Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-05-16

Washington, May 16.-With an
ever-increasing flood of men return
ing home from the war to take up
anew the tasks of civil life, many
of them with greatly changed ideas
of life and ambitions and in guam
dary as to just what to do, are
appealing to the Department of the
Interior for information as to the
intentions of the government in it's
proposed plan of providing farms
for soldiers.
Such a deluge of requests has
been received from the men who
wore the uniform as to emphasize
the lesson of all other wars that
the service men, because of army
life, with its opennesS and activity,
largely seek out-of-doors vocations.
The Interior Department has al
ready explained to more than 4O,-
600 men that the development of it's
plans rests solely with Congress. 1t
is expected that early in the extra
session which convenes May 10,
there will be introduced bills COW
ering the farms-for- r-soldiers plan.
Development Plan
Briefly the department is saying
that, if such legislation is passed,
work will begin at once in the de-
velopment of cooperative farm set
Elements for soldiers and sailors in
nearly all of the States. In prac-
tically every State in the Union
there are large areas of land suit
able for this purpose. There is dry
land in the West that needs water,
which can be provided by building
dams and canals. In the East are
large areas of cut-over or 1ogged-off
timber lands from which 1T will be
necessary to blow the stumps and
clear off the underbrush. In the
South is a large amount of cut-over
land and swamp land which must be
drained.
Many of the soldiers have asked
If it will be possible for them to
obtain n job near their homes by
draining, clearing. irrigating and
improving these lands. That again
depends upon the action of Con-
gress in providing the money for
construction. The plans propose that
these settlements be scattered all
over the country, so that 1t would
be possible for every honorably dis
charged soldier or sailor or marine
to work near his old home. Thens
would be work of all kinds in con-
nection with these settlements, from
the highest technical and clerical
positions to that of laborer.
The plan involves the new farm
idea" in that there will be built
what are known as community set
Elements, each containing a NUMBER
of farm homes, so that the men
will have near neighbors, good roads
over which to bring their produce TO
town, and a market for the sale OF
the produce within a short distance
of the farm home. Efforts VIII pe
made to overcome the handicaps OF
farm life that are driving the peo-
pie to the cities-the lack of society
in the country. the distance between
farm homes, the remoteness from
the post office and the newspaper,
the desire for better school faclll-
ties for the children. Under the new
way there will be the farm village,
the settlement of farmers around a
center which is their home, in whlch
can be gathered most of the adVan-
tages of the city-the good school,
the church. the moving picture, the
well-outfitted store, and these. with
good roads, the rural express, the
telephone. the autom obile and the
most office will make life on the
farm a thing of far different mean
inp from the isolated life it has
been.
MAY Select Farm
After these service men have
built the dams and canals, or clear
ed the cut-over land of stumps, or
built the bitches to drain the swamp
lands; after they have helped to
erect houses and barns, built fences,
constructed roads and laid out town
sites built creameries, canneries,
warehouses and schools, after they
have in fact reclaimed the land, the
government intends to allow the
men to pick out one of these farms.
The plan provides that these farms
and homes shall be paid for in small
payments over long term of years.
1t is expected that the men will be
able to pay the first small payment
out of the wages received from the