So far I have been dealing only with the past and the present, and have
given only a plain statement of facts, the value of which must depend
upon my capacity as an observer, my opportunities for observation, and
my truthfulness as a writer. If you are inclined to be sceptical,
inquire of your neighbors who hold, or have held, Western mortgages. The
value of my forecast of the immediate future must depend upon the
character of my reasoning and judgment.
As "death and taxes" are certain, it is safe to predict that taxes will
be levied to pay the interest, and afterwards the principal, of city
bonds. Also, it may be assumed that you, who own the larger and more
valuable share of the property, will pay the lion's share of the taxes.
The Western man has "let go"; he is not "in the deal"; and when one
capitalist is taxed to pay another, he is not an "interested" party. I
sympathize with you. You have exchanged good money for bad property; and
with the property you have assumed the bulk of our _burden of taxation_.
You must pay our bonds, pay for the repairs and improvements of public
property, pay for educating our children and making our laws, and yet
you have no voice in determining when, how, or to what extent these
things shall be done; nor power to prevent the jobs and steals which
accompany such transactions in Kansas as well as in New York.
But, notwithstanding my sympathy, and the additional fact that I must
indirectly suffer from the effects of your suicidal policy, it is
amusing to see you trying to squeeze the remaining value out of _your
own property_. For, I repeat, it is yours. Interest payments will cease
in the same ratio that they have ceased, and for the same reasons. And
the principal cause will be that the mortgagor has _discovered_ that he
has no equity in the property. If property is worth only "what it will
bring in money," there are few pieces of mortgaged property in the West
in which there still remains an equity. But many farmers are economizing
and wearing rags in order to make interest payments, which can only
result in putting the evil day a little further off.
The Westerner is a practical man. When he finds that the equity is all
squeezed out of his property, and that it is still being squeezed at the
same rate, he stops paying taxes and interest, uses the property free
while you are foreclosing, saves up a little money, buys a house for
about one-tenth of the money it cost to build it, moves it onto a
"clear" lot, and is then ready to help you squeeze your property by
voting for taxes for various purposes. Under like circumstances the
farmer raises one or two crops without rent, taxes, or interest, clothes
his family more comfortably, replaces worn-out machinery, rents a farm,
and is in better circumstances than he has been for years.