larger ones, for in the same period there was
a very decided increase in the _number_ of farms operated by their
owners. Thus we have the same set of figures used to support both sides
of the controversy--one side calling attention to the decreased
_proportion_ of farms operated by their owners, the other to the
increased _number_.

A similar difficulty presents itself in connection with the subject of
mortgaged farm holdings. In 1890, the mortgaged indebtedness of the
farmers of the United States amounted to the immense sum of
$1,085,995,960, a sum almost equal to the value of the entire wheat
crop. Now, while a mortgage is certainly not suggestive of independence,
it may be either a sign of decreasing or increasing independence. It may
be a step toward the ultimate loss of one's farm or a step toward the
ultimate ownership of one. Much that has been written by Populist and
Socialist pamphleteers and editors upon this subject has been based upon
the entirely erroneous assumption that a mortgaged farm meant loss of
economic independence, whereas it often happens that it is a step toward
it. The fact is that we know very little concerning the ownership of
these mortgages, which is the crux of the question. It is known that
many of the insurance, banking, and trust companies have invested
largely in farm mortgages. This is another phase of concentration which
the critics of the theory have overlooked almost entirely. One thing
seems certain, namely, that farm ownership is not on the decline. It is
not being supplanted by tenantry; the small farms are not being absorbed
by larger ones. It seems a fair deduction from the facts, then, that the
small farmer will continue to be an important factor--indeed, the most
important factor--in American agriculture for a long time to come,
perhaps permanently. If the Socialist movement is to succeed in America,
it must recognize this fact in its propaganda.

V

Most of the criticism of the Marxian theory of concentration is based
upon a very unsatisfactory definition of what is meant by concentration.
The decrease of small units and their absorption or supercession by
larger units is generally understood when concentration is spoken of.
But concentration may take other, very different forms. There may be a
concentration of _control_, for example, without concentration of actual
ownership, or there may be concentration of actual ownership disguised
by mortgages, as already suggest