have to pay the interest, a portion of the principal every year and live, the undertaking is, with few exceptions greater than they can get through with. Consequently, the mortgagee is contented to take what he can get, rather than foreclose and take the farm; for then he has the trouble and expense of running it, with the chances of getting less each year than he gets from the mortgagor.

"In the case of town and village property the case is somewhat different. In the larger towns, real estate commands a higher price comparatively than farming lands. Mortgages on town property are recognized as good investments: the interest is paid more promptly, the payments made regularly; and when the mortgagee has to take the property to secure his debt, he can always rent it for the interest.

or more.

"Owners of town property pay their mortgages more rapidly than farmers, who, as a rule, allow their mortgages to remain, only paying the interest. They are compelled to do this on account of the small incomes from their farms. They very rarely make any payments of the principal, and have come to recognize the fact that it is necessary for a mortgage to remain on their lands. Where there is a mortgage on the farm, the equity for the owner is, with few exceptions, wiped out by the general depreciation.

"There has been a reduction in the price of farm lands in the past ten years. The percentage is wonderful. It is surprising to see how low some of the farms in this county are selling. There are two ranges of mountains crossing it, and along the face of those mountains are farms that have been tilled and cultivated for years, but are not now recognized as desirable as those in the valleys, although twenty to twenty-five years ago they commanded a high price and a ready market, and were sought after by farmers with small means. To day, those farms will sell for scarcely any price, and it is a difficult matter to get any one to work them, other than the owners. The better farms in the county have depreciated in value as well. There are several of our best farms that have been offered for sale to close estates, and withdrawn from the market and held by the heirs on account of the small offers for them. There is no sale for farming land. No one wants it."

In Warren county, in the opinion of Henry S. Harris, Esq, of Belvidere," there has been a fall in the value of farming land since

1880, but not great, as it was low then. Falling value of real estate both increases and decreases foreclosures according to circumstances, chiefly the relation of the mortgage amount to the value of the encumbered property. It ought to be noted that more frequently than formerly owners, when the situation admits, give deeds to mortgagees without waiting for foreclosure proceedings. This, however, is hardly appreciably as affecting the decrease in foreclosures. There is a disinclination to disturb good investments."

Wm. H. Morrow, Esq., also of Belvidere, estimates the fall in the value of farm lands, since 1880, at 25 per cent. "Holders of mortgages delay as long as possible to foreclose from disinclination to add costs and thus swell the amount due. Mortgage debtors are not now making any money beyond paying their interest. I think interest is paid more promptly on urban than on rural properties. Farm mortgages are paid only when there is a transfer of the premises and the purchaser has the money to pay, or on the settlement of estates when it is necessary for money to pass. I do not think that twenty per cent. of farmers, who have their farms mortgaged to the amount of forty per cent. of their value, are making a living now."

The decrease in foreclosures is attributed by Oscar Jeffery, Esq., of Washington, Warren county, to the fact, that the majority of good farms are cleared of mortgage. Very few of the owners are in debt, and those that are pay their debts and interest promptly. So far as I can judge in my own locality, there is not much difference between town, village and farm property. There has been a decided fall in farm values, so far as I can learn from the farmers, and this continues, owing to low price of grain. In my experience with farmers, I have never known them so depressed and disheartened."

From what has been said, there is strong evidence that the real estate mortgage indebtedness, supplemented, probably, by other like burdens, bears heavily on our farmers at least, owing largely, to the depressed condition of the agricultural industry. For reasons already stated, no attempt was made to determine the amount of this indebtedness, either for the whole State or that resting on the farming community, by the collation of the total sums of the face value of outstanding mortgages, transcribed from the official county

records. It has however been possible from data obtained, supplemented by the opinions of those informed as to the average life of mortgages and the extent of the practice of paying them by installments, to approximate the volume of this total indebtedness.

to

In regard to the system of partial payments, the consensus of opinion is that this is done to some extent on urban and more rarely on rural mortgages. The general counsel for New Jersey of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company, already quoted, writes, that "my experience teaches me that there are many mortgagors of urban property, particularly those small amount, who pay by installment every year." On the other hand, Mr. F. K. Howell, of the Mutual Benefit, thinks that while "there is no doubt that partial payments are most frequent, and considerable in amount, in cases of mortgages on suburban real estate, which is being improved and developed; if this class is left out of account, it would be found that mortgagors are not to any appreciable extent paying off their mortgages in installments."

Messrs. Collins & Corbin, of Jersey City, report that, "installment mortgages have become very common. The building and loan associations hold them entirely. Trust companies take them; and mortgagors frequently desire to have clauses inserted giving them an option to so pay. During the past three or four years. there has been much pressure by mortgagors to induce mortgagees to accept the principal before it is due, indicating prosperity on the part of the former. We should presume that, including the building and loan mortgages, one-third of all were installment. The building and loan mortgages are payable by periodical dues; those given to trust companies, by equal monthly installments, which discharge the whole principal in ten years, with privilege to mortgagor to pay at a more rapid rate. As to other mortgages, we frequently find a clause in them permitting part payment of principal, on interest day, in sums not less than $500 or $1000, or the like."

Counsellor James C. McDonald, of Newark, writes that "a sober thrify German, Frenchman or Irishmen pays off his mortgage, as a rule, by installments, say, in sums of $100 or $200 each year, according as health or wages permit. Out of some fifty mortgages held by me since 1876 as executor, hardly any have not been reduced

or paid off in full. These were small ones rom $500 to $1,800, the land mortgaged being the homestead of the mortgagor. There are of course some exceptions, which are due, however, either to lack of sobriety or ill health. It is a very common thing for a whole family, father, mother and children, to unite forces and purses, not only to pay off the mortgage and interest but to keep taxes and assessments settled. There are also a number of mortgages foreclosed each year for the sole purpose of making title or clearing up some disputed point, possibly five to eight per cent. of the foreclosed mortgages coming under this head."

For Union county, Judge Gilhooly, of Elizabeth and Counsellor G. Berry, of Rahway, respectively report installment payments to be rare, except on mo.tgages held by builing associations. Counsellor Neighbour, of Dover, Morris county, considers them also rare, purchase money mortgages being about the only class in regard to which the practice is followed. To the same effect is the experience of Potter & Nixon, of Bridgeton, Cumberland county: "Mortgages given for purchase money are often paid off by installment; those taken as investments, rarely." Counsellor Newcomb, of Vineland, in the same county, thinks that in his part, "nearly all the farm mortgages are paid slowly, in installments." For Atlanlantic county, Counsellor Abbott estimates "perhaps one-fourth of those that pass under my notice." A like ratio holds good for Burlington county, in the opinion of Counsellor Gaskill, of Mount Holly.

The following remaining extracts from the correspondence received from the lawyers previously mentioned, refer to the so-called rural counties:

SOMERSET: "There may be some instances where payments are made on account of the principal of a mortgage on farm lands, but these are very few and in many cases the debts are being increased. Mortgages on town property are in a much better condition and I think are being reduced.-J. J. Bergen, Somerville.

HUNTERDON: "About one-third are being paid off by installments; but this estimate may be a trifle high."-H. A. Fluck, Flemington.

GLOUCESTER: "There have not been to any great extent payment

of mortgages by installments, except, of course, those to building associations. This results from disinclination on the part of the mortgagees to accept part payment where the security is good, and in other cases the mortgagors are too poor to do it. The building association loans are largely made on urban property."-Robert S. Clymer, Woodbury.

SUSSEX: "Mortgages on town property are paid largely by gradual yearly reduction. Those on farming lands are placed as permanent investments; very few are reduced by yearly payments, and it is a rare thing to hear of a farmer wiping out his indebtedness."Theodore Sin.onson, Newton.

WARREN: "There are few mortgagors in his region who pay installments. I do not believe ten per cent. of the total number of mortgages is thus liquidated, nor ten per cent. of the total indebtedness."-Henry L. Harris, Belvidere.

"I do not think many mortgages are thus paid.”—Wm. H. Morrow, Belvidere.

"The system of partial payments is not general."-Oscar Jeffery, Washington.

As will be seen from the summary at the close of the chapter, the average life of 9,114 mortgages foreclosed between 1870 and 1888, that is the time elapsed between the execution of the mortgage and the final decree in the foreclosure proceedings, was 9 years; or 84 years for mortgages on "lots," or urban, suburban and speculative property generally, and 9 years for those on "acres," under which have been included not only those lands which were manifestly agricultural, but also tracts about which there was more or less doubt. This, so far as existing mortgages on city and town real estate is concerned, tallies fairly well with the opinions of the gentlemen already referred to, as well as with the calculations based on transcripts from the Essex county records for 1870, 1875, 1880 and 1885 to 1888 inclusive. On rural property, it is generally agreed that mortgages remain longer than on urban, a number of correspondents affirming that as a rule the life of a mortgage on farm property is co equal with that of the mortgagor. It is safe to assume, therefore, that the average term given above is too low.