84 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



tlement in Europe, Mead was confident that methods 

 of subdivision and farm home-making in California 

 must be radically reformed. In 1915 the State 

 created a Commission on Land Colonization and 

 Rural Credit of which Mead was made chairman. 

 On the report of this commission the legislature of 

 1917 passed a law, the first section of which makes 

 this declaration: 



"The legislature believes that land settlement is a 

 problem of great importance to the welfare of all of 

 the people of the State of California and for that 

 reason, through this particular act, endeavors to im- 

 prove the general economic and social conditions of 

 agricultural settlers within the state and of the 

 people of the state in general." 



In accordance with its declaration of belief, the 

 legislature of 1917 created a State Land Settlement 

 Board, consisting of five members "with the object 

 of promoting closer agricultural settlement, assisting 

 deserving and qualified persons to secure small, im- 

 proved farms, providing homes for farm laborers, 

 increasing opportunities under the Federal Farm 

 Loan Act and demonstrating the value of adequate 

 capital and organized direction in subdividing and 

 preparing agricultural land for settlement." 



The law also provided that a demonstration of 

 such proceeding should be made by the Board which 

 was authorized to buy ten thousand acres of land 

 and to use a revolving fund of State money to the 

 amount of $250,000 to be returned in full within fifty 

 years with interest at 4 per cent for whatever sums 



