The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-12-20
U. S. STARTING
EXPERIMENT IN
HOMESTEADINC
Decatur, Ind, Chosen for
Subsistence Colony
Project.
BY WALKER STONE
Times Special Writer.


WASHINGTON, Dec. 20-uncle
Sam will point the way toward q
measure of independence from pay
roll serfdom by establishing an ex-
perimental subsistence homestead
colony on the outskirts of Deca-
tur, Ind.
BY placing from forty to forty
eight families of Decatur working
men on subsistence homestead
plots, 1t is hoped to demonstrate
how workers can improve their
standards Of living by producing
IN spare hours a substantial part OF
the food they eat.
The homestead plots will be small
from one TO two acres each. but
each one will be large enough to
provide a site for a comforta BILE
nome and stable vegetable
garden.
The project is to be financed out
OF the SIS 900 900 revolving fund ad-
mlnistered by the Subsistence
Homesteads Division of the de-
partment of interior.
Land Options Obtained
Options have been obtained on
eighty acres of farm land which adj
joins the Decatur city limits. A loan
of S125,0O0 will be made to a subsi
diary of the Federal Subsistence
Homestead Corporation, which will
be organized in Decatur by leading
citizens.
The local corporation will be
responsible for constructing the
homes, selecting the occupants and
1nsuring, as far as possible. repay
ment of the loans by the individual
families. The homes to be con-
structed will be small, low-cost
houses, but equipped with modern
conVenienCeS.
The cost of each homestead, in
GLIDING the land and the house, will
range from $4,000 to $4,000, and the
occupants will purchase by contract
and gain title by small monthly
payments. The loans will be ex-
tended at 3 per cent, with provisions
for retirement of the principal in
twenty years.
Decatur was chosen as the place
for the experiment because it is
considered a typical small industrial
city. It has a population Of about
$500
Not Separate Community
The homesteaders will be chosen
from workers ordinarily engaged in
a large variety of occupations. Some
of these will be from the ranks of
the unemployed, some from among
those working on a part-time basis,
and some from among those who
have returned to full-time employ
ment.
1T is intended" said todays an
nouncement of the Subsistence
Homesteads Division, that they
shall represent a fair cross section
of the low-income working group
They will have an oppor-
tunity to produce garden food
stuffs for their own use. Most of
those in the group from whom Sc
lections will be made have been
financially unable to buy enough
food to fill the need of their fam
lilies"
Unlike several other homestead
colonies planned in various sections
of the country, the Decatur colony
will not be set up as a separate
community, but instead will be q
part of the community of Decatur
A schoolhouSe and a playground is
located within two blocks of the
site on which options have beer
obtained.
Project a Test
THE project" said M. L. Wilson
director of the subsistence home
steads division, will furnish a tes1
and demonstration of the oppor-
tunities of workers in small cities tt
increase their standard of living by
reducing their complete dependence
on pay envelopes to achieve a salts.
factory livelihood"
Many of the workers of Decatur,
he said, "have an agricultural back
ground, and it is from that group
that the occupants will be selected
A large number of them are mem
bers of that extensive group whC
migrated from farms to cities botl
large and small in the last flfteer
years, attracted by opportunities fol
industrial employment.
Decatur is in many ways typica
of the small industrial city of from
four to fifteen thousand, but theil
housing facilities are now especial!
inadequate with the result tina
many of the workers, with thei
incomes sharply reduced during thu
depression, have been unable to NEE
rental charges, which in many in
stances have been above norma