THE FARMER'S MEANS OF ACQUIRING LAND 229 



machines, when not combined with other objects, the mortgages are 

 89.82 per cent of the entire number in force, and their original amount 

 is 94.37 per cent of the total original amount of all mortgages in 

 force. . . . The mortgages distinctly representing a loss of wealth, 

 or wealth soon to be consumed, are embraced in the description of 

 farm and family expenses, and their number is 5.4 per cent of the 

 total number of mortgages in force, while their original amount is 

 1.73 per cent of the total original amount. ... A distinction must 

 be observed between the cause and the consequence of mortgages. 

 The mortgage, in its motive, is for the most part a mere business 

 venture, and, so far as foreclosures show, for the most part a success- 

 ful one. It becomes a misfortune when for any reason it becomes a 

 business mistake." J 



These figures, it is true, refer to real estate mortgages gen- 

 erally; but there is no reason for thinking that the mortgage 

 is used for other purposes than the securing of the purchase 

 price of real estate in the case of farm mortgages more frequently 

 than in the case of other real estate mortgages. In general, we 

 would be inclined rather to think that farm mortgages were 

 more likely to be given to secure the purchase price than the 

 mortgages on city lots, for example, where the total value of the 

 lot might be relatively small compared with the value of the 

 business which might be established thereon, and which might 

 be an occasion for desiring to mortgage the real estate to secure 

 funds to extend the business. In general, the conclusion which 

 should be drawn seems to be that the mortgages on farms are 

 in the vast majority of cases used as a means of making the 

 transition from tenancy to landownership, and are frequently 

 an evidence of growing prosperity. 



The evidence seems to show, also, that the farmers are usually 

 successful in their use of the mortgage as a means of acquiring 

 the ownership of land. In Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and 

 New Jersey, from one-third to one-half per cent, only, of the 

 farm mortgages are foreclosed each year ; 2 and the average 

 duration of farm mortgages in the United States is about five 



1 Eleventh Census of the United States, 1890, Report on Real Estate Mortgages, 

 p. 310. 



2 George K. Holmes, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1896, Vol. X, p. 49. 



