The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-06-22
The Correction of Land Trouble.

. Al
/ the mother of US all, and they are
/ agftattng everywhere for some direct
/ part in her bounty. This in a large
/ degree accounts for the spread of social
/ ism in England and the recent return of
| thirty members Of the Labor party 70
parliament This party is feared by both
Liberals and Tories. and il is probable
! that another general election will in
crease its parliamentary representation 10
a hundred.
In my opinion, the correction of the land
trouble lies, TO begin with. in the social
izatiOn OF land values | maintain that
given free access to the land by the com
mon people, with no favored classes, the
best form of socialism would follow nat
| ufally. SO certain am | that the land is
the basis of human welfare and deVel-
! Opment that all my social efforts in Great
Britain and in America work towards the
Increase of the land-hunger among the
people One of the best ways to encour-
age this hunger in England has seemed
to be through the starting of local colony
schemes TO train the people, and the
opening up of small holdings where indi-
Vlduals could carry into effect what they
| had learned.
began in England by purchasing out
! right number of farms i'm different
parts of the country. most of which were
abandoned to pasture and sporting. and
offered them TO various public bodies as
experiment stations. The local govern
ment board, of which Walter Long, late
secretary for Ireland. was then chair
man, authorized the acceptance of two
of the farms free of rent or interest for
[ three years. At the end of this time the
government might purchase the farms at
their original cost. or they could turn
them back on my hands if the experiment
proved a failure
Farm Labor Colonies.
The result has been that the Holleslev
Bay estate of 1900 acres in Suffolk, has
now in residence 800 unemployed London
men who are being trained as cultivatOrs
OF the soil. The government has lust
taken over and paid for this estate. fiji
teen months before the expiration of the
three years probation.
The other farm was taken over on the
same terms by che Poplar board of guar
dams representing one of the poorest and
most oYercrOwded bOrOughs of London.
1t was taken over in the hope of show
ink how city pOorhouse could be turned
into country labOr-colOny. But the pres
ent local government board of which
John Burns is now the Liberal chairman
has turned IL into something better than
country pOOThOuse. This shows want
of the right kind of intelligence and out
look on the part of the authorities In
england Is IN America there is need for
the lifelong education, not only of the
weak and unfit. but of the leaders as
well.
With one of the other farms we are
working in another and further direction.
we took go acres at Maryland, near Al
thOrne, in Essex, fifty miles from Lon
don, and divided % per cent of it into
fdTmlets of about five acres each. On
these we built well planned and tasteful
dwellings suitable for a family. Each has
an Outbuilding fitted for a COW or pony.
pigs and poultry. Two acres of each farm
was planted to fruit. and the whole is to
rent for say $50 Gl50 per year.
The Hunger for Land.
Many people, especially the landlords.
said L would not find tenants that poor
people did not want land, and did not
want TO work No advertising was done
and yet about 1000 applications were re-
ceived for the tWenty-eight small hold
ings now ready. Applications are still
coming in. and fair percentage from
people who have a capital of at least flOO
$500. There could not be a more conclu-
sive demonstration that in England there
is widespread and unsatisfied hunger
TO get back 10 the land.
In America We are moving in this same
direction of land monopoly. You can buy
large tracts of land easily, but small
pieces are always rare and expensive
We have further established al Maryland
a fifteen-acre nursery and built a large
group OF hOthOuses, where we shall grow
plants. bush fruits and trees for setting
out and for the market. The balance of
the land has been turned into a farm in
diligently managed on modern lines as
an object lesson to the small holders and
to the district in general.
Importance of Practical Teachers.
In all such educational movements p
these, the teacher is of first importance.
We have fortunately secured for May
land d man who is a practical. well-in-
formed and enthusiastic leader. He was a
Manchester printer, who ten years ago
brought his family his knowledge and his
enthusiasm into our district He came
with no knowledge of farming, but he
mastered his difficulties reared his fam
lily and got control of some land. This
10, h. 10 he 81 -
son. who has had college training I'm ag
riculture; while he devotes his energies to
our work.
brought over two French gardeners from
the neighborhoOd of Paris to teach what |
can be done in intensive market garden |
ing. Those who have read KropOtkin's |
"Fields, Factories and Workshops" will !
better understand the Importance of this.
The educational value of such an eX
pertinent is far reaching. The individ- |
uals will be working on their own hold !
ings under intelligent conditions. They 1
will have good advice and will have help /
full examples before them. They will 1
naturally cooperate in buying and sell /
ing. They are drawn from a large range 1
Of activities. and so represent wide cir
Gle of friends who will watch their for /
tunes with interest. Meantime. thought /
full people in England viii become con- /
sciOus that land has other uses than sup
porting family privileges or serving as ]
comes conscious of bad conditions, she /
will find some way TO better them.
Education of Public Opinion.
1t looks now as though this particular 4
farm at Maryland might be used for a /
more direct educational purpose than /
those l have indicated Professor ]. /
Findiay of Manchester university is now /
considering a summer school there. Chill |
dren will be taken from city centers or |
gathered from the surrounding country /
side and demonstration lessons. mainly /
out of doors, will be given to groups.
This is one of the best things about any /
form of effort that is made to educate
public opinion. 1t attracts to itself other /
educational impulses. and grows by nat /
ural processes of extension. This after
noon illustrates this process; for | am /
bringing to your university extension /
movement my little experience in extend 4
ing thought and feeling concerning the /
proper use Of our ancestral heritags the /
earth.
weather rfU1e-aVVni0p time