FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VI. 505 



LONG TIME LOANS. 



The loans according to this system are made for a long term if de- 

 sired. As the average loan is not paid at the end of the five year term 

 at which our farm loans are now paid, the renewal charges must be added 

 to the interest rate to determine the cost interest. The assurance that 

 the interest rate will not be raised during the time the borrower needs 

 the money is an additional advantage. The payment by the borrower of 

 at least a small percentage of the principal annually adds to the security 

 of the loan. 



Our farmers have had for some time an easy game. They have had 

 land at little cost and stored with fertility since Adam's time, while their 

 competitors in Europe were farming high priced land, with the constant 

 burden of maintaining its fertility. But the game is evening up. Tt 

 takes a lot of capital now to buy a farm. It takes a whole lot more to 

 stock it and equip it. It takes a great deal longer time to pay for it 

 than it did. It is about time to quit robbing it, too. It will be necessary 

 to put dollars back into it every year in manures and fertilizers. We 

 can't continue to get big revenues by putting corn into it every year. 

 We have got to keep more of it in grass. Labor costs more than it did. 

 No; we haven't such a big advantage now over our European competitor, 

 and it isn't going to get any better. Perhaps we hadn't better underrate 

 him any more. He is raising a great deal more wheat, oats and hay to 

 the acre than we are. At any rate it will do no harm to look over the 

 fence, or across the pond rather, and see if the Dutchman or the French- 

 man has any edge over us in his methods. Then again, if there is a 

 better way, we ought to adopt it anyway. We don't need to be farmers 

 to be interested in their prosperity. Almost every dollar that comes into 

 Iowa is the product of an Iowa farm and it is some of those same dollars 

 that build our cities and turn the wheels of our industries. 



GOVERXMENT SUPERVISIOX. 



Some men will say that we don't want to find easier ways for the 

 farmer to get into debt; that the farmer should get out of debt and stay 

 out; that debt is a bad thing. Did you ever think that there are a whole 

 lot of pretty good fellows that didn't inherit a farm, and the only way 

 they will ever get farms is to go in debt for them? Those are the fellows 

 that I am interested in. I want to make it easier for them to buy farms 

 and make homes for themselves and their families. 



Is there any good reason why a long term land mortgage system can- 

 not be adopted in Iowa? What better security can anyone want than a 

 bond secured by Iowa farms at one-half their value with the principal 

 reduced annually by the payment of at least a small percentage. The 

 strictest laws and government supervision is just as necessai'y here as 

 it is in Europe. No government subsidy is necessary or desirable. It 

 might be a good idea to have the mortgages deposited with the state 

 auditor, the same as life insurance company securities are now deposited. 

 The auditor should certify on each bond that mortgages to cover the bond 

 are held by him. I see no reason why Iowa landowners should not be 

 allowed to syndicate their borrowings under state laws. I think the 



