1916] EDITORIAL. 103 



culture began to be more and more realized. By this time free land 

 had largely disappeared, and land values began to be more definite 

 and stable. Farmers came to appreciate the value of well-planned 

 irrigation or drainage programs, systems of clearing and improv- 

 ing land, more definite systems of road construction, proper building 

 programs, and better and more equipment on farms. The lack of 

 funds in many sections with which to carry out these and other 

 projects of obvious advantage emphasized and strengthened the de- 

 mand for more adequate credit facilities. 



According to the Census of 1910, 33.6 per cent of farms operated 

 by their owners in the United States were mortgaged. The mort- 

 gages averaged $1,715 each, or 27.3 per cent of the value of the land 

 and buildings of the farms mortgaged. The total amount of the 

 mortgages on farms operated by their owners was slightly over 

 10 per cent of the value of the land and buildings of all farms of 

 this class. On this basis the aggregate farm mortgage indebtedness 

 of the country has been estimated to be about $3,600,000,000. An 

 inquiry instituted by the United States Department of Agriculture 

 in 1913 indicated that of this amount about one-fifth was supplied 

 by banks, about one-fifth by life insurance companies, and the re- 

 mainder by mortgage companies and private individuals. A large 

 part of this sum was loaned for relatively short periods, usually 

 from three to five years. Much variation in interest rates and com- 

 missions was found in the different sections of the country. The 

 Department reported a range in the percentage of the farm mort- 

 gage business on which commissions were paid from 1.3 per cent 

 of the total in Connecticut to 91.6 per cent in Oklahoma, and an 

 average rate for interest and commission ranging from 5.3 per cent 

 in New Hampshire to 10.5 per cent in New Mexico. In many in- 

 dividual cases the rates for interest and commission were far in 

 excess of these figures. 



In 1910, the American Bankers' Association appointed a com- 

 mittee to study the general subject of farm finance in this country. 

 The report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1912 contained the 

 results of a questionnaire sent out to country bankers, farmers, and 

 merchants as to the prevailing local conditions, while in the same 

 year the collection of data as to European methods was undertaken 

 by the State Department and some of its findings submitted by 

 President Taft to the House of Governors. 



In April, 1912, a conference on cooperative credit was held at 

 Nashville, Tennessee, under the auspices of the Southern Commercial 

 Congress. This congress undertook to assemble a commission of rep- 

 resentatives from each State to study cooperative systems in Europe. 

 The commission was known as the American Commission, and con- 

 sisted of sixty-seven members from twenty-nine States, the District 



