Also of very large farms. The very large farms, especially those averaging more than i,ooo acres, were growing more numerous, both actually and relatively to the whole number of farms. This process, which apparently still continues, is due to the fact that wheat raising by capitalistic methods is extremely profitable, and the larger the area cultivated, under a single management the larger the profits.
Effect of land prices on immigration. A general inflation of land values influences the rate of immigration of desirable citizens from other states into this region and defers still further the full development of Northwestern resources. This fact is coming to be recognized as well as the other fundamental facts (a) that the high price of farm lands is responsible in large measure for the drift to the towns which, considering the comparative newness of the region, is seriously disquieting to all thoughtful men, and (b) that it contributes to the anxieties and the unrest of the industrial classes who see in it the prospect of their permanent exclusion from the ranks of landowners. Hence, it is not strange that remedies should be sought through extreme socialistic measures for land holding reform like the Single Tax. Such a measure was defeated by the Oregon electorate at the general election in November, 1916, the vote standing 43,390 "Yes" and 154,908 "No."
Suggested remedies. Probably no similar measure can pass in any of these states until the landless industrial class shall be distinctly in the majority.
