A LITTLE LAND 106 



AND A LIVING 



In the winter of 1905, at the height of the 

 boom, I saw a double line of men standing in 

 the bitter wind at eleven o'clock at night waiting 

 their turn for the cup of coffee that a newspaper 

 gave there was not one overcoat among them. 



A look at these "bread lines" will convince 

 anyone that even if "the amount of food that 

 the world could consume is limited," as Dr. En- 

 gel thinks, we are still far from the limit, and 

 that a fall in prices from increased production 

 would be no unmixed evil. 



These people are hungry because they can find 

 no opportunity to work; one of the first steps 

 toward their finding it is to show them that they 

 need access to the land. 



The food products of the United States in 

 1900 were worth $1,837,000,000, but the material 

 that was grown for use in textile, leather and 

 lumber industries alone was worth fourteen mil- 

 lion dollars more than that. So we need not 

 hesitate for economic reasons to send the city 

 man to the Farm. Nor need the city land owner 

 fear that he will suffer by the new farm move- 

 ment draining away his tenants out of the city. 



