BUYING FARMS WITH LAXD-BANK LOANS. 23 



Such arrangements are justified on the grounds of public policy. 

 Home ownership is a basic element in the economic and social 

 stability of the Nation. A large percentage of farm tenancy is un- 

 favorable to an efficient and permanently productive agriculture and 

 a wholesome and stable community life. Some tenancy is necessary, 

 and probably even desirable. It is the part of good policy to accept 

 this fact and to devote our energies to reducing the incidental evils; 

 but it is also the part of good policy to prevent the proportion of 

 tenants from becoming abnormal. So long as young farmers maj^ as 

 a rule hope to become owners of land after a series of years as ten- 

 ants, tenancy is not fraught with the social evils which come with the 

 establisliment of a permanent tenant class; hence the importance of 

 keeping the road open to the top. 



One of the more important causes of the tendency in the direction 

 of providing credit for farmers is the fact that the estimated average 

 value of farm land and improvements in the United States appears 

 to be between three and four times as great in 1920 as it was in 1900, 

 This represents an increase of approximately $20 per acre from 1900 

 to 1910 and $31 per acre from 1910 to 1920.^ 



In many parts of the country the value of a farm now represents 

 a considerable fortune. Therefore it may be doubted whether in 

 certain sections the average man can hope to accumulate such a 

 fortune out of the profits of farming even in a lifetime. It is cer- 

 tainly exceedingly difficult in many sections of the countrj'^ for a 

 man starting with little or no property to accumulate in a reasonable 

 length of time all that part of the purchase price of a farm in excess 

 of the proportion usually lent on first-mortgage security. It would 

 seem clear, therefore, that more liberal arrangements for farm- 

 mortgage credit must be provided as an important phase in the de- 

 velopment of a constructive policy with reference to farm land. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL CREDIT ON SECOND-MORTGAGE 



SECURITY. 



Although the purpose of the present study is to ascertain certain 

 facts with regard to the employment of the Federal farm-loan 

 sj'Stem to finance the purchase of farms, it may not be out of place 

 to consider, in the light of the facts brought out in this study, some 

 of the broad lines that might be followed in providing additional 

 credit facilities. In so doing the authors wish to disclaim any desire 

 to formulate a cut-and-dried plan or to insist dogmatically on the 

 suggestions here made. Moreover, only broad lines of policy are 



1 The above statement is based on census reports, using the preliminary figures for 

 1920. 



