and partnerships, operates ranch land and farm land, cotton gins, stores, lumber yards, oil mill, packing-house plant, electric light plant, telephone, water works, and other enterprises. By means of experimentation and costcutting systems it has been able to reduce considerably the cost of operating farm land. It is able to command labor on its farms at eighty cents per day. And the laborers board themselves!" 4

The final report of the Commission on Industrial Relations summed up its findings on the Land Question in these words:

"It was obviously impossible for the commission to attempt a detailed investigation of Agricultural conditions, but because of the very immediate bearing of the land question on industrial unrest, it was felt necessary to make as thorough an investigation as possible of the phases which seemed to have the most direct bearing on our general problem. The phases selected for discussion were, first, the concentration of land ownership as shown by existing statistics; second, the problem of seasonal and casual agricultural labor; third, the increase and change in the character of farm tenancy; and, fourth, the introduction of industrial methods into agriculture through the development of corporations operating large tracts of land. The findings and recommendations with reference to the concentration of ownership and the problems of seasonal labor are set forth elsewhere. At this point it is desired to present the results of the investigations of tenancy and agricultural corporations.

"As a result of these investigations the following conclusions are fully justified:

"1. Tenancy in the Southwestern States is already the prevailing method of cultivation and is increasing at a very rapid rate. In 1880 Texas had 65,468 tenants' families, comprising 37.6 per cent of all farms in the State. In 1910 tenant farmers had increased to 219,571 and operated 53 per cent of all farms in the State. Reckoning on the same ratio of increase that was maintained between 1900 and 1910 there should be in Texas at the present year (1915) at least 236,000 tenant farmers. A more intensive study of the field, however, shows that in the 82 counties of the State where tenancy is highest the percentage of tenancy will approximate sixty.

"For Oklahoma we have not adequate census figures so far back, but at the present time the percentage of farm tenancy in the State is 54.8, and for the 47 counties where the tenancy is highest the percentage of tenancy is 68.13.

"2. Tenancy, while inferior in every way to farm ownership from a social standpoint, is not necessarily an evil if conducted under a system which protects the tenants and assures cultivation of the soil under proper and economical methods, but where tenancy exists under such conditions as prevail in the Southwest, its increase can be regarded only as a menace to the Nation.

"3. The prevailing system of tenancy in the Southwest is share tenancy, under which the tenant furnishes his own seed, tools, and teams and pays the landlord one-third of the grain and one-fourth of the cotton. There is, however, a constant tendency to increase the landlord's share through the payment either of cash bonuses or of a higher percentage of the product. Under this system tenants as a class earn only a bare living through the work of themselves and their entire families. Few of the tenants ever succeed in laying by a surplus. On the contrary, their experiences are so discouraging that they seldom remain on the same farm for more than a year, and they move from one farm to the next, in the constant hope of being able to better their condition. Without the labor of the entire family the tenant farmer is helpless. As a result, not only is his wife prematurely broken down, but the children remain uneducated and without the hope of any condition better than that of their parents. The tenants having no interest in the results beyond the crops of a

4 The Survey, April 17, 1915, pp. 63-64 (New York City).

single 'year, the soil is being rapidly exhausted and the conditions, therefore, tend to become steadily worse. Even at present a very large proportion of the tenants' families are insufficiently clothed, badly housed, and underfed. Practically all of the white tenants are native born. As a result of these conditions, however, they are deteriorating rapidly, each generation being less efficient and more helpless than the preceding one.

"4. A very large proportion of the tenants are hopelessly in debt and are charged exorbitant rates of interest. Over 95 per cent of the tenants borrow from some source, and about 75 per cent borrow regularly year after year. The average interest rate on all farm loans is 10 per cent, while small tenants in Texas pay 15 per cent or more. In Oklahoma the conditions are even worse, in spite of the enactment of laws against usury. Furthermore, over 80 per cent of the tenants are regularly in debt to the stores from which they secure their supplies, and pay exorbitantly for this credit. The average rate of interest on store credit is conservatively put at 20 per cent and in many cases ranges as high as 60 per cent.

"5. The leases are largely in the form of oral contracts which run for only one year, and which make no provision for compensation to the tenant for any improvements which may be made upon the property. As a result, tenants are restrained from making improvements, and in many cases do not properly provide for the upkeep of the property.

"6. Furthermore, the tenants are in some instances the victims of oppression on the part of landlords. This oppression takes the form of dictation of character and amount of crops, eviction without due notice, and discrimination because of personal and political convictions. The existing law provides no recourse against such abuses.

"7. As a result both of the evils inherent in the tenant system and of the occasional oppression by landlords, a state of acute unrest is developing among the tenants and there is clear indications of the beginning of organized resistance which may result in civil disturbances of a serious character.

"8. The situation is being accentuated by the increasing tendency of the landlords to move to the towns and cities, relieving themselves not only from all productive labor, but from direct responsibility for the conditions which develop. Furthermore, as a result of the increasing expenses incident to urban life there is a marked tendency to demand from the tenant a greater share of the products of his labor.

"9. The responsibility for the existing conditions rests not upon the landlords, but upon the system itself. The principal causes are to be found in the system of short leases, the system of private credit at exorbitant rates, the lack of a proper system of marketing, the absence of educational facilities, and last but not least, the prevalence of land speculation.

"10. A new factor is being introduced into the agricultural situation through the development of huge estates owned by corporations and operated by salaried managers upon a purely industrial system. The labor conditions on such estates are subject to grave criticism. The wages are extremely low, 80 cents per day being the prevailing rate on one large estate which was thoroughly investigated; arbitrary deductions from wages are made for various purposes; and a considerable part of the wages themselves are paid in the form of coupons, which are in all essential particulars, the same as the "scrip' which has been the source of such great abuse. Furthermore, the communities existing on these large estates are subject to the complete control of the land-owning corporation, which may regulate the lives of citizens to almost any extent."

At the third national convention on Marketing and Farm Credits in Chicago, 1915, various speakers dwelt on the menace to our political and educational institutions which is even now

beginning to be apparent in connection with the tenant class in certain sections of this country. For instance, items like the following in the daily press are becoming of greater frequency from month to month:

"Cape Girardeau, Mo., Nov. 23.-Five night riders and two private detectives were wounded in a pistol battle southwest of Clarkton, Mo., near here, early to-day. Seven of the night riders were captured later after an all day chase by bloodhounds and a posse.

"To-night virtually every citizen of Clarkton and every land owner in the vicinity is armed in expectation of another attack by the night riders. The latter are a secret band of tenants and farm laborers who have been waging a feud-like war for higher wages and lower food prices.

"Detectives on Secret Mission. The struggle between tenants and laborers on one side and land owners and merchants on the other has been in progress here for several months and has spread throughout New Madrid county, in southeast Missouri. Six detectives have been camping secretly for two weeks in a shack on a swamp which is part of the farm of T. S. Heisserer, wealthy land owner and banker, against whom the night riders have centered their attacks

"Though called riders, the men participating in night raids usually travel afoot, sometimes masked. The outrages attributed to them include arson, murder, blackmailing, tarring and feathering and horsewhipping of men and women. Nine of such several months ago were trapped at an organization meeting by officers of the postal department, and seven of these were convicted of sending threatening letters through the mails and were sent to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan." 5

The "I. W. W." (Industrial Workers of the World) disturbances which occur not only in the east, but flare up in our prairie sections, as in Minot, North Dakota, in 1914, may be considered as symptoms of agricultural unrest.

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The amount of tenancy in different sections of the Union varies greatly. Tenancy is greatest in the South. It is also great and growing greater in the strictly agricultural states such as Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. The table in the appendix to this chapter will indicate correctly the amount of tenancy in these sections. The actual condition of tenancy of each state in the Union as well as changes for better or worse are also shown in this appendix.

Rent Contract. The rent contract in the United States is of two general types, the cash rent and the share rent type, and these two fall loosely into four systems of tenure, namely; the cash tenant, the share tenant, the share cropper, and the crop lien system, all of which are illustrated below. The significant feature however, of each form of rent contract is the short time of the tenure. In other words, we do not have a stability of farm operators. Unhappily this holds true also of farm owners. The one Des Moines Register, Nov. 24, 1915.

redeeming feature of farm tenancy in England and Scotland, where it has apparently reached its perfection, is the long time tenure of the renter. The significance of our too short time tenures is brought out vividly in the various surveys alluded to above. Thus, to quote from a survey of Montgomery County, Maryland:

"Speaking broadly, it is common experience that under a system of tenantry the land is usually not so well farmed as when operated by its owners. The tenant usually has but a short lease on the land; inferior methods of farming are apt to be employed; the needs of the soil are not so carefully studied or attended to; there is generally a smaller working capital; the cost of operation is somewhat greater. In consequence, the property is not kept up; the fertility of the soil is seldom increased or even maintained; and in the long run, the net income is smaller. To have 45 per cent of the land operated under a tenant system and to have that system on the increase, would thus seem to present a problem worthy of consideration. The obvious solution would be along the line of aiding the present operators to obtain the ownership of the land. In Europe and to a lesser extent in some parts of the United States this need is met by an ably managed and extensive system of coöperative banking.

Another interesting angle of this question has to do with the length of tenure. The average length of tenure for all farms is 12.4 years. But more than half of the farms and considerably more than half of the total acreage of farm lands, have changed hands at least once during the last ten years. This means an unstable element in the population large enough to cause concern. For all owned land, the average term of occupancy is 15 years, but for land operated by tenants, the average term of occupancy is only 4 years. Onefourth of the entire farming population, then is shifting, a fact which must necessarily hamper all efforts toward the betterment of rural life conditions along social, religious and educational lines."

A rural survey in one Tennessee community brings out this situation:

"Among the tenants 63 per cent rent land from neighboring farmers. This land is in many cases under the direct supervision of the owner, who designates what crops are to be raised, and sees to it that the soil does not become too much worn out. In many cases the renters although retaining their independence, are thus virtually hired men, who are paid in produce instead of in cash. This is particularly the case with the 'share cropper,' who owns neither land nor tools, but has tools, horses and seed furnished by the owner of the land. The cropper as a rule cultivates from 20 to 30 acres, and gives half the produce to the owner. Most of the croppers are negroes. The share tenant' or 'renter,' who furnishes his own tools and horses, pays to the owner one-third of the corn and one-fourth of the cotton. The cash tenant pays usually $4.00 an acre. There are only ten hired men. Their wages are from seventy-five cents to $1.00 a day and keep."

There is of course another side to this picture. The Federal government has been quoted as accepting tenancy as a permanent institution. In line with this belief the Federal government has issued a bulletin entitled, "A System of Tenant Farming and Its Results." This bulletin shows a successful example of tenant farming where the landlord has secured stability of farm operators. An extended quotation is worth while in this connection. Accord

ingly we print the following extract from this report, which was issued in the year 1911.

"In the older sections of the eastern United States the necessity for considering permanent types of farming has long been felt and much effort has been made to meet the need. A very good example of success in solving this problem along general farming lines is that of a large estate in eastern Maryland. This estate is the more interesting because it represents a system embracing 56 tenant farms under one ownership that has been in successful operation for more than 30 years. During this period yields of wheat and corn, which are the principal crops grown, have been maintained and in some cases increased. A large number of tenants have been on the estate for more than 20 years; several have been there for more than 30 years, and their sons have succeeded them.

"These facts show clearly that the relationship between owner and tenant has been satisfactory. This is further brought out from the standpoint of the tenant by the fact that many tenants have made enough money by farming on the estate to buy farms of their own. In several instances, however, they are so well satisfied that they continue as tenants and rent their own farms to some one else.

"On the other hand, the estate itself is fairly well satisfied. It has been able to keep up the productiveness of the different farms until many of them yield better than when bought. Attractive dwellings and substantial barns have been maintained on every farm, and all the fields are well fenced with board, hedge, or wire. Many fields have been enlarged by clearing waste places and, made more productive by underdraining with tile. Every farm is clean, neat and attractive in appearance.

"The returns from the farm have paid for all these improvements, have paid all taxes, and are now bringing in to the estate more than 5 per cent interest on the total investment. Some of the farms have nearly trebled in value in the last 30 years. These returns to both tenant and owner are unusual. It is seldom that so large an estate is handled so satisfactorily, and a closer study of the system followed may prove profitable.

"In detail, the estate consists of 15,630 acres, or about 24 square miles of land, subdivided into 56 farms varying in size from 98 to more than 1,000 acres, an average of about 279 acres per farm. These farms are scattered over a radius of about 12 miles from the central office. Considerable areas of waste land are found on some of them, so that on the average only about 72 per cent of the land is in actual cultivation. The price of cultivated land away from the influence of towns varies from $40 to $65 per acre, and these farms will probably show a like variation in value. The soil of most of the farms varies from a sandy loam to a clay loam, is comparatively free from stones, and is generally well adapted to wheat culture. The land is sufficiently level for the operation of labor-saving machinery.

"One of the interesting facts relative to these farms and their organization into a profitable system of farming is that they were accumulated one at a time and organized by a merchant who had no special knowledge of agriculture, yet he formulated and put into practice over 30 years ago a system which has maintained yields and given satisfactory profits to both owner and tenants up to the present time. The latter is regarded as the most important fact in this bulletin.

At the time of the owner's death, 13 years ago, the system of farming which he put in operation had become so well established that with practically no change since then the yields of the farms have been maintained, a considerable indebtedness has been paid, the buildings and fences have been kept in a good state of repair, and a net income from the farms averaging a little more than 5 per cent has been paid to the estate."