THE FARMERS INDEMNITY 
Alvin S. Johnson 
From the political discussions of the last seven years one might 
infer that the German indemnity was the only burden of its kind 
in the world. But if we overlook origins—the least significant 
basis of distinction—and consider instead existing character and 
consequences, we have right here at home an indemnity quite 
comparable to the German. I refer to the burden of mortgage 
indebtedness resting on the American farmer. 
The aggregate volume of farm mortgages easily exceeds ten 
billion dollars. The interest rates vary widely, but taking interest 
with commissions, charges for searching titles, etc., we err on the 
side of moderation in placing the annual burden at $700,000,000. 
The capital of the German indemnity has never been fixed, in 
any practical sense of the term, for no well informed person 
ever took seriously the thirty odd billions of the London Agree- 
ment. But any Allied financier would jump at the chance to 
settle the indemnity claim for ten billions in valid bonds on 
which interest would actually be paid. When the Dawes plan 
comes into full operation—if ever it does—Germany will pay 
$625,000,000 a year, the better part of a hundred million less than 
the American farmer is paying today. 
The absolute weight of the two burdens is thus very nearly the 
same, with the balance inclining against the American farmer. 
But burdens have meaning only in relation to carrying power. 
Perhaps the American farmer is a giant, to whom ten billions are 
nothing, and the German nation a pigmy, crushed flat under ten 
billions weight. We need to consider this point with some care, 
because carrying power is a conception which often presents 
baffling complexities. But in this case it involves little more 
than relative population, capital wealth and income. 
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