Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-26
TO COLOMBO LANDS
BILL TO CREATE A BUREAU OF
COLONIZATION TO BE INTRO.
DucED IN CONGRESS.
Measure Suggested by Commander
Booth Tucker of the Salvation Army
Had Approval of Senator Hanna y
Government to Assist Settlers.

~ SASAeS o SO1OulLdllOu
and to provide for advances to actual
settlers on the public domain is the
object of a bill formulated by Com
mander Booth-Tucker of the Salvati ton
army and which it is expected will
soon be presented to congress. While
the bill is in no sense a Salvation Ar
my measure, Mr.. Tucker states that
he is deeply impressed with the enor-
nous advantages of a systematic plan
for colonization and prepared to do all
in his power to assist such a scheme.
1t is said that the bill has been care
fully supervised by some of the best
legal experts who are familiar with
the latest phases of irrigation, reclaim
alton and homestead legislation. The
bill was submitted to Senator Hanna a
few days before his last illness and
not only met with his cordial approval
but after reading it over carefully he
spontaneously offered to introduce it
in congress. This was considered
the more gratifying as the senator had
been familiar with the Salvation Army
colonies for some years.
Summary of the Bill.
The proposition is briefly:
The formation of a Colonization Blu
reau, under the direction of commits
sioner of colonization, in connection
with the department of the interior
The collection by the bureau of re-
liable information for would-be set
tiers
The advance to bona fide settlers of
from $500 to 81, 800 in cash or materi-
ais, for the purpose of enabling worthy
but poor families to make homes for
themselves upon the land.
The issue of 3 per cent fifty year
gold bonds to the amount of $50, 900 900
not more than $5,OOO,OOO to be issued
per year, for such colonization pur-
poses.
The establishment of bona fide
worthy families on farms which are
not to exceed forty acres irrigated.
and eighty acres non-irrigated land, to
be paid for in easy installments.
Approved by Convention.
The main outlines were carefully ex-
planned at last years irrigation con
gress, and met with the hearty appro-
baton of that body which included
delegates from twenty-six different
states, the governors of California. wy
oming and Idaho, several members Of
congress. thirty of the government
reclamation engineers and many 9TH
er distinguished persons.
1t is claimed that the only way that
the congestion in the larger cities can
be relieved is to furnish assistance to
the worthy poor who would willingly
make homestead entry on public lands,
and that efforts of private parties Oh
a small scale have shown that with a
little assistance in money and other
wise successful colonies can be estab-
lished on the public lands and that the
money so advanced will be repaid with.
out loss.
Objects of the Bill.
The objects of the bill as explained
in the circular are as follows:
In the words of President Roose-
velt's recent message 10 congress, to
Give every man who wants it, chance
to get home on the land
Again quoting the Presidents words
TO check the trend of population to
the cities and turn back to the land,
and thus safeguard against one of the
greatest dangers that now confronts
us in the maintenance of the perma-
nence and stability of our political in
stitutions'
ITO place the landless man on the
manless land.
ITO place unemployed labor on un-
employed land by means of unemploy-
ed capital, and thereby convert this
trinity Of waste into a unity of pro-
duction.
ITO create what Emerson well calls
the Universal workingman,' thereby,
to use his words, Solving the problem
of life not for one but for all men,
"To mitigate the friction between
capital and labor by the provision of
what is known amongst French econo-
mists as the 'Droit au travaiP-'the
right to work
ITO assist the worthy poor without
pauperizing them. Not only would the
money advanced be repaid, but inter-
est be required. 1t would, in short,
be strictly business proposition in
which charity would cut no figure.
ITO substitute the bona fide settler
for the dummy homesteader, the spec
ulator and the land grabber.
three great grandchildren William