St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1919-02-22
Tells How Valuable Home
May Be Acquired With
No Money In Hand.
WORK GIVEN TO
EARN FIRST PAYMENT
Farm Stocked and Crops
Rlanted When Posses
sion Taken.
ey There! Do You Want

Hey There! Do You want
Home On a Farm?"
This is the unique title Of little
booklet which the Secretary OF the
Interior, with the active cooperation
Of the War and Navy Departments
is sending to the various camps o1
the army, navy, and marine corps
throughout the country to ascertain
the attitude of the men toward hlf
plan for providing them with worn
and homes on reclaimed land.
The booklet is in the form Of ques-
tions and answers which give com
plete and concise description or the
plan, and also has attached to 1t a
post card QUESTIONABLE which the
men are asked to fill out and mail to
the Department. Each man inter
ested will be asked to state his name
home address, age, occupation before
enlistment, whether he has ever
worked on a farm, whether he is in
terested in the plan, what kind OF
farming he would like to follow
whether general, live stock, truck, OF
fruit, and whether he would be WILL
ing to take a job in his own State or
anywhere in the United States If a
lob on one of these proposed pro-
jects is offered to him.
A tabulation of the replies will be
presented to Congress in connection
with Secretary Lanes request for an
initial appropriation Of 500, 100000
to begin construction on meritorious
projects throughout the United
States.
The questions and answers in the
booklet are as follows:
Work And Homes For Our Fighting
Men.
@. What do you mean, work and
homes?
A. Just this. There is bill now
before Congress asking for an ap-
preparation of 500, 100000, which,
if passed, will enable the Interior
Department to begin work at once
developing cooperative farm settle
ments for soldiers and sailors in all
or nearly all of the States.
O. Who will get the farms?
A. Those who create them by
working or draining, clearing, irri-
eating, and improving the lands.
". Will all get ldfmS
A. That depends on the amount
of land reclaimed.
@. Is this plan only for men who
have been across?
A. No. 1t is for all of the men
who have worn Uncle Sans uniform
in the great war.
@. Where is this land located?
A. In practically every State in
the Union there are large areas of
this land. 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 loggedoff timber land,
from which it 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.
@. Could l get a job near my old
home?
A. Probably you could. These
These proposed settlements are scat
tered all over the country, and it is
planned to have one in each State, 1t
Congress provides the money for the
construction.
@. How about wages?
A. You would be paid fair wages
by the Government while doing this
work-just as good wages as you
would be able to get in outside work
of like character.
@. Would l be enlisted?
A. No. The work is only for the
men who have been honorably dis
charged from the service.
@. What kind of work Is it?
A. The Government will have
work of all kinds in connection with
these settlements, from the highest
technical and clerical positions to
that Of labor.
@. Now, how about getting a
home out Of this?
A. After you have helped build
the dams and canals, or cleared the
cut-over land Of stumps, or built the
bitches to drain the swamp land;
after you have helped to erect houses
and barns, built fences, constructed
roads, and laid out town sites, built
creameries, canneries, warehouses,
schools, etc, after you have, in fact,
actually reclaimed the land, the Gov
ernment will allow you to pick out
one Of these farms planted in crops.
Q. Does the Government give me
this farm for nothing?
A. No And you wouldn't want
the Government to do it. The plan
is to arrange for you to pay for your
farm home in small payments over a
long term of years. with interest