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A STAKE IN THE LAND
[Illustration]
[Illustration: LONG, HARD MONTHS OF WORK SEPARATE THE ROUGH SHANTY FROM
WHITE CLAPBOARDS AND AN AUTOMOBILE]
AMERICANIZATION STUDIES
ALLEN T. BURNS, DIRECTOR
A STAKE
IN THE LAND
BY
PETER A. SPEEK
IN CHARGE, SLAVIC SECTION
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1921
A STAKE IN THE LAND
Copyright, 1921, by Harper & Brothers
Printed in the United States of America
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
The material in this volume was gathered by the Division of
Rural Developments of Studies in Methods of Americanization.
Americanization in this study has been considered as the union of native
and foreign born in all the most fundamental relationships and
activities of our national life. For Americanization is the uniting of
new with native-born Americans in fuller common understanding and
appreciation to secure by means of self-government the highest welfare
of all. Such Americanization should perpetuate no unchangeable
political, domestic, and economic regime delivered once for all to the
fathers, but a growing and broadening national life, inclusive of the
best wherever found. With all our rich heritages, Americanism will
develop best through a mutual giving and taking of contributions from
both newer and older Americans in the interest of the commonweal. This
study has followed such an understanding of Americanization.
FOREWORD
This volume is the result of studies in methods of Americanization
prepared through funds furnished by the Carnegie Corporation of New
York. It arose out of the fact that constant applications were being
made to the Corporation for contributions to the work of numerous
agencies engaged in various forms of social activity intended to extend
among the people of the United States the knowledge of their government
and their obligations to it. The trustees felt that a study which should
set forth, not theories of social betterment, but a description of the
methods of the various agencies engaged in such work, would be
of distinct value to the cause itself and to the public.
The outcome of the study is contained in eleven volumes on the following
subjects: Schooling of the Immigrant; The Press; Adjustment of Homes and
Family Life; Legal Protection and Correction; Health Standards and Care;
Naturalization and Political Life; Industrial and Economic Amalgamation;
Treatment of Immigrant Heritages; Neighborhood Agencies and
Organization; Rural Developments; and Summary. The entire study has been
carried out under the general direction of Mr. Allen T. Burns. Each
volume appears in the name of the author who had immediate
charge of the particular field it is intended to cover.
Upon the invitation of the Carnegie Corporation a committee consisting
of the late Theodore Roosevelt, Prof. John Graham Brooks, Dr. John M.
Glenn, and Mr. John A. Voll has acted in an advisory capacity to the
director. An editorial committee consisting of Dr. Talcott Williams, Dr.
Raymond B. Fosdick, and Dr. Edwin F. Gay has read and criticized the
manuscripts. To both of these committees the trustees of the Carnegie
Corporation are much indebted.
The purpose of the report is to give as clear a notion as possible of
the methods of the agencies actually at work in this field and not to
propose theories for dealing with the complicated questions involved.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Publisher's Note v
Foreword vii
Table of Contents ix
List of Tables xii
List of Illustrations xiii
Introduction xv
Author's Note xxvii
PART I
CHAPTER
I. NEED OF A LAND POLICY 3
Strength of Home Ties 3
Immigrants' Love of Land 5
Need for Land Regulation 10
II. LEARNING OF LAND OPPORTUNITIES 14
Friends, Agents, and Advertisements 14
Federal and State Immigration Offices 18
Policies in California and Wisconsin 19
III. EXPERIENCES IN ACQUIRING LAND 24
Russian Sectarian Peasants in the West 24
The Successful Colony at Glendale 30
Other California Cases 31
An Oklahoma Settlement 33
IV. INDIVIDUAL LAND DEALERS 36
Land Sharks 37
Lower Type of Land Dealer 39
The Public-spirited Land Dealer 42
"Realtors" 45
V. PRIVATE LAND COLONIZATION COMPANIES 49
A Typical Company 52
The Adviser 62
Children Overworked 65
Securing Credit 66
Conservation of Wooded Land 68
The Size of a Colony 69
Learning American Ways 70
Two Points of View 72
Colony Snapshots 78
VI. PUBLIC LAND COLONIZATION 86
The California Experiment 86
State Provisions for Soldier Settlements 91
The Reclamation Act 95
Proposed Federal Legislation 98
Provision in Other Countries 105
VII. A LAND POLICY 107
Wide Range in Programs 107
Plenty of Land 111
Public Regulation of Land Dealing 112
A Public Land Exchange 122
Reclamation a Separate Function 124
A Colonization Board 127
Extension of Public Credit 135
Co-operation Indispensable 135