Quite as contrary to the facts are the Socialist assertions that the slight increase in the proportion of mortgaged farms is proof of the absorption of American farms by the “interests.” In asking us to believe that this is what is happening, Socialists assume that we are so ignorant as to real conditions that we can credit the theory that a mortgage is an inevitable shortcut to bankruptcy, when, as a matter of fact, it is more often the means by which the farmer rises from the ranks of tenantry to the property-owning class. Indeed, Spargo himself admits that this is so. In “Socialism” (p. 134), he says: “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 towards it.” Having seen how all the predictions of Marx break down when put to the test of practical experience, we shall now consider one more fatal mistake made by this great prophet of “scientific” Socialism. This is what we may term the “verge of starvation” theory. According to this doctrine of the Socialists, the accumulation of misery is keeping pace so literally with the accumulation of wealth that the great mass of the workers are constantly sinking deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of their own class (see “Communist Manifesto”). As a result, it is asserted, there are to-day but comparatively few workers who are more than a week or two removed from destitution, whereas, as Skelton shows (“Socialism: A Critical Analysis,” p. 147), “no social fact is better established than that the forty years which have passed since Marx penned this dismal forecast have brought the working classes in every civilized country not increasing degradation, misery, and enslavement, but increasing material welfare, freedom and opportunity of development.” How is it in your case, John? Are you living on the verge of starvation? If you were to be taken ill, or were to lose your job, would your family be on the town within a week or two? I thought not, and what is true in your case, is just as true in the majority of cases.