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Show IDLE MEN AND IDLE LAND In this country there are millions of acres of excellent land that has never felt the bite of a plow. This land is capable of feeding many millions mil-lions of people, although it is feeding none. In every city in the country there are large numbers of people who would welcome a return to the farm if such could be effected. Generally General-ly they are men of families who have been brought up on the farm, but left In their younger days to "make their fortunes In the city," and are now marooned there as effectually as if stranded on a desert island. It costs money to change from a croweded city to virgin land and convert the soil into a productive farm. And money they have not at least not sufficient for the transformation. trans-formation. If the government could devise some means of placing such families fami-lies on unused land and aid them to the point where they could become self sustaining and pay off their indebtedness in-debtedness it would work a wonder ful change in this country. Of course it would in time reduce the price of farm products because of the great increase in production. This, however, would automatically reduce living expenses, and that would bring down the cost of labor, and production would become less expensive, and wholesale and retail prices would be lowered in proportion. propor-tion. In other words, there would tie a general reduction in the price of everything throughout the country. We lose a tremendous amount of foreign trade for the simple reason that our cost of production is so great that we find it difficult to compete in world markets with other countries whose people are not living at so rapid and expensive a pace. This reduction in foreign trade, together with the rapid and constant influx of immigrants from abroad, produces stagnation in our labor markets and creates our armies of the 'Unemployed. There should be a general reduction red-uction of all prices of every nature, beginning with the man at the top. who can best afford it, and ending with the one at the bottom, who can least afford it. It is useless to ask one element or our population to suffer a reduction reduc-tion in revenue while other elements continue to rake in their exorbitant profits. That is both unfair and foolhardy, because it' lea'ds to unrest and trouble. There can never be any great reduction in table costs as long as a great portion of the land remains unfilled and those who are at present working the farms are eoni-rcmains eoni-rcmains untitled and those who are pelled to pay excessive prices for everything they use. A careful and honestly administered adminis-tered system of governmental aid to those who desire to return to the farms and become definite producers would go along way toward solving the most difficult problem now facing the American people. |