Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-11-02
HOLDING LANDS
FOR NEW ADVANCE
OWNER OF MANY ACRES PRE-
Diets IOWA ACRES WILL
AGAIN GO UPWARD.
HE'S GOING TO HOLD
ON FOR ALL TIME
Thinks History Of Times Following
Civil War Will Be, Repeated Fol-
lowing World War-Many Farmers
Rich Because They Could Not Sell
Wilson'S Observations.
fBy G f. Wilson.1

Std1 enter, NOV. "a UttiS
loneer than fifty years ago, in the
fall of 1858 to be exact two men
engaged in the grain business. For
"a time they bought at prevailing
arlket prices and sold their stuff in
yearly every instance at loss. BY
the following spring they had had
enough ara wore. The elevator was
closed. the partnership dissolved and
enc OF the men With the means he
had eft bought a tract Of cheap
Wild land in q central Iowa county
and settled down to farming, For
years he worked his farm. improving
it to about the same extent as did
his neigh hors and like them making n
decent living and only that. This
man had son who also started in
at farming In those early eighties
when tho average farmer handled
about as much money in whole
reason as; he lately has been doing in
n month hut this man lacking the
tenacity of his persevering father
gave un the farming business at the
end of the third season, moved to
county seat town and began practic
ing law He was shrewd enough
however, or fortunate enough, as The
case was. to hang to his $40 acres OF
land and he has it yet. Thirty years
approximately after the close Of the
Trcat civil war those two fine Iowa
t"rn9s .hesan to advance rapidly in
value. bat during that almost a third
of century farming and lnnd own
IN" were not regarded as Set-rich-
quick occupations. alIhO those who
held on and lived long enough to see
t}le turn became finally the subjects
'Of envy on the part Of those of US
in other walks of life.
Now this attorney is a believer in
The general theory Of history repeat
ing itself IN matters like these. Farm
produce fell in price about three.
wears after the civil war. 1t has fall
len again after the sreat world war.
Non can not turn now to the pnr-
chase of cheap land as did this dis
couragcd grain dealer of century
paet yet forty years hence 1920 land
prices MAY look cheap to those of
the later date Mr.. LAWYER is on
because his land is paid for. He
doesn't want to consider himself or
he corsiGeteu a pessimist, but ad-
herence to his theory. of repetition
eompels him to believe that the
present generation of mon who have
bought farms expecting to pay for
them LARGELY from the ordinary gains
OF farminc has mans size job on its
hands, not at all something impos-
slble OF performance. for good farm
ine, always has and always must pay
when a series of years Is considered.
and very possibly those Who are Just
now wondering how they will ever
come out on the seemingly high
ariced farms they have started to
NIaV out on may IN that later date
took back on the venture as for
tunate one. AS do the old men of to-
day who bought their lands for $50
an acre and held them until they were
worth ten times as much simply he
cause they couldn't sell out and leave
in the Intervening periods of depres-
sion.
An instance calculated to cause
one man concern over the situation
is that Of n farmer in Story county
who it is said has rented quarter sec
ton for the coming season at n cash
rental of $50, per acre and who al
ready has made an advance payment
OF $500. OF course grain prices may
so up asain and they may not. 1t is
said that this man is undecided as
70 whether he Will so ahead and take
his chance or forfeit the $1,000 he
ha>s made in the past good years.
an auctioneer told the other day
Of several cases in which farmers
might have held public sales last
snr:ng hefore they planted Il seed in
the ground and received more money.
from those than they now could do
by throwing in whole summers
work with all it's attendant expense
II voters especially men. voted to-
day nc they declared their intention
Of doiFoS, the gr~ate5t scratching"
stunt in recent election history has
-lu*t been pulled off. Republicans have
been telline how they proposed to
vote the national ticket straight, the
state and district portion generally
regular but there the resula rity stops.
the rest Of the way down political
affiliation cuts but little figure and
the democrat talked the same way
Hearing all this the listener is pre-
pared for almost anything in the way
OF county election returns
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