The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1918-02-15

land this country entered upon new
social and economic era. Free land
has furnished an open road to econo-
mic independence. This road has been
closed and nothing has been devised
to take its place. Privately owned
lands have risen rapidly and con-
tinuously in price. On an average,
| farming lands of the United States
sell nearly three times as much as
they did in the opening year of this
century In 1900 the average price
was SIS an acre. In 1915 it was es-
timated by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture to be more than
! S43 an acre. This increase in the
cost of land is accompanied by a
corresponding increase in the cost
of equipment and the expenses of
operation. The cost of several typi
cal farms in Iowa, used in discussing
results of leasing land in that State,
varied from S5O,775 to s24,SS2. The
value of equipment varied from S9.05
an acre to S632 an acre.
Recruits From Asia
The American farm laborer is
disappearing. In many sections he
is being Disseminated against be-
cause he is too independent. Land
owners are seeking men with low
standards of living but familiar with
hard bodily toll. What we want de-
clared q recent conference, SIS farm
labor weak in the head but strong
in the knees and this want is being
filled by recruits from Asia or the
| Balkan peninsula, who may be good
/ laborers but who do not contribute to
the political or social strength of the
nation. Immediate corrective action
should be taken to prevent the ex-
/ tension of this. American rural life
cannot retain its hopefulness and in
I dependence if it is to become a great
/ pool wherein are dumped people who
/ labor without ambition, without any
/ agreement as to the standards of
/ life, or any interest in our political
institutions.
in too many of the newer rural
districts Of America there is less
| social progress than in some of the
older European countries. We are do
n 70 In IL
who have industry and thrift and
but little else to buy and improve
farms. The Importance of this can
hardly be overestimated. The ex-
perience of the world indicates clearly
that the best farms, the most con-
tented people and the most stable
political conditions are found where
farmers own the houses they live in
and the land they cultivate Those
who realize the full significance of
these facts believe that our indiffer-
ent attitude toward the social prob
lens of the farm must be abandoned
and that in order to hold young peo-
pie on the farms we must plan a
rural development which will pro-
vide economic, intellectual and social
opportunities at least equal to those
Of other countries.
Must Own Land
"The economic foundation of this
planned rural development is the
ownership of the land by those who
cultivate it. Let us grant that ten
antry cannot be wholly abolished; but
it should be regarded as undesirable
and should be recognized only as a
stepping stone to ownership. Only
those who live under their own vine
and fig tree realize the full value
of rural life. The most satisfactory
progress and the greatest advances
in agriculture are found where pa
triotism has it's roots in the soil.
"In no direction could the Federal
Agricultural Department and the
State agricultural colleges render
greater service than in helping to
create institutions which would pro-
mote farm ownership by families of
limited capital. Such institutions
would insure an environment which
would make agricultural instruction
more fruitful. 1t is not enough to
give the farmer good advice and ig-
more his inability to act on it. To
the farmer struggling to earn bare
living good advice often becomes a
source of irritation; it aggravates his
helplessness. The tenant with a one
year lease has no reason to rotate
crops or to maintain soil fertility.
What's the use of advising me to
feed hay to livestock, said sorely
harassed homesteader when | haven't
|