Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1909-05-05
BAckTo THE FARM.


the store, the factory, there comes the
demand for lands in the open country.
The immigration and colonization de-
partments of the railroads interested in
settling up the great Southwest prove
| this assertion. Each one of the last
| twelve months has brought an increased
number of inquiries from the CONNER
| cial and industrial centers Of the United
States. Where formerly more than 80
per cent. of the inquiries regarding land
came from the village postoffices and the
one third are from men in the larger
cities.
| Seekers after the cause of this growing
/ tide Of emigration from the hum and
| hustle Of city life to the restful repose of
the farm, find several reasons assigned.
| Perhaps the one thing most prominent be-
| fore those seeking the new mode OF life is
the assertion which has come from several
| investigators Of labor conditions, that
more than 90 per cent. OF the inhabitants
| of the largest cities are just three months
from starvation.
To make clearer this last statement,
such reports say that nine out OF ten men
| living in the large commercial and indus
trial centres would be ready for the bread
line within three months il they should
1 lose their positions and be unable to
obtain new ones. Statistics show that
! this nine out OF every ten would exhaust
| their savings within thirty days after
losing their positions, that they would
exhaust their borrowing power within
another thirty days, and that still another
month would place them face to face with
absolute starvation or in the beggar class.
Doubtless the publication of findings
1 like these caused thousands OF city men
to take an inventory. The bank clerk
looked things squarely in the face and
| found that the conditions fitted his case,
and he wanted to know where he could
turn and make himself more secure. The
| bookkeeper and the clerk in the store
found that they were living from hand to
mouth, as the saying goes, and they could
see no bright ray OF hope in the case of
discharge. The factory man also had to
admit that he was in the category, too.
| Where was his secure resting-place?
About the time when these sad stories
began to circulate there came the rift in
the clouds that showed the silver lining.
The tarmer-he who had been csricatured,
and worse yet, had been struggling under
! a mortgage on the home place--was be-
coming the envied OF all his fellows. His
acres were yielding beautifully ana he
was getting big prices for his products.
He was paying off the mortgage and fast
creating bank accounts. He seemed to be
on ''easy street..
kansas-poor, "bleeding Kansas was
just about to forget what mortgage meant.
They used to have them in great piles out
there, but the stacks were dwindling to
nothing. The panic late in 1907 showed
some things about Kansas and her neigh
boring states. 1t uncovered the fact that
they could furnish the necessary money
to run the nations business If the eastern
men couldn't. The farmers money came
TO the front.
Such disclosures helped to answer the
city mans question: Where can find
place that Will make the later years Of life
easys" He needed only to know where he
could get farm at low enough price and
on easy enough terms to make it possible
for him TO join the ranks Of the producers
from the soil. As is indicated by the re-
ports referred to, few city men have
enough TO go very far in the line OF real
estate buying.
Railroad systems that run through
thickly settled sections of the country
wanted all the land occupied, for that
meant the creation OF more traffic. Hence
they advertised extensively the oppor-
tunities awaiting the man who would be-
come a pioneer in these comparatively
new spots. They showed that land could
be had all the way from the cost of fling
on a government homestead to s25 an acre.
That didn't sound so very big, even to the
city chap without much savings. Surely,
he could make both ends meet and pay for
it.
The fact that land could be bought so
cheaply was a revelation TO most OF the
city men. Near their home places, they
knew, the acre price usually was several
times that asked in the new regions.
They began to figure on cost and result,
aud the movement began. Hundreds de-
cided they could make both ends meet
| until the new home was paid for, and
then they could pile up something for the
rainy day. Their experiences have tended
to stiffen the back bones of the weaker
ones, and now the tide is growing greater
every day.
Not all of the city men were attracted
sell for $50 to $50 an acre have proved the
greater magnet to many. This is accounted
for in several ways. Foremost is the fact
that they give quick returns. On some of
these lands that are practically in tropical
chimes products of the soil grow every