The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1919-11-01
FULL CENSUS ANSWERS
HELP FARM PROFIT


e.
there any mortgage debt or other
encumbrance on the land so owned
on January |. 1907" what was tbe
total amount OF debt or encumbrance
on land on this farm owned by you.
January l. f92O?"
fcrtincut--Not lmpcrtincnt.
what the Sam fiill." you may In
cure, has the Government got 10
DO with how much money owe on
my iandg Well. two of the things
TO which the Department OF Agri.
culture has been giving deepest
thought during he past several wears
are farm tenancy and rural credits
The past three .censuses have shown
an increase IN the number of tenants
Alarmists have felt-and said that
tue country is going 20 the bow-wows
ny the landlord route. The Depart
ment OF Agriculture. however. looked
into the matter as well as IL was able,
and refused TO be alarmed. Whore
II was able 10 make surveys Il dis
covered that while the number OF
tenants e5 years old was greater In
1910 than In 1900 or 1890. the num-
ber OF tenants ~ years old was con-
siderably smaller in 1910 than In
1900 or 1890.
The Inference IL that tenancy Ia q
step toward ownership. that the
young fellow who becomes a tenant
farmer when he marries. say. IL
likely TO be "A farm owner before hts
first child IL grown-the farm paid
for aud the money that used TO 10 To
pay OFT the mortgage available for
sending the children to college.
Now. to the Department OF Agrl-
culture. that looks like a thoroughly
normal. healthy. and beneficial pro-
cess. To Just the extent that ten
ancy leads TO farm ownership. Il II
a good thing for the country aud for
the individual
Full answers Essential
But Il has not been possible TO get
n complete. natlon-wids survey OF the
situation. The forthcoming census
offers the opportunity for doing teet /
II every farmer will answer the
questions fully and /
fairly the Department OF Agriculture
VIII have the data from which TO
enalyze the situation accurately aud ,
10 determine what things can be done i
10 best advantage 10 help the tenant
In his aspiration TO become farm
owner.
One OF the directions that aid may
take IL encouragement or rural
all OF the ways pos
sible OF helping the young farmer
TO get the money that he may need TO
borrow. II Ii necessary. therefore.
To know what proportion OF farmers !
who advance from tenants 10 owners /
have TO borrow money to make the
change, and how much. In proper
tion To total value OF the farms |
bought they have to borrow.
The road toward ownership does
not necessarily start with tenancy. !,
A great many farm owners were first
farm hands. then tenants. then own |
debt free. The census will show, IL
the questions are answered fairly.
how many years. II any. every farmer I
worked for wager; how many years
be Was tenant: and how many
years he has been an owner. The
Department OF Agriculture will have
the basic tuformstion Il needs To
help men to success In fern owner
ship.
Other Impost~nt Queries
Here are some other Questtons
that will be. asked: HAS this farm
! teiephone?' rs water piped into 4
he operators house," Has the oper-
ator's house gas or electric iightr"
Now. that looks like an eifort TO
find out whether or rot the farm
family has the modern home COM
II IL just that, but II
means something more than mere
Several months ago.
when the Bureau of Farm Manage
ment was In process OF reorganiza-
tion, tho Secretary Of Agriculture
called conference OF heads OF
schools, social workers. and others
from all over the country. When
the people were assembled In Wash
ington. he asked their opinion as to
the most useful thing that could be
done by the Office OF Farm Manage
ment. For q whole day those people
discussed the matter Just before
night, with a score OF items on the
ballot, they took a vote. The work
of promoting the comfort and con-
..-...t<....o - 4ha Form hama raceiveQ