Community Civics and Rural Life by Arthur William Dunn
page 232 of 586 (39%)
page 232 of 586 (39%)
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reclaimed lands at a reasonable price, and with a period of thirty
or forty years in which to pay for them. The Secretary of the Interior said: "This plan does not contemplate anything like charity to the soldier ... He is not to be made to feel that he is a dependent. On the contrary, he is to continue in a sense in the service of the Government. Instead of destroying our enemies he is to develop our resources." Much of the land whose reclamation by and for returning soldiers is thus contemplated is not now public land, but is lying idle in the hands of private owners. LAND SETTLEMENT IN CALIFORNIA The state of California has recently enacted a law known as the Land Settlement Act, which provides for "a demonstration in planned rural development." "Its first idea is educational, to show what democracy in action can accomplish." Under the terms of this act the state acting through a Land Settlement Board and with the cooperation of experts from the University of California, has purchased several thousand acres of land at Durham, in Butte County, which it sells to settlers on easy terms. It also lends money to settlers for improvement and equipment for the farmers. The California Land Settlement Act is significant, because it eliminates speculation, it aims to create fixed communities by anticipating and providing those things essential to early and enduring success. Another feature is the use it makes of cooperation. The settlers are at the outset brought into close business and social relations. It reproduces the best feature of the New England town |
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