Part IV: Agricultural Economy in General 



UNITED STATES. 



INTERIOR COLONIZATION IN CALIFORNIA. 



OFFICIAI, SOURCE: 



Report of the commission on land Colonization and Rural credits of the State of 

 California, November 29, 1916. Califoniia State Printing Office, Sacramento, 1916. 



The legislature of California in 1915 passed a law providing for a com- 

 mission to " investigate and consider the question of land colonization, 

 and the various forms of land banks, co-operative credit unions and other 

 rural credit systems adopted or proposed in this country or elsewhere, with 

 especial view to the needs of the rural communities of this State ", 



Since 1910 questions of land tenure have assumed a hitherto tmthought 

 of importance in the United States. The causes for this are the disappear- 

 ance of free, fertile public lands, the rising prices of privately owned farm 

 lands, the increase of tenant farming, and the growing attractions of city 

 life which lead young people to leave the farms. 



The State of California has had no State land settlement policy but 

 has left the matter entirely to unregulated private enterprise. There has 

 been no public control of the selection of colonists, and no public scrutiny of 

 the soil and conditions of purchase. 



The task of the commission has been to study the methods and results 

 of private colonization in California in recent years, and compare them 

 with those found in other countries in which colonization is helped and di- 

 rected by the State. The endeavour has been to get as much firsthand 

 information as possible. Statements have been obtained from many settlers 

 in nearly all parts of the State in which colonization has recently been active. 

 Conferences ^sdth men active in matters of colonization and with interested 

 commercial bodies have been held (i). 



(i) While this investigation was in progress Congress passed the Federal Farm I<oan 

 Act. It seemed desirable therefore t;it the investigation should deal with methods and 

 policies of land settlement. The benefits of the Federal Farm I<oan Act are however 

 restricted to farmers who can give first mortgage security on land worth double the amount 

 of the loan they obtain. In order to enable tenant farmers to become owners of farms or 

 to give adequate assistance to colonists without much capital a separate credit system 

 must be provided. Hence the Grosser Hill. 



