Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-07-23

should have the power to enforce
measures which it at present can only
suggest.
THE RIGHT IDEA.
burlington Hawkeye.1
Among the immense mass of new
legislation which was ground out py
the last legislature, of course, there is
much that is good Among the good
things there Is nothing better than that
which provides for employment OF con-
victs on the roads. and for the pay
ment of the men SO employed.
splendid feature of it all is that part
Of their pay is to go to their INDECENT
families, If any. If not. it is TO be
saved for them and paid them after
they have been released. The man
who has worked and saved something
while in prison is apt to find work and
to continue saving. after he regains his
liberty The fellow who is turned out
with a couple of dollars and prison
suit, that everybody can recognize at
500 yards, is pretty apt to get into
trouble when those few dollars are
gone. If there are no friends or relatives
waiting to take him in hand and TO
help him to make new start some
where.
The law might even go farther
There are fellows here and there who
neglect their families. The cities the
counties ought to have the right to
have such men arrested and sentenced
TO hard labor. They ought to be al
lowed something for their work, and
such money, or at least 4 heavy per-
"a W no fn q
neglected family. In some OF the
customary to turn out prisoners with
a nickel. They may have been stran
gers. and what clothing they had may
be worn out. they may be practically
without shoes, yet after they have
worked thirty or sixty or ninety days.
they are turned out with that miserable
nickel. The law should not merely
punish, but should help the offender to
do better in the future. If for no other
reason, then because it pays the COM
munity to keep people straight and to
keep them out Of prison. and it pays
the community to have families pro-
vided for in part at least. by those
whose duty it is TO take care Of them.
By and by we are going to come
pretty near the solution of some Of
these problems. This good old world
is growing little better every day,
and the best time OF all lies not in the
past but in the future. Every new set
Of laws ground out in our state and in
every other American state. proves this
assertion. even to the man who Is in
clined to take a dark view Of many
things.
QUEER FACTS ABOUT IOWA.
Davenport Democrat
W. j. Hamill, an iowan who has
been making a study Of the farm sta
tistics of the state. finds a number of
conditions that puzzle him, which he
sets forth in a letter to the Council
Bluffs Nonpareil.
He finds that Iowa farm land was
valued at 1871 per acre in 1850. $500
in 1890. $53.06 in 1900. and s110.40 in
1910 He finds tine value of the indi-
vidual farms of the state Is s1,.2o9
per farm These figures help to ex-
plain why the small farmers are sell
ing out to the bigger ones and going
to Dakota or Canada. or the bigger
ones are selling out and going to CAL
ifornia.
Iowa seems to be reversing the rule
that in countries where the popula-
ton is increasing the farms get small
er and are more intensely worked.
In 1870 and 1880 the average size farm
in Iowa was 1894 acres: in 1890 II
was Isl acres; in 1900 1t was 1o.2
acres and in 1910 the average farm
had grown to 1868 acres. This repre-
sents a growth of II per cent in thir-
ty years, showing that the small farm
er is steadily losing ground and that
machine farming on more extensive
scale is taking its place. F1ve-sixtns
OF the farms of Iowa are now between
100 and 500 acres In extent.
In 1890 74.5 per cent OF the owners
in Iowa were on the farms; in 1891,
71.9 per cent: 1900, 64.5 per cent. the
greatest tenant farming county IS
Grundy. with 56.7 per cent. which IS
an increase of per cent in ten years
and the county with the lowest rank
for tenant farming is Allamakee. with
1853 per cent which is an increase OF
40 per cent in ten years.
But the real puzzle presented by
the census figures confronis us In the
statistics in relation to farm mort
ages. We all know that the Iowa
farmer is a prosperous Individual. we
see him retiring to the city into gooo
homes with all the conVenlences ol
modern life If he has remained In
the country. the automobile puts him
into close touch with his neigh5ors
and with the city. But the census
man finds that Iowa farms are the
most mortgaged of any state IN the
union. Moreover, the state has nelo
the highest rank for mortgage giving
in every census except 1890. When
Kansas stood first with 55.5 per cent
against our 533 per cent. In 1910 we
had reduced this only to 53 per cent
and in 1910 to 51.s per cent. Kansas
in the meantime had reduced the pro-
portion Of its mortgaged farms COW"
to 448 per cent.
The figures suggest many questions
What is the Iowa farmer doing Win
his money. How much of the mort
cages is represented by the automo-
bile and the new standard OF hvihs'
| Are many farms mortgaged because
the owner finds that he can MAKE
more money by borrowing on the tarn,
and investing elsewhere? WHAT shou w
be done to prevent further loss OF tne
farming population Of the state!
iNFGLECT1NG OUR OwNTNTEREsT
rcedar RAPIDS Republican,