Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 255, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1918 — Reclaimed Land to be Soldiers Heritage [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Reclaimed Land to be Soldiers Heritage

by Robert H.Moulton

Millions of Acres, EsDeciallu in West and South. Available for Farm Homes if Properlu Developed--'' - '

O MAKE part of the farm wealth of the nation an assured heritage of the men «who fight the nation’s —II war against Germany is the plan /f WunU'. of Secretary Lane, who urges a (1 vast reclamation scheme to meet the re( l uirements for e soldiers after the war. y, It Is Secretary Lane’s belief that the time , has come when aSHP* thought should be given to the preparation of plans for providing opportunity for these men. And because his department has handled similar problems in the past, he has made It his duty to bring the matter to the attention of the president and congress. He points out that every country has found itself face to face with this problem at the close of a great war. From Rome under Caesar to France under Napoleon down even to our own Civil war, the problem arose as to what could be done with the soldiers mustered out of military service. At the close of the. Civil war America faced a somewhat similar situation. But fortunately at that time the public domain offered opportunity to the home-returning soldiers. The great part the veterans of that war played in developing the West is one of our epics. The homestpad law had been signed by President Lincoln in the secondtyear of the war, so that out of our wealth in land's we had farms to offer the military veterans. It was also the era of transcontinental railway construction. It was likewise the period of rapid, yet broad and full, development of towns and communities and states.

To the great number of returning soldiers In che present war land will undoubtedly offer the great and fundamental opportunity. The experience of wars points out the lesson that our service men, because of army life, with its openness and activity, will largely seek out of doors vocations and occupations. This fact is accepted by the allied European nations. That Is why their programs and policies of relocating and readjustment emphasize the opportunities on the land for the returning soldier. The question then is, “What land ean be made available for farm homes for our soldiers?” We have not the bountiful public domains of the sixties and seventies. In a literal sense, for the use of It on a generous scale for soldier farm homes as in the sixties, the public domain is gone. The official figures at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1917, show that we have unappropriated land In the continental United States to the amount of 230,657,755 acres. It is safe to say that not one-half of this land will ever prove to be cultivable in any sense. Spj we have no land in any way comparable to that in the public domain when Appomattox came—and men turned Westward with army rifle and roll blanket—to begin life anew. While we do not have that matchless public domain of ’65, we do have millions of acres of undeveloped lands in the Northwest, lake states and South, and also swamp lands in the middle West and South, which can be made available through the proper development. Much of this land can be made suitable for farm homes if properly handled. 7But it will require that each type of land be dealt with In its own particular fashion. The arid lands will require water, the cut-over land will require clearing and the swamp land must be drained. Without any of these aids they remain largely. No Man’s Land. The solution of these, problems is no new thing. In the admirable achievement of the reclamation service in reclamation and drainage we have abundant proof of what can be done.

Looking toward the construction of additional projects, Secretary, Lane announces that plans and investigations have been under way for some time. A survey and study has been in the course of consummation by the reclamation ‘ service on the great Colorado basin. That project, undoubtedly, will appeal to the new spirit of America. It would mean the conquest of an empire in the Southwest It is believed that more than 3,000,000 acres of arid land could be reclaimed by the completion of the upper and lower Colorado basinprojects. ? ' It has been officially estimated that more than 15,000,000 acres of Irrigable land now remain in the government’s hands. This is the great remaining storehouse of government land for reclamation. Under what policy and program millions of these acres could be reclaimed for future farms and homes remains for legislation to determine. The amount of swamp .and cut-over lands in the United States available for farming is extentlve. Just how much there is has never been determined with any degree of accuracy. Practically all of it-has passed into private ownership. For that reason, in considering Its use, it would be necessary to work out a policy between the private owners and the government unless the land was. purchased. It has been estimated that the’total area of swamp and overflowed lands in the United States i< between T 0,000.000 and 80,000,000 acres. Of this amount about 60,000.000

acres can be-reclaimed and made profitable for agriculture. The undeveloped swamp lands lie chiefly in Florida, In the states along the Atlantic and gulf coasts, in the Mississippi delta and in: Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and California. What amount of land in its natural state unfit for farm homes can be made suitable for cultivation by drainage only thorough surveys and, studies will develop. It Is known, however, that authentic figures show more than 15,000,000 acres have been reclaimed for profitable farms, most of which lies in the Misslssippi river valley. The amount of cut-over lands in the United States, of course, it ■is impossible even in approximation to estimate. These lands, however, lie largely In the south Atlantic and gulf states, lake states and the Northwestern states. A rough estimate of their number is\n‘bout'‘ 200,000,000 acres—that Is, of land suitable for agricultural development. Substantially all of this cutover or logged-off land is in private ownership. The failure of this land to be developed is largely due to inadequate method of approach. Unless a new policy of development is worked out in cooperation between the federal government, the states and the individual owners a greater part of it will remain unsettled and uncultivated. The undeveloped cut-over lands lie chiefly in the Pacific Northwest (particularly In'Washington and Oregon), tn the lake states (Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin), and in the south Atlantic and gulf costal states (Virginia, North pnd South Carolina. Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas). ■ Any plan for the development of land for the returning soldier will come face; to face with the fact that a new policy will have to meet the new conditions. The era pf free or cheap land in the United States, has passed. We must meet the new conditions of developing' lands in advance — security must, to a degree, displace speculation. There are certain tendencies which must be faced frankly tn our consideration of a policy for land to the home-coming soldier. , First, the drift to farm tendency. The experience of the *worid shows without question that the happiest people, the best farms and the soundest political condition are* found where the farmer owns the home and the farm lands. The growth of this tendency in America shows an increase of 32 per cent for the 20 years between 1890 and 1910. Second, the drift to urban life. In 1880 of the total population of the United States, 29.5 per cent of our people resided in cities and 70.5 per cent in the country. At the census of 1910. 4(5.3 per cent resided in cities and 53.7 per cent remained in the country. j . -, It Is evident that since the war in Europe there has been a decided increase in the trend toward the city because of industrial conditions. The adoption by the United States of new policies in its land development plans for returning veterans will also contribute to the amelioration of these two dangers of American fife. a plan ofc land development whereby land is . developed in large areas, subdivided into individual farms, then sold to actual, bona fide farmers on a long-time rayment basis, has been lh force not only in States under the reclamation act but also in many other countries for several years. It has proved a complete success. In Denmark, Ireland. New Zealand and the Australian commonwealth It has completely

changed the land situation. One of the feature* of this plan is that holders are aided in 1 improving and cultivating the farm. In a word, there is organized community development. Its beneficial results have been well described by the Canadian commission which > was appointed to investigate its results in New Zealand. There, the commission reported, the farmers nau built better houses or remodeled their bld ones, ’ brought a larger acreage of land under cultivation that would otherwise have remained lying Idle; had bought and urged more labor-sav-ing machinery on the farms and in the houses. They kept more sheep and pigs and had so largely Increased the revenue from their farms that they were able to meet the payments on the mortgages and to adopt a higher standard of living and-a better One. Throughout the' country a higher and better civilization was being .evolved; the young men and women who were growing up were happy and contented to remaiq at home on the farm and found ample time and opportunity for recreation and entertainment of a kind more wholesome and elevating than can be obtained in, the cities. . r ’ It may be said • that - this country, outside of Alaska,'has no frontier today. Of course, Alaska will still offer opportunity for pioneer life. And, of course, Alaska likewise has yet unknown remarkable agricultural possibilities, but unless we make possible the development of this land by the men Who desire a life in that field we will lose a great national opportunity. Furthermore, this is an immediate duty. It will be too late for these things when the war is over, and the work of definite planning should be done now. The plan outlined by Secretary Lane does not contemplate anything like charity to the soldiers. He is not to be given a bounty. He is not to be made td 1 feel that he is a dependent. On the contrary, he is to continue, in a sense, in the service of the government. Instead of destroying our enemies, he is to develop pur resources. The work that Is to be done, other than the planning, should be done by the soldier himself. The dam or Irrigation project should be built by him; The canals, ditches, the breaking the land, and the building of the houses should, under proper direction, be his occupation. He should be allowed to make his own nome, cared for while he is doing It, and given an interest in the land, for which he can pay through’ a long period of years—perhaps 30 or 40 years. The farms should not be turned over as the prairies were—unbroken,, unfenced, without accommodations for men or animals. There should be prepared homes, all of which can be cohstructed by the men themselves and paid for by them under a system of simple devising by which modern methods of finance wHI be applied to their needs.