ing notes. These men will be largel
le deliverd from such slavery to debt
70 proper Torrens system is adopted.
It With regard to another objectio
he that has been urged. it may be note
lie that at the time a farmer takes OF
ly a TOrrenS certificate he can, with onl
A a little extra cost, have his land SUI
is veyed in several plots. taking out sex
to eral certificates at nominal eXtr
d. cost. and SO pledge certificate rel
OF resenting only q portion of his farl
he when he neds ONLY a small amount {
LII money.
1T V-Better Public Health Work.
T. Next the farmers want better healf