COLONIAL LIFE FOR THE COMMON PEOPLE. 



BY OLIVER N. GOLDSMITH. 



IN times past, it has been thought that people of 

 moderate means occupied the social plane the 

 conditions of which were most conducive to con- 

 tentment and happiness. " Give me neither poverty 

 nor riches," was the exclamation of Solomon, who was 

 noted for his wisdom. To have enough to supply all 

 needed comforts and to ward off the fear of possible 

 want, and at the same time to be free from the re- 

 sponsibilities, temptations and care of great riches, 

 should, independent of other mental, moral or phys- 

 ical conditions, be the estate of a happy man. 



But the time seems to have come when, in our large 

 cities, men with small capital are put to a disadvan- 

 tage in their attempts to compete with the power of 

 great concerns having unlimited resources. The small 

 merchant who once was prosperous, enjoying his 

 share of the general trade, finds it impossible to com- 

 pete with the great department stores that can under- 

 buy and undersell him in every line of goods handled; 

 and the plants of the small manufacturers have been 

 absorbed by the great corporations that command 

 millions. Some of the men who were formerly in 

 business for themselves are now floor-walkers, man- 

 agers or employes in some capacity of their great 

 competitors; while with others the great problem of 

 getting employment of any kind has been and is now 

 causing them great concern. Never were there such 

 struggles for political office as have been made during 

 the last few years by men whose accumulations were 

 melting away, while they have seen no encourage- 

 ment to engage in business. The uncertainty of con- 

 tinued employment felt by those fortunate enough to 

 find salaried positions makes their life but little to be 

 envied by the less fortunate seekers for employment. 



A bill was proposed in the Illinois Legislature last 

 winter designed to check the growth of department 

 stores, and make it possible for a great number to 

 prosper in trade. But the success of such legislation, 

 if attempted, is doubtful. The problem is not to be 

 solved in that way. The great currents of trade hew 

 out channels for themselves, and it seems impossible 

 for legislative bodies to pass laws to effectively check 

 or control them. The great structure of trade is be- 

 coming topheavy, the professions overcrowded, debts 

 repudiated and credit destroyed. These conditions 

 exist in the greatest degree in our large cities, be- 

 cause they are the great marts of trade and the evils 

 of abnormal and unhealthy tendencies are there felt 

 most acutely. And no relief can be expected so long 

 as the abnormal growth continues. What is the rem- 

 edy? The answer suggests itself the people must 

 scatter. 



" And Abram said unto Lot, let there be no strife, I 

 pray thee, between me andthee and between my herd- 

 men and thy herdmen. Is not the whole land before 

 thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou 

 wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right: 

 or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to 

 the left." 



Abram never lived in a large city like Chicago or 

 New York, but he enunciated a great principle in po- 

 litical economy equally applicable to the people of 

 those overcrowded cities. " Is not the whole land be- 

 fore thee?" It has been stated that the western half 

 of the United States is capable of supporting a larger 

 population than the eastern half. Millions of acres of 

 rich soil need only to be irrigated to be made wonder 



237 



fully productive. Why should not many of us secure 

 homes upon these irrigated lands? By raising first 

 a variety of food supplies necessary for the consump- 

 tion of the family, we secure our industrial and indi- 

 vidual independence, and the living which is here un- 

 certain and precarious is assured. 



But some will say, " There is now overproduction 

 in agricultural products, and there are no markets at 

 paying prices." The relief for this condition has been 

 pointed out again and again. Let the farmer diversify 

 his crops. He should so manage his farm as to ob- 

 tain from it a supply of what his family needs for its 

 support vegetables, fruit, chickens, eggs, milk, butter 

 and meats. To that extent he will always have a 

 home market, with no profits to middle men. Then if 

 a surplus of dairy products be raised, it is difficult to 

 conceive of a locality where there is not a market for 

 them at paying prices. 



Lands cultivated in fruit are highly profitable, and 

 the consumption of fruit can be greatly increased and 

 the market for it extended by such efforts as are be- 

 ing made, and will be made within the coming years, 

 to reach hundreds of small cities with carload lots, 

 that have heretofore been considered impossible mar- 

 kets. It is now known that they are better and more 

 profitable markets than the large cities. As the 

 amount of land adapted to fruit culture is limited, 

 there is not likely ever to be overproduction of fruit 

 in this country. 



To make it possible and easy for many people to 

 leave the crowded cities and occupy the land which is 

 waiting for them, the formation of colonies should be 

 recommended and encouraged. A large company of 

 colonists locating together upon new land have, almost 

 at the outset, all the social and other advantages of 

 old settled communities. There is the encourage- 

 ment and enthusiasm of a common purpose and its ex- 

 ecution, and the home built and the farm brought un- 

 der cultivation by each and every colonist benefit not 

 only himself but all the rest. Besides, valuable and 

 attractive features may be thought out and adopted 

 for the general benefit of the colony scheme. For ex- 

 ample, Plymouth colony in the Payette valley, Idaho, 

 has a central village beautifully laid out with parks 

 and boulevards, and in addition to his twenty-acre 

 farm, each colonist has an acre lot in the village on 

 which he can build his home and live with all the sur- 

 roundings of village social life. This colony invites 

 people from the overcrowded cities to take up farms 

 and build homes in the " New Plymouth." Fruit cult- 

 ure, diversified farming and dairying can all be made 

 highly profitable. The water for irrigation is from 

 the Payette river, a never-failing supply, and a large 

 canal is built and fully equipped to irrigate the 

 land. 



This colony has been referred to because it has been 

 happily planned to meet and overcome the objections 

 to ordinary farm life, and to demonstrate the possibil- 

 ity of successful change of home from city to rural 

 surroundings without incurring the hardships com- 

 monly thought to be incident to such change. -Other 

 colonies should be formed. The arid lands of the 

 great West should be made, by irrigation, to contrib- 

 ute to the support of America's population, and as 

 progress is made in this direction, the sage-brush 

 plains will blossom into orchards and farms, surround- 

 ing happy and prosperous homes. 



