A Stake in the Land Part 2

The United States needs acutely regulation of land dealing within its boundaries, and as a natural antecedent to regulation it should have and must have a definite land policy. To go one step farther, no efficient policy is possible unless it is founded on certain sound principles.

What are the guiding principles for a practical land policy?

First of all, there is the economic principle. It is the increase of food production, on which the very life of the nation, its development and future strength, depend. The war demonstrated this in a most convincing way. The increase of productivity of the land must be continuous and permanent. The 1920 Census reports city population increases five times as rapidly as rural. Aside from conservation of the soil--that is, saving what we have--there must go on constant improvement of the soil by fertilizing and by the introduction of more efficient methods of cultivation, intensive as well as extensive.

Then comes the social principle of an efficient land policy, with the end in view of affording more opportunities for the establishment of family homes. Among other results, this would closely bind the foreign-born elements of the population to the country and in this way materially a.s.sist the a.s.similation process. It would make for better public health and for greater happiness of the people.

The political goal is the stability of democracy and the strength of the country in domestic and international relations, in peace and in war.

The agrarian disorders of Europe, its varied turmoils, revolutions, and war, accompanied by starvation and epidemics, are to a large degree due to the old prevailing out-of-date forms of land tenure inherited from mediaeval times.

Toward these ends certain changes and reforms in the distribution and colonization of land should be undertaken. The existing conditions are such as require prompt attention, not only in the interests of the general public and for the sake of the general good of the country, but especially for the sake of the immigrant. Because of his greater ignorance and helplessness and his usually strong desire to settle on land, he suffers more often and more severely than the native-born American from the unscrupulousness and dishonesty and _laissez-faire_ methods that flourish in the absence of a public land policy and public land regulation.

The partial or utter misfortune which the immigrant so often experiences molds his entire opinion of and att.i.tude toward the United States. From the viewpoint of the Americanization of the immigrant, therefore, the questions of land policy, land colonization, and land dealing are of the utmost importance. Before a discussion of reforms is begun, a general description of present conditions, from this point of view of Americanization, is necessary.

[3] Jenks and Lauck, _The Immigration Problem_, p. 100.

[4] The figures for 1910 are taken from the Census of 1910, vol. iv, p.

303. The Census of 1900 does not give occupations by nativity. The figures for 1900 are taken from the _Reports of the Immigration Commission_, vol.

xxviii, pp. 66, 71-79, prepared from original and unpublished data of the Census Bureau. Since the figures for immigrant female agricultural laborers are incomplete, it has been here a.s.sumed that they were in the same proportion to that of the males in 1910--namely, about 9 per cent.

Therefore the figure 22,850 for the immigrant female agricultural laborers for 1900 represents an estimate of 9 per cent of the number of immigrant male agricultural laborers for 1900.

[5] _Reports of the United States Immigration Commission_, 1911, vol.

xix, pp. 89-102.

II

LEARNING OF LAND OPPORTUNITIES

The immigrant desiring to settle on land is constantly on the lookout for an opportunity to acquire land. The most general way of learning of such opportunity is through personal acquaintance or through correspondence with relatives and friends of the immigrant's own nationality who have previously settled on land. These sources of information are considered by the immigrant to be the most reliable, although they have certain drawbacks.

FRIENDS, AGENTS, AND ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nTS

First, immigrants on the land are always desirous of increasing the number of people of their own race or nationality in their particular locality, for the sake of their own advantage; for the larger their community the better their social and business opportunities. Therefore they are often p.r.o.ne to exaggerate the advantages of land and farming in their section and to be silent as to the disadvantages, so as to induce more people of their race to join the community.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OWNER OF THIS FARM, SETTLED IN 1917, HAS PERSUADED SIX MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY TO BUY FARMS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD]

Second, it is quite a common practice among immigrant settlers to receive from land companies certain commissions for bringing in further settlers, which induce them to exaggerate the good qualities of the land. The usual commission in the North Middle states is fifty cents per acre. The prospective buyers of land do not usually know about this.

There are also cases where a settler has secretly become a regular agent of the land company, receiving from the latter a salary in addition to a commission on each piece of land sold through him. In such cases the agent, known to the prospective buyer only as an ordinary settler, is in a position to get much higher prices for the land than a regular agent.

Still more danger for the immigrant lurks in the scheme whereby immigrant settlers already on the land, or their native-born neighbors, seeing that new people are coming in rapidly, take options on valuable land in certain desirable localities and resell it to the newcomers at a much higher price. Near Willington, Connecticut, there is a Bohemian colony, and in the days when this colony was growing rapidly a Bohemian settler looked up land available there and took a number of options on farms for which he already had would-be buyers. He took an option on one farm for its purchase at the price of $500; to the buyer he charged $1,500, and made a clear profit of $1,000. According to a report of the Immigration Commission relating to the same colony, a man who paid $1,000 in cash for a farm found that the land "agent" who sold it to him had bought the option from the original owner for $400 a few weeks before the bargain was closed.

Quite a number of land companies are employing immigrant agents, especially of those nationalities and races with which they expect to do business on a large scale. Usually these agents are sent out to the immigrant centers in industrial towns. They bring the prospective immigrant settlers to see the land and they conduct the business in cases where the immigrants do not know English. The companies consider this the most effective way of reaching immigrants who desire to settle on land.

Another way in which immigrants learn of land opportunities is through the land companies' advertis.e.m.e.nts in the foreign-language newspapers. The immigrant newspapers, depending on a nation-wide const.i.tuency, are, as a rule, careful in accepting trade advertis.e.m.e.nts. Often the editor, before accepting the advertis.e.m.e.nt from the land company, makes a personal visit to the company's main office to find out whether the advertis.e.m.e.nt is honest or put out by schemers and crooks. According to the testimony of the land companies the editors of the foreign-language newspapers, in the vast majority of cases, are honest men who refuse to be bribed. Only in a very few cases have the editors agreed to accept commissions.

Finally comes the usual method of all land companies, that of sending out agents among the immigrants, sending them folders, etc. As a rule the advertis.e.m.e.nts and folders exaggerate the good points of the land and gloss over the bad points. Quite often the exaggerations know no bounds; the land is described as the most fertile on the surface of the earth--photographs show corn, for instance, growing like a forest; a record of the yield is given, showing it to bring hundreds and even thousands of dollars a year per acre. Such exaggerations may be ill.u.s.trated by the literature sent out by the New South Farm and Home Company, advertising ten-acre farms in Florida. The representations were that the farms were not swampy, were near direct water connections with New York; that every month in the year was a growing month; that the farms were surrounded by orange and citrous-fruit farms; that there were fine roads, wells, homes, schools, hotels, etc.; that the t.i.tles were perfect; that neighboring farms were doubling, trebling, and quadrupling in price; that the settlements were rapidly growing; that there was every convenience and comfort, such as Pullman cars, long-distance telephone, etc., etc.

It is needless to say that many of these advantages were nonexistent. The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in regard to this case was that when a proposed seller goes beyond mere exaggeration of the qualities of an article and a.s.signs to it qualities which it does not possess, "does not simply magnify in opinion the advantages which it has, but invents advantages and falsely a.s.serts their existence, he transcends the limit of 'puffing' and engages in false representations and pretenses."

By this decision it was established that to invent advantages and falsely a.s.sert their existence in a transaction of sale is a fraud.

FEDERAL AND STATE IMMIGRATION OFFICES

The information given to immigrants by the Federal and state immigration offices is of value, because it presents certain facts needed by settlers, as, for instance, information on climatic conditions, general soil and market conditions, and so on. But these information bulletins often do not reach the immigrants because the immigrants do not know enough to ask for them; and, even supposing that they did reach the prospective settler, the bulletins are too general. They describe the conditions of large districts and sections of the country or state, while what the immigrant needs is exact, detailed knowledge about a particular piece of land in which he is interested. The government officials claim that they have not sufficient forces to undertake a detailed investigation of individual land holdings, and also that they must try to avoid any appearance of discriminating between various land companies in the sense of encouraging or discouraging the sale of land belonging to given companies.

In general, one might say that the ways open to immigrants for learning of land opportunities are defective. Misrepresentation of land conditions and actual money frauds have made them suspicious of any land dealer, so that the best land companies experience, in the immigrants'

suspicion, a handicap in the development of their business. This in part explains why the various real-estate a.s.sociations are trying to get some sort of public regulation for their business and why a number of states which are interested in the development of their lands have begun to talk of regulation. They reason that such regulation would be a good advertis.e.m.e.nt for the state and would increase the confidence of people in the chances of successfully settling on land in that state.

POLICIES IN CALIFORNIA AND WISCONSIN

In the states of California and Wisconsin the state departments and colleges of agriculture, through their extension service and the state immigration offices, are doing highly valuable work in disseminating correct information in regard to land opportunities among prospective settlers and in defending the latter against unscrupulous land dealers.

The writer was especially impressed by the methods used by the Director of Immigration of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Mr. B. G.

Packer. The following statement dictated by Mr. Packer serves as the best description of his work and methods:

Four years ago, at the invitation of the Department of Labor, in Chicago, I began going down and meeting people by appointment there--immigrants who wanted to come to Wisconsin. In order to reach them, we advertised in Chicago papers. We ran cla.s.sified notices in the metropolitan papers, in addition inviting correspondence from home seekers. We ran articles in foreign-language papers, showing what the crops are and how to open up the land, how to pull up the stumps, etc. We have had pamphlets on Wisconsin, and methods of cultivation of its land, published in foreign languages.

I find that the home seekers do not know where to go or whom to believe, but by meeting them in conferences I have been able to protect them against exploitation and direct them to localities where they stand a good show of making good. The average capital of immigrants will run a little over fifteen hundred dollars. The average capital of native-born Americans who come to see me is considerably less. A man going on the land should have not less than twelve hundred dollars after making his first payment on forty acres. We have schedules showing approximately what his living expenses will be for the first couple of years.

Our work is largely protective. The leading Chicago papers co-operate with us by refusing the advertising of real-estate men who misrepresent their properties. The state attorney's office co-operates with us by enforcing the confidence-game statute. Every inquirer is furnished with a certificate (see p. 22), and I find that dishonest dealers refuse to sell to home seekers who present this certificate to them.

One point I should like to emphasize is that the back-to-the-farm movement will be successful in proportion to each state's activity in supplying home seekers with information that will insure their success on the land.

First, those coming into the new land region in our state, must have enough capital to carry them through the first two years for the purchase of clothing and food and farm equipment.

Second, they should have had some experience in farming. The city-bred man who wishes to get out into the country, not because of love of the country, but because of dislike of the city, is a poor investment. Those visiting us who have not had farm experience are urged to get it before locating or before investing their money.

Third, the wife must be satisfied and willing to undergo some pioneering. Right here is where a good many fall down. The man is willing to go and his wife goes unwillingly.

Fourth, the immigrants should not be flimflammed into paying excessive prices for undeveloped land. So far as Wisconsin is concerned, compet.i.tion takes care of this, provided the home seeker gets into communication with our department. To ill.u.s.trate: One concern in Chicago, operating in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, is asking forty and forty-five dollars an acre for cut-over land no better than may be obtained from lumber and railroad companies for half this figure.

Fifth, there is a tendency on the part of land salesmen to load up the immigrant with more land than he can use, or sometimes pay for.

Eighty acres makes a good-sized farm for one family to develop and handle, and this is the size of tract recommended.

Sixth, the back-to-the-lander should be a man in good physical condition. I believe that it is a mistake to put men on the land who are not heavy enough for farm work. The man should weigh not less than two pounds for every inch of his height, which is the army standard.

Seventh, it is a mistake to encourage people to go on the land after the time for the spring work has pa.s.sed. I mean by this that under our conditions the settler has to construct a small house and do some brushing and clearing in order to grow vegetables for himself and a small amount of winter feed for his stock.

Eighth, the back-to-the-lander has too many fake ideas about the amount of money to be made in farming. Under our conditions the settler is putting money into his land and not taking very much out the first two or three years, unless he has merchantable timber that can be worked up into cordwood or bolts, or unless he locates in a region having little timber to be removed, and is able to specialize in potatoes. The men who have become wealthy from strictly farming operations are not numerous in Wisconsin or anywhere else.