A Stake in the Land

The material in this volume was gathered by the Division of Rural Developments of Studies in Methods of Americanization.

Americanization in this study has been considered as the union of native and foreign born in all the most fundamental relationships and activities of our national life. For Americanization is the uniting of new with native-born Americans in fuller common understanding and appreciation to secure by means of self-government the highest welfare of all. Such Americanization should perpetuate no unchangeable political, domestic, and economic regime delivered once for all to the fathers, but a growing and broadening national life, inclusive of the best wherever found. With all our rich heritages, Americanism will develop best through a mutual giving and taking of contributions from both newer and older Americans in the interest of the commonweal. This study has followed such an understanding of Americanization.

FOREWORD

This volume is the result of studies in methods of Americanization prepared through funds furnished by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. It arose out of the fact that constant applications were being made to the Corporation for contributions to the work of numerous agencies engaged in various forms of social activity intended to extend among the people of the United States the knowledge of their government and their obligations to it. The trustees felt that a study which should set forth, not theories of social betterment, but a description of the methods of the various agencies engaged in such work, would be of distinct value to the cause itself and to the public.

The outcome of the study is contained in eleven volumes on the following subjects: Schooling of the Immigrant; The Press; Adjustment of Homes and Family Life; Legal Protection and Correction; Health Standards and Care; Naturalization and Political Life; Industrial and Economic Amalgamation; Treatment of Immigrant Heritages; Neighborhood Agencies and Organization; Rural Developments; and Summary. The entire study has been carried out under the general direction of Mr. Allen T. Burns. Each volume appears in the name of the author who had immediate charge of the particular field it is intended to cover.

Upon the invitation of the Carnegie Corporation a committee consisting of the late Theodore Roosevelt, Prof. John Graham Brooks, Dr. John M. Glenn, and Mr. John A. Voll has acted in an advisory capacity to the director. An editorial committee consisting of Dr. Talcott Williams, Dr. Raymond B. Fosdick, and Dr. Edwin F. Gay has read and criticized the manuscripts. To both of these committees the trustees of the Carnegie Corporation are much indebted.

The purpose of the report is to give as clear a notion as possible of the methods of the agencies actually at work in this field and not to propose theories for dealing with the complicated questions involved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE Publisher's Note v

Foreword vii

Table of Contents ix

List of Tables xii

List of Illustrations xiii

Introduction xv

Author's Note xxvii

PART I

CHAPTER

I. NEED OF A LAND POLICY 3 Strength of Home Ties 3 Immigrants' Love of Land 5 Need for Land Regulation 10

II. LEARNING OF LAND OPPORTUNITIES 14 Friends, Agents, and Advertisements 14 Federal and State Immigration Offices 18 Policies in California and Wisconsin 19

III. EXPERIENCES IN ACQUIRING LAND 24 Russian Sectarian Peasants in the West 24 The Successful Colony at Glendale 30 Other California Cases 31 An Oklahoma Settlement 33

IV. INDIVIDUAL LAND DEALERS 36 Land Sharks 37 Lower Type of Land Dealer 39 The Public-spirited Land Dealer 42 "Realtors" 45

V. PRIVATE LAND COLONIZATION COMPANIES 49 A Typical Company 52 The Adviser 62 Children Overworked 65 Securing Credit 66 Conservation of Wooded Land 68 The Size of a Colony 69 Learning American Ways 70 Two Points of View 72 Colony Snapshots 78