New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1916-11-29


lGO TO 1T, MINNESOTA,
is THE LATEST ADVICE
eco to it, Minnesota" Under the
above caption, the Minneapolis Tribune
points out the benefits to be derived
from amendment No. 1, to the State
Constitution, adopted at the last cleo
ton. The Tribune's editorial says:
Cannot Minnesota now take advantage
OF an unusual demand for farm lands
under such legislation" as is to follow the
adoption OF Amendment No 1?
1t is predicted BY Mr.. Howe, United
States commissioner of immigration, that
the United States will become an "emi-
grant rather than an immigrant
nation after the war. He predicts a
great exodus of aliens from this country
to Europe. He has taken the view from
the beginning, contrary to that enter
tanned by many others, that the war
would reduce rather than increase i'm
migration. He is now ready to predict
emigration. He finds the reason in the
prospect of great opportunities for labor
in Europe after the war and the disap-
pointments of farm workers Who come to
the United States to acquire land for
themselves but have found the price too
high and the conditions of purchase too
difficult: Many Of these have, however,
found employment at good wages and
are preparing, he Says, to return with
their savings to invest in their native
countries. ~
Support for this theory is found in the
fact reported by the, New X ork World
that 100000 steerage tickets have
already been sold to aliens who plan to
return to Europe as soon as the war is
over. These are largely of the agricul-
trral class and their departure would
further restrict an already insufficient
farm labor supply. ,;ss
Something ought to be done to check
this threatened movement. One effort
in that direction is a plan recently in
augurated by the Union Pacific railroad,
which is proposing that qualified resident
immigrants may obtain a tract of go
acres of irrigated land with farm build
ings already provided and purchasable
by ten annual installments, the first of
which is payable only after crop is
harvested. 1t is expected that these
liberal terms will induce many who would
otherwise be going back to Europe to
remain in America and become producers
of field crops.
Minnesota is about to begin, under
Amendment No. /, improvement of it's
own lands as means of attracting sett-
lers ana developing the resources of the
state. 1t is able to offer better pro-
position than the Union Pacific railway
in that after the initial payment of Is
per cent, with interest for one year at
4 per cent, the buyer may retire the
balance at his pleasure within period
OF 40 years, deferred payments bearing
the low interest rate of d per cent. Per-
haps even these liberal terms ought to
be made easier. That will bear con-
sideration.
Ii it be true that considerable numbers
OF farmers are leaving the United States
through inability to acquire land at
moderate prices and On easy terms, it
would seem as if the state of Minnesota
had peculiar opportunity here to secure
settlers and enhance the value of it's
lands, by legislation calculated to make
Minnesota state land attractive to
thousands of farmers who might other
wise be unable to acquire farms for
themselves. If this matter is managed
wisely, we believe that the new authority
conferred by Amendment No. l may be
so employed as to give wonderful
stimulus to the settlement and develop
ment of the state. 1t may be worth
while for the state authorities to ascer-
tain where these hundreds of thousands
OF returning aliens are to be found and
to lay before them the extraordinary
opportunities which this state is able to
offer. 1t will probably be found that in
very many cases there is among this
multitude of prospective emigrants a
very large percentage of those. who are
peculiarly adapted to the making OF
farms out of such lands as the state has
to SELL