RELATION OF LAXD INCOME TO LAND VALUE. 
57 
The white tenant is not usually found on the plantation. He 
prefers to lease other lands in these plantation regions, which are 
usually owned by bankers or merchants in town. He works without 
supervision and, consequently, pays a rent that is relatively lower 
than that paid by the colored tenants. As a rule, he is in the same 
situation as the "colored tenant in regard to his inability to assume 
risks. If the crop is poor or prices low, the white tenant, as well as 
the negro tenant, can not pay the rent and the landlord takes the loss. 
The white tenant, therefore, has to pay a rent high enough to com- 
pensate the landlord for this risk, but he does not have to pay for 
supervision as the colored tenant does. Herein lies the explanation 
of the discrepancies in the rents paid by the two groups of tenants. 
This conclusion is supported by data collected on the cost of super- 
vision in the plantation sections of the South by C. O. Brannen of 
the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. These data are based upon 
salaries paid to the supervising staff on a considerable number of 
plantations throughout the Cotton Belt. From these records the 
cost of supervision was estimated for groups 37, 42, 44, and 46. 
Table 19 shows the approximate cost of supervision in these dis- 
tricts, as estimated from these selected plantations. A comparison 
of the rents relative to the value of the land paid by white and colored 
tenants is given, before and after cost of supervision is deducted from 
the rents of the colored tenants. 
Table 19. — Estimated cost of supervision given to negro tenants and its influence on 
. the rents paid by the negro tenants relative to those paid by white tenants. 
Cost of 
super- 
vision 
per acre. 
Cash rent per 
Ratio of rent to value. 
Group. 
acre. 
White. 
Colored. 
White. 
Colored. 
Super- 
vising 
costs not 
deducted. 
Super- 
vising 
costs 
deducted. 
37 
$1.50 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
$8.58 
1.73 
3.40 
5.44 
$12.07 
2.90 
4.28 
8.71 
Per cent. 
8.5 
6.3 
7.2 
8.4 
Per cent. 
10.8 
9.6 
9.7 
9.2 
Ptr cent. 
95 
42 
6.3 
44 
7.4 
46 
8.2 
From this table it is seen that after deducting the costs of super- 
vision the rents paid by the white and colored tenants are approxi- 
mately the same, except in district 37. The supervision costs are, 
however, only approximations and can not be considered as com- 
pletely accurate measurements of these costs. 
The average cash rents used in this study were based upon the rents 
paid by the white tenants, because these rents do not include costs 
of supervision, but they do include a payment for the risk which is 
borne by the landlord. The fact that the Japanese tenants in the 
Far West also pay considerably higher rents than the white tenants 
is brought out in 'Table 20. 
