Evening star., 1933-10-15
Subsistence Homestead Unit
To Ciue Men Own Kingdoms
Under Theory individual Plus Ten Acres
Transcends Mere Individual-$3, ,OOO,-
100000 Land Restoration Drive Begins.
Is representative In the legislative til

its representative In the legislative til
bunal.
The creation Of q society of men plus
land instead Of o society OF mere men
remains in q highly experimental stage,
but already there Is a beginning >re-
sponse which eventually may turn into
the tidal wave. The Texas Legislature,
for example, has Just voted $4,000 900
for relief, $4,000 900 Of which "a to be
devoted to experimental subsistence
homestead work. Other States are ex-
pected to follow.
The small Industrial community
made Of individual land holders-thus
having both the land and industry to
support them and being entirely de-
pendent on -neither-has long been
close to the heart Of President Roose-
welt. He was talking about 1t before
the depression, - though he had some
prophetic vision Of what was 70 come.
ing tfdustr1Ali1ts with conspicuous sue.
cess. Among them ID Ralph e. Flan-
derS Of Springfield. w., 3 small manu-
facturer whose employees are local land
owners.
Pioneer Stock Needed.
The project calls for pioneers. There
may be an avalanche Of them as the
experimental communities develop along
the lines proposed for them. For in the
hearts Of millions Of the disinherited
there Is the ineffable yearning for the
old birthr1ght Of freedom and the land
"a yearning which no amount of pub
lie park and playground, national park
and national forest, can satisfy. It is a
yearntng to possess nature without
sharing it.
There are Is planks in the program
OF the committee under the direction
the Department Of Agriculture for the
work
First, 1t u specified that the money
available be used for experimental
projects and that they shall be dis
tributed according to need and not sl-
located On the basis Of States. Next, 1t
Is specified that local initiative be
drawn upon to the greatest extent pos
S1ole. The projects are to be Organized
ana administered through local non
profit OF limited dividend corporations.
In this way there will be an escape
from the deadly Standardization which
attends most efforts to create Utopias.
The projects will have q local flavor.
They will At In with local customs and
tastes.
30-Year Loan Basis.
Federal funds are to be loaned at q
rate Of 3 per cent and amortized over
q period not to exceed 30 years, with
privilege OF repayment at any time. In
rare instances will the Government
loan money for the purchase of ma
chinery and live stock: In the Begin
ming, the selection Of families u to be
made with the greatest care. 50 far
40 possible people With . good deal Of
capacity for meeting their own prob
lens tn this new kind Of pioneering
and with the courage to stick 1t out
through the difficulties which are bound
to arise will be chosen.
There 10 q National Advisory Com
mittee composed Of the following: Sen
atOr John H. Bankhead Of Alabama;
Hayden B. Harris, w. A. Julian, Treas
ury Of the United States; Edward A.
O'Neil, Louis j. Taber, Bernarr Mac
Fadden, Louis Brownlow, former D. g.
Commissioner; DR.. John B. Black, p
v. Carbon, Ralph e. Flanders, DR.. John
A. Ryan, Bernard G. Waring, George
Soule, Meyer Jacobstein, DR.. Phillip
Weltner, William Green, Henry I. Har-
riman and DR.. Clark Foreman.
Other projects, 1t Is expected, will be
announced during the next few weeks
Each is to be thoroughly studied as to
its feasibility before approval. There
is little money and . project must be
fairly certain Of success before the d.
vision can afford to experiment with 1t.