FARM MORTGAGES. 47 



debtedness of the farmers of his State. He stated that 

 he has reports from 90,803 farms, or 58 per cent, of all 

 the farms in the State. The assessed valuation of all 

 farms reported is $194,854,663, upon which there is a 

 mortgage indebtedness of $37,456,272, or a little more 

 than 19 per cent, of the total assessed valuation, and 

 nearly 47 per cent, on that of the farms mortgaged. 

 The assessed valuation of the farms in the State is 

 $335,378,025, upon which the estimated mortgage in- 

 debtedness is $64,392,580, with an annual interest 

 charge of $4,636,265 on farms alone. 



The opinion of the Labor Commissioner of Michigan, 

 that the mortgages upon the farms of that State operate 

 " as a mammoth sponge " upon the labor of the owners, - 

 is the growing feeling of the majority of farmers all 

 over America — the older parts at least. The farms of 

 Michigan surround the great iron industries of the West. 

 The State now contains large centres of population, and 

 its lands are fertile and productive, and yet the farmers 

 are evidently on the downward track. 



Says a Southern journal : " Think of it ! In as pros- 

 perous a State as Michigan 47 per cent., or nearly half, 

 of the farms are mortgaged. In Georgia, if one would 

 take the trouble to examine the clerks' offices in the 

 different counties, a condition of affairs equally bad, 

 perhaps worse, would be brought to light." 



The Bureau of Labor Statistics for the State of Illinois 

 has issued reports which show that the farm lands of the 

 State have mortgages upon them to the amount of $123,- 

 733,098, not including Cook County. 



As to Nebraska, official reports do not indicate a 

 happy condition of affairs in that State in reference to 

 this matter. The reports of 1887-88 deal with 215 

 farmers scattered all over the State. An analysis of 



