The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-05-15
WORKER LEARNED
CLASS STRUGGLE
FROM FARM SALE
Agency Took $1,000 He
Lost
49, q Worker Corresponasntl

(By q Worker Correspondent
In 1925. when l was still the victim
of every capitalist illusion that came
nv way, | conceived the idea Of be-
coming "free," by purchasing small
farm and settling down. | confess !
had cherished this dream for some
years and there seemed no way so
easy as to buy me the little farm OF
nv hearts desire from the firm
which boasts of being the largest real
estate agency in America as well as
the most honest-the +. a. Strout
Farm Agency, with headquarters in
New York and headquarters in scores
of smaller places. 1t advertlses IN ut
orally hundreds of newspapers and
magazines. and there are thousands of
persons who read its alluring terra
ture year after year, wishing and
hoping to get a Strout farm, sooner
or later.
l went to it's sub-agency at Char
lotte, Michigan, where ! was shown
number of their farms, all of which
were priced out of all proportion to
their value. When | was about to
leave, another man came in and the
smooth-tongued agent soon persuaded
him to sell his farm to me through
them. looked it over with them. 1t
was a. 40 acre tract with fair buildings
and somewhat low land. The price
was set at $1,000, which seemed very
high to me, although I am accustomed
to high-priced land. Still it was the
best that 1 had so far seen. l liked
the country. At that time had abso-
lutely no knowledge of modern sales
psychology or the expert methods OF
the Strout people in putting things
over on their customers. But l soor
learned at very heavy cost, and it
was practically complete education
in itself! l bought the place, paying
$500 down, the balance on contract
at 5000 a year with interest at 7fo.
1t was ali an "honest, strictly-business
deal"
After had settled down, found no
person who knew the place who be-
lieved that it was worth even $1,000
The interest rate, same as in the west
from where I had come, was much too
high in Michigan. discovered that
out of my $500, the agency kept $3.50
paying the owner only $3.50. saw
! that had been terribly "stung." To
top my troubles, the owner was very
bad and exacting, the year was not a
good one for the crops, and my health
became bad because of the eXertion
and hard work. Finally went back
to the agency, asking them to list my
farm again for sale. They agreed
setting the price now at $4,000, with
ten per cent commission for them
selves, when no other agency selling
land in that region charges five per-
cent. Of course they didn't sell the
place for me. / saw that l was going
to be the loser no matter what hap
pened, so in the fall, | forfeited my
contract and made no payments, but
sold out my equipment and moved off
the place, went to Chicago and got a
job in an industrial plant. I lost in
all about $1,000, but l gained through
my bitter experiences knowledge of
the class struggle, and the nature of
capitalism in its entirety, that 1 will
never forget; and ] will never. cease
working for that time in America
when its young men can obtain the
use Of land without virtually paying
their life-blood to get it--when the
farmers and workers will rule and run
America instead of blood-sucking
parasites. LAND SEEKER.
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