The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-16
WORK WAYS ON TAP,
SurVeyor-General Green Has a
Great Scheme for the
Unemployed.
Let Every Decent Unfortunate Be
Temporarily Self-Supporting
in Comfort.

United States Surveyor-General w. s.
Green, longer and better known as the
editor of the Colusa sun, is nursing a large
and original plan for solving the problem
of the unemployed, and he expects to see
it in practical operation some of these
days. 1t is somewhat like the famous
plan of Mayor Pingree of Detroit, though
Mr.. Green evolved his plan long before Mr..
Pingree talked about his.
The Green plan is for cities and counties
to own adequate farms wherein anybody
wanting work may find it at employment
which shall make the worker not only self
supporting and self-respectlng, but make
the farm entirely self-supporting besides,
thus relieving both the public and the
Government from any burdens of this sort,
while want is at the same time ended.
The Supervisors of Colusa County year
or so ago appropriated $4,000 and con-
tracted for 200 acres of land to experiment
with Mr.. Green's plan, but the hard times
and consequent grumbilng about taxes
caused the scheme to be temporarily
dropped. Mayor Sutro and others here
who have heard of the idea have written
approvingly to Mr.. Green about it, and it
IS as timely topic now as ever, for 1t
contemplates new and permanent feature
of city and county government.
If the editor and Surveyor-General has
hobby it is this, and this is the way he
talked about it yesterday:
my plan is that of a self-supporting
farm of adequate size, which shall be
bought and provided with stock and tools
by the county or by large city like this.
Now one acre of land will easily support
five people. Winter before last this City
raised 500, 900 or so in money for the unem-
r1nUp6 and tho cnhnnlc hold oil ne
charity in providing lunches. If the City
had owned say 1000 acres of land that
$50, 900 would have done good deal toward
putting the farm into condition to use,
wouldn't it? On farm of 1000 acres 5000
people could be supported the year round.
such a place should not be called a
poor-farm. That idea and all ideas of
charity should be avoided. 1t should be
place where any man out of work, whether
he was entirely broke or not, could find
free chance to support himself by his own
efforts without expense TO anybody else.
''On such a farm fruits of all kinds, veg
etables, chickens. hogs, cattle and sucn
things could be raised. Those who worked
would produce all the staple food they
would eat and enough besides to pay for
sugar, coffee and running expenses. Do
you know that it is astonishing how little
labor, especially in this country, will pro-
duce from the ground all that a man needs
to eat, and it is astonishing how product
i've a little ground favorably situated can
be made. Chinese gardener near Colusa
sold $4,000 worth of vegetables from eight
acres of land in one year.
"With good farm provided with sleep
ing barracks and other simple means
of comfortable living there would be pro-
ductive work always waiting any one that
wanted it. If each man given employment
worked but day or two week he would
pay for his support. Even an old man
scarcely able to move around could sit
down and pull weeds from an onion bed.
"The labor that would be employed on
such public farm would not only make it
self-supporting, but it would develop, i'm
prove and beautify it. Walks, flowers and
secured with the labor not actually needed
in productive work. Expense for manage
ment need be but small and with produc-
tive land, l repeat the amount of labor
that would be eXacted would be small
Why, the County Hospital at Woodland,
in Colusa County are practically self-sup-
porting because land is worked by those
who can work.
''Let there be no charity in the spirit of
operation, and nothing penal or disgrace
full.
Let it be place where any proud and
self-respecting man could honorably and
find regular employment. Give any man
who wants employment chance to work,
and if he won't work and is no good, why,
put him to breaking rock or hang him, and
use him for fertilizer. Such place would
be general employment Office and the
best kind of one. AT such place shoe
makers, tailors and other artisans could be
given work often at their trades. 1t would
be storehouse of work for all who wanted
it and central supply of labor.
Every county and every large city
should supply such a place and plant
The unemployed would cost the COM
mdnity nothing further. Mayor Pingree's
Detroit plan is putting individual effort to
what the community should do, and it
carries with it the idea and spirit of
charity l believe this would solve the
tramp and unemployed problems. 1 be-
lieve that it is thoroughly practicable. 1t
has never been tried because it is new
thing and mankind is prone to keep on
putting the rock in one end of the sack of
wheat