Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1919-02-11
riehty OF Good Lands at Low Prices
hight Here in Marathon County

what to do with the returning col
olers, how to arrange things so that
they may quietly fit into civil life and
without disturbing Industrial condi-
tons unduly, is a problem that is at
traeting the best thought of the conn-
try. and also some that is otberwisa
1t is big problem. OF the thons-
| anus OF young men who will return
uuring the next few months, many
WI hesitate to begin where they left
oH. new ambitions have been aroused
nor would it be to the best interests CT
the country to attempt to check these
anDltlons. these new aspirations.
whlch are an indication of higher
loeals and in themselves are COM
mendable.
We must not lose sight of the fact
ehat each of these returning soldiers
Is an individual, with individual tastes
ana Ieanings and abilities, and that
each must be treated as an individual
ana that he can only be aided in an
individual way.
Thls is lost sight of apparently by
the majority of those who have at
tempted to give advice as to how
Inls problem is to be met and solved.
Ihe dominant idea is to view them
as groups, in units of hundreds or of
thousands. and by this group method
TO provide them with EMPLOYMENT.
IL mas been suggested that the un-
productive lands of the country can
: De reclaimed by the labor of returned
soldiers, and that arrangements be
made so that ultimately each of those
who engage in this work will come in
TO possession of farm. For this
procedure there could be but one ex-
cuSe. IL in the transition from a war
to a peace basis it should develon
that there were great numbers of men
without employment, the government
would be justified in regarding this as
a necessary war movement and in
spending public funds to prevent gen.
eral 1dleness and the roaming through
the country of bands of idle men. and
with the thought ever in mind that as
last as circumstances would warrant
the men so employed would be re-
leased and encouraged to enter into
the ordinary civil life of the nation.
That there will be a great movement
towards the acquisition and cultiva-'
ton OF lands, beginning with this year
and for many years to follow, no one
can doubt, but if so, why squander
money in draining swamps or irrigat-
ing deserts, as long as there are
thousands of acres of good productive
land which can be had at a much low
er figure and which can be made
to produce now, without waiting for
years?
And why pick out the soldier for
this life, regardless of whether he
wants it or not, when there are hun
dredS of thousands in industrial oc-
cupatiOns who would welcome the
chance to get out on farms and by
so doing would create vacancies that
would absorb many of these returning
soldiers.
The real trouble why these people
do not leave the cities and seek farms
is that they lack the necessary capi-
tai, and this is going to be the prob
lem that will deter many of the sol
diers from attempting this work, no
matter how much they might prefer
it.
If one-fourth the money was prop
erly expended in giving assistance to
those who are in a measure able to
help themselves in getting a farm as
is contemplated being wasted in drain
age and irrigation projects, and if this
money could be expended in such a
way as to aid in erecting buildings
and purchasing stock for new settlers,
with long time in which to repay it,
and the whole to be secured by the
land on which the improvements are
made, allowing the settler to purchase
where he desires.
1t would be no trick at all in the
next five years to put four thousand
families on land, now not utilized, in
Marathon county alone, if there was
some proper way in which these farm
ers could be financed. These would
not be paupers. They would be people
who have accumulated from $500 to
$4,000, and which they would be will
ing to pay down on the land if they
could see their way clear to ultimate
success. In this county today there
are thousands of acres of the very
best lands that are lying idle. that can
be bought cheaply, and which would
insure a living to the ordinary family
from the very start, providing the