76 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



it too would be sub-marginal in a few years. Therefore, in order 

 to make its temporary policy of resettlement fit into a perma- 

 nent policy of balanced land use, the Farm Security Adminis- 

 tration lends money with the understanding that the new land 

 will be used in such a way that its fertility will be preserved. 



The second point of this program carried out by the Farm 

 Security Administration was to reestablish farmers on their 

 own land. It lent money to farmers so that they could get back 

 on their feet again. Even more important, it helped these farm 

 ers to make intelligent management plans for their farms. The 

 borrowed money must be repaid in five years, but if at the end of 

 that time the farmer still cannot pay his debt he is given another 

 five years to make the debt good. This plan is called rehabilita' 

 tion. Loans for rehabilitation are used by the farmer to buy 

 such things as livestock, seed, fertiliser, feed, and implements, 

 which farmers with low incomes often lack. 



Another attack on the problem of farm insecurity was 

 the Bankhead'Jones Farm Tenant Act, which was passed in 

 July, 1937. This law was an attempt to solve the problem in 

 three ways. The first part of the act authorised the Secretary 

 of Agriculture to carry out a plan to overcome the growing 

 trend of farm tenancy. For this purpose Congress appropriated 

 $10,000,000 in 1937-38, $25,000,000 for 1938-39, and $50,- 

 000,000 for each year after that. This money is lent to tenant 

 farmers to buy land. In each community, tenants apply for 

 loans and a local committee selects those applicants who seem 

 to be best fitted to receive this aid. The tenants are given as 

 much as forty years to repay the loans at a 3 per cent interest 

 rate. 



The farms which the tenants buy are selected from the land 

 previously purchased by the government. For five years after 

 it is purchased, the government holds the right to take back 

 the farm if it is not used properly. And during the whole period 

 the farmer owes money for the farm, the Secretary of Agricul- 



