Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-03-22
RESERVE GOVERNOR
WOULD CUT TAXES
ON FARM MORTGAGES

>EATONTON, Ga, March 19.-An
amendment to the constitution OF
Georgia whereby a mortgage given
for the purchase of u small tract of
Ian don which the purchaser desired
to live, should be exempt from tax
alton, was suggested here today by
Joseph A McCord, chairman of the
board Of the Federal Reserve bank
Of Atlanta, in an address before a
gathering of Putnam county citizens
at the courthouse.
IF I had it in my power" said
Mr.. McCord. II would amend the
constitution of the state Of Georgia
so that If landlord or land owner
should sell so acres or less of land
at a reasonable price, to a prospec-
tive farmer, white or black, that the
debt created by the purchase of this
80 acres or less, where it did not
cost the man who purchased the
land NOR ethan six per cent per an.
mum interest, including all of the
expenses, that said mortgage should
be free from taxation, and that the
purchasing land owner should pay
only on the equity of the land
Mr.. McCord said he would conf1ne
the exemption to not over so acres;
and he also stated that the amend
ment should provide that if the
prospective landlord should reforest
20 acres out of the so acres, under
the supervision of a forestry com.
mission created by the legislature,
that the entire S0-acre tract would
be exempt from taxation for a peri
cd of 20 years. The machinery for
keeping records concerning the
small farms would be set up by the
county grand juries. he stated.
Double Taxation Now
He said his proposed amendment
to the constitution was actuated by
the fact that in Georgia today
there is double taxation OF lands
and land mortgages; and that on &C.
count of this fact, no one will make
loans at low rates of interest be.
cause the mortgages are subject to
taxation as we'll as the land. He
said the enactment of an amend
ment similar to the one he suggest,
ed would result in the entire state
being dottde with small farms.
Mr.. McCord's address was a re.
view of agricultural conditions since
1919, in which he discussed the ad.
vent of the boil weevil and other
factors which have vitality affected
the farming interests during the last
half decade.
He declared that economy must
be the first watchword" for the
next four or five years; and that
by the kind Of economy which OBJ.
tanned Immediately after the War
Between the States, that tenants
and landlords alike could come out
of their present difficulties.
He said that it was the duty of
every citizen of Putnam county,
whether landlord or tenant, to
strive during the coming year to
make, on the land that he cultivates,
sufficient amount of food to sup
ply the occupants of the land as
well as the live stock needed for it's
cultivation.
Bankers Will Help
Mr.. McCord declared that the
bankers would care for the farmers
who really "meant business" but he
said the question of markets and
good prices concerns the farmer a
great deal more than credits.
"a land without ruins is q land
without memories" he said in con.
clusion, land a land without memo.
ries is a land without liberty. You
have had the ruins and have had
the memories, and by strict eceno.
my and attention to building up of
the home, you will come into the
land of 1ihertvn