Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1918-12-19
PLACES FOR SOLDIERS


must be supplied for the millions of re
.rrripg American soldiers who within {
s.v months will be mustered out of the
hillary service. The task of finding {
An for each surviving man who mas &
calamity fought for his country indeed
: s4upendous and the subject is one up.
an which immediate action should be
taken. 1t is no easy matter to Absorb
into the industries of nation the mil
lions If men who have been withdrawn
from productive occupations.
If has been suggested, and the sug
oestion perhaps is wise one, that set
Element by the soldiers on public lands
should bee encouraged. Federal, state
and rreaely owned, there are in the
United states from fifteen to twenty
million acres of arid land, entirely in
the west; DDS, 100000 acres Of cut-over
timber land. and SO,OOO,O0O acres Of
swamp land. The arid land is suscepti-
bic Of irrigation. The swamp land can
be ined. The cut-over land can be
f, These huge wastes within the
United States comprise an area so ire
mendous that its size is impossible for
human comprehension.
Secretary Lane of the department of
the interior, in his annual report, dwelt
on the subject of providing public lands
for returned American soldiers, and also
in acquiring from private owners vast
areas of untitled land, chiefly in the
logged-off areas, and making available
also these lands for. settlement.
The plan is a most desirable one, so
far as development of idle lands is
concerned, but whether it would prove
a practicable one at the present time is
another question. Surely the federal
government, rather than any other
agency, should embark in the work, if it
should be found feasible. But there are
several phases to the situation, all Of
which are worthy of careful considera-
ton and are causes for deliberatiOn be
fore it can be definitely announced that
such plan is the proper one for dispos-
ing Of the great surplus Of unemployed
which we shall soon have within the
confines of the United States
Ordinarily it would be with diff
Guilty that the rank and file that CON
1rses the American army could be in
luccd to segregate itself from the thicl-
ccnters of the east aud
middle states and the Pacific coast, and
% settle down to lives Of comparative
ISOLATION Before the United States en-
cred the war, the American youth was
eluctant to leave the towns and cities
he bright lights and the frivolity incl
lent to residence in eenters of popula
ION. He would stand through the long
lay over the emery wheel in a factory,
'feaihns She poisonous dust, or work |
the torricd heat of a blast furnace,
urely for the reward of a few hours of
nsuing excitement that he would enjoy I
u he dim and calInQr Of the city, rather
han remove to the vast openness Of the I
Fest whore, though gaye'S was lacking, !
e could soon become his own master, 7
nd by persistent effort. M time enjoy +
bat most comforting Of all comforts
he assurance that he was not entirely /
ependent upon the contents Of the .
eekly pay envelope, which in no way
ould guard him from disease or acct
emit which might befall him by reason
his .rksome or hazardous occupation.
ct tbc day would come i'm his life. as
comes in the life of nearly every man
the day of wife and babes and family
lre. But alas, then it would be too
tie Burdened with cares, deficient IN
nds and lacking in self-confidence,
could not change his location ana
ter lis conditions of living, if he
ould. Such has been the youthful
istake Of many a man, who chose the
W and its ceaseless industry, rather
Ian the country with its unbounded
'portunities.
Genuine pioneering, such as our faith
and erandfathers experienced in the
'e'opmcnt Of the American wilderness,
ems to have been lost art, except in
lew communities of the far west,
mere determination to conquer the OBJ
aeies of a new country yet is in evi-
nee. Sacrifice and privation are sub
''S to which the ordinary young man
the east aud the middle west and Of
e Pacific coast was, before the war,
Si"elined to refer, and he abhorred
ought of 50 much mconveniencing
''S'H as to enter upon such a life.4
ny IN the mountain states of the west
we fund to.a particular degree Young I
RI who would shoulder the duty of
e awriqult,rruI Of harmon /