New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-07

M ago, advocates Of home
w stead legislation believed
that Uncle Sam is rich enough to
give US all farm" there was little
thought that, as age of nations
goes, the time was already at hand
when the United States would have
her land problem in common with
ether nations, both past and present
Then, the land problem was one Of
getting unexpected land into private
hands at little or no cost. So rapidly
has the change come that now the
problem is one Of getting land into
opera hands at any cost. The
rumblmgs Of discomfort began dur
ing the 70's Of the last century, when
Henry George wrote his Progress
and Poverty" IL was continued dur
ing the COS with the Populist move
ment and the demand for free coin
age Of silver. Changes in production
Of gold and the rise in prices Of farm
produce at a time when tenantry had
not yet become a national problem
ouieted for time the discomfort Of
the farm owning population. But
the shift Of farm owners TO the vii
lagos and the substitution OF ten
ant class in the more wealthy gen
eral farming sections have brought
to the front the old discomfort in an
ether form and from another group.
The land owner is satisfied with the
changes taking place, But the sue
cessors Of the group that during the
AO's and SOS clamored for free land
on which to get start comparable
TO that Of their predecessors in the
older sections of the country now are
demanding that means be devised
whereby they, too. may secure foot
hold on the land they operate with
out having to pay a tribute to the
descendants Of those who arrived on
the ground first and who now live
in urban communities. The swell OF
discomfort underlying the present de-
mand for rural credit is fundamen-
tally founded on the land question.
Sooner or later the real problem will
be recognized, and then the state
must face the task of controlling or
solving that problem in the interest
Of the common good, without regard
TO vested interests or privilege which
may have resulted from traditional
influence or social change. .
The problem now to be considered is
the effect of tenantry on the eco
nomic and social welfare Of the pop
ulation that actually lives in the
country, and the resulting effect on
the national welfare.
Problem Serious
in Central Valley
In approaching the problem, how
ever, it should be recalled that in a
large part of the United States ten
antry is still very low. During the
last decade tenantry actually de-
creased IN twenty of the states, and
in seventeen Of them the percentage
Of tenantry in 1910 was still unde1
twenty. In the South, where, so tal
as percentage Of tenAntry Is con
cerned, the problem Is most serious
the apparent increase Is thought u
be rather an indication Of the ris'
Of the colored population 10
position Of relatively higher indie
pendence than an evidence Of de
terioration. The serious problem
presents itself in the great cen
trail valley, the region OF diver
sifed farming, where, though a. ye
many Of the states show a relatvsl!
low percentage Of tsnantry, the In
crease Is continuous, and appears u
he based on causes upon which n
legislation or other factors have a
yet had any influence.
This steady, even though no
rapid, increase in tensntry In tn
East and North Central division:
particularly IN those parts of tn
territory where land values are high
est, indicates the approach Of prob
lens most serious for those who VII
in future actually live on the farm;
This increase is occurring in = sec
ton Of the country already fairl
we'll established in its Sgriculturs
methods, and represents the comm
cf a permanent tenSntry and AT
sentee landlordiSm in the richest an
most productive agricultural sectio
Of the Union. It foreshadows tn
coming OF social and economic prob
lens in which every statesma
should take deep and abiding in
terost If America is to be kept IRE
from some Of the serious problem
which have presented themselves I
other countries both in the presen
and in the past.
10 has been contended by some op
+iroietic writer's on the problem tina