Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 206, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 September 1918 — Untitled [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

By GEN. J. D. McINTYRE,

Civil Engineer, Chicago.

United States treasury homestead notes can be issued to cover the total cost of each project for making “Ready-Made Farms” and building community centers. The currency to be secured by 50-year amortized mortgages without interest on these soldier homesteads. The treasury noteti to be cancelled as fast as payments are received In liquidation of these noninterest bearing mortgages. The first step is for the homesteader to make allotment of a small part of his monthly government pay, and whenever he leaves the government service he or she will be eligible to select one of these “Ready-Made Farms, including a 'garden lot in the community center of not less than half an acre, and he will be automatically entitled to one share In the town, or community center. His allotment payments will be his first payment and all future payments will be collected as ordinary taxes. Let us take a small project for an example of say 1,000 homesteads. First 1,000 homesteaders make their allotments. The government surveys and estimates the cost to build 1,000 “Ready Made Farms” of from 5 to 80 acres,' according to climate and richness of soil, etc. The engineer at the same time surveys out a townsite with 1,000 half-acre garden lots, located

Included Is a nonsectarian church, theater, public hall, public school, playgrounds, hotel, department store, library, bank, conservatory of music, band stand, dancing pavilion, Roman baths, lawn tennis grounds, roque grounds, roller skating, garage, baseball grounds, railroad station, gatekeeper's lodge, lake for boating, mineral water well, electric light plant, water works, telephone exchange, parade grounds, ten acres of flowers, birds and trees.

around a community center of say 40 acres. His estimate includes the cost of all public utilities, educational, amusement and business buildings on some such plan as shown in the accompanying picture. The town belongs to the homesteaders, share and share alike, and their farms are near by. The people live on the half-acre garden lots around the social or community center. This is done to eliminate lonesomeness from rural life. Lonesome- ( ness is the father of farm tenantry and soil depletion. The town should be managed by the government the first five years; by that time the people will be trained and skilled sufficiently to manage it successfully on some commission form of government. For convenience we will name the town “The White City.” If the people by their labor make a city possible they should own it; but the main object is to secure by a fixed program and by co-operation the highest ideals in education, amusement, the science of health, fertilization, marketing, cooking and horticulture. Music should be part of a public education. The old selfish ways of living should be forgotten and the government is the proper authority to set the new twentieth-century pace. In this way the projects would cost the government nothing. The payments for homesteads cancel the treasury notes. In case of foreclosure the property could be sold as in. other delinquent tax sales. The treasury notes must be made receivable for all government' dues and taxes. This could not be called inflation of the currency, because the loan of the government credit is secured by an improved farm and the town besides, the best security on earth. If Hon. Frank K. Lane, secretary of the interior, and the congress would evolve a law on some such plan as this it would equalize the overgrowth of cities and the undergrowth of the country. It would solve the imperative need of homesteads for our warriors and it would settle up the vast waste places of rich land In this great continent.

PLAN SUGGESTED FOR HOMESTEADS.