INCREASE OF AMERICAN LAND VALUES 49 ^ 



THE INCEEASE OF AMERICAN LAND VALUES 



By Dr. SCOTT NEARING 



nNIVBKSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



SO miicli has been said and written regarding the theoretical impor- 

 tance attaching to the rise of land values that the student of 

 economics looks eagerly for some collection of facts which shall in a 

 measure substantiate the numerous theories advanced. To his con- 

 sternation he discovers, after a careful examination of economic litera- 

 ture, that little of importance has appeared on the subject. The fun- 

 damental significance of land value increases is conceded in every land, 

 yet, with the exception of farm land values, there has apparently been 

 no systematic attempt to discover the extent of the land value increases. 

 Although an examination of the available facts has convinced the writer 

 that the time is not yet ripe for an authoritative statement, the data at 

 hand do indicate rather clearly the trend in land valuation. 



Land values, in so far as they relate to the present discussion, may 

 be conveniently grouped as follows : 



1. The value of lands containing minerals and fuels. 



2. The value of vrater rights. 



3. Timber land values. 



4. Farm values. 



5. Urban land values. 



Mineral land values and the value of water rights may be dismissed 

 with a word. Repeated inquiries directed to state officials, to the 

 federal authorities, to trade journals and to prominent engineers, failed 

 to elicit any response worthy of consideration. Indeed, one of the 

 most prominent mining engineers in the country goes so far as to write : 



I have no reliable information to give you as to the extent to which mineral 

 land values have increased during recent years. Mineral lands become valuable 

 only with favorable developments, and do not rise in value in conformity with 

 laws determining values of other kinds of property. 



The editor of The Engineering and Mining Journal (Mr. Walter 

 E. Ingalls) writes (January 9, 1913) : 



We have not compiled any data regarding the increase in the value of 

 mineral lands, and do not, in fact, see how any such data that would be worth 

 anything could be compiled. 



The State Mining Board of Illinois, in a somewhat more optimistic 

 mood regarding the statistical possibilities, writes (December 19, 1912) : 



