The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-08
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL :.
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN, Director,
Washington. d. c.
LAND AND THE COST OF I1vING.
1.-THE Californis Plan.
Washington. D. C.

1.-THE California Plan.
Washington, D.. c.. Nov. 5.--If you
want to be a farmer, you should be
able to obtain a farm at a price that
will allow you to make a fair return
on your investment. Eou should be
able to get longtime credit in making
the purchase, SO that you will ret have
to own large capital In order to get
land. The best scientific assistance
and advice should be given you in your
effort to make a living, and help feed
the nation. You should be assured Of
the labor that you will need in your
to market the product OF your farm at
a fair price.
These conditions are essential if the
greater United States which will be
after the war is TO fend itself; if food
shortage and high living cost are to be
avoided.
The colonies of the California land
settlement board, which have been
put in successful operation within the
past year. represent an effort to place
farming~upon this sound basis The
plan is one which has proved success
full in Australia. 1t forms basis Of
a national plan of iapd settlement,
ment of the interior. which is intended
to provide farms for soldiers. and to
begin a system of ordered rural de-
velopment in the United States. Dr.
Elwood Meade, who is chairman of
the California board. has been called
to Washington by the secretary of the
interior and is working out the details
Of this plan, which will be laid before
congress as one of the most important
measures of reconstruction. His re-
port on the California settlement.
which has just been laid before the
governor of that state, begins with
the following paragraph:
1.-THE California land settlement act
provides fof demonstration in
planned rural development. Instead
OF leaving things to happen and then
correcting conditions when they hap
pen badly, this state seeks, thru this
act, to create organized rural neigh.
borhoods in accordance with caref ally
thought-out plans. Its first idea,
therefore, is educational, to show
what democracy in action can accom-
plish."
In other words. California deIiber-
ately set out to show the nation how
this problem of getting the land Gull
lyated thoroly and we'll might be
solved by taking thought and exer-
clsing Justice. In1smuch as it's set
tlemeft at Durham is a recognized
success, and similar settlements are
belng planned, 1t claims to have ac.
complished this. The present admin
lstration recognizes the success to the
extent of calling the chairman of the
California board into consultation
with a view to adapting this Cali
fornia- Australia plan to the needs of
the nation.
In brief this is what the California
land settlement board did 1t pur-
chased tract Of land (between 1000
and 5000 acresl, subdivided 1T into
farms and smaller subdivisions TO
form homes for laborers, cleared ana
1enced these lands, provided irriga-
ton facilities, built houses. and barns.
planted crops and offered the farms
Tor sale at prices based upon the pro-
ducing power of the land, and upon
terms which provided that the pur-
chaser pay 5 per cent Of the value of
the land and 40@per cent of the value
of the improvements, and had twenty
years in which to pay the remainder.
Having installed the farmer upon
his farm under these relatively favor
able conditions, the state of California
does not leave him to his fate. It has.
in the first place, insured him sup
ply of labor by providing homes for
the laborers where they may live in
dependent and comfortable lives. In
the second place, thru it's state agri-
COlcS0 anu Lie OulleQ states
department of agriculture, it offers
him the best scientific advice upon
farming matters, and uses its influence
to see that this advice is complied
with. 1t also shows the fafmers how,
by organizing their colony as a unit
for the purpose of marketing their
product. they can obtain fair prices
for the same. In return for these ad-
vantages, the settler has to comply
with certain conditions. He must be
citizen of the United States, or have
declared his intention of becoming
one. and the boArd reserves the right
to reject any application for a farm
that it sees fit to reject. The settler
must actually live upon his farm, and
must begin his residence within six
months. He may not have more than
one of the allotments. He must Gull
tlvate the land IN a manner approved
by the board and must keep all inn
provements in good order, and insured.
He cannot sell the place for five years,
board.
If the settler does not live up to
these conditions, the contract between
him and the state becomes void, and
he amounts he has paid are consid-
erred as rental for his occupancy.
In substance, the board provides
farmers with farms upon which they
can work with profit. It gives them
every assistance in doing so. In re-
turn, it demands that the farmer must
be responsible and capable person,
and that he must really desire to live
upon and cultivate his farm, not mere
ly acquire it for speculative purposes.
The provision of small plots of land
and houses for farm laborers is one
of the most interesting in the Cali
fornia plan. Right now the difficulty
of farmers all over the United States
is that they cannot obtain labor Every
working man has gone to the cities.
This is not matter, for surprise when
| the conditions Of farm labor in this
| country are realized. The typical
hired man" has no home, and little
| chance to acquire one. He is under
paid and has little chance of lettering
| his condition. Under the California
| plan the hired man obtains a house
| in which to live and a plot of ground
| upon which he may raise enough for
| his own needs. He has the essentials
| of independence. He is not at the
mercy of his employer. On the other
hand, he is permanently located, and
The employer may count upon his
\ or 70 ~