Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-03-05
GREATER MENACE TO COUNTRY
THAN WAR. FAMINE AND pes. !.
THENCE SAYS KENNEDY.
SHORT TERM TENANT HAS
NO INTEREST IN COMMUNITY
Seven Big Handicaps Under Which
Iowa Tenants Have to labor-Eff-
eisney az Producer Decreases From IS
to 50 Per Cent - improvements Of
Present System Suggested.
Special to Times Republican.

AmeS, March 5.-"Iho farm tenancy
system in the United States has been
a greater menace to the country than
is the surprising statement Of Director
w. ]. Kennedy, Of the Iowa State Col
lege division of extension. And the
director lays the whole blame on the
"one-year lease system which, he as
serts apothegmatically, 'is leading to
and encourages, instead of farming the
land, an agricultural mining Of the
SOIL
The present system of land tenure is
causing a greater annual loss to the
natural resources of this country than
total robbing of the national conserva-
ton reserves, he figures. Not only is
the one-year lease system the worst
thing that could possibly be practiced
toward ruination of the land itself but
it is directly responsible for eating out
the very heart of all country life. Dr.
rector Kennedy asserts the system
stands in the way of good rural schools.
good country churches, prevents the
best country home life and more than
that is perhaps the chief impeachment
to the building of good roads. All
these evils are especially true where
the one-year lease is in vogue, he
states.
No Interest in Community.
"Why does the bad tenant system
hamper country social life?" he asks
to pave the way for his argument; The
tenant, the one-year tenant, feels that
he does not belong to the community
and therefore has no vital reason for
his taking an interest in it and COM
munity affairs.
1.-The problem of the one-year ten
ant system in Iowa is probably the
paramount question. In 1880 23.S per
cent, or 44.174 numerically, Of the farms
of Iowa were farmed by tenant farm
ers. in 1890 2S.1 per cent or $500, Of
the total were farmed by tenants. In
! 1900 $40 per cent, or 1876, were
farmed by tenants. In 1900 37.S per
cent, or s2.115, Of the 217,00o farms Of
Iowa were under tenancy.
Seven counties of the state Grundy,
Lyon, Sioux, Osceola, Dickinson. Cher
okee and Plymouth-have ore than so
per cent Of their farms tenanted; and
| it is interesting to note that six Of
| those seven counties are in northwest
| ern Iowa.
! Seven Handieaps of Tenants.
+ s.As opposed to the foregoing statist-
! les, there are only five Iowa counties
| in which less than 25 per cent Of the
| farms are tenanted, and they are Al
| lamakee, Winneshiek, Dubuque, Jack
son and Clayton. It is also interesting
to note that these five counties are all
in the northeastern corner Of the state.
1.-The average tenant farmer labors
under seven handicaps and as a result
his efficiency as an agriculturist pro-
Queer is decreased from 15 per cent to
so per cent. He is handicapped for lack
Of comfortable home for his family;
he lacks Efficient livestock; he lacks
the proper machinery to operate a
farm; he hasn't the proper buildings:
his fences are not what they ought to
be; he hasn't the capital and his
credit falls short. The consequence is,
instead of farming the land he mines
the soil.
"The classes Of people who tenant
out farms are: Retired farmers, city
men desiring safe investment, estates
by their controllers. professional and
business men who are paying for land,
land traders and SPECTATORS. The
first two are the most desirable classes
Of landlords; the last is undesirable
altogether"
How to Improve System.
Improvements over the system Mr..
Kennedy suggests: Long-term leases
with renewal option at expiration;
cash basis OF tenure; better buildings
and fences; a credit system which will
enable the man who works the land to
borrow at rates Of interest as low as
those offered the landowner: govern
inert aid similar to that extended in
Ireland and Denmark, enabling the
tenant to purchase and pay for land on
long-term contracts at low rates of in
terest.
England and Scotland have the best
land tenure systems in the world" says
the Ames man. There the tenant may
obtain leases enduring from ten to
thirty years. In England and Scotland
the land is farmed by tenants who
have held the particular land thru one
generation down to the last. These
tenants are as anxious to Keep up the
fertility Of the land as the landown-
ers; they are part Of the community
in which they live
Robber Suspect Arrested.
Des Moines. March 5.-George-H Hodge.