7. Conclusion 



A perusal of the preceding chapter must induce the con- 

 clusion that several fundamental things are necessary if Rural 

 America would attain the heights that lie within her reach, 

 and these may be expressed in four simple statements: (i) 

 Most of the five million renters and hired laborers of the 

 country must become home owners. (2) Farming must be 

 put on a profitable basis. (3) Rural America must offer 

 careers to ambitious youth. (4) An element of romance must 

 be injected into Country Life. 



(i) Rural Home Owners. Some day a plan will be adopted 

 that will solve the home-owner problem. It will take time, 

 however, to work out a satisfactory plan, and the next 

 quarter of a century is likely to be one of experimentation. 

 If no more is done within the next few years than simply to 

 put a stop to the increase of tenants, much will have been 

 accomplished. A satisfactory plan will contain at least four 

 factors: the purchaser must pay no more than the land is 

 worth; he must be given the privilege of buying with a small 

 immediate payment; the rate of interest on deferred payments 

 must be low, and the time of the obligation must be suffi- 

 ciently long. Every year Rural America is the scene of thou- 

 sands of tragedies resulting from the purchase of land at 

 speculative prices from soulless speculators. These tragedies 

 have ruined many homes, especially in the newly developed 

 sections. Many men pay entirely too much for their land, 

 they learn too late that the promises of the promoter are 

 often of the mirage variety, notes fall due with no money to 

 pay them, high interest rates confront them, and finally either 

 foreclosure or forfeiture stares them in the face. This evil 

 has become so serious in recent years that a number of states 

 are passing laws looking to its elimination, and a number of 

 associations of a philanthropic character have been formed 



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