Evening star., 1932-09-18
Foreigners Chief Home Owners
nv FREDERIC J. HASKM.

newcomers are likely to live in "a
ho,,seholds of their kin. An exrsp.@se .@e
nerhaps, should be made OF the drsa
Garbos and Marlene Dietrichs, who
Establish their luxurious villas and
nenthouses and reside In solitary stats
T1hey. indeed. are enumerated as fami.
lies in themselves, inasrnuch as the3
constitute heads OF housenoids.
II Is shown that the members OF the
Negro race, although resident in this
co,,ntry for SO much longer than the
ma iority Of the foreign born, have been
sjox TO acquire their own homes. Only
66e GAS Negro families. or but 23.9 pc!
csnt of the total number of such fam
iiies In the United States. are oos-
sessed of their own dwelling places A
total Of 2.050,2l7 Negro families are
renters.
The figures for total white popua-
tion. including both the native Ameri-
cans and those Of foreign original and
mixed parentage show that only 495
per cent own their own homes. 1nas-
much as more than half OF the foreien-
strain Americans do own tnelr nom9,
the figure for the natives comes down
considerably.
Tenure Of Farms.
The rural population, taken by itself,
tells q different story. The figures for
the whole country show that there are
g. 4ss ,6s8 farm families IN the United
States, or SIS per cent OF all farm
families who own their own homes
This leaves 2,s6s,26S families on rented
farms.
The question of tenure Of farms is
regarded as one Of great sociological
importance In America. great many
publicists have expressed the fear that
America may become a Nation whose
broad farm acres are in the hands of
a tenant class and that absentee land
lordism may become as serious a prob
lem in America as ii was at one time
in Ireland and in some countries on
the Continent Of Europe. The yeo-
manry of q land has traditionaNv been
regarded as its mainstay. and If this
rural population is tenant pOpula-
ton the heart OF the Nation is de-
clared by some to be weak.
The Census Bureau figures show a
steady decline in ownership Of farms
and an increase in tenantry. In 1910
there were 3,83s,331, or 627 per cent
of all farm families, in possession Of
their farmsteads, while only 2,27I 23l.
or 37.1 per cent. of the families rented
In 1920 the number OF owning farmers
had fallen to s,s25.677, or 567 per
cent. while the tensntry had increased
to 2,755, ,4S7. or 408 Der cent. The 1880
census. with its figures of 525 owned
and AS per cent rented, shows how
rapid the change has been. Al this
rate OF change another census decade
will see the tenure about evenly bal
anced and still another will see
tenantry In the majority.
Such a trend may be altered by
changes in economic conditions. Amer
leans may move back 70 the farm. All
experience points to different conc!u-
sions, however. 1t does seem likely
that the rural districts Of much Of the
country will fall into the hands Of the
foreign born or those of mixed par
entage. European peasants, eager for
land ownership, are becoming the new
owners of the American farms. intro
ducing intensive methods of cultivs-
ton and Lying at q lower scale than
native Americans have been sccus-
toned to-
Even now, in many sections Of the
country, the country boy of the Lin
coin type and the type OF Whittiers
Barefoot Boy" are rare One sees,
instead. surdy but outlandish peasant.