372 



Extract from an address delivered at Northampton 

 before the Hampshhe, Franklin and Hampden Agricul- 

 tural Society, Oct.;27, 1330,by Hon. Samuel C. Allen. 



MORTGAGES. 



There is another subject connected with the gen- 

 eral doctrine and purposes of ray discourse, which 

 I am hound to bring to your consideration. I re- 

 fer to the extent in which real estates among us 

 are passing under mortgages. And what adds to 

 the cause of alarm i.s, that most of them are made 

 to corporations which never die, and are subject 

 to tlie control of a ■ few men, and nobody knows 

 ivho they will be. There is already vested in that 

 way an amount of capital, which is bringing the 

 yeomanry of the country into a state of dependence 

 and peril. — If the evil was confined to the owners 

 of the mortgaged estates, great as it would then 

 be it would pass off, without deeply affecting the 

 springs of the general prosperity. But it subjects 

 the whole landed interest to the dominion of a mo- 

 neyed capital, and exposes it to all the sudden pres- 

 sures arising from fluctuations in the currency, — 

 not exactly a solid one in this country, — and from 

 great speculations in trade. It reduces the price 

 of real estate generally, and diminishes the resour- 

 ces of those who farm it, and of the towns wherein 

 it lies and detracts from their ability to meet the 

 burdens imp^jsed upon them. It takes from the 

 farmer the clear income which springs from the 

 land, and deprives him of his natural reward for 

 th^ skill he has acquired in his business. 



Every state has its chief interest in its soil. It 

 is this which constitutes it, a state. Capital may 

 be here today, and elsewhere tomorrow. It be- 

 longs to no country. It is an instrument of gratifi- 

 cation, or gain, and can be employed with equal fa- 

 cility in one place as another. And there is no moral 

 tie that binds it. It is a power which has sprung 

 up and increased in the progress of society, and is 

 swallowing up all the land in the country, and 

 bringing in a new sort of aristocracy, of a more 

 uncompromising character than the feudal, or any 



landed aristocracy, ever can be Does not this 



state of things call for some; protection for real 

 estate .' What I suggest is no new thing. Our an- 

 cestors brought this policy with them. Our own 

 legislation, from the firstsettlement of the country 

 had maintained it till the statute authorising the 

 sale of equities of redemption was introduced into 

 our law. This fatal act has, in effect, chang-ed our 

 policy on this head ; and by the increase of mort- 

 gages is exposing the whole real estate to be knock- 

 ed off imder the hammer of the auctioneer. It 

 has caused the ruin of many farmers whose real 

 estates have been sacrificed by such sales. Why 

 not restore at least the old law, and bring back 

 apprisal ? 



TAXES. 



In regard to taxes, it is not right that the mort- 

 gager should pay the whole tax upon the estate. 

 It is making him pay for property which he does 

 not own, and is palpably unjust. The estate must 

 be taxed in the town where it lies ; let the mort- 

 gagee be taxed for the amount of his lien upon it, 

 and the mortgagor for the residue. There would 

 be strict justice in this, as regards both the town 

 and the mortgager, and there is not the least diffi- 

 culty in carrying it into effect by legislation. 



INTERKST. 



There miglit'be also a reduction of the rate of 

 interest on debts secured by mortgage. Why is in 

 terest paid for money at all ? It is on accotint of 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEll^ 



he benefit, of the use to the borrower, and for the 

 risk on the part of the lender. In the manner in 

 which debts are now secured by mortgage there 

 is scarcely the shadow of risk, and why should a 

 debtor, who gives such security, pay for a risk 

 when there is none ? The United States can bor- 

 row at four per cent, and why should mortgagors 

 give more ? It is as much as the income of re^l 

 estatevvill admit. And is there not just ground for 

 a difference between the rate of interest on debts 

 secured by mortgage and debts resting on personal 

 security only ? Such a jirovision would afford 

 great relief to the farmer, and in its effect would 

 also benefit the manufacturer and the trader. 

 These are subjects of great interest, and they are 

 forced upon our consideration by the circumstan- 

 ces of the times. 



CREDIT. 



I had intended to say something on the subject 

 of credit. The facility with which this is obtained 

 proves the ruin of one half of mankind. It is a 

 snare and a trap to the young. To the young 

 man, his strength is property and a resource for 

 future years, and he should never contract a lien 

 upon it to any one. There was a practice among 

 the ancient nations, of mortgaging the jierson's 

 body as security for the loan. Credit in its mild- 

 est form is little better than (/iiV. It is in fact, to 

 him whose only resource is his labor, a mortgage 

 upon his physical strength and his liberty. There 

 is a great difference, it is true, between a debt 

 contracted' for property which is kept and yields 

 an iucotne to the purchaser, and that which is spent 

 and consumed. 



Credit perhaps cannot altogether be dispensed 

 with, but it is a grave question, whether, on the 

 whole, it has not done more inischief than good. 

 There is hardly an evil in society which is not 

 sprung from it. It has created a race of non-pro- 

 ducers, who render no equivalent to society for 

 what they consume. It has separated knowledge 

 from labor and deprived the laborer of the iminove- 

 nients which his faculties require, and of the sat- 

 isfaction for which his natine was designed. It 

 has oppressed in<!ustry and worth on the one hand 

 and pampered idleness and profligacy on the other. 

 If every young man, who should from this time 

 come of age, would contract no debt, what would 

 be the state of society in 20 years? It would be 

 changed in its whole condition and character. 



ADVANTAGES TO BE DERIVED 



FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS, 



Plants time grow naturally, among acrop that has 

 been sown, may be regarded as weeds, or, in other 

 words, as enennes to the crop that is cultivated. 

 The destruction of weeds, therefore, must be con- 

 sidered as one of the most important branches of 

 the agricultural art ; for if it be neglected, or even 

 if slovenly performed, one t!iird, or one.halfof a 

 fair crop, tnay only be obtained, even from the 

 very best soils. Besides, it merits consideration 

 that if weeds are suffered to exist, the full ad\Tin- 

 tages of nianming land, and many other iniprove- 

 tneiits, can only be but partially reaped. Nor is 

 this all ; the mixture of weeds in the soil, prevents 

 the crop from receiving the beneficial influence of 

 the air; — augments the risks at harvest, (for a crop 

 that is clean, may be ready for the stack-yard in 

 much less time than is required to harvest it, when 

 encumbered with weeds); — and the seeds of these 

 intruders, deteriorate the quality of the grain. 

 Notwithstanding all the injuries thence sustained. 



June 8, ISlil. 



how many are there, who hardly ever attiMupt to 

 remove weeds in an eftectual maimer ? This negli 

 gence is the more to be blamed, because, wep 

 farmers at the troidjie of collecting all sorts 

 weeds, before they have formed their seeds and 

 of mixij)g them with rich earth, they would soon 

 be reduced into a soft pulpy mass, and in this way 

 a pernicious nuisance nught be converted into a 

 valuable manure. 



Various experiments have been tried, to asce: 

 tain the positive advantage derived from caiefidlj 

 weeding one part of a field, and leaving anoth. 

 part undone ; among these, the following, n,ade 

 with peculiar accuracy, may be safely relied on. 



1. JVheat. — Seven acres of light gravelly land 

 were fallowed, and sown broad-cast ; one acre 

 was measured off, and not a weed was pulled out 

 of it ; the other six were carefully weeded. Tlw 

 unweeded acre produced 18 bushels ; the six weed- 

 ed acres, 135 bushels, or •22J per acre, which is 4J 

 bushels, or J more produce in favor of weeding; 



2. Barletj. — A six acre field was own with 

 bailey, in fine tilth, and well manured. The weed- 

 ing, owing to a great abundance of charlock, cost 

 12s. per acre. The produce of an unweeded acm 

 was only 13 bushels ; of the weeded, 28. Differ* 

 eiice in favor of weeding, 15 bushels per an'e, 

 besides the landbeingso much cleaner for succeed. 

 ing crops. 



3. Oats. — Six acres sown with oats ; one acre 

 ploughed but once, and unmanured, produce only 

 17 bushels. Another six acres jdoughed three 

 times, manured, and weeded, produced 37 bushels 

 per acre. This experiment proves,thatoats require 

 good management, and will pay for it as well as 

 other crojis. Ten bushels of the increased pro- 

 duce may be fairly attributed to tho weeding ; and 

 the other ten to the manure. 



The importance of weeding, both to the indi- 

 idual and to the public is such, that it ought to be 

 enforced by law. At any rate, a regulation of ptv 

 rr:e, for fining those who harbor weeds, the seedl 

 of which may be blown into their neighbor's 

 ground, can have no injustice in principle. In 

 England, the])etty constable might be required, by 

 precept from the high constable, to give in present 

 inents to the Quarter Sessions, containing a list 

 of all persons who suffered weeds to run to seed 

 in their hedges or lands, such luesentinents to be 

 jjarticularly siiecified to the court. Those refer- 

 ring to the coltsfoot, to be given in at the Lady- 

 day sessions ; and those referring to thistles, rag- 

 weed, &c, to be given in at the Midsummer ses- 

 sions. An order of court might then be made, for 

 the immediate removal of such nuisances, and if 

 not complied with, the ort'eiider should be fined 8 

 sum not exceeding five pounds, one half to the in- 

 former, and the other half to go for the relief of 

 the poor. 



If, in consequence of such a system being en- 

 forced, 4i bushels of wheat ; — 15 do. of barley )— 

 10 do. of oats additional, were raised in all the 

 fields in the kingdom, whose crops are injured by 

 weeils, what benefits might not be the result.' — 

 Indeed if such a plan were to take place, and if 

 the overseers were compelled, by an express stat- 

 ute, to employ the poor, in the destruction of weeds, 

 England might, in jirocess of time, become as free 

 from that nuisance, as China or Japan ; and tlie 

 farmers would soon find, that however anxiousthey 

 may be, to have their lands tithe-free, yet to ha« 

 them weedfrce, is of still greater importance. 

 On the whole, keeping his land in a clean statei 



