Show I Alit r D p IG Fear of Farm Land Boom r f 1 1 r I Ia If Adds to Inflation Worry 4 a r Official Figures Show Agricultural Unit v Values Have Increased 20 to 24 Per Cent In n Year By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator I I TELE FACT I WAR RAISES VALUE OF FARM REAL ESTATE VALUE NAIVE PER ACRE IN U. U USA U.S.A. S. S A e e a 1917 I II 1921 C 1929 A O O C E e. e 1933 EI IE OO C 1 o o O 1 1942 9 4 2 Each symbol represents 5 3 of value varue Service Union Trust Building Washington b to b. C. C For many months now government government government govern govern- ment offices and conference rooms no matter how they might echo with glowing reports from the home orthe orthe or orthe the battle front have never been quite free from a ghost It hovers In the corner and sends chills down every spine spine spine-it it is the ghost of Old Man Inflation trying to come back to the scene of his crimes in the roaring twenties The Office of War Information has Just issued a warning that this specter specter spec spec- ter may appear in his most frightful fright fright- ful form if it we are not careful The Theo o fat pay envelope is the inflation danger danger danger dan dan- ger you hear most about But there is a worse one namely a farm farmland farmland farmland land boom So far there has been no spectacular rise in farm land prices but a dangerous trend has been discovered in some states and the bureau of agricultural economics economics economics econom econom- ics is decidedly worried Here are some figures Up 20 Per Cent CentI I As of March 1 or ot this year Increases increases increases In in- creases in farm land values over those of the previous year were 20 to 24 per cent In September 1941 I wrote in these columns Money to burn And the burning question Is how to stop the conflagration before it starts The chief danger Is another prairie fire of farm land speculation such as started in Iowa in World War I Today two years after the present war started farm land prices are up 1 per cent Remember that thal was written In September 1941 Well steps were taken to prevent speculation then and they met with success However However However How How- ever as we have seen by comparing comparing comparing ing figures land prices in soine some states have now increased consid consid- That is natural for much has happened since 1941 In 1942 as the Office of War Information points out for the first time in hi 20 years the annual average of farm prices reached parity with other prices Since the outbreak of the war the average of farm prices has risen more than 90 per cent and farm income by about 80 per percent percent percent cent while the average prices paid by farmers including interest and anda a taxes has Increased about 25 per cent S Farm income was around 19 billion billion billion bil bil- lion dollars in 1941 it 1941 it will be about 22 billion for 1943 That means of course that the farmer has money to pend spend and iti it itIs i Is natural that land values would i rise to some degree As I sa said d they have gone up as high as 24 per percent percent percent cent In some states and less than 6 per cent in n only six states Those figures says the bureau of agricultural 1 tural economics bear watching It is also reported that bankers in some parts of the Middle West believe believe ber be- be r lieve that In some cases the land values have risen beyond their real worth based on the time long earning earning earn earn- ing capacity of th the land That if it it is true of course means that I right now some farmers are arc buyIng buy- buy I lag Ing land that wont won't pay for itself Ir I It is reasonable to suppose that they are not members of f that unhappy unhappy unhappy un- un happy group of farm owners a who met Old Man Inflation before and who lost their property under i foreclosures in the decade that ended enned end enn ed cd In 1939 If they are nrc they deserve e to suffer again But the unfortunate unfortunate unfortunate nate thing Is that when the farm farmer r loses the rest of the country does docs too We have struggled through minor minor minor mi mi- mi- mi nor industrial panics as we used to call them but when the farm goes it means that things are in such a away away away way that there is no stopping until everybody touches bottom Campaign Worked in 41 The article which I wrote in 1941 reported a meeting here in Washington Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington of mortgage bankers Insurance insurance insurance ance people farm organization representatives representatives representatives rep rep- and others who were urged by the Farm Credit administration administration admin admin- to make normal appraisals of land Apparently they did a pretty pretty pretty pret pret- ty good job Meanwhile an educational educational educational campaign was started urging the farmer instead of rushing out and buying land with the first money he got as income increased to pay payoff payoff payoff off his debts It was gratifying to see the results In the next year 1942 the net reduction of mortgages mortgages mortgages mort mort- gages was million dollars as against an average of million reduction over the three preceding preceding preceding ing years Of Ot course there is nothing nothing noth noth- ing Old Man Inflation hates worse than seeing debts paid up Another thing which has has- helped the present situation is the fact fact- that the farmers who are buying land now usually put up a large initial cash payment In other words they are avoiding future debts and that is another thing of course which is equally unpleasant to Old Man In In- There is nothing to stop the farmer farm farm- er from specula speculating ting in land if he wants to buying on a margin the way the gamblers used to do on the stock exchange Now such transactions transactions transactions trans trans- actions are considerably limited by bylaw bylaw bylaw law but there is no law to keep a farmer from gambling if he doesn't know any better Psychology forThe forThe for forThe The Fighting Man ManI I have just been reading a little booklet called Psychology for the Fighting Man It is one of those books published primarily for the soldiers and every soldier able to read ought to have it It has 20 chapters each written by a well- well known psychologist or expert in his line Any chapter can be read separately separately separately sep sep- and they are all highly in in- Familiarity with them will Jill make any man a better soldier and a better leader The chapter on mobs Is only one It tells how howand howand howand and why mobs form what starts a panic and how to stop one But here are a few of the other topics I found exceedingly interestIng interesting interest- interest Ing Psychology and combat Seeing In the dark Color and camouflage Food and sex as military problems Differences among races and peoples and many others told Simply-told psychology In this war wara a man needs all the helps of that kind that he can get for the contrast between army life lite and civilian life lie is greater than ever This book Psychology for the Fighting Man is put out by a nonprofit nonprofit nonprofit non non- profit corporation the Infantry Journal here in In Washington It costs only a quarter It is for the soldier sailor private or general ensign or admiral And it would be bea a good idea for a lot of next of kin to read this book too It might help them to understand what the soldier is up against |