The Monticellonian., 1915-04-01
DENMARK is IDEAL COUNTRY
Cooperative Development Found
Complete In That Little Terri
tory-Hish-Price Land.


eyes Of American advocates of CO
operation. In that little country we
ind cooperative enterprise in its most
complete development If you SPEAK
OF scrub cows. the American co-opera-
tlen booster will begin to tell you Oh
the wonderful work of the Danish CO.
operat'"c cc.-tootins so.,es.ee, "..e~S
+ e. Ellis in Farm. Stock and Home
Your complaints of excessive dairy
manufacturing charges bring out the
story of the cooperative cheese rae
tories and creameries of the Danes
Marketing problems. 1t would seem.
do not now trouble that enterprising
people-their cooperative marketing
| societies attend to that Surely II CO
operation Il the solution of all diffi-
culties, agricultural and otherwise, the
people of Denmark should live IN an
earthly paradise
But all is not well in Denmark
With all of their cooperative enter
prise and enthusiasm the Danish farm
er is having hard time to make ends
meet and the tendency in that land OF
small farms is all towards the larger
farm and the division of the people
into the two classes characteristic or
other European countries-the large
landlord and his many laborers or ten
ants
This tendency has been recognized
by the Danish government and they
have made strenuous endeavors to
maintain the Homestead farm. They
have even gone so far as to offer
young men a loan up to 90 per cent of
the value Of the farm they propose to
buy with interest at less than half the
figure prevailing in America and the
principal payable over long term of
years. And now the government is
forced to recognize that even this
measure has failed to hold the people
or their own small freeholds.
The Danish farmers themselves hold
no false illusions as to the all sufiici-
eney of cooperation and education.
Their explanation is contained in three
words-high land values. All of the
benefits of cooperation. of education
and of industry have been capitalized
in land values. Add to this the speeu-
lative value and we have the explana-
ton of the difficulties of the peasant
farmer of Denmark.
A few years ago Rider Haggard. the
well-known novelist, who is also a
farmer. visited Denmark. He pub
lished book on his observations One
of the points that impressed him most
strongly was the high price paid for
Danish land. He saw poor sandy soil
that the American or English farmer
would hardly consider suitable for
sheep pasture, sell at 5000 an acre.
Really good land sold for much more.
And the price is still going up.
As an instance of how quickly land
values expand to nullify the good re-
suits that should flow from social leg
islation we may mention the effects on
land values of the government loans
to homeseekers. I have 1t on the au-
thority of the Danish Peasant Farm
ers' union that land that could be pur-
chased for 500 an acre when money
could not be had for less than per
cent quickly advanced to 5000 an acre
when the government offered money
at 3 per cent And what better
chance has man to pay for 5000 land
with per cent money than he had
TO establish a home of his own on
500 land with money available at b
per cent?
It has been so with their eo-opera-
tive enterprises. Cooperative trading
makes farming more profitable in
dustry More profitable farming re-
suits in higher-priced farm land. 1t is
so everywhere. Consequently the
farmer who invests in that land finds
all the profits that should go into his
own pockets flowing out in the form
Of interest. which is the equivalent OF
the rents paid by the American tenant
farmer At the same time the farmer
Is taxed on the food he eats toutside
of that which he grows on his own
farm). the clothes he wears and the
house he lives in. Danish farmers are
coming to see clearly that all the
taxes they now pay add to the high
cost of living. whereas the proportion
atelv light tax on the land advances
its price and makes speculative hold
ing possible and profitable.