Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-19
HOMES IN THE COUNTRY.

An intelligent writer of Maryland ad- dresses this letter to Gen. Felix Andrus, himself tiller of Gods given acres:
 Would you kindly allow me space through the columns of your widely read journal to place my views before your heving distress already existing, and in creasing annually throughout these United States? Distress and Restitution exist in all the large cities of the union Thousands of dollars are annually dis tributed all over the country, charitaDle institutions and other means of relieving this distress, but, nevertheless, the num- Der of those destitute and depending on charity is increasing. Can this state or affairs be improved upon, and 1T so' how? At least 50 per cent. of the imml- grants coming to this country were reared in agricultural districts in Eu- rope but on arriving at New York, Bos- ton, Philadelphia, New Orleans. etc.. they think no more of farming life, to whlch they were raised, but they settle Tn me already overcrowded towns and cities. Besides this, the tide of immigration, even at home here, has the wrong turn. It is from the country to the city when the reverse should be the case.
 There is hardly a state in the union which has not it's thousands or acres awaiting the care, handling ana manase- ment of the agricultural laborer. Not a state in the union but is trying to induce colonists to settle within It's borders. l know hundreds of large land owners m Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and other states, who have thousands or acres for sale and open for settlement. But they want cash for their lands, and so the land lies on their hands.
 Now supposing the state Of iMaryiand would set the ball rolling and try the fol- lowing experiment: Let her ttne slate) buy what lands she can, how she can. and at as reasonable figure as she can. Let her colonize these lands with agricul- tural laborers, not from Europe, put right here from their own Baltimore. Say for instance, the state fund in Bal timore 100 families, more or less, who are actually depending on charity for living Give each family 100 acres. more or less Build them house, give them the necessary stock and agricultural im- plements to cultivate these 100 acres, the necessary seed for the first year, build school in or for each colony, give them also medicine and medical attendance for the first year, and appoint special agent to attend to all this. Give them the pro- ceeds of their farm work the second year free and thus give them a good start. Let each family begin to pay back to the state the third year so much, the amount to be stipulated after thorough consider alton, per acre per year, as rent Tor ten years when the land shall become the property of the colonists.
 This scheme is simple, and it may be considered visionary, but I have seen 1t worked
 Each family, now almost starving, no work no home, nothing but distress and poverty on all sides, will find themselves owners of their own homes, producing all the necessaries of life. They will be away from the trials, the sickness and vicissitudes of city life. They could have their churches, their schools, their inno- cent and healthy amusements, their ,v,,,o fc md of ff0r aur6i the country life would be the desired and desirable, not the disagreeable and avoid- ed, life it is. Those now starving and depending on charity and living in idle ness and it's temptations would be pro- ducers and independent citizens. They would be living where God intended them to live-on the land which was created for their use The state would not lose a nickle by a scheme of this kind if it were carried out in a proper manner.
 If I could get land on these terms, I could myself get 800 families in either St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati. Pittsburg or Philadelphia, who were raised on farms in Europe, and who would gladly exchange the city for country life, if they only got the means to sustain them, and help them until they got on their feet. All the charity in the world will never do away with the necessity for charity. Street cleaning. public works. ice cutting, etc, as temporary relief, will be only temporary, and poverty and want will continue to exist amid plenty.-Bal- timore American.
 While not indorsing the plan above out lined, the State Herald agrees as to the necessity existing for the removal from the large cities to the country and espe- cially to a fertile soil and mild healthful climate like ours of Alabama, of families of small means conversant with cultivat- ing the soil to avoid their becoming desti- tute and a charge upon the public. The overcrowded condition of the labor mar ket in the cities in our opinion renders this prime necessity.