PART I

A STAKE IN THE LAND

I

NEED OF A LAND POLICY

One of the strongest ties uniting human beings is found among the

members of a family, the unit which is the foundation of the structure

of organized society. Each family requires a home for its normal life

and development. A normal home, especially in rural districts, means a

piece of land and a suitable house for the family; it implies also an

opportunity to earn the family living either on the same land--if it is

large enough, as in the case of truck gardens or farms--or in a near-by

industrial establishment; it implies acquaintances and friends in the

same neighborhood, and certain minimum necessities of modern civilized

life, such as roads, post office, newspaper, church, school, physician.

STRENGTH OF HOME TIES

When an immigrant has succeeded in establishing such a home in America

he invariably answers, when questioned as to whether he considers

America or the land of his birth to be his country, that America is his

country. And he goes on to explain, saying that America is a free

country, with better chances for everybody; that he has made his home

here; that his children have been born here; that they have better

schooling and much brighter hope for the future. For all these reasons,

he explains, he does not want to return to his native country except

perhaps on a visit, and he repeats again and again that America, not his

old country, is now his homeland.

There is no other tie that binds a man so closely to a country as his home.

No wonder, for home is everybody's center of the world, lookout tower,

refuge, and resting place. With it are associated the most intimate and

tender feelings a human being ever experiences, and naturally the same fine

feelings extend to the place in which one's home is located. So we speak of

fatherland, motherland, homeland, expressing in these words the close

intimacy between family, home, country, and ourselves.

[Illustration: LAND IS NOT THE ONLY STAKE IN AMERICA FOR THESE POLISH

PARENTS]

In direct distinction, the word "homeless" has implications of aimless

drifting, of destitution and misery, and of the indifference of a

"homeless" man to "his" country. Certain advocates of cosmopolitanism in

their agitation against patriotism often take advantage of the

importance of home in the relation of a man to his country when they

appeal to the "proletarians": "Do you own anything? Do you have even a

home in this country? If not, why then should you love it?"

Although a home means a little world by itself--much more than a piece

of land with a shelter on it--the establishment of a home, nevertheless,

involves, first of all, the acquisition of a piece of land, even though

it be the smallest suburban building lot with a twenty-five-foot

frontage. If the piece of land is large enough so that its owner, if he

is inclined to land cultivation, can make a living by working on it as

either gardener or farmer, so much the better.

IMMIGRANTS' LOVE OF THE LAND

It so happens that a large number of immigrants who come to our shores

with the intention of remaining here desire to establish a home, to

acquire land, and to become land cultivators in America. Most of them

have had farming experience in Europe. But what actually has happened

and is happening year after year is that these immigrants, saturated

with farm life and experience, drift to the cities, to work in mines and

factories and at pick-and-shovel jobs.

This fact was confirmed so clearly by the investigation of the United

States Immigration Commission that its report has been the basis of the

following statement:

From one third to three fifths of these newcomers, the proportion

varying according to race, had been engaged in agricultural

pursuits before coming to the United States, but not one in ten has

settled on farms in this country.[3]

In the year 1900, as is shown in Table I, there were 276,745

foreign-born white persons of both sexes employed as farm laborers in

this country. In 1910 the number of immigrant agricultural laborers was

336,753, an increase of 60,008, or about 22 per cent.

TABLE I

NUMBER (BY SEX) OF FOREIGN-BORN WHITE PERSONS ENGAGED AS FARM LABORERS

IN THE UNITED STATES, 1900 AND 1910[4]

===================================

SEX | 1910 | 1900

-----------+-----------+-----------

Males | 308,360 | 253,895

Females | 28,393 | 22,850

-----------+-----------+-----------

Total | 336,753 | 276,745

===================================

According to the reports of the Commissioner General of Immigration,

1,602,748 immigrant agricultural laborers, male and female, arrived in

the United States between 1901 and 1910, both years inclusive. If all of

these incoming agricultural laborers had found employment on farms in

this country, the increase of immigrant agricultural laborers in 1910 over

the number of 1900 would have been 579 per cent instead of 22 per cent.

The United States Immigration Commission made a detailed study of 17,141

households, the heads of which were miners or wage earners in

manufacturing establishments. Of the persons of these households for

whom complete data were secured, 62 per cent of the males and 24 per

cent of the females were employed as farm laborers or as farmers before

coming to the United States. The Immigration Commission also secured

detailed information from 181,330 male and 12,968 female employees in

mines and manufacturing establishments. Of these, 54 per cent of the

males and 44 per cent of the females were employed in the old country in

farming or as farm laborers.[5]

The transformation of European peasants into mill hands and miners in

America is to be ascribed partially to the fact that land was not

available to them when they arrived in this country. Either they did not

know where the land which awaited a cultivator was located, or they had

not enough money to buy such land, or they lacked credit needed to

undertake operations in clearing and preparing new land, or they were

ignorant of American farming conditions. Some seemingly insurmountable

reason prevented them from following their desires and calling.

This occupational change has resulted in loss to this country. The

experience in agriculture of these large numbers of men, coupled with

their ability for the hard manual labor required in truck gardening, in

intensive farming, and especially in the opening up of new land, has

been wastefully cast aside. The significance of such loss is clear in

view of the fundamental importance of agriculture in the nation's life.

About two thirds of the area of our country is uncultivated as yet, and

the one third that is cultivated is worked extensively rather than

intensively. Furthermore, native Americans and even old-time immigrants

avoid hard pioneering work in the wilderness since they can find

opportunities of lighter work and better returns elsewhere, on already

established and "paying" farms.

Aside from economic loss there has also been a loss in social values.

The desire of a large number of immigrants to establish permanent rural

homes and to become citizens here has gone to the winds. Instead of

scattering over the country and mingling with the native population,

they have been driven to the congested cities and have formed there

Little Polands, Little Italies, ghettos, etc., remaining almost

untouched by American influences. Both the economic and the social loss

might have been averted to a considerable degree if the nation had had

an effective land policy and if it had come to the aid of the immigrants

in distributing and settling them on the land.

The certainty in the mind of an immigrant that there is a stake in the

land for him, and his confidence that in the acquirement of his stake he

gets a square deal from all concerned, are more important from the

viewpoint of Americanization than the actual acquirement of any

settlement on land; for not all immigrants desire to own a piece of land

and work on it, and not all who desire to can actually do so. Other

considerations--for instance, family conditions, industrial opportunities,

city attractions, etc.--prevent a number of such immigrants from becoming

farmers. Many come to America only to make money so as to return and buy

land at home. For land ownership is to them the goal in life. What a

change in this transient attitude might be made by a policy of

having land available and usable for such birds of passage.

Certainty and confidence as purely psychological factors in the process

of Americanization can be cultivated in the immigrants by affording

effective public guidance and protection to those who actually attempt

to settle on land.

As the land settlement conditions now are, a large number of the

land-seeking immigrants are disappointed in the acquirement of land;

they have no confidence in the land sellers and dealers, and they have

even become suspicious of the country's laws and public institutions

connected with land transfer by purchase. To illustrate: An old-time

Italian immigrant, a skilled truck gardener, working for another Italian

near a small Eastern town, explained to the writer:

I have saved a small sum of money for the purpose of buying a piece

of land. But after years of search I have not succeeded in

acquiring a piece of land suitable for gardening. All land seems to

have been already "grabbed." The price asked is so high that one

hardly is able to work it out of the soil. Last year a "Yankee"

sold me some land, but he did not give it to me; he wanted only my

money. I had to take a lawyer, but he did not get the land that I

had bought for me. Only my money was returned, half of which the

lawyer kept for himself as a fee for his services. There is no help

from lawyers or courts. I lost my savings of years. The

land-selling business in this country is a big humbug. Too bad!

NEED FOR LAND REGULATION

It is an astonishing, almost unbelievable fact that, although nearly all

industrial and trade pursuits have come under some sort of public

regulation, licensing, or supervision--even such minor trades as

shoeblacking, fruit peddling, and mere popcorn and peanut selling--land

dealing, one of the most basic of all trades, has been practically

overlooked by our lawmakers.

The regulation of a trade requires a definite policy toward the present

and future of the trade in relation to the public safety and welfare,

and especially is this true in regard to the regulation of land dealing.

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 assist the assimilation 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 attitude 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 assumed 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 ADVERTISEMENTS

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 prone 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.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: 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' advertisements in the foreign-language newspapers. The

immigrant newspapers, depending on a nation-wide constituency, are, as a

rule, careful in accepting trade advertisements. Often the editor, before

accepting the advertisement from the land company, makes a personal visit

to the company's main office to find out whether the advertisement 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

advertisements 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 illustrated 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 titles 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 assigns to it qualities which it does not

possess, "does not simply magnify in opinion the advantages which it has,

but invents advantages and falsely asserts 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

assert 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 associations 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

advertisement 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 classified

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, competition takes care of this, provided the home seeker

gets into communication with our department. To illustrate: 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 passed. 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.

I should like to call your attention to the following form of

certificate furnished inquirers in communication with this

department:

THE STATE OF WISCONSIN

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

IMMIGRATION DIVISION

Directing Certificate

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

The bearer ......................................... of

........................ is in communication with this department,

and looking for a farm home in ............. County, Wisconsin. It

is our purpose to keep in touch with him after his removal to this

state, to note his progress, and learn if he is fully satisfied

with the business relations he may have with any person or firm

selling him land.

Any courtesies extended him will be appreciated.

.......................... 191......

....................................

_Director of Immigration._

C. P. Norgord, _Commissioner_.

In a bulletin of information for immigrants, issued by the Commission of

Immigration and Housing of California, 1920, the commission offers its

assistance to the seekers of land in the state of California, in the

following words:

Immigrants who are thinking of buying farm lands should call upon

or write to the office of the Commission of Immigration and Housing

for free information and advice.

(_a_) The commission co-operating with the Agricultural

Department of the State University will furnish without charge

general information regarding agricultural lands; and

(_b_) It will make an investigation and free report to any

immigrant concerning any particular tract of land which he may

have visited, and which he contemplates buying. This report will

cover the agricultural possibilities of the land and its

accessibility to markets. If the immigrant states his previous

experience, his financial condition, and gives other information

which may be requested by the commission, the report will also

give advice as to the wisdom of buying the proposed land.

No purchase or contract to purchase land should be made or entered

into until the immigrant knows the nature of the land, its true

money value, and that the land belongs to the one who proposes to

sell it.

This is the kind of public assistance which the land seekers, especially

the immigrants, most urgently need, and to which they are entitled. The

only questions are, will the other states follow, and how can the

opportunity of such reliable public assistance be made known to the

land-seeking masses?

III

EXPERIENCES IN ACQUIRING LAND

The experiences of the Russian sectarian peasants in America in their

attempts to settle on land are illuminating in regard to existing

conditions of land dealing and colonization as they affect the immigrant.

There are in the Western states about a thousand families (or six thousand

individuals) of Russian peasant sectarians--Molokans, Holy Jumpers, Wet and

Dry Baptists, and others. They were all engaged in agriculture while they

lived in Russia. As a result of persecution by the Russian monarchy they

left their country and came to America about ten years ago.

RUSSIAN SECTARIAN PEASANTS IN THE WEST

From the beginning of their American adventure they have had a keen

desire to settle on land. They have made repeated attempts to acquire

farms, but so far failure has been the rule, with few exceptions.

The facts regarding most of the unsuccessful attempts outlined below

were obtained at a meeting of Russian sectarians in Los Angeles attended

by about one hundred family heads. Each one told his own experience. The

men had great difficulty in indicating American names--the names of

companies, counties, etc.--so that in the following account names are

omitted. When questioned as to how they could secure so much money, they

explained that they all work whenever it is possible to find work, that

they live moderately, that their men and women dress cheaply, that they

do not drink or smoke or go to any places of amusement, as all that is

prohibited by their religion, and that they save. They stated that their

land-seeking attempts are backed financially by the entire colony; the

losses are shared by all its members, although the individual families

who are on the firing line lose more than the families who remain in Los

Angeles and back these scouting parties.

These peasants believe that their difficulty in finding and settling on

land has been due to several causes. First, they have not enough money

to buy immediately a large tract of land, irrigate and improve it, and

give the families a good start. Second, they do not know the country and

conditions well enough, especially the agricultural possibilities.

Third, the private land dealers are mostly crooks who cheat them, either

by misrepresenting the quality of the land, or by not fulfilling their

contract promises, or by making contracts so complicated and so filled

with catches that they afterward prove the ruin of the settler. The

following are some of the most important of the attempts to find land.

From thirty to thirty-three families made a land-purchase contract with

a company of ---- County, Washington. One hundred and sixty acres were

sold to each family, at a price of from $40 to $50 an acre. Each family

pays down $400 and should pay to the company 60 per cent a year of the

first, second, and third years' crops, it being understood that the

remaining 40 per cent would remain in the hands of the settler for the

support of his family. But during the first year it developed that the

company took out of that 40 per cent the interest on the mortgages and

the taxes on the land, so that very little was left for the cultivator.

The next year the settlers left the land, worked on neighboring farms

for another year, and then returned to Los Angeles. Some families had

lost $400, some $700--practically all the money they had saved or borrowed.

Again, fifteen families made a contract with a company near Fresno,

California. Forty acres were sold to each family at $115 per acre, with the

privilege of water for irrigation on the stipulation that the company would

receive half of the market value of the crops. The company promised to lend

seeds and implements. Several of the families had come from Mexico to

escape revolutionary disturbances there, bringing implements, horses,

cattle, etc. When they arrived they had to borrow seeds and provisions for

the support of the families. The company furnished these on a chattel

mortgage at 7 per cent. But the company was not able to provide irrigating

water, so the settlers, after two years of fruitless effort, had to leave

the land, losing all their mortgaged personal property. Some families lost

$700 in cash, some lost $1,000, and some even more.

Later, twenty families made a contract with a land company for the

purchase of farms varying in size from twenty to forty acres, at a price

of $120 per acre. To be cautious, the peasants sent out only seven

families. The company promised to provide either a tractor or horses,

implements, seeds, and water, and was to receive one fourth of the

crops. But it turned out that the company was not able to furnish water.

During two years the settlers tried to make good, but did not succeed,

the lack of water being the main cause of failure. One family lost $700,

another $820, and the others lost about the same amount each.

Another group of twenty families made a contract with a company in the

same neighborhood. Fifty acres were sold to each family at $120 per

acre. The company agreed to provide two horses for each family and all

necessary implements, and for its part was to receive half of all the

crops. It also promised to give water. But when the time came the

company supplied only thirty horses instead of forty, and only three

plows for the whole colony; it also failed to furnish water. The land

was good, but without water it was of no use. The settlers battled for

two years and then left the land. Each lost from $500 to $1,000.

About two years ago a farmer owning lands in the San Joaquin Valley got

in touch with Russian peasants in Los Angeles. He agreed to sell these

people land, with houses, stock, etc., at what seemed a nominal first

payment--$200. It looked like a wonderful opportunity to the simple

peasants, who, by their industry, had saved up two or three hundred

dollars or more. About 120 families were induced to make the first

deposit ($10 or $20). Then Prof. W. T. Clarke of the agricultural

extension service of the University of California was asked by the

Immigration Commission to visit this tract and report on it. He found

that it was the poorest kind of alkali land--land that a grasshopper

would starve on. The farmer who was selling the land raised strenuous

objections to the investigation and the resulting report, but the

commission succeeded in shutting off the entire deal, except in the

cases of four or five peasants who insisted on taking the farms and who

are now making a failure of it.

On an attempt of the peasants to settle in Utah, twenty families contracted

to buy farms at $100 per acre, 130 acres to a family. One fourth of the

crops were to be paid to the company, which promised to provide water; but

the company failed to find water and all the settlers and the company

itself went to pieces. The settlers' losses were very heavy, some losing

$1,000, some $2,000. They were again compelled to return to Los Angeles.

In 1907 certain agents of a German sugar company in Honolulu appeared

and promised to sell the peasants good land in Honolulu. Thirty families

made contracts to buy farms of forty acres, with the stipulation that

they would pay the price gradually out of their income from the farms.

When the families arrived in Honolulu there was no land for them. The

company explained that they had been merely hired for work on its

plantation. Under the conditions of labor there they were half slaves

and the life became unendurable. After six months of trial and hardship

they returned to Los Angeles, each family having lost from $600 to $700.

In another instance seven families bought farms at Elmira, California,

varying in size from twenty to seventy acres. The price was $117 an acre,

and they paid down $10 an acre, the balance being covered by a mortgage at

6 per cent. This land is rather poor, but the settlers have stayed on.

THE SUCCESSFUL COLONY AT GLENDALE

Aside from a few families who have succeeded in settling on land here

and there through the Western states and who are making ends meet, there

is only one group of these peasants which has succeeded in establishing

a well-to-do colony; that colony is at Glendale, Arizona, below the

Roosevelt Dam.

The first colonists arrived in Glendale seven years ago from Los Angeles,

while others came later from San Francisco and from Mexico. The development

of the colony has been steady. There are four groups of colonists located a

few miles from one another, but they communicate freely and consider

themselves one colony. There are at present about seven hundred persons in

the colony, with an average of five or six children in each family. The

settlers paid down little money at the beginning. Some families did not pay

anything; some paid $100, some $500, and a few paid $1,000. The price of

the land was originally $125 per acre, but it has now doubled. Almost all

the land is under cultivation. The men have acquired the necessary

machinery, stock, plants, and seeds; they have plenty to eat, and a large

number of families have Ford automobiles, while a few are considering the

purchase of higher-priced cars.

The success of the peasants in Glendale is to be explained by the

fertility of the new desert land, the adequate irrigation provided by

the Roosevelt Dam system, reasonable conditions of land purchase, the

capacity of the men for hard labor, and their love of the land. The main

money crop is cotton of the highest grade and of exceptionally heavy

yield. There is no difficulty in marketing farm products, for the colony

is within a few miles of Phoenix.

OTHER CALIFORNIA CASES

The report of the Commission on Land Colonization and Rural Credits of

the state of California presents some interesting cases.[6]

A tract of wheat land was bought at $7 per acre. The buyer organized a

syndicate composed of himself and his stenographer and sold the land to

the syndicate at $100 per acre. The syndicate sold the land at $200 per

acre. No settler was able to earn either the purchase price or the

interest on it out of the soil.

Another colonization company bought 150,000 acres at an average of less

than $40 per acre. The average selling price at the start was $75 per

acre, but was soon increased to $175 per acre. The agents commission on

the higher price was 30 per cent--_i.e._, considerably more than the

cost of the land.

In another case an agent made a contract for selling a tract of land at 20

per cent of the selling price, which he was free to fix himself. He raised

the price from $150 to $400 per acre, so that he received commissions of

$80 per acre instead of $30. As the terms were one fifth cash, the balance

in four yearly installments, the agent induced the settlers to buy as much

land as would absorb all their capital for the first payments, and then he

pocketed as his commission the total amount paid down. When the tract was

all sold, the owner held the contracts of the moneyless settlers, the

latter had the use of the land, and the agent had the coin.

Some colonization companies, in searching for a tract of land, have

regarded price as the only consideration, saying that any land that could

be bought for $25 an acre could be colonized. Only hardpan and alkali land

could be bought in California at that price. Nevertheless, one company

bought such an area, subdivided it, and traded it for houses and lots in

Los Angeles. Some time later only three of the purchasers were found to be

still in the colony, and probably not one of them intended to remain.

In one district a tract of "goose" land, after selling for $5 and then

$15 an acre, was subdivided and sold as garden soil for $125 an acre.

Three brothers who were market gardeners bought farms and settled there

with their families. They found the soil, when wet, to be a quagmire and

when dry to be possible of cultivation only with dynamite. After three

years of utter failure they were forced to abandon their homes, having

lost their money, time, and labor, and having reaped a bitter feeling of

injustice and wrong.

It appears from the report that a certain class of land speculators,

when buying land for reselling in plots, do not pay so much attention to

the qualities of the land as to its advertising possibilities. If land

in a widely known valley is alkali land, so much the better, for the

buying price is lower. The speculator in his advertisement makes it

appear as fruit land with a great future. It seems also to have been by

no means uncommon for the agent's commission to be higher than the price

paid by the owner for the land.

AN OKLAHOMA SETTLEMENT

On February 12, 1919, in Cincinnati, Ohio, sixteen land swindlers of the

McAlester Real Estate Exchange, of McAlester, Oklahoma, were found

guilty by a jury in Federal court. The company's land-advertisement

literature was so worded as to convey the impression that the McAlester

company was acting as an agent of the government in the sale of Indian

lands. The prosecution was largely centered on the distribution among

the customers of a tract of 41,000 acres in Oklahoma. It was charged

that the president of the company secured an option on these lands when

he found that he was unable to buy sufficient land at the government

sale of Indian lands to fill his contracts.

It was also charged that the company perpetrated a fraud on its

customers when it took $135 as a fee for locating and purchasing land,

agreeing to act as attorney and agent for the customer, and then sold

the land that it had bought privately at a profit. These contracts were,

in the opinion of the government, so worded as to convey the impression

that in paying for the locating and bidding the "party of the second

part" was also making a payment on the land and was encouraged in the

belief that his land would be in the midst of areas yielding oil and

other mineral products as well as timber. Timber-right frauds also were

alleged. The company had during 1917 collected from its victims, who

lived in all parts of the country, nearly $1,000,000. It was revealed

also that given plots of land had been sold to more than one buyer.

The foregoing instances indicate that companies formed for the purpose of

exploiting and deceiving land settlers have succeeded. With the increasing

tide of new immigration, it may be possible to ensnare even more unwary

persons. But there have been a sufficient number of exposes, as well as

court decisions, to make the business of fraudulent land promotion a

dangerous one. All types of real-estate dealers are increasingly realizing

the need for making their transactions aboveboard and honest. Steps to this

end are being taken by the better class of dealer.

[6] _California Commission on Land Colonization and Rural Credits_,

1916. pp. 50-53.

IV

INDIVIDUAL LAND DEALERS

Except for government land grants and homestead acts, land dealing and

colonization in the United States have, up to very recent times, been

entirely in private hands. Land is one of the necessities of life; land

dealing, consequently, is one of the most important features in social

and economic relations. Yet it has been left unregulated, with the

result that land dealing is now the most chaotic sort of business, one

which has not worked out its own definite methods, rules, and

traditions, as banking and other branches of commerce and business have

done. It may even be said that people who deal in land have fallen, in

the eyes of the public, into the ranks of those open to suspicion.

In the field investigation for this study, land dealing was considered

to be an important phase of the problem of Americanization in rural

districts. Based upon the experiences and facts collected, the picture

may be drawn as follows:

According to their methods, private land dealers may be classified as

follows:

(1) Land "sharks," divided between those acting outside the law and

those acting within the law; (2) the ordinary real-estate

dealer--of two types--the lower, selfish, narrow-minded, the

higher, public-spirited; (3) "realtors"; (4) land-colonizing

companies.

LAND SHARKS

Land sharks are of two distinct varieties. One type is composed of men

of a criminal character. The words "lawful" and "unlawful" have no

meaning for them. They often sell land as their own which they do not

own, or sell land other than they have promised or even shown to the

buyer. Their only aim is to cheat the latter out of his money and to

escape the penalty of the law.

These pirates injure both land seekers and legitimate real-estate men.

They hang about the trains, railroad stations, and all points where

there is a chance of attracting the land seekers. They are sometimes

able to entice those who are being brought in by reputable land men.

Often the pirates are of the same nationality as the immigrants and by

clever emphasis on this common bond and by skillful manipulation of

truth and lies they steal the men away to look at land which they call

their own. The land pirates do not advertise, but live on the

advertising that the reputable land men do. As a result the latter

curtail their advertising and do a comparatively small amount of it,

since they are prevented from realizing the full profits due on the

investment. This is a situation that forces the land men to realize the

need of a licensed real-estate profession.

The president of a land company in Wisconsin gives this description of

the operations of the land sharks and of the effects of their activity:

Relative to the land pirates, it is hard to estimate how much land

they sell, but we find that for every customer they do sell to they

queer deals for this country of from ten to twenty-four which the

other land men might have landed.... I estimate that within the

last two years the city of ---- has lost from fifty to one hundred

customers for land though these pirates, who infest the depot and

meet all trains.... Their first act is to find that the man is

looking for land and to find out whom he is expecting to see, for

they usually come up with some definite proposition to look over.

The pirate then proceeds to throw cold water on the locality that

he is to look over, and very often challenges the integrity of the

party whom he is going to see. He does this preparatory to starting

in to taking the man off and showing him something of his own.

Frequently these men do not own a foot of land, but have a few

pieces for sale on commission. They are usually irresponsible men

and often put through some rocky deals, and it is through them more

than anything else that the real-estate men have often got very bad

names for the way they have handled customers who come up to buy

land. When the customer's mind has been poisoned against the party

whom he was coming to see, and against the particular piece of land

or locality where he had formerly planned to buy, he is often ready

to quit and go back, and it is very hard for anyone thereafter to

deal with him, because his confidence has been shaken in the people

and the country.

The other type of land shark is composed of men who act within the law,

but, for their own gain, apply methods which are mildly called "sharp"

or "unethical." They either misrepresent the qualities of the land they

offer, or charge a higher price than the land is worth, or make in the

contract such stipulations as will afterward ruin the settler. They

profit by the settlers' failures, for each settler adds something to the

improvement of the land before the conditions of the land-purchase

contract which he is unable to meet compel him to leave the land. The

land shark sells the land to a new settler for a still higher price,

capitalizing the improvements made by the former settler. With the new

settler the process is repeated, and so it goes, like an endless chain.

It is similar to the method of splitting fees practiced by private

employment offices and foremen who keep men coming and going.

There are no data collected to show the actual extent of the activities

of the land sharks, but, judging by the stories told by the immigrants,

by records of court proceedings, by suspicious land advertisements in

newspapers, especially in the smaller, less reliable foreign-language

papers, and by the number of cases brought to the attention of the state

immigration commissioners, it is safe to state that the immigrants

suffer very greatly from the land-shark evil.

LOWER TYPE OF LAND DEALER

One group of the ordinary type of land dealer might be characterized as

being composed of narrow-minded, hard, and even heartless business men,

working solely for their own interests. Their business consists merely in

buying and selling land as rapidly as possible. In making prices for land

and in making contract stipulations with the buyers, they do not "monkey,"

as some of them say. As a rule they do not charge a higher price than the

land is worth--that is, not higher than the prevailing market price in a

particular locality. They also avoid unreasonable or impossible contract

stipulations. When land is sold, when the contract has been signed by both

sides, then their care and interest in regard to the land and its owner

end. If the buyer later fails to meet the contract stipulations in any

particular the land dealer sees to it that he leaves the land at once. The

dealer then advertises and sells the land again. Usually, no compensation

for improvements made by the settler, in case of his failure, is stipulated

in the contract. If there is any gain to the land dealer from the failure

of a settler, the dealer often claims that such gain is more than offset by

heavy expenses, such as for advertising, agents' commissions, and the like,

in finding a new buyer.

The land dealer gives little or no consideration to the causes of the

failure of the settler. According to the observation of the writer, a

large number of failures in settling on land are not due to the personal

defects or weakness of the settlers, but are due to external causes,

such as lack of capital and credit, lack of market, poor roads, etc. The

settlers who have failed owing to such causes might be criticized for

their poor judgment in selecting the land, but the land dealers might

equally be criticized for not warning the settlers of the difficulties

before they buy the land.

The land dealers ought to know the market facilities, the extent of capital

and credit required for success on a particular piece of land and in a

particular locality. As a matter of fact, dealers of the type under

discussion do not warn the settlers. They give advice of an optimistic

character and they apply to the settler the Darwinian theory of survival of

the fittest. A number of these land dealers said to the writer:

Well, it is up to the settler himself, either to succeed or to

fail. If he fails, he has himself alone to blame, and he must give

place to the settler who is able to succeed. There is no room for

weaklings on my land or anywhere else in this world.

The results which follow in the wake of such land-settlement policies

are described in the following extract from the letter of a county

agent. He writes from a locality where many of the settlers are immigrants:

In some parts of this country ... the statistics show that there is

a complete change in the farmers every seven years. That means that

several farmers are coming and going all the time. Several farmers

are paying out taxes and interest on something they will never

own.... As to the land companies doing things for the settler, in

the most part they take care of the new man for a time, but I

notice that they close them out, too, if taxes and interest are not

kept up pretty well.

A similar condition is described in the letter below from a county agent

in the same state:

The land companies in this county are not putting forth any special

effort to make it easier for the new settlers to succeed. As far as

I know, all the land companies in this county are reliable. They

live up to their agreements with the settlers. However, I can also

vouch for the statement that many of our farms, with very little

clearing, are continuously changing hands.

The importance of advice and warning from the land company to the

settler, and the deplorable infrequency with which it is given, are

spoken of in this statement by a county agent:

So far the ... settler's only means of protection has been the

county agent. From the county agent the settler gets the true

condition of the land, climate, and possibilities in general, of

the particular region into which he is going. Too often, though,

the settler is met at the train by the real-estate agent, and this

agent does not let his prospective buyer get in touch with anyone

else until after he has been sold a piece of land. After the

settler has bought his land the real-estate man thinks that his

connection with him has ceased, and he is no longer interested in

him other than to see that the promised payments are paid when due.

THE PUBLIC-SPIRITED LAND DEALER

The second group of the ordinary type of land dealer, though not so

large as the first group, consists of men who have a broader outlook

upon their business and work. While they also are after personal

profit, they understand that they are rendering, in return for their

profit, a service not only to the land buyer, but also to the public.

Accordingly, they are considerate of the settler, try to make him

successful, and, having the social point of view, they promote

education, welfare work, and other community interests among the settlers.

The writer has met a number of such broad-minded and public-spirited land

dealers. Some of them were so modest as to deny that they were interested

in or were keeping in mind any public or social end in their business.

Well, I am after profit, nothing more. By helping the settler to

make a success through extension of credit to him, through

demonstrations, through finding a market for his products, and

through organizing community work, I am only advertising my land

and attracting new settlers. That is, I am applying a little bit of

Henry Ford's methods to the land-settlement business, that's all!

This explanation was given by a large land dealer in one of the Middle

Western states. Further conversation with him showed that he took great

pride in the fact that the settlers on his land esteemed him highly and

had confidence in him.

It is land men of this type that a county agent from the North Middle

West speaks of in these words:

The land men in this county all believe that it is to their own

interests to have every settler a satisfied settler. They are

getting away from the idea that they are done with the settler as

soon as they sell him a piece of land. They now believe that they

are just starting their relations with the settler when he buys

from them.

Another county agent writes that he believes that

the real-estate men are beginning to try to see that the settlers

to whom they sell land make good. They are doing this by being

lenient with their conditions and by picking only the better types

of land for settlement.

One of the real-estate men who have this more public-spirited view of

their work describes his relations with the settlers as follows:

I try to assist the settler by giving him all the moral support and

encouragement possible, by keeping friendly with him so he feels

free to come to me with his every problem. I stand ready to finance

any deserving settler for the full purchase price of good milk

cows, or to buy a pig or two, or for any other thing that is sure

to help him over the hill. Especially, I go among them organizing

farm loan associations and community-center gatherings, thereby

bringing the whole family the general social opportunities that

every normal family craves and has the right to expect.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: FRIENDLY ASSISTANCE MAKES PIONEERING LESS BAFFLING]

A real-estate company with offices in Chicago states that it assists the

individual settler in many ways:

1. We sell him horses and cows on liberal terms.

2. We help him buy on credit building materials and other

necessaries, such as feed for his stock, small tools, etc. We O.K.

many small bills.

3. We many times indorse settlers' notes at banks in order to help

them get credit, and thus get the money with which to make progress.

4. Our organization keeps in touch with parties to whom we have

sold. Our men see them occasionally and give them advice. Often we

are able to be of material assistance in helping them to buy the

right stock at the right prices.

5. We keep hammering away at the importance of their keeping in

touch with the county adviser and getting the free literature that

is sent out by the state and Federal authorities.

6. We try to be of aid in everything which promotes the general

social and economic welfare of the community. For example:

a. Our Mr. ---- was chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee in

---- County.

b. Any proposition for new roads, new schools, or new churches

gets our hearty and immediate support.

c. In all cases where we have been asked to donate an acre or

half acre for church purposes, we have done so.

d. We have been instrumental in helping a number of incipient

business men to start cheese factories.

"REALTORS"

Certain phases of the real-estate business requiring concerted action, and

especially the desire of the higher type of land dealers to put their trade

or profession on a higher level, and thus to prevent it from falling into

disrepute in the public eye, have led the better type of real-estate men to

organize themselves into local real-estate boards with an associate

membership of leading local merchants, bankers, lawyers, and others

particularly interested in real-estate developments. The "realtors" prefer

to speak of their trade as a "profession" or "calling," not a business or

trade, for they claim that an up-to-date real-estate dealer is a community

builder and leader whose preparation requires a good general education and

a special training, pointing out that a number of the best colleges in the

country are giving courses in the real-estate business.

Nineteen local boards from thirteen states formed a national association

in 1908. At present the association comprises 130 local boards in this

country and Canada, with a total membership of about 8,500 persons.

The aims of the National Association of Real Estate Boards are to promote

efficiency among its members, to be a clearing house for the exchange of

information and ideas, to publish an organ of the association, to broaden

the sphere of influence of the local real-estate men, to assist in

organizing local boards, to fight the land "sharks" and "curbstone

brokers," and to maintain a high standard of professional ethics.

The members of the associated local boards call themselves "realtors,"

as distinct from "real-estate men" or "land dealers"--names which, they

feel, are tainted by the unscrupulous methods of the "sharks."

The association has published a code of ethics for its members, in

which paragraph 13 is especially noteworthy. It reads:

As a duty to the public and each other, members should report to

the board misrepresentations or any fraudulent, criminal, or

illegal act pertaining to real estate, which may entrap and injure

innocent or ignorant persons; and the board owes it to members and

the community to take steps to stop such practices and to punish

parties guilty thereof.

The local boards often render certain services to the community. The

valuation committees are often called upon to give their expert advice

in land matters even to the courts and government administrative offices.

But how far the association is successful in combating the underhand

business methods of the unscrupulous real-estate men is very difficult

to say. The fact is this, that the association favors public registry

and regulation of the real-estate trade and at present is working toward

that end, supporting bills of this nature that are introduced in the

state legislatures. A number of the realtors are not in favor of the

words "license" and "licensing." They prefer instead the words

"certificate," "registry," and "regulation," believing that the word

"license" is associated in the popular mind with saloon-keeping and

similar trades of a lower order.

The desire of these men to separate from ordinary real-estate men by

calling themselves "realtors" and their business a "profession," and

their advocacy of public regulation, show that the land "shark" is still

very much alive and that the real-estate men themselves by their own

private efforts are not able successfully to combat the "shark."

In the field of private land dealing there is appearing a substitute for

the individual dealer. The modern colonization company has recently grown

up, and out of this new project have grown broader policies and methods.

V

PRIVATE LAND COLONIZATION COMPANIES

The earlier so-called city and empire builders were in most cases nothing

more than dealers in land. When a lot or farm was sold, there the company's

interest ended. The modern colonization company goes much farther. When a

man settles on land, the company of the better type usually looks out for

him, backs him with credit, affords him the service of an expert

agricultural adviser, cares for his health, and promotes his social

interests and activities through a salaried community worker.

All this is done by the company not only for the sake of the settler

himself, but mainly for the sake of the business interests of the

company, since the success of the settlers on the company's land is the

best advertisement of the company's business. It creates confidence in

the company among the searchers for land and helps to increase the

volume of business and the profits. Such companies are of rather recent

origin and as yet are comparatively few in number. Their appearance

means specialization in the land-development business.

In the North Middle Western states the wilderness land has been for the

most part owned by the lumber companies. The lumber companies attempted

to dispose of their cut-over and burnt-over land in the easiest way by

selling to individuals. As a rule this retail selling was unsuccessful.

They found that it was more profitable for them to stick to their lumber

business and sell their land in large tracts to the land dealers and to

land-development and colonization companies.

In this connection it is interesting to note that in the wilds of our

north one may still see the following stages of frontier life as they

exist side by side, sometimes overlapping and crosscutting one another.

1. The earliest stage known to American civilization was that of virgin

wilderness inhabited by animals and roamed over by Indians. As remnants

of that time there are found some animals, now driven into the swamps

and rocks, and a few Indians settled on reservations.

2. The next stage was when the white missionaries, traders, adventurers,

followed by professional trappers, began penetrating the wilderness.

This white men's hunting stage is still represented by the present-day

"shackers" and trappers, though they are mostly of an amateur character,

and, so to speak, domesticated.

3. The following stage was when lumbermen began being heard throughout the

forests. They are still there, though in considerably reduced numbers. They

are hurriedly attacking the remaining woods, leaving in their wake a

dreary, sorrowful-looking expanse of cut-over and burnt-over lands.

4. These cut-over lands are now invaded by the land development and

colonization companies, with their armies of new settlers, attempting to

transform the last remnants of wilderness into fertile gardens, fields,

and meadows. This is the last decisive war of man upon the wilderness--a

picturesque and difficult struggle. A settler gives this vivid

description, printed in the Radisson, Wisconsin, _Courier_:

Everywhere we go we see men, women, and children cutting and piling

the brush and logs that have covered the ground since the days of

the logger. Everyone seems to be trying to clear more land than his

neighbor, and get it ready to produce the crops that are so badly

needed all over the world, and as we stop a minute to take a better

view of what each one has done, we hear the boom of dynamite that

is following the brush lines as they are being pushed back.

In the north the land-clearing line is called the firing line, a term

which can be taken literally, for the land-clearing front is continually

under fire and clouds of smoke from burning debris.

5. The sturdy new settlers, the last pioneers and frontiersmen in the

country, are followed, especially along rivers where water power is at

hand, by industrial workers. Here and there are appearing thriving

manufacturing and commercial towns--the last stage in the opening up of

a new country to civilization.

But the most important work in the wilderness at present is that of the

modern land colonization companies. To give an idea of their work and

methods it is necessary to describe one of these companies in detail.

A TYPICAL COMPANY

The particular company investigated with special attention is located in

the wilderness of one of the North Middle Western states. In general the

company is applying the same business methods to land colonization as

Mr. Ford is applying to automobile production--production of new farms

on a large scale so as to diminish the overhead expense, and

standardization of various colonization methods. The guiding test is the

success of the new settlers on the company's land. Failures among the

settlers are avoided and fought against by the company as though they

were a dangerous epidemic. "Each failure among our settlers is a bad

advertisement for our company, a loss to us, and an evidence of defects

in our business methods," stated the company's head.

To insure the success of the settlers and the settlement, the company

proceeds as follows: The most careful study is made of the tract of land

which the company intends to acquire for colonization purposes. Not only is

the tract of land closely looked over by the company's officials, but land

experts, such as soil surveyors, are engaged to examine the land from the

viewpoint of its agricultural possibilities. Federal and state surveyors'

reports are also used in considering the possibilities of the land.

When the land has been acquired, a plan for a colony is worked out, with

provision for necessary roads, town sites, irrigation or drainage

systems, utilization of water power, social centers, experimental farms,

etc. The accompanying map shows the plan of one such colony.

The tract is then surveyed and cut up into farms according to the plan

adopted. A number of farm lots are selected by the company. On each of

these lots there is designated a place for the farm buildings and the

garden. A simple, inexpensive house and a barn are built by the company

on a small clearing, usually facing the main road. At present the

company has ceased to clear any land for agricultural use for the reason

that if there is a piece of cleared land the new settler is apt to

expend his main efforts on cultivation of this cleared land, neglecting

the clearing of more land.

Our experience has shown that it is much better when a new settler

begins his settlement enterprise with clearing. He at once acquires

the needed experience in clearing, and develops the confidence

that he is able to overcome the difficulties of clearing. As a

result, his ambition grows to clear more land each year,

explained a company official. This again shows with what fineness the

company has to adjust its methods to the psychological peculiarities of

the settlers.

At the same time the company equips the experimental farm and puts it

into operation under the supervision of a trained agriculturist. For the

community work a hall is provided and a community worker engaged.

Meanwhile the company's agents and advertisers have been busy in making

the land opportunities known to people who are intending to settle on

land. The new settlers are of two distinct types. One type consists

either of native Americans or immigrants who have previously been on

land in the United States either as landowners or as tenants. The second

class consists of immigrants who have been living in the cities and who

desire to settle on land. In most cases they have been engaged in

agricultural work in their old countries.

[Illustration: THE WISCONSIN COLONIZATION COMPANY SEES THE NEED OF

COMMUNITY CENTERS]

The company itself takes into consideration racial and national factors. In

the year of the investigation the company was doing its main business in

the one section with Polish immigrants, and preferred them even to the

native settlers. The reason given was that immigrants, especially Slavs,

are easy to get along with and readily follow the company's directions and

advice. They are hard workers and are satisfied with a small return at the

beginning. In contrast, the natives commonly pay little attention to the

company's directions and advice, being anxious to make a quick success. In

case they do not succeed as rapidly as they expected, they get discouraged,

leave the place, and give the company a "black eye."

The land is sold in plots of forty acres each, either as "made-to-order"

farms or without farming improvements--"land only." The purchaser may

buy as many plots as he desires and is able to pay for. However, the

company discourages the buying of more land than the settler is able

actually to improve and cultivate, which usually is about forty acres.

The company offers in its folder the following three land sale plans:

PLAN NO. 1

LAND ONLY, WITHOUT IMPROVEMENTS

First payment, $200 for each 40 acres. Total cost, $750 to $1,000

for each 40 acres.

If you buy under Plan No. 1 you pay for the land only. Should you

want lumber or building supplies, we will furnish them to you at

cost, and add on to your contract. The same is true in case you

want live stock. In other words, we will furnish supplies equal to

the amount of the first payment. Prices vary according to location

and quality of land.

PLAN NO. 2

FORTY ACRES OF LAND WITH HOUSE AND LIVE STOCK

House 14x20 feet, 1 story,

1 cow,

1 small pig,

4 chickens,

Complete assortment of vegetable and flower seeds,

1 bushel mixed clover and timothy seed.

Cash payment, $250.

Total cost, $1,100 to $1,350.

These plans cover only 40 acres. If you wish larger acreage add to

these plans what land you require, at $750 to $1,000 per 40-acre unit.

PLAN NO. 3

FORTY ACRES OF LAND WITH HOUSE, BARN, LIVE STOCK, AND TOOLS

House 14x20 feet, 1-1/2 story,

Barn 12x14 feet,

1 cow,

4 chickens,

2 small pigs,

Complete assortment of vegetable and flower seeds,

1 bushel mixed clover and timothy seed,

1 garden cultivator,

1 crosscut saw,

1 ax,

1 brush scythe,

1 mattock.

Cash payment, $400.

Total cost, $1,250 to $1,500.

These plans cover only 40 acres. If you wish larger acreage add to

these plans what land you require, at $750 to $1,000 per 40-acre

unit.

As experience has shown, a settler on new land which he has to clear has no

opportunity for using a horse to its fullest capacity during the first two

years. Therefore the company does not include a horse in the preliminary

equipment of a "made-to-order" farm. When a new settler needs horse power

either for plowing or hauling he hires a horse from his older neighbors or

from the company's demonstration farm at a reasonable price.

One of the company's special efforts consists in securing a market for

the settler's produce. With this end in view, co-operative creameries

are favored and promoted by the company.

It is the policy of the company to encourage the organization of local

state banks wherever it does any colonizing work, for the company

realizes that the short-time credit needs of the settlers must be taken

care of. It always encourages the local merchants and people in the

near-by towns to take some stock in the bank. Whatever stock is left

over, different members connected with the company usually take, upon an

understanding with the local people that as soon as any of them wish

some of this stock the company will sell it to them at 6 per cent

interest on its money.

A number of years ago the company organized a bank in one of its

colonies in order that the settlers might get proper credit. The company

found it necessary to do something, as heretofore the settlers had had

no opportunity to secure short-time credit. After the bank had been

organized for three years the people in the colony desired to take the

bank stock, and the men connected with the colonization company sold

all their stock with the exception of one or two hundred dollars each,

which the local people desired that they retain, so that out of $10,000

capital stock $1,000 is held by men interested in the company. In

another colony some of the local people spoke for some stock and were

offered the stock held by men interested in the colonization company at

exactly what they paid for it, plus 6 per cent interest on their money.

This has been true in the different sections where the company has

promoted the organization of a bank.

As the company's business methods are based upon the principle of the

settler's success, the company is keeping in very close touch with its

settlers. For each settler a "Progress Record" card is filed in the

company's local office. The following reproduction of the main features

of the card indicates the items that show the economic progress of the

settler. Although it is not possible to have all the items filled up to

date, a beginning is always made. As visits are made to the settlers'

farms by the company's representatives, or the settlers come to the

company office for advice or help, information is collected and added to

the cards. Eventually an invaluable record of salient facts in regard to

the settler and his progress is accumulated in this way.

SETTLER'S PROGRESS RECORD

Name ....................... Address .......................

DESCRIPTION

Acres

.............Sec............Tp..........R........ .........

.............Sec............Tp..........R........ .........

.............Sec............Tp..........R........ .........

County..............State...............Total acres.........

Soil...............Distance from school................miles

From town..........miles. Name...........................

Nationality........Age..............Children................

Previous farming experience.................................

Bought........acres..........from...........................

(year and month)

Moved on land in..............191.... From..................

I had in cash.................In stock......................

Tools and machinery.........................................

Total net worth (when I moved on land) $................

improved

Price paid for unimproved land, $...........................

_____________

Paid in cash........................................

Balance due.........................................

Improvements, Equipment, and Live Stock included in purchase

price.......................................................

............................................................

Terms of contract...........................................

Interest rate 6 per cent.

RECORD OF PROGRESS

_1st 2d 3d 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th_

_yr. yr. yr. yr. yr. yr. yr. yr._

Built.......................................................

Cleared (plowed)............................................

Cleared (stumps in).........................................

Fenced......................................................

No. of cows.................................................

No. of calves...............................................

No. of horses...............................................

No. of colts................................................

No. of pigs.................................................

Days worked out.............................................

Owed on chattel.............................................

Owed bank...................................................

Paid on land (prin.)........................................

Paid on land (int.).........................................

PRESENT VALUE OF PROPERTY

LAND

------------------------------------------------------------

_Acres Classification Acres Acre Total_

_Fenced Value_

------------------------------------------------------------

.........Cultivated.........................................

.........Cultivated (stumps in).............................

.........Meadow (wild hay)..................................

.........Unimproved.........................................

-------------

Total value of land..............$.............

BUILDINGS

------------------------------------------------------------

_Size Material Insured For Total_

------------------------------------------------------------

House.......................................................

Barn........................................................

Silo........................................................

-------------

Total value of buildings..........$............

LIVE STOCK

------------------------------------------------------------

_No. Value, Total_

_Each_

------------------------------------------------------------

.........Dairy cows.........................................

.........Dairy heifers......................................

.........Dairy calves.......................................

.........Beef cattle........................................

.........Horses.............................................

.........Colts..............................................

.........Hogs...............................................

.........Sheep..............................................

----------

Total value of live stock.....$..........

MACHINERY

..................................................

..................................................

----------

Total value of machinery.......$..........

_Assets_ _Liabilities_

Value of land.......$...... Due on land........$......

Value of buildings............ Due on live stock.........

Value of live stock........... Due on machinery..........

Value of machinery............ Other debts...............

Value of other property....... -------

-------- Total..........$......

Total.......$.......

Present net worth......$.......

These progress records are valuable to the company for a number of

purposes. They help in considering extension of credit, in giving advice

to the settlers, and in finding out what general business methods are

the best for the company to follow in the way of assisting the settler

to make a success.

As the settler's future well-being depends to a certain degree upon his

progress in Americanization, it would be advisable for the company to

include in the record cards items concerning the date of the settler's

arrival in America, his naturalization status, and the degree of his

knowledge of English at the time of his settlement on land. These few

additional items would hardly complicate or burden the recording work of

the company's local office.

THE ADVISER

The company's officials stated that the immigrant family when first

arriving in the colony is shy and helpless. The introduction of the

family to the new conditions and surroundings has to be made gradually.

A representative of the company meets the family at the station and

directs it to a hotel, where it stays a few days before it is taken to

the farm. During these several days the company's adviser calls often

upon the family, talks with its members, takes them through the colony

and introduces them to their future neighbors, and explains the local

conditions. When the family is transferred to the farm the company's

adviser still has to call almost daily, for there are numerous matters

upon which the settler needs advice and encouragement.

The majority of the new settlers are quite ignorant of the methods of

land clearing. This the adviser has to teach them. How to feed cows,

what and when to plant, how to cultivate, and how to handle the

products--in all such questions the new settlers need constant

direction. They themselves give two reasons for their need of advice in

farming operations. First, the European methods of farm work are

different from the American methods, especially because in Europe they

were not engaged in opening up new land. Secondly, having been engaged

in industrial work in America, often for long years, they have forgotten

the European farm experience to a certain degree.

While the writer was in the office of the adviser the settlers were

constantly calling upon the latter for advice in all sorts of matters.

One woman came, crying, and said, through her boy as interpreter, that

her cow was sick and perhaps dying. Another woman sought advice as to

her sick baby. A man came to ask that a certain road be extended to his

place. Still another man wanted to do some stumping on his land in

co-operation with his neighbors, provided the company lent a machine and

the adviser came to direct the work. Another man asked advice in regard

to the extension of credit to him. So the stream of inquiries went on

continually. The adviser needed to be, as he was, an extremely capable

man to deal with the extraordinary list of demands. He was an expert

agriculturist, energetic, and in love with the game of helping the

immigrant settlers.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THIS TWO-YEAR-OLD WISCONSIN FARM IS JUST READY TO CARE

FOR ITS NEWLY ACQUIRED SHROPSHIRE EWES]

In regard to the need of a trained adviser for the new settlers the

president of the company explained as follows:

The greatest need for instruction is in land clearing, for the

modern land-clearing methods--methods of just how to "brush," and

at what time of year to conduct the operations--are entirely new to

almost every settler arriving in the colony. No wonder we ourselves

are studying, experimenting, and improving on land-clearing methods

each month.

In general, our immigrant colonists are efficient workers. The fact

is that some of the buildings in our new town site are being built

by our settlers. A large number of them were contractors. Many of

the foreigners worked in the shipyards on the coast. Some of them

worked on big farms. We find them very intelligent and capable, and

some of them very good business men. We have built over twenty

miles of road this year, every bit of it being done under contract,

and the contracts were all taken by our new settlers. During the

past year about two hundred houses were built, and these were all

contracted to the new settlers.

It is true they have many things to learn, just as we have. We are

not really teaching them, but we are working with them, studying

with them, learning much from them, just as they learn from us. We

are opening up our demonstration farms, studying the problems just

as they are. Our adviser's main work is to assist them in choosing

the kind of seed best adapted to that country, to act as a kind of

leader for the community, for they are all strangers, and until

they have become accustomed to the country, and until leaders

have sprung up among them, it is necessary that an outside leader,

such as our agricultural adviser, should be employed, but not

because of the ignorance or inefficiency of the foreigners.

Observing the actual operations of such advisers in a number of cases,

the writer has been convinced that in every new rural immigrant colony

an intelligent, sympathetic, and efficient adviser is needed, and that

the private colonization companies are to be commended for employing

such advisers.

CHILDREN OVERWORKED

In one of the colonies the writer observed that the settlers' children

worked a great deal. On one farm three children--two boys and one

girl--of ages varying from nine to thirteen or fourteen, were clearing

land of stones and the debris of brush and stumps. On another farm, the

settler's wife, with her two tiny and delicate girls, was cultivating

potatoes, each one using a rake. On a third farm, two boys, one of ten

and the other of twelve, were cutting hay with scythes. The boys were

thin and pale. In talk they appeared serious and somewhat cheerless,

although in a measure enthusiastic about their new farm.

The company's local officials and also the settlers themselves admitted

that their children work considerably, even to the extent that they are

often kept home from school. The settlers said that they understood the

harm being done their children both by working too hard and by being

withdrawn from school. But they are very eager to put their new farms on

a paying basis in the shortest possible time. The company's officials

said that they had so far not interfered with the use of child labor,

but that in the future they would try to exercise some supervision over

the work of children in the colony.

The president of the company stated in regard to the labor of the

settlers' children that "in some cases in the cities, on the farms, and

everywhere, there is an indiscreet use of child labor, as also there is

a practice in many communities of letting the children run wild. I

believe I would rather trust future America to those brought up in

pioneer regions than I would trust future America to those brought up

under conditions where no hardship, no pioneering, no work whatever is

expected of them."

While this is quite true, nevertheless the writer's impression was that

a number of the settlers overwork their children and keep them out of

school at times.

SECURING CREDIT

As the company's overhead expenses for the maintenance of a number of

offices, for the employment of a large number of agents and for commissions

and extensive advertising, are heavy, the company is able to do successful

business only on a very large scale. The head of this particular company

believed that, in view of this fact, the tract of good farming land on

which a company operates must be not less than 50,000 acres. He also stated

that in view of the fact that the company's outlay of money, and especially

its extension of credit to settlers, is very large, the reliable land

development and colonization companies ought to be assisted in the way of

credit by the public through the government.

During the war the company had great difficulty in borrowing money on

the settlers' mortgages. They had to pay a high rate of interest. Since

the end of the war, however, the company has been able through the banks

of the financial centers of the North Middle West to float a large

number of collateral bonds on mortgages. These bonds at the present time

sell to the general public at 6 per cent. The company, its president

stated, must pay the cost of trusteeship commission on sale of bonds,

etc., which brings the rate which the company pays to a fair amount

above the 6 per cent which the ultimate investor receives. At the

present time there is no difficulty in financing the organization,

although it would be very desirable to have state and Federal assistance.

Bills providing for such assistance have been introduced in the state

legislatures of all of the northwest states. Congressman Knutson at

Washington has introduced a land credit bill to provide capital for the

development by land colonization of the agricultural resources of the

nation, providing for certain privileges to soldier settlers, and

creating a National Colonization Board.[7]

CONSERVATION OF WOODED LAND

While the company has made provision for the conservation of riparian

rights, for roads, and even for town sites, it has done little for the

conservation of wooded land. It has preserved the woodland on river

banks and 160 acres of timber in one colony, and it has planted about

15,000 small pine trees. Moreover, the company encourages the

conservation of woodland by the settlers, advising them to keep in

timber from five to ten acres for each farm.

How far the settlers will follow this good advice remains to be seen, while

the conservation of wooded land by the company is inadequate. This the

company's local officials admitted, but they reasoned that it would hardly

be advisable for a single company, or even a number of companies, to

attempt to conserve wooded land or other natural resources the return from

which would be in the far distant future. It would be advisable for the

state, or even for the Federal government, to make provisions and necessary

regulations for the conservation of wooded land and other natural resources

upon which the well-being of the public at large depends.

THE SIZE OF A COLONY

A number of Polish settlers in one of the colonies visited expressed the

desire to have a Polish church and school. They believed that if the

national Catholic Church organization would help them, they themselves

would be able to maintain their church and school.

This fact led the writer to a discussion with the company's officials as

to the advisable size of a compact colony of the same nationality. They

stated that if an immigrant family is established among settlers of

another nationality, the family becomes lonely and desperate and after a

year or two of such loneliness is apt to leave the farm, no matter how

successful it has been in buying and cultivating the land. Therefore the

company's policy is to settle the people of the same nationality together.

The writer asked whether, if a colony of one nationality is large,

having a hundred or several hundred families, the resulting conditions

would not make for separation and isolation. They would have intimate

intercourse only with one another, would establish a church and school

of their own nationality, and would even develop their own town and

elect their own local government officials. The company's officers

admitted that this would possibly happen; they said that the company had

not yet decided how large a colony of one nationality, in the same

locality or neighborhood, it would develop.

The personal opinion of one of the officials was that from fifteen to

twenty-five families of one nationality in the same neighborhood would

not be a source of danger because of becoming clannish and remaining

un-Americanized for a generation or a number of generations. A colony of

such size would not be able to maintain a church and school of its own

nationality. As to the danger of inbreeding, the officials pointed out

that the church rules and state laws would prohibit it, and said that,

furthermore, the immigrants, having friends and acquaintances elsewhere

in the country, would marry into other groups of immigrants.

LEARNING AMERICAN WAYS

The writer, while visiting the company's colonies, was struck by the

fact that the settlers who said they had been in this country from

eight to ten years understood and spoke very little English, seemed to

be rather shy, and in general appearance lacked signs of American

influence. Overalls and the tools in their hands were almost the only

betraying marks of the American environment.

The investigation developed the fact that most of the settlers had lived

previously in the congested "Little Polands" in Chicago, Detroit, and

Milwaukee. The settlers explained that they lived there as in the old

country, having their own Polish church, Polish schools, Polish banks,

Polish stores, Polish books and papers, speaking Polish in their homes,

in the streets, and in social gatherings. Even in the factories where

they worked, their fellow workers were often Poles; sometimes even the

foreman was a Pole. There was almost no opportunity for coming in

contact with the American ways of life and with the country's language.

Several settlers declared that they had learned more about America and

had used English more during the last two years in the northern

wilderness than during the previous seven or eight years in the city of

Chicago. Settling on land, they came in contact with the American land

agents, other company officials, government authorities, American banks

and stores, and with American neighbors at the community meetings. Here

in the wilderness they first found how badly they needed English and a

knowledge of American ways. A number of parents started to learn English

by taking lessons from their children, who themselves were learning

English in the local public schools.

The company's officials stated, in confirmation, that the Polish

settlers in their colonies were growing in dignity and self-reliance,

that they were assuming American characteristics and an American bearing.

TWO POINTS OF VIEW

As the colonies of the company are comparatively young, it is impossible

to foresee their future with certainty. So far they seem to be on a

sound basis, and their success rather than their failure is to be

expected. The soil is good and the settlers stick hard to their work on

the land. The first colony founded seems to be over the danger line

already. It is no longer under the financial control of the company, the

settlers have secured loans outside, and their farms are progressing

from the experimental stage to that of established security.

However, a settler expressed the following apprehension to the writer:

You see us, men and women, old and young, working here in the

wilderness like beavers, clearing and digging, scraping and

building. All are pressed hard by a strong hope of establishing a

permanent home and of earning future independence. But we still

live in makeshift houses, and so far only a few families are able

to make a living, bare and meager, out of their clearings,

diggings, and cows. The vast majority--almost all of us--have, at

times, to leave the farm in care of women and children and look for

work elsewhere--in Duluth, Chicago, Detroit--for the purpose of

earning bread for the family on the farm. A number temporarily hire

out to the company, but the latter's wages are considerably less

than we get in the industrial centers.

You have heard the company's officials and seen their doings, and

everything might seem to you to work smoothly for the benefit of

the settlers. Is it not so? For instance, the company claims that

it sells us tools at cost, but we already have found out in regard

to a number of things that the company makes a fair profit on them.

Again, the company claims that it runs the demonstration farms only

for our benefit, but as a matter of fact the company's aim is, as

we understand it, to build up a large farm estate on the best land

of the tract, and to sell us its products, seeds, breeding stock,

etc.; in other words, to make money out of demonstration. One

hardly can object to this, except that the company claims that it

is doing business with us "at cost," which is not so.

Almost in everything, even in our home life, we depend upon the

good will of the company, and so far we have not much complaint to

make against it. In general, it has treated us well under the

existing circumstances, but we are a little apprehensive about our

future. Suppose we, as settlers, finally succeed in making good,

clear our land, and build up our farms, as expected by the company

and hoped by ourselves. Will we then be free and independent of the

company's control? We are afraid not. We will still have to

transact our financial matters through the bank in which the

company is interested, sell our products through the company's

agency, etc., not because any law or stipulation would require

this, but solely because the company, with all its business

establishments, is here among us. The company is retaining river

shores, town sites connected with certain business privileges, and

the best pieces of land, as its demonstration farms. This means

that the company, with its fatherly care for us, is going to remain

with us for a long time to come.

The field notes of the writer on the above statements of the settler

were later shown to the company's head, who answered them as follows:

The expression "makeshift houses" is not fitting at all, for the

buildings are warm and comfortable--hardwood floors, painted wall

board inside. They are small, it is true. You can travel the

country over, where pioneers are located, and I defy anyone to find

a better-looking set of houses than those in any one of our colonies.

This man states that so far only a few families are able to make a

living. In our older colonies I could show a list of cream checks

which the different settlers are receiving from their cows; they

will range all the way from $50 to $400 a month. This does not take

into consideration the surplus live stock, potatoes, and other

grains, which they sell from their farms. It is not expected that

these new settlers will make money out of their crops for the first

few years. It is expected that they will go away to the cities and

work part of the time, while their families remain on the land. We

state in our literature, as does all state literature, that the

first two or three years contain hardships, and mean some working

out to earn money, provided the settler comes without any funds

whatever. The survey of all our settlers shows that while they have

worked in the city ten to fifteen years, their entire savings have

amounted to from $200 to $1,000. In the colonies, due to clearing,

increased value of land, and earnings on their new farms, they have

made from $500 to $1,000 a year. Surely this entails some hardship

and some hard work.

The statement that some of them hired out to the company at less

wages than are paid in industrial centers I'll agree was true

during war times. We could not hope to compete with the wages paid

in the munition factories of the East. The company does, however,

pay standard wages, as high as are paid anywhere for the same class

of labor.

The statement that the company claims that it sells the necessities

at cost is not correct, for the company sells nothing. We have an

iron-bound practice that in no case do we enter into the store or

sales business. We furnish the original house, barn, tools, live

stock, with the land. After that we sell nothing. We have often

stated that if we would enter into the store business or selling

business, it would drive others out, and it was poor practice for

the company to engage in any business outside of colonization, for

it involved too much detail and was a separate business.

Colonization is a game all of itself, and if we divided our

energies with other industries we could not succeed.

Some time ago a charge similar to this was made by some of the

settlers, stating that the company was making profits on buildings.

We immediately offered to have any lumber company agree to put up

those buildings for the same price that we did. We asked for a

large number of bids, and the nearest bid was one hundred and

twenty-five dollars more than the price we were charging the

settlers. We did not ask them to bid on only one house, but on one

hundred houses a year. The reason we have been able to construct

these buildings at such a low rate is that we have our own timber.

When the price of lumber went up during war times, we did not

increase our price one dollar. By building hundreds of houses each

year, by eight or ten years of experiment, and keeping the same

foreman and crew, we have been able to develop an efficiency that

will allow us to put these buildings up at one hundred dollars less

than the best bid we could get from anyone. We would gladly give up

this detail work if some one else could do it, for we make no money

on it and barely take care of costs and our necessary overhead.