Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1909-09-09
RACK No THE FARAf.

experiment. 1t will be the business
Of the commission to secure tracts Of
! land in the country whore the poor
| in the congested districts Of the city
may be established on farms. "BacE
| to the land!" has long been tne cry
OF some Of the most ardent social
reformers. Here is the opportunity
But will the poor be willing to go!
And, having gone, will they be will
ing and able to stay?
Already, here and there, similar
experiments have been tried Nearly
hundred years ago private philan'
thropy in Holland established home
colonies for the poor. The land
chosen was of poor quality. So al
the start the experiment was handi-
capped. For many years It contin'
ued, however, and, finally, IT was ac-
cepted as a failure and turned over
to the Government. Under the Gov
eminent the results were not much
more satisfactory. The tendency on
the part Of those assisted seemed to
be to lie down on the authorities and
to take what they could get.
Greater success seems to have at
tended the Imperial Farm Settle
ments" in Australia, which gives
houses and farms to impoverished
families. And in France, the num-
cipal colony system, established less
than twenty years ago, has given
some exceedingly gratifying results.
In England and in this country the
most notable work Of the kind has
been done by the Salvation Army.
The reports are not detailed enough
to justify generalizing with regard to
success or failure; but the evidence
seems to point to enough success to
keep the work going. And there are
special cases where the success mas
been remarkable. On smaller
scale is the work Of the United Jew
ish Charities of New York, which
sends the poorer Jewish immigrants
to the lands in the West and South,
to enable them to escape from the
terrible over-crowding in the East
Side, where they are tempted to re-
main.
The work seems to offer a solu-
ton of the problem of poverty in
cities. Economically, it looks per-
fectly sound. But the problem has
certain human bearings that are up
setting. If people starve in the cities,
then, if they can, they ought to go to
the country, where with industry,
they may live in comfort. No rea-
soning could be simpler-or more
impractical. The fact Is that many
people hate the country, and are ut
terly untitled for country life. Con-
slider, for example, the Irish immi-
grants, those of pastoral traditions
Their very traditions make them
hate the country all the more. They
associate the country with oppre-
sion and starvation and squalid dis
comfort. To them the city is fairy
land, with people all about for COM
pany, with the golden door of oppor-
tunity ready to open at their knock.
Then, too, the city means politics!
And what is life in the country COM
pared with politics? 1t is the abom-
nation of desolation. AS for the
Jews, what has the country 70 offer
them? 1t means isolation from busi-
ness, perhaps enforced association
with people OF alien faith and habits
Of life. 1t is hard TO believe that the
Jews can ever become extensive col
onizers on farms.
The immigrants. who belong to the
nations, on the other hand,
need little or no help. The scandi-
navians make excellent farmers, and
on coming here readily find employ
ment. The Germans too, can take
care of themselves. 1t is the people
who do not know how to farm ana
are unsuited to farming who viii be
encouraged to go to the new farm
districts. 1t is to be assumed that
they will be properly instructed IN
their new and varied work. But viii
manage to overcome the
instinct that makes them love the life
Of the city?