Evening star., 1933-10-15
BY THOMAS h. HENRY.

Twenty-Five millions with which to
lay the foundation Of q new kind Of
civilization.
Such is essentially the job Of the new
ly organized Subsistence Homestead Di-
vision of the Interior Department, which
already is deluged with projects, some
sound and some fantastic, which would
require a minimum expenditure Of So
900 ,000, 900. More are being proposed
every day.
The division faces the task of re-
opening the plugged safety valve of So
ciety, the land. Past economic depres-
sions have not been 50 serious, because
there has been . way Of escape. There
have been the unploughed prairies and
the unchopped forests. They took the
young, the strong, the adventurous.
They were q constant insurance against
any permanent stratif1cation Of society.
No Free Land Now.
Up to the present nobody has been
able to propose anything to take their
place. But there is little free land and
even II there were. there Is no demand
for the products which could be pro-
cured on it. Both the economic and the
much more complicated. The Sub
sistence Homestead Division has been
set up and provided with 325,OOO,-
600, to explore the field. The hope is
that this will prove a revolving fund;
that each experiment will pay for itself;
that the process will extend far into
the future involving the expenditure Of
many millions literally to change the
face OF civilization. The present set
up is only to start things moving. II
its experiments prove successful, it hopes
to see States, municipalities and private
industries join In the movement-the
first manifestation Of which Is the es-
tablbhment Of q model community for
unemployed miners In West Virginia.
Inc Idea, as sponsored by some Of
the Nations economists ana sociologists,
Is to provide the individual with q home
on sufficient land to produce q great
part Of the family necessities while at
the same time he holds q job and ILLS
a place in the industrial structure Of
the country. This Is just what society
has been getting away from for the
past century, and with increasing speed
during the past decade.
Plan to Restore Unit.
It is proposed to change, or to re-
store. the essential unit of society. Now
1t is the man or the woman. This Is
quite different unit-an entirely dif-
ferent animal. 50 to speak-from the
man or the woman plus land. A man
and-10-acres Is psychologically another
human nature are different for the two.
Land constitutes an impregnable wall
around individuality.
This Is like an open order advance
against the unseen enemy over the
battlefield Of depression. The machine
guns are not likely to cause such de-
struction in ranks where the soldiers
are 10 acres apart. These projects viii
not be like mill or mine communities
with the houses and plots owned by
paternalistic industries which may turn
quite unpaternalistic at any time. Nor
will they be like Soviet communities
with the land owned In common. In the
ideal arrangement. the mans land will
be as much a part Of his personality
as his clothes. It Is the reverse of
socialistic scheme. Instead Of the in
dividual becoming more and more ANAL
gamated in society, 1t Is here proposed
that he be provided with foothold
on earth where he can maintain himself
in q measure detached from society.
Back to Old Tribunal.
For the model Of government in the
first project the division has gone back
to the New England town meeting
which seems ideally adapted for such .
scheme. This is not representative
but q direct form Of government. The
individual represents himself In the tri-
bunal which has the final voice In what
Is to be done. He Is q member Of his
own congress. Every farm, IN the old
Saye >uas q e{ota and ita ov,nor WaQ