SETTLEMENT AND COLONIZATION IN GREAT LAKES STATES 63 
Nearly a fourth of all settlers surveyed accused the companies or 
their agents of some form of misrepresentation. The following 
are the most common: 
Quantity of stones on the land not accurately represented by salesmen____ 40 
_Misstatements as to swamp or hills included in their purchases________ 15 
imcorrertiiond: lines Show le. 2 =" oc) eo eh i) eee ey eet a ss ey 15 
Understatement of difficulties of clearing land ___-___________ 20 
Overstatement of possibilities as to growing corn __~__________.__-_- 10 
Overstatement of opportunities for obtaining outside employment________ 22 
Overstatement as to ease of making a living at the start_________________ 46 
Promises unfulfilled as to roads, schoolhouses, mail routes, markets, out- 
SHIRA Oss, <Oltee<= epee ache en Foie eee pe a de Poe phe Ss Ye lS 48 
Some of the foregoing cases trace back especially to the companies’ 
advertising and some to failure to control their agents. Some of the 
companies try to protect themselves by making the purchaser sign 
a statement in his “ field agreement” or “application to purchase ” 
that he has carefully exaraimed the land, and that he is making his 
purchase on the basis of what he has seen for himself and not on the 
basis of any statements made by the agent. At the most this saves 
the company only from legal lability. A better plan is to force 
the prospect to make a careful examination of the land. Nearly 20 
per cent of the settlers surveyed stated that their examination was 
not thorough enough. Twelve of the settlers actually purchased 
in the winter with snow on the ground. At other seasons, brush, and 
dead leaves may effectively cover the smaller stones. 
The advertising of the 15 companies was relatively free from mis- 
representation, but there were certain characteristic overstatements. 
The most important related to the possibilities of making a living on 
a cut-over farm right from the start. Table 22 shows that not until 
the fourth or fifth year did the settlers obtain over half their money 
income from their farms. These are average figures. Many do bet- 
ter than the average, and many do worse. Various plans for furnish- 
ing aid to settlers reduce the period somewhat, but on the whole 
surprisingly little, for they attract settlers with most limited means. 
On Project III, for example, the settlers were given no special credit 
or advances, but their beginning net worth was $1,821 (Table 
20). On Project IX, they were given $570 worth of buildings, live- 
stock, etc., but their beginning net worth was only $1,086. After 
- making their initial payment on the land, the settlers on Project III 
had $215 more cash on hand than those on Project IX. 
Closely related to the foregoing are the misleading statements 
frequently made as to the value of a cut-over farm and the time 
that will elapse before it is developed into a real farm. ‘Table 21 
indicates that the farm capital (value of land, buildings, livestock, 
equipment, etc.) of a cut-over farm increased at the rate of about 
$400 per year, and that it amounted to $6,000 by about the seventh 
year. Much of this increase represents rise in the level of the price 
of lands rather than an increase in quantity of productive wealth. 
The pictures of farm homes exhibited in the advertising circulars 
usually represent conditions that would require from 15 to 30 years 
of development. 
Statements made as to the possibilities of growing corn are of 
interest. The county seat of Forest County, Wis., has had its latest 
killing frost during the last 12 years on June 3 on the average, 
ee ee SemSD Momma ees eae ees eee ~~ - -—— --——— _ —— 
