CHAPTER XXIII 



PROFESSOR LIEBIG said, " Agriculture is, of all in- 

 dustrial pursuits, the richest in facts and the poorest 

 in their comprehension." This is true to-day, and be- 

 cause of these misapprehensions on the part of law- 

 givers and the public, the last two decades, instead 

 of being years of universal prosperity to the whole 

 American people, have been years in which farm mort- 

 gage indebtedness and millionaires have multiplied; 

 and especially in agricultural districts, the tendency 

 towards " industrious poverty " the most sickening 

 spectacle in economic life has increased. Hence, it 

 may not be out of place to mention some of these mis- 

 apprehensions. 



One: That a land boom or radical increase in the 

 selling price of land is attributable to the increased 

 profits in farm operations. On the contrary, the land 

 boom was entirely attributable to other causes, the 

 three chief est among them being: First: The in- 

 creased output of gold reducing the purchasing 

 value of the dollar making apparent profits where 

 none existed. Second : The reflect effect of " Fren- 

 zied Finance " which drove thousands of investors 

 from railway and industrial securities into the farm 

 mortgage market resulting in such a plethora of 

 money that it was persistently urged upon farmers at 

 lower rates of interest, and upon more favorable terms 



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