- SETTLEMENT AND COLONIZATION IN GREAT LAKES STATES 83 
farmers from the Corn Belt, probably the majority of whom did not 
intend immediately to settle on the land they purchased but were look- 
ing forward to it in the future either for themselves or for their 
children. 
DELIBERATE USE OF STRONG SELLING METHODS TO PROMOTE SETTLEMENT OF 
POOR LAND 
The agencies just described, although distinctly fraudulent in in- 
tent and method, probably have not done so much harm as have 
concerns which have induced settlers to purchase land of very in- 
ferior quality with the expectation of actual settlement. In the case 
of the firms selling Volstead lands people were fleeced out of their 
money; but they were not induced to incur hardship and privation 
in an unequal struggle with poor soil, refractory stumps, a rigorous 
climate, and insufficient facilities for transportation and marketing. 
Such a type of concern is one which had been operating in one of the 
Lakes States for nearly 20 years, selling for the most part jack-pine 
sandy lands without clearing or improvements (except in the case 
of resales) at prices about on the level with those charged for much 
superior lands by some of the better types of land concerns. 
On the surface it would appear that this company had been pur- 
suing entirely legitimate business methods and had been genuinely 
trying to confer substantial benefits on those who bought from it. 
The managers made a‘ careful selection of the people to whom they 
sold, based on the most elaborate and detailed information which 
their field men were required to furnish concerning prospective pur- 
chasers. The company explained in its literature that it did not 
clear land in advance for the settler, but that it would see to it that 
the settler had access to those who could supply him with necessary 
facilities. It maintained an experimental farm and employed agri- 
cultural advisors to call on new settlers at frequent intervals to see 
that they were working along right lines and to give them needful 
advice and assistance. Although it did not guarantee work to the 
settlers, it tried to keep in touch with organizations that hire labor, 
and employed settlers on such work of its own as was available. 
The concern made a practice of selling the land on very easy terms 
and occasionally loaned money to the settlers for development up to 
50 per cent of the value of their equity in land and improvements. 
It followed the policy of granting extensions of payments to those 
settlers who showed evidence of a real desire to make good. More- 
over, it strongly advised its settlers not to move to their tracts until 
they had at least $1,000 in cash. 
Certain comments are necessary to interpret these facts. This 
company had been bringing large numbers of settlers to this terri- 
tory each year for nearly 20 years, yet the principal tract they had 
been selling was still very much of a wilderness at the time this sur- 
vey was made. This was partly because some of the buyers were 
smal] speculators who did not intend to settle on their holdings or 
who intended to settle at a much later date. But the main explana- 
tion is that a large proportion of the purchasers discontinued their 
payments and never became settlers, and many of the purchasers 
tried to establish themselves on the land and failed after a hopeless 
struggle. As one travels through the territory, however, only a few 
abandoned homes and clearings are in evidence. This is because the 
land company endeavored to resell these as rapidly as they were 
