Evening star., 1936-07-13

were too dear to buy. Iowa seemed
to think that condition was something
to be pleased about, and duly voted
the Republican ticket. On another
occasion, a year or two before the
Harding Cox campaign of 1920, Iowa
farm land was quoted at two, three
and even four hundred dollars an
acre. Iowa liked that, and again went
Republican. About that time, one of
the most prominent citizens Of Iowa
told me that Iowa land must not be
regarded as farm land, nor priced as
farm land. It was something unique.
It was like land containing valuable
mineral, and there was no saying low
high a proper price might be-maybe
q thousand dollars an acre, maybe two
thousand. Iowa land, he said was
limited area, unique on the surface of
the earth, better adapted to raising
corn than any other land anywhere.
It gave its owners, in effect, monop-
oily of growing maximum yield Of
corn on a given acreage. Such land.
he assured me, was like. the South AZ
rican gold fields. No conceivable price
could be too high for it.
So They Take the $4,000.
A frequent experience on Iowa
farms has been for the owner to see
the ruling price 60 to say $500 an
acre. For a 160-acre farm, that was
$4,000. It was q fortune. The
farmer sold, or rented on the basis of
that price. With his rental lease in
his pocket. or with a mortgage taken
on the farm, or with something else
he thought was an investment, he
went to Southern California, think
ing himself securely fixed for the rest
Of his days and able to live the life
of Riley. recall the late Senator
Lafayette Young telling me that
Southern California was known as
"Iowa-by-the-Sea."
Now that Iowa farm was trying to
support two families, the retired farm
capitalist in California and the man,
renter or mortgaged owner, who oc-
cupied the land. 1t couldn't be done.
The retired farmer saw his interest
check fail to arrive, saw his compe-
tence wiped out.
Too old to return to farming, and
knowing no other occupation, he is
the most distressing of CALIFORNIA;
relief problems. He forms the core
of those who pass under the spell
of the Townsend plan of $500 q month
for the aged.
Meanwhile, In Iowa, the occupant
Of the farm, renter or owner under
mortgage, struggled pitiably under an
impossible burden. To pay the rent
or meet interest on a fantastic mort
gage was more than the land could do.
He has neither comfort nor pride. He
planted two evergreen trees on the
unpainted and the farm run down.
Seeks Steady Income.
The Pennsylvania farmer has the
better way. He Is farmer. not a
land speculator, or land investor. He
does not count on making fortune,
but only a secure living. He stays on
his land, improves 1t steadily, and
passes 1t on to his children. The
Pennsylvania farms, seen from the
train window between Philadelphia
and Harrisburg. are well-kept and
well-fenced. The houses and barns
are kept painted. the lawns gay with
flowers. The Iowa farms seen from
a train window of the Rock Island
Railroad between the Mississippi
River and Iowa City are by no means
so well-kept. Yet the Iowa land,
as land, is richer.
One other observation Of a traveller
in the Daily Iowan, streamer head
line says, Heat Damage at $500, ,0oo.-
000." On the same day dispatches
from Wall Street say, stock prices
advance hundreds Of millions" Just
what does 1t mean when real national
wealth in the form Of crops de-
creases, while national wealth in the
form Of price quotations seems to
increase?
tCopyright. 1857