RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 109 



In the suburbs of cities in the United States most unhealthy con- 

 ditions are resulting from the system of speculation in suburban sub- 

 divisions and the absence of proper control over development. 



Mr. Nelson P. Lewis, Chief Engineer of the Board of Esti- 

 mate and Apportionment of New York City, writes of the unsightly 

 approaches to American cities in his book on "The Planning of the 

 Modern City." He says: 



"Cheap and hideous groups of houses are much in evidence in 

 their suburbs. This is in marked contrast with the manner in which 

 towns in Continental Europe move solidly outward into the surround- 

 ing country, one block at a time The building stops abruptly and 

 beyond the last developed block is the open country, so that the cities 

 appear more compact." 



Mr. Lewis might have added that the open lands immediately 

 adjacent to the developed blocks are, as a rule in Europe, intensively 

 cultivated — in contrast to the idle vacant lots in American suburbs. 



The methods by which public lands have been disposed of in 

 the United States have been largely responsible for injurious specula- 

 tion. Referring to the disposition of the public lands in the United 

 States, Mr. Albert B. Hart writes:* 



"The land-grabber is, in most cases, simply taking advantage 

 of the chances which a defective system has cast in the way of shrewd 

 and forehanded or unscrupulous men. The difficulty is certainly 

 not in the Land Office, which, in the midst of perplexing complica- 

 tions, has striven hard to protect our lands. The fault lies at the door 

 of the Congress of the United States, which has the power, but not 

 the will, to correct notorious defects in our system. Still further 

 back, the fault is with the free citizens of the republic, who have been 

 too busy to insist that there should be a comprehensive land policy, 

 providing for the equitable disposition of all classes of the pul die lands." 



The land policy of Canada has largely followed the "defective 

 system" of the United States, with the same injurious results. 



The mistaken policy of granting large areas of the public domain 

 in the United States to railway companies is causing consideration 

 to be given to the question of how parts of these areas can be restored 

 for public use. The Secretary of Labour, in his annual report, says:— 



"By a recent decision of the Supreme Court, Congress is soon to 

 have power, and to be under an obligation, to treat with land-grant 



railroads regarding the terms on which large areas of that domain 

 heretofore granted away may be restored." 



• Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 1, pp. 109-251. 



