New-York tribune., 1918-06-13
The Soldier at the Wars End
Secretary Lane Draws Attention to the Millions of
Undeveloped Acres Which Might Provide
Homes for Them
(A Memorandum to the Pres;dent.)

r. BELIEVE the time has come when we
should give thought to the preparation
of plans for providing opportunity for
our soldiers returning from the war.
At the close of the Civil War America
faced somewhat similar situation. But,
fortunately, at that time the public domain
offered opportunity to the home returning
soldiers The great part the veterans of
that war played in developing the West is
one of our epics. The homestead law had
been signed by Lincoln in the second year
of the war, so that ont of our wealth in
veterans 1t was also the era of transcon-
t;nental railway construction.
We do not have the bountiful public do
main of the sixties and seventies. In a lit
eral sense, for the use of it on generous
scale for soldier farm homes as in the six
ties, "the public domain IS gone" The Off
cial figures at the end of the fiscal year
June 80, 1917 show this. We have unap-
propriated land in the continental United
States to the amount of 230,657,755 acres.
1t is safe to say that not one-half Of this
land will ever prove to be cultivabe in any
sense.
While we do not have that matchless pub
lie domain of '65 we do have millions of
acres Of undeveoped lands that can be
made available for our home coming SOL
diers. We have arid lands in the West; cut
over lands in the Northwest, Lake States,
and also swamp lands in the Middle West
and South, which can be made available
through the proper development. Much of
this land can be made suitable for farm
homes if properly handled. But it will re-
quire that each type of land be dealt with
in its own particular fashion.
Looking toward the construction of addi-
tional projects, am glad to say that plans
and Investigations have been under way for
some time. survey and study has been in
the course of consummation by the Recla-
nation Service on the Great Colorado
Basin. That great project, believe, will
appeal to the new spirit of America. 1t
would mean the conquest of an empire in
the Southwest. 1t is believed that more
than three millions of acres of arid land
could be reclaimed by the completion Of the
Upper and Lower Colorado Basin projects
The amount of swamp and cut-over lands
in the United States that can be made avail
able for farming is extensive. Just how
much there is has never been determined
with any degree of accuracy. Practically
all of 1t has passed into private ownership.
For that reason. in considering its use, it
would be necessary to work out a policy
between the private owners and the govern
ment. unless the land was purchased. 1t
has been estimated that the total area of
swamp and overhowed lands in the United
States is between seventy and eighty mill
ion acres. Of this amount it is stated
that about "sixty million acres can he re-
claimed and made profitable for agriculture"
The amount of cut-over lands in the
United States, of course, it is impossible
even in approximation to estimate. These
lands, however, lie largely in the South
Atlantic and Gulf States, the Lake States
and the Northwestern States. a rough csti-
mate of their number is about two hundred