CHARACTER IN COMMUNITIES. 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE EARLY SETTLER IN SHAPING THE INSTITUTIONS OF 



NEW COUNTRIES. 



EVERY student of colonial development has 

 noted the deep and lasting influence wrought 

 on the character of new countries by the early 

 settlers. The rigid moral temper of the Puritan is 

 still felt in the communities which have grown up 

 around the shores of Massachusetts Bay. The lib- 

 eral spirit of Roger Williams dominates the public 

 sentiment of Rhode Island down to the present hour. 

 The easy going, generous habits and methods of the 

 cavalier yet remain prominent traits of the true Vir- 

 ginian character. And so the parallel between the 

 first colonist and the present population may readily 

 be traced through each of the thirteen original States 

 that fringe the Atlantic Ocean. 



MODERN CIVILIZATION. 



The same principle may be observed in the more 

 recent colonization of the Arid West. The first set- 

 tlers in the valley of the great Salt Lake formed the 

 institutions of Utah. Greeley, Colo., still exhibits the 

 impress of its pioneers. Places might be mentioned 

 in California, where the climate, soil and all physical 

 conditions were exactly equal, and yet where two com- 

 munities differing widely in all that goes to make the 

 character of a town have grown up side by side. 

 The difference in results can be explained only by 

 the difference in the kind of people who first settled 

 in each locality. A hundred valleys of Arid America 

 are in process of settlement to-day. Ascertain what 

 kind or people are going into these valleys at the be- 

 ginning of their development and you can predict 

 with great confidence the future of their institutions. 



THE PRINCIPLE RECOGNIZED IN BUSINESS. 



The influence of early settlers in molding the 

 character of 

 communities, 

 as has been 

 said, has long 

 been recogniz- 

 ed by students 

 of such matters, 

 but it is only 

 very recently 

 that it has been 

 taken into ac- 

 count as a prin- 

 ciple that 

 ought to gov- 

 ern the sale of 

 land. This has 

 been done by 

 the Kern Coun- 

 ty Land Com- 

 pany of Califor- 

 nia. The effort 

 of this com- 

 pany is not 

 only to sell 

 land, but to sell 

 land to people AN IRRIGATING CANAL. 



who will give value to the property by the spirit 

 and method with which they work. To this end 

 the company has put into use a document known 

 as an "Application for the Purchase of Land." It 

 resembles somewhat an application for life insurance 

 in form and appearance. In filling out this blank the 

 applicant states for what purpose the land is desired, 

 the present occupation of the party who will use it, 

 the size of the family and a list of references. The 

 applicant then describes the location of the land 

 which he desires to purchase, and then gives in de- 

 tail the statements and inducements which have led 

 him to make application for the purchase. Then 

 follows a copy of the agreement and deed under 

 which title to the land will be conveyed, and the 

 applicant is required to read these carefully and 

 state that he fully understands them. 



FROM THE SETTLER'S STANDPOINT. 



Let the application blank be studied for a mo- 

 ment from the standpoint of the settler. It is a 

 serious business for any family to change its home 

 by moving several hundred or one or two thousand 

 miles to a new country. It is a matter to be debated 

 in all its aspects at the fireside. It involves the 

 sundering of old ties and associations, and very fre- 

 quently the abandonment of employments in which 

 men have earned their living. To leave an old home 

 in one state or country and seek a new one in 

 another, which is known to the intending settler 

 probably only as a matter of reading or hearsay, is 

 one of the most momentous affairs of life. And it 

 will be either a great success or a disheartening 

 failure, according as the step is taken wisely or fool- 

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ishly. Men are 



urged every 

 day to put 

 aside the old 

 home as read- 

 ily as they 

 would put off 

 an old suit of 

 clothes; but no 

 man who has a 

 proper appre- 

 ciation of what 

 it means to a 

 family to in- 

 vest its all in 

 a new country 

 will urge that 

 this be done 

 without the 

 most careful 

 consideration. 

 Now, the Kern 

 County Land 

 Company de- 

 sires to know 

 not only who 



