SOME CONCLUSIVE COMPARISONS 189 



with our present productive efficiency the land 

 should support another four and one-half million 

 population without producing a literal glut of 

 foodstuffs however much their activities might dis- 

 rupt markets and dislocate government plans. 



Let us suppose a million families averaging 4.5 

 persons per family should move out of our cities 

 and take up part-time farming. In the fullness of 

 time this million families would re-employ a good 

 half million hired men (no scheme of re-employ- 

 ment has done that much yet), preferably family 

 men, at steady work and good wages the year 

 around. This would raise the total of repatriated 

 citizens to nearly seven millions, which is a lot of 

 people to move beyond the risk of sudden, catas- 

 trophic destitution; a risk all those who depend 

 solely on money for their support must constantly 

 face. 



While we are pipe-dreaming we may as well 

 make a good job of it. After those seven millions 

 have bought their farms or rented their tenant 

 housing they will be in the market for a lot of 

 capital goods. Let us overlook the water-supply and 

 heating systems, the bathroom fixtures, vacuum 

 cleaners, refrigerators and other gadgets they will 

 want to say nothing of roofing, flooring, painting, 

 and so on to turn their farms into the type of 

 luxurious residences to which as city dwellers they 

 were sometimes accustomed, and concentrate on 



