THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



onists an important measure of control in its sub -di- 

 vision and development. The settlement was to be made 

 almost wholly in a village, the land being divided into 

 blocks of ten acres, and the blocks into eight lots for 

 building purposes. It was proposed to apportion each 

 family "from forty to eighty, even one hundred and six- 

 ty acres," adjoining the village. Northampton, in Mass- 

 achusetts, and several other New England towns and vil- 

 lages, had been settled in this manner. A feature of 

 much interest was the proposal to have the residence and 

 business lots sold for the benefit of the colony's treasury, 

 the capital so obtained to be appropriated for public im- 

 provements, such as building a church, a town-hall, and 

 a school -house, and establishing a public library. This 

 plan marked an important departure in town-making. 

 Town sites, as a rule, especially where the community 

 promises a rapid growth, are treated as opportunities for 

 private speculation. The boom comes, and everybody 

 prospers ; the boom goes, and a few schemers have man- 

 aged to acquire nearly all the cash capital. Under the 

 new plan, as the prospectus pointed out, " the increased 

 value of real estate will be for the benefit of all the peo- 

 ple." They would receive these benefits, too, in the best 

 form, as in the shape of permanent improvements essen- 

 tial to their social and intellectual well-being, and of 

 capital available for industrial purposes. 



Other advantages of settling in a village were pre- 

 sented as follows : " Easy access to schools and public 

 places, meetings, lectures, and the like. In planting, in 

 fruit-growing, and improving homes generally, the skill 

 and experience of a few will be common to all, and 

 much greater progress can be made than where each lives 



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