36 THE "BACK TO THE LAND" MOVEMENT 



Concerning the Danish " peasant proprietors," whose thrift is 

 much heralded in America, Pratt has this to say: 



" Nominally, the peasant proprietors who constitute so important a section 

 of the Danish people are freeholders; practically they are saddled with a 

 mortgage debt estimated at about $300,000,000, and representing 55 per cent 

 of the value of their farms, with buildings, stock, and improvements. The 

 debt is largely, though not entirely, due to certain credit associations which 

 were formed in Germany in the 'fifties to enable the Danish agriculturists to 

 purchase their farms or holdings, mortgages up to 50 or 60 per cent of the 

 purchase price being granted, with repayment extending over periods of from 

 50 to 100 years . . . Interest and repayment of principal still constitute a 

 heavy burden, and many a Danish farmer is, with all his family, working for 

 long hours, and looking to England for the profits he makes on his produce, 

 not so much for his own gain as to satisfy the demands of his German creditors." 



Effect of Cooperation. With the coming in of successful cooper- 

 ation in Denmark perhaps the world's best example of cooper- 

 ation and with the anxiety of the farmers to buy the land there 

 came a substantial increase in the price of the land. Thus it 

 comes about, says Pratt, that "the Danish small holder who 

 becomes a peasant proprietor starts by having to pay an altogether 

 artificial price for the land he purchases; he sinks in the ownership 

 of that land present capital which would otherwise be available 

 for the purchase of stock and for other expenses; and he incurs, 

 in place of rent, a rigid mortgage debt unduly swollen by the exces- 

 sive price he has agreed to pay for his farm." 



An Objection to Small Holdings. And as a final objection to 

 the very small holding, Pratt has this to say: 



" And then there is that last problem of all for the solution of the small 

 owner! What is to become of his few acres when he dies? If he leaves them 

 to his widow and she sells, she will do so at a disadvantage. If he divides 

 his holding equally among his children, and these in turn, divide their share 

 among their children, it will not be long before a state of things is reached 

 analogous to that found in certain parts of Italy, where twenty-five per cent 

 of the peasants have properties of less than one-fourth acre each." 



Passing now to the German farmer, we have a vivid picture 

 of his customs, as given in a report by F. T. H. von Engelken 

 of Florida: 4 



"German Customs. It can well be believed that to an American farmer 

 a walk through the country in Germany is full of interest. At first glance 

 many of the customs and conditions are incomprehensible, and, to our large 

 ideas, appear almost absurd. It is only in discussing with the German farmer 

 his conditions and giving him an idea of those existing in our country that the 



4 63 Cong. 1 Sess. Sen. Doc. 201. The German Farmer and Cooperation. 

 F. J. H. von Engelken, Washington, 1913. 



