The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1895-05-31
SOCIAL LIFE I'm UTAH.
The Farm Village Worthy Of
Emulation.
Advantages Of Town Life Blended with
the Charms Of Rural Existenee-An
Ideal Method Doing Away
With Farm Isolation.

Social changes of a marked character
viii be wrought by the occupation of
the arid region. In this matter also
Norman experience is luminous, says
William E. Smythe in Century. Brig
ham Young sought to found his pros
peTity not only on industrial ethics,
but also upon the happiness Of the
people. He would not tolerate idle
ness, and the walls Of cobblestoDes still,
standing in the older portions Of Salt
Lake city we're invented that the
church might pay for the labor of men
who would otherwise have been TEN.
porarily supported by charity. As a
means of furnishing entertainment,
various diversions we're planned, in
Guiding the Saturday night dance. led
by the bishops of the wards.
The leaders wisdom is almost as
clearly exhibited in his social scheme
as in his plan Of industry. The central
idea in it was the farm-village. A vii
lage site, generally a half-mile square,
is selected in the midst of tract Of
five thousand or six thousand acres to
be colonized. In Utah there are many
small valleys between the towering
mountains, and the village site is gem
orally located near the center of the
valley, and near the river from which
the water is diverted into canals on
each side at sufficient elevation to
command the irrigable lands. The half
square mile is then laid out into
blocks Of four acres, with broad ave-
nues between, and the blocks are divi-
ded into lots of an acre each. On these
acre lots the farmers have their homes.
Here also are their cOmmodious barns.
Here they have their poultry and swine,
while considerable space is devoted to
market garden. The farmer then has
his farm on the outlying lands, which
are divided into lots ranging from two
acres up to twenty acres.
From the public park in the center
to the farthest outlying farm is only
two and half miles. Most farmers ira
verse a much shorter distance to reach
the farm from their homes. On the
other hand, the women and children
enjoy the important advantage of hav-
ing near neighbors, while the church,
school, stores and postOff1ce are near
at hand. Under this system the advan-
tages of town life are blended to very
considerable degree with the charms
of rural existance. 1t is a system full
of delightful possibilities. The Nor
mons have realized its substantial ad-
Vantages in neighborhood association;
but their model will be much improved
upon by many colonies of more recent
establishment. Farm life under the
old conditions has involved isolation.
The hunger for human sympathy and
company has driven thousands from
the country to cities already over
crowded This factor is responsible for
many a social tragedy, as we'll as for
the problems which have arisen in con-
gested city populations.
There is no reasons why farm villa
ges patterned after those Of Utah
should not have a social life and an
outward beauty quite as pleasing as,
for instance, the suburbs of Boston.
There the architecture seems almost
uniformly pleasing. Attractive lawns,
with trees, vines and flowers, are every
where. People of small means will be
able to surround themselves with SINH
lar advantages in the farm villages of
the arid region, while realizing all the
benefits of independence and equality
inseparsble from the industrial scheme
of irrigation.