NEW MOVEMENT FOR HOMES. 



BY GEORGE E. GIRLING. 



TH OUR years ago in the winter of 1892- 

 93 were heard the portentious rumbl- 

 ings of the severe financial panic which 

 followed so swiftly after, paralyzing 

 commerce and crippling industry 

 These four years have taught the 

 present generation of Americans a 

 most severe lesson in industrial and in- 

 dividual economy. Industrial stagna-- 

 tion has forced strange thoughts into 

 the minds of every working man and 

 woman. Financial, industrial and social 

 problems have received a consideration 

 at the hands of the great mass of the 

 people never before accorded them. Out 

 of this universal effort for relief from 

 existing conditions new ideas are being 

 developed. Financial theories and gov- 

 ernmental policies are being discussed, 

 but not with one-hundredth part the 

 vigor and earnestness that is devoted to 

 the individual question, "How shall I 

 best obtain a livelihood?" The hopes 

 and aspirations of the mind have tem- 

 porarily been subjugated to the neces- 

 sities of the stomach. 



It has become a question of a living 

 for every man and woman and child. 

 Fewer hours of labor and less pay for 

 the working man and more hours and 

 smaller profit for the business man have 

 taught them both that above all things 

 an assured living is to be desired. 



The depression has been felt in all 

 sections and all avenues of industry but 

 probably in none to a greater extent 

 than in the process of developing the 

 natural resources of the country where, 

 it has culminated in the (almost abso- 

 lute) stoppage of all progress. With 

 the one exception of gold mining in the 

 Western States there has been no effort 

 made to inaugurate any industrial or 

 commercial enterprises and immigration 

 to agricultural lands has been allowed 

 to stagnate. But the beginning of 1897 

 marked a partial revival of life in the 

 general business conditions of the 

 country. It has been heralded as the 

 year beginning another epoch of prosper- 

 ity. The public mind is ready to grasp at 

 confidence but the march of time will 

 demonstrate the realization or disap- 



pointment of its anticipations. The 

 public question to be considered is "How 

 best to hasten the day of realization of 

 general prosperity?' 1 



THE NEW HOPE. 



For many years there has been a 

 steady and rapid increase in the popula- 

 tion of the cities. One of the first 

 effects of the panic was to still more 

 rapidly augment this increase, but I be- 

 lieve its later effects will be the turning 

 of a strong tide of immigration to the 

 rural districts, because the people have 

 thoroughly learned that it is easy to 

 starve in a city while on the farm a little 

 effort will provide three meals a day 

 which are life sustaining even if unac- 

 companied by luxuries. The turn in the 

 tide has come. u Back to the land " is 

 the cry and we may confidently look 

 forward in the near future to a broad 

 and deep stream of homeseekers flowing 

 out of the factory towns and cities 

 searching for locations. 



COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT. 



The development of the future, how- 

 ever, will not be carried on in the same 

 manner as has been the settlement of 

 agricultural sections in the past. It will 

 not be an individualistic effort but some 

 practical application of the principle of 

 association for a common purpose. No 

 widely scattered ranches, large and 

 lonely, but closely settled neighborhoods 

 with educational, social and religious 

 privileges. The farms will be small in 

 size and immediately adjacent to the 

 town. The crops will be diversified and 

 under irrigation sure, industries will be 

 provided to consume the crops and fur- 

 nish a profitable market therefor. Trans- 

 portation facilities will increase with the 

 increase of population. The charms of 

 country life and the advantages of the 

 town will be blended. And the city man 

 will be an important element in all of 

 these communities. 



"TWENTY ACRES ENOUGH." 



On twenty acres of irrigated land can 

 be produced practically everything nee- 



