The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-11-22
Farms for Soldiers :.
By Frederick J. Haskin

When the war is over and an army
of somewhere between 1000, 600 and
100000 is discharged, what will be
done with these men? The man who is
now leaving his job to go to war may
be told with some assurance that when
he comes back his government will do
its best to help him make u living, and
that in all probability he will be offered
an opportunity to get a piece of land
and become a farmer. At any rate,
the Department of Agriculture Is un-
officially known to be studying the
problem of how to put the returned
soldiers upon the land.
Fifty and even 25 years ago the pro-
blem would have been easy, for the
American people owned an immense
body Of public land, most of which was
arabic. There is law which provides
that if a soldier takes up q homestead
the time which he serves in the Army
counts as time Of cccupany toward
giving him ownership of the land. pro-
vided he liYes on the land one year, but
the only public lands remaining are q
few arid tracts in the Far West. The
free land, which for many generations
did more than anything else to make
the American citizen a free man. is a
thing of the past.
The government, for long time, has
been unable to give land to its citizens,
because it has had no good land to give
Nov it is faced with the problem of
providing an occupation for several
million men which it has wrenched out
of their usual occupations for the pur-
pose of making war 1t cannot shirk
the problem. To let these men &C
cumulate in the big cities would be an
obvious mistake. They could not pos
sbly all find places.
Furthermore, it is known that
soldiers do not take kindly to routine
indoor employment. Many thousands
who left desks and counters with re-
luctance will go back to them still more
reluctantly. Experience shows that
man VINO has once tasted fresh air and
action, even in so hard calling as war,
is untitled for the grind of industrial
life.
The government, therefore, wants to
find a way to provide its soldier citizens
with land, even though it has none left
to give. There is already large class
of people in this country who own no
real propertY-who have no real share
in the nation. This of course, is not
desirable condition.
If, then, these millions of ex-soldlers
cannot be placed on the land, the ex-
class will be increased con-
and so will the social dis
content which arises from this class.
If, on the other hand, each of these
men can be provided with a bit of land.
the appropriated class and the discomfort
will be CORRESPONDENCE diminished.
The scIentlnc experts IN the employ |
of the government, who commonly
retain their places while administrations |
come and go, have seen the growing
of the land question for
some years, and have gathered some
facts and figures as to the amount and
ownership of land in the United States.
These data now have new significance
and interest.
There is widespread popular belief
that LAND monopoly" exists in the
United States. 1t is notable that the
breaking of this monopoly is a plank in
the platform Of q new political party,
more radical t. either of the now
dominant oncs, mich was recently