CHAPTER XVI

PROTECTION OF PROPERTY AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY


There is nothing more discouraging than to have the product of
one's labor swept away by disaster. The farmer who has every
prospect of a bumper crop after a hard season's work may have his
hope dashed by smut in his grain, or by a visitation of
grasshoppers, or by storm and flood. Cholera may carry off his
hogs, or hoof-and-mouth disease his cattle. Rats and other rodents
may eat his grain. Fire may destroy his barn or his home. The
thief may steal his pocketbook or his automobile. His investments
may prove unfortunate, or be swept away by somebody's bad
management or fraud. Some thoughtless boys or deliberate vandals
may ruin in a few minutes a beautiful lawn or trees that have
taken years to grow and have involved great expense and effort.

THE NATIONAL LOSS FROM PROPERTY DESTRUCTION

The individual's loss is also a loss to the community. It is
reported by the Department of Agriculture that nearly $800,000,000
damage was done to crops by insects in a single year. Animal
diseases cause a direct loss to our country estimated at
$212,000,000 annually. Hog cholera alone costs $75,000,000 a year.
Smut destroys more than $50,000,000 a year in cereals. Food and