The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-02-11
How People of Iowa DO Live!


How People of Iowa DO Live!
Prosperity and happiness are the
cardinal prizes sought by every ma
ton, community and individual. The
preamble of the Constitution sets
forth these two principles, primarily,
making them sacred right to every
citizen of the United States. To know
the degree of happiness and prosper
ity reached by an individual, state or
community, it is but necessary to
know how he or they live. How do
the people of Iowa live? is asked by
every other state in the union, and
the answer is given, concerning the
Iowa farmer in a government survey
of forty-six farms located in different
counties. Great care was taken in
choosing average farms, in average
counties, for were the results OF an
investigation of the farms in some of
the richest communities given out,
the world would says, incredible.
Though the government statisti-
clans have issued figures on the Iowa
farmer, other investigators have con-
fined themselves to the cities and the
results are such that cannot be sur
passed by any other state in this
great country. There are no large cit
les in Iowa, and there is no city that
is not situated in rich agricultural
section, for there is no place in Iowa
that the soil is not highly productive.
This being the situation of the cities
of the state, there is none but has
| first hand access to pure and whole
nrndnNfC
meats, milk,-that which makes for
health and happiness, and all this at
prices that cannot be boosted be-
cause. of freight and express rates,
and various other reasons.
Turning to the Iowa farmer, the
investigators found that in the area
studied in Iowa the cost of board and
| lodging on the farm for each individ-
ual was on an average of $221 year.
This sum included food, fuel, oil,
house rent and house labor, the items
being as follows: Food $1O5.67;
fuel, $14.24; oil, $1.31; house rent,
$4,000; house labor, $4,000. Total,
$221.21. The average for all the
area of all the states studied is $176.
Thus the Iowa farmer in an average
county lives 17-26th per cent better
than farmers do elsewhere.
! aoBut why should the people of Iowa
! live better than those Of other states?
There is but one answer to this ques-
ton, and that is that the people Of
the state are wealthy, they can afford
more than the average necessities OF
life.
If the wealth in taxable property
in Iowa were distributed among the
people it would amount to $1,77S.9S
for each person, according to the BIZ
ennial report furnished by the state
revenue clerk. The significant fea-
ture of this report is that there is an
increase in per capita wealth Of
S417.3S in two years. Figuring upon
a basis of taxable values being equal
to sixty per cent of market values the
actual per capita wealth is $2,964.-
o. An adjustment of values brought
about by the state executive council
places property values in Iowa at
S,546.
The wealth of the people of Iowa
is on the increase as shoWn by COM
parison of annual reports, particular
ly those made by DR.. Chapel, head
of the Iowa weather and crop service,
DR.. Chappers recent report shows
that the farmers of Iowa are $27,-
635,O79 richer than they were for
last years efforts. The total value of
the 1913 crops were $43S,157,44O.
The 1914 corn crop is estimated at
63,6S9,60O bushels in excess of that
raised in 1913 and the price at 55
cents per bushel is worth $2OO,029,-
$50. The report goes on to say that
on nearly every staple crop the 1914
yield exceeds that of 1918. This is
the situation in Iowa each year. While
some one crop may show a slight
fluctuation, the value of the crops,
and consequently the wealth of the
state is increasing steadily.
Investigation shows that the people
of Iowa, especially the farmers, live
better than those in any other part
of the world. The one reason is the
increasing wealth, with the conse-
quent prosperity and happiness which
is the one notable characteristic of
1owa.-State-Wide Publicity Com
mission.