Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1918 — Senator Suggests Giving Farm to Every Soldier and Solve National Problems [ARTICLE]

Senator Suggests Giving Farm to Every Soldier and Solve National Problems

In the United States the drift of the people to the cities; the drift of farms Into operation by tenant fanners, Into ownership In large acreage, by absent landlords, has been recognized as a dangerous tendency of the times. But out of the war will grow many new demands from the people. The man on the street will appreciate his rights more clearly and will be more ready to demand them. Among his most probable demands will be his right to the land, 'asserts Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio. Wise is the nation which sees the coming of such a demand and meets it before it becomes a menace. In New England there are 30,000,000 acres of unused land that might be growing crops. New England is discovering that one great industrial plant after another Is moving west, establishing itself in Ohio or Michigan or Illinois. New England has been asking why, and has found that manufacturers believe they can produce more cheaply if they are nearer the regions where food and raw materials are produced.

There are 35,000,000 acres in the middle states that might be farmed, but which are lying idle. Much of this land is in the very outskirts of cities where food prices are high and the demand limited. In the Pacific coast states there are 180,000,000 acres of unused but usable land. In all 500,900,000 acres or thereabouts are lying

Idle, to say nothing of that which is Inadequately farmed. This would make five-acre farms for a million families. In the meantime the cities are full of people whose greatest ambition is to own a piece of this waste land and to convert It into productive homes. There is no proper agency to bring these men and the land together. There is only the land agent, whose name has often become one of reproach. His sole object is to sell land for as much money as possible. His responsibility ends there. There is no agency that goes further, that establishes the man on the land, that makes him a success. Even if the man in the city gets good land and at a fair price, It is practically Impossible for him to establish himself and make a success without guidance and co-operation. The machine is not built up that will convert him from a city-dwelling wage earner to an Independent farmer. That is exactly the machinery that should be developed. The proper agency to supervise its development is the government. Tne time ta now.

When the two’million to be trained for the army come home there will be an unparalleled opportunity. These young men will be unattached. They will have been weaned away from their former tasks and associates. They will be wanting to strike a field for themselves. They should have the opportunity. The nation should prepare the way.