Vol. 1.XX VII. 
XKW YORK. SEPTE.MRER 28. 1918. 
Entered as Second-Class Matter, June 2C, 1879. at the I’ost 
Office at Xotv York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3. 1879. 
Xo. l.jOl. 
I’ulilislicd WcokJ.v b.v The Rural I’uhUshing Co.. 
\V. 30th St.. Xetv York. T’rice One Oollar a Year. 
When Our Soldiers Come Home 
Secretary Franklin K. Lane Outlines His Plan 
I’ART T. 
1 At tlie coiiclusioii of the wtir. avUcu our stildiors 
rcriiiTi. \v(‘ think this country will bo ohligod to f.-ioo 
its litirdfst prohloni. The work of domobilizins the 
.•iriuy iind sortiii.ir out the soldiers into new <icou)i:!- 
riim'-- will lu' harder than, that of orgauiziug and o(|uip- 
[liiig tlu' .-irin.v—tremendous as th.at t:isk proYtal t" 
he. Seerettiry of the Inttu-inr Frtinklin IC. I.aiie luis 
|furuisheil luj with a eop.v t>f his rnc.uit letter tn Presi¬ 
dent Wilson on tile uiie.-tion of pi'ovidiu.ir farms fm- the 
('ivil W.ir. I he ]irobloui aro.se as to what could be 
done Avitb the soldiers to be mustered out of military 
service. 
C'rV'I, WAR rOXDITlOXS.—At the close of the 
Civil War America faced a somewhat simibir sitiui- 
tion. P>ut, fortunately, at that time the tndilic do¬ 
main offered opportunity to tlie home-returning 
.soldiers. The .areat part the veterans of tlnit war 
phi.ved in develo]ting th(> West is one of otir epb-s. 
'I'lie hoiiK'ste.ad law had hemi signml by Lincoln in 
imtioii.s. I'hat is why their jii'ograms ;ind ])ulicic.s 
of reloctitin.a and rcad.instment (unidiasi/.c the ottpor- 
tnnities on the laud for the returniii.g .soldier. Tlie 
question then is ‘'Whiit land can be made available 
for farm homes for our soldier.s?" 
rXAPPROPPtlATEl) EAXD.—We do not have the 
houutiful jHiblie domain of the sixties and seventies. 
In a literal sense, for the use of it on a .gimm'ons 
scale for soldier farm homes as in the .sixties, “the 
jmhlic domain is gone." Tin* otlicia! liaures at the 
Mddiers. 11 is (d' such .li'icat imporrance tc the future 
that wr print it in full, ami will weleome a diseiissieu 
li,\ oui* readi'i’s. | 
X APPUO.V'CllIXC PIP iP.l.EM.—I helievi* tin* 
time has coiiu* when w.* should glvt* thon.ght 
to the pn*]).-!ration of plans fur [ii'oviding oppoidunit.v 
for our siddiers reluming from tin* war. l>(*eans(* 
this Hepai'tment has handled similar prohh'ins I- 
ecnsidt*!* it my dut.\' to liidng this matter to tin* at¬ 
tention of your.self and Congress. Every country 
has found itself face t<> f;t<o witli this situation at 
tin* elo.se of a .great war. I'rum Rome under C'aesar 
to France under Napoleon d(*wn oven to our own 
tlu* s(*e(md yi*a r of the w.ir. so that out (d' our wealth 
in lands we had farms to offer the million of vet¬ 
eran.''. It was also the er.-i of transcoiitineuta 1 rail- 
wa.y coiistincrion. It was likewisi* the period of 
rajud. .\ (*t broail ami full. (U*velopnu*nt of towns and 
eommiiuiiies •ind States, 
9'IIE CALL OF THE LAXO. To tlu* great num¬ 
ber of returning .soldiers, land will (d'fer the-,irreal 
and fniulamenl;il oiiportniiity. 'Pin* experieiuc of 
wars points out the li'sson that our service im*n. 
because of arm.v life wiili its oiieuncss and activity, 
will largely seek ont-of-ib)or.s vocations and oecupa- 
tions. This fact is aceejited by the allied European 
(lid of the liscal yeai'. .Inm* t’.o, p.tlT. show this; Wt* 
have nuapiiropriated land in tlu* coidiiu'iital Fnited 
Slates to the amount of 2.';(>.C."i7.7.“i.''» jicr(*s. it is safe 
to say that imt one-half of this land will ev(*r prove 
t*i ho enltivatable in any sense. So we have no lam! 
in any way comparalde to that in the pidilic domain 
wht*ii .V|)iiomairox caiiu*—and men turned westward 
with arm.v rifle and "roll blanket"—to hekdn life 
anew. 
1 mVEI.oPMEX'r XELOFO.—AVhih* wi* do not 
have that matchless public doimiin of we do 
have millions iif acres of nndevehtp(*d lands that can 
be made avnilalde for onr liome-coming so'diors. We 
