The Alaska daily empire., 1918-12-27
Secretary Lane in his An- nuaI Report Devotes Much Space to
 Problem.
ARE FROM THE FARMS
The Secretary Shows That Many of Them Will Want to Return to the
 Land Again.


 tary Franklin K. Lane in his annual report to Congress deals in detail with the problem of looking after the soldier when he is discharged.
 By systematic Government deyel- opment of idle lands, said MT Lane. there will be provided immediate jobs for these men, labor markets will be protected against possible collapse by being swamped with surplus Of labor, re-established industries will be supplied with an immediate de mand for their products, the move ment of population to cities will be checked, many "best proven Ameri- cans" will be affixed permanently to agricultural occupations, and great areas of land now neglected and valueless will be brought into use.
 After a soldier has returned to his home, said MT. Lane, if his old position is not open and he wishes to turn to an independent life there would be laid before him a number of projects which the Government had undertaken in the different sec tions of the country. Let us assume no more than three, one an irrigation scheme, another drainage project a third the development of body of cut-over lands. The one would need to have great dams constructed to impound and divert waters, hydro-electric plant, miles of canals and tunnels, perhaps, thousands of acres to be cleared and leveled, fenc- ed and broken. This would mean years of work at good wages, work in the open under housing conditions that would seem palatial to the sol dier of the trench, and at the end a piece of land on which would be erected a house and barn, a farm house in group of farm homes. For this he must pay. But already ta las received wages out of which Il oan heve saved the necessary first i.s 4lllacnt on lis place of 10 or 15 -rr c7pt. Tho balance with interest he e ~n-' n 40 yearly installments, O. ear,ic: if 70 can"
 N-r. -.1:la estimfted that more than one ti.irI, proDably nearer one half, of the American troops in Europe come from farms, and probably would wish to return to the agri' cultural work. Care should be ta- ken, however, he said. that the Gov ernment in selling farms to these men, limit the size and impose re strictions to prevent their being az gregated into great estates.
 Turning to the question of cost Secretary Lane said this would be "As much as we wish to spend less than many a strike has cost this country"
 We have spent largely for this war and largely we must spend foI many years to come. We are to econ omize that we may meet our debts; this must be the National policy. But to stop growth is not economy. Tt stand paralyzed in the presence of debt is to become it's victim. England is planning in the hundreds of mil lions of pounds sterling for housint , and land schemes. Canada with lesi than 100000 people is offering tt leach man 160 acres of land and $2, , 300 with which to improve it. Sure 1 ly the United States. which has ec l capped with so slight a compartiv' !. loss in life, will not do less.
 There can be no surer insuranc' J for the Nation than to put its mel upon the soil, and there can be m wiser investment that nation cal
 make than to add to its territory b, , taking from desert and waters an'
 desolation land that 1t now useless.
 Mir. Lane declared that in tn United States there are more thai 2o0,0O0.000 acres of waste land whicl can be made into farms.
 Appropriations of only few mi lions are needed to start. said tn
 Secretary A bill for this purpose a
 ready is pending in Congress, an