Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1919-10-31
JUNGLE SAM:BL0CkS
IOWA LAND BOOM

L f
Washington, d. c.. Oct. %. The
government through the Department
of Agriculture has just been put ar
effective stop to the land boom that
has been carried on throughout the
middle west for several months
This boom, which was basing the
price of farm lands on fictitious ant
Initiated values, was particularly
trouble in, the State of Iowa
where land went as high as $400 ar
acre. In one ease in particular q
tract of land valued at only $25 az
acre twenty-five years ago, and Ger.
tainly, not worth more than $75 an
lacre at this time was held and actual,
ly sold at $685. an acre. e,,ff
" The theory of the government
which Investigated the land situation
in that section shortly after the boom
got under way, was that the specul.
Eation that was driving the LAND
values up would tend to increase the
cost of farm produced food over that
entire area of the central vast. The
stand taken by the bureau Of farm
management Of Agriculture Depart
ment, the bureau that uncovered the
fictitious character. of the boom, was
that if farm values went up to an in
fiated price the cost of foods and
other products from the are affected
would correspondingly have to soar
so as to insure the farmers or invest
|ors fair PERCENTAGE. of return on the
money invested in his lands.
investigating agents were at once
dispatched to the area affected and a
search was made for the causes be-
hind the abnormal boom. II was
found that the section particularly
around the state Of Iowa was suffer-
ing from land speculation fever
that was infectious and was rapidly
spreading to neighbor states. Real
ty operators were encouraging sales
and investors were buying with the
hopes of unloading" their new onr.
chases almost immediately at an ex-
orbitant profit. In one county the
boom went like wild-fire, ending in
the sale and resale of 48 farms with
in the county in a comparatively
short period. These sales were
made in all but one case on paper
alone, with the exception Of moderate
option fees paid on most of the pro.
perties to hold them for the specula-
tor. ...S is t,s ~ In
Several reasons have been advanc-,
ed for the speculation fever that
has existed, but as yet no definite
reasons have been assigned. It has
been reported that consideration talk
ing was done about the, existence
somewhere in the area affected of oil
and mineral deposits, but this proved
to be gossip that could be placed on
anyone's shoulders. ~ mn. 'sra
North Dakota also felt some eff
fects, of the !, boom, but it was, a
more normal valuation in this state
Many of the Iowa farmers who had
sold out their interests at home went
into North Dakota and neighboring
states and offered very pleasing
figures for farms. In one known
case a farm in North Dakota, held at
what was considered the high market
value of $4,000, was sought by one
of the Iowa farmers and an initial Of
fer of $4,000 for the place was made
almost on sight. Through such
transactions, slightly more solid in
character than the boom, q number
of farms in the central west have
been sold at a comfortable return IN
the past few months.
AS soon as it was discovered that
the boom was wholly fictitious the
federal agencies and others having
the best interest of the community
at heart began to publish the facts of
the case. For "a while there was a
cry from the realty sharks, but died
down as the farming interests of the