The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-06-14
A NEW ST. HELENA
continued From Page Ten :

over the complete title and free dis
poSai oi the farm as soon as the debt
IS pafd, one might at first glance he
Ieo TO conclude that the PROFITS of the
farmer are wholly at the expense of
Tie A scheme that is pure
~ p~nlianthropic cannot be expected
70 assume such Importance as to af-
Ioe. d Wnoie nation; philanthropists,
no matter how many, are too few and
no matter how rich and generous do
not nave enough money to reyolu-
Iionlze an inert, widespread social ar
Idhsenent; moreover, their work is
on personal feelings and
tendencies, and is therefore too
sporadic.and ~inconstant. The pioneer
Is ready to sacrifice comfort and ease
ecaus he has the lure Of
the pfoSpector cheerfully risks his life
searching for treasure in inhospita-
Die WlldS, because he sees riches be-
yonu the FISK; SO any man works hard
and with a light heart. when some
thing he thinks worth while is held
out TO him as a reWard-wealth,
power, glory, happiness. 1t is surely
not TO be expected that many wealthy
men would engage in the work of
colonizing the wilderness solely for
h self-sustaining purpose of bene-
fitting a few foreign peasants, who
are not at all joyfully invited to this
country.
n scheme must have cash returns
IN it In fact, at st. Helena. it does
bring handsome returns to the COM
pany, although somew hat Slow
somewhat slower to the company,
perhaps, than to the farmer. Since
SO much money! must be advanced,
the initial capital of a colonization
company must be large, and must be
all hard cash. no water" II the
capital is sufficient and we'll admins
tered, interest to satisfy the desires of
any sanguine investor will follow in
due time.
The profit in such an enterprise is
partly direct and partly indirect; this
again evident from the case of ST.
Helena The company sells at thirty
dollars an acre, land that has cost
1t seven to eight. All due outlay taken
into account, the difference between
the W prices would probably or
itself guarantee a fair margin. Com
pared with this direct profit, the in
direct is far larger. The company,
as we said, owns about 100, 900 acres,
and Of these a few thousand are
worked, while over 10000 are still
unlmprOved, In part utterly wild.
Lam Of these latter kinds has little
initial value, but its value rises raRid-
ly with the process of settling. In
the case OF ST. Helena. the various
settlements scattered in the wilder
ness I1CIOdSS the worth OF the unOC-
cdpied land around them, from the
very fact of their presence. Settle
ments mean the opening Of roads. the
extension Of railroad system, the
building Of electric car lines, the cree
ton of power-plants n factories.
AS settlements increas in number
and Importance, the remaining land
commands steadily higher prices.
The township, the county, the State,
benefit largely from such gains in
population, and this general public
advantage will again go to the profit
Of the company, through greater and
more numerous business opportuni-
ties. If the colonization were under-
taken by railroad companies, the in
direct advantages they would gain by
multiplying the xed population along
their lines, would be easy to realize.
In the case of st. Helena, the COM
pany is a link in a chain Of interests
which include railroads., car lines,
water-power plants and banking
That the scheme must actually be
profitable, evidently others also have
thought, since another company is
about to engage in a similar work in
the same State, near the Virginia line.
A New York city minister, pastor of
a Dutch Reformed church, Is active
ly interested in the plan. in which
italian help will also probably be
used. Through the influence Of the
New York Labor Information Office
for Italians, two landed proprietors,
one in Tennessee and another in
Jonesbo, Ark, hav been induced to
try the ST. Helena scheme in their
neighborhoods. The ST. Helena COM
pany itself is planning to bring up
/ the number of it's c%olonists to thou
lands in the neg future.
In conclusion, the colony of ST.
| Helena is a new device for solving a
vexed and long-standing problem. 1t
| has a ph~ilanthropic phase, but rests
on a solid business foundation. 1t IS
not the fancy of a dreamer: it con-
tains. therefore, the elements of wide
practical success, n like all enter
prises soundly based, !. is equally ad-
| yantageous to the benefited, to the
| be%nefactors, and to the community at
large.