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Show Government To Buy Poor Land To Extent of 5,000,000 Acres Acquisition of Submarginal Lands Will Be Undertaken Before End of This Year Five million acres of submarginal jfarm land are destined by the powers-that-be to be back in the public pub-lic domain before the close of the year. Farm administration and relief officials," of-ficials," talking guardedly, about their plans for buying land, have conceded, they had 40 projects involving the purchase of about 4,000,000 acres in various stages of completion. They indicated these projects were in addition to the 1,000,000 acres which Harry L. Hopkins, the relief administrator, last week reported already al-ready purchased or under contract. Hopkins said the work of moving families from land taken over by the government was well under way. All submarginal land projects approved ap-proved by the land-policy section of I the AAA for purchase by the sur-j sur-j plus relief corporation are separate from ordinary land purchases for na- tional parks, Indian reservations, wild life restoration -and forestry, al-j al-j though some of the submarginal tracts will be used for such purposes. Purchases to date are being made out of the original $25,000,000 funds allotted by President Roosevelt almost al-most a year ago. An additional $50,-000,000 $50,-000,000 was set aside in the $525,-000,000 $525,-000,000 drouth relief appropriation of last May for land purchases, but the legality of using relief money for such land-buying has been questioned in some official circles. i Funds now allocated must be spent before June 15, 1935, the close of the present fiscal year, or revert to the treasury. At the present spending speed, however, indications were that the projects would be completed prior to that date. Land bought or optioned so far has cost the government about $5 an acre. Officials of the A. A. A. believe, be-lieve, however, that this average will increase as projects are completed near industrial centers or on land having scenic or recreational value. A tentative limit of $10 per acre has been set. :'. Less difficulty in persuading people peo-ple to move from submaginal land has been experienced than had been expected, administration officials said. Options are being obtained from at least 90 per cent of the landholders land-holders within the boundaries of a project before purchases are made. "The chief difficulty now is in finding resettlement land for families on submarginal acres," one AAA official declared. "The federal relief administration offers aid in resettling such familicR and many are taking advantage of the advice and loans available. However, How-ever, a great many have their own plans ready when the government buys the hind." The location of all projects under consideration is kept secret by the administration until options have been obtained, to avoid speculation by real estate operators. In general, however, land purchasing is under way on the western edge of the great plains, the southern great lakes section, sec-tion, and the lower Piedmont plateau of the southeast. o |