This undertaking of California is the only one in the field of public land colonization anywhere in the country, except for projects involving soldier settlements which some states have lately begun to undertake.
STATE PROVISION FOR SOLDIER SETTLEMENTS
With the close of the War there began to appear on the calendars of state legislatures the subject of land settlement provision for returning soldiers. Up to the time this report was written, twenty-three states had passed some legislation relative to this need. The following table indicates in a general way the extent and nature of this provision.
| Amount of | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Bill Number | Date Approved | Appropriation | Special Note |
| Arizona | Senate 89 | March 26, 1919 [10] | $100,000 | To aid Federal Reclamation Service in this state. |
| California | {Senate 246 | April, 1919 | 10,000,000 | Referendum on bond issue. |
| {Senate 221 | April, 1919 [10] | 1,000,000 | ||
| Colorado | Senate 262 | April 9, 1919 [10] | No appropriation indicated. | |
| Delaware | House 182 | March 7, 1919 [10] | 25,000 | |
| Florida | Senate 21 | December 7, 1918 [10] | Appropriating state lands. | |
| Idaho | House 100 | March 7, 1919 [10] | 100,000 | Conditional upon similar Federal legislation. |
| Maine | Chapter 89 | April 4, 1919 [10] | Necessary amount out of remainder of reserve land fund. | |
| Missouri | {Senate 355 | April, 1919 [10] | 10,000 | |
| {Senate 15 | April, 1919 [10] | 1,000,000 | Revolving fund submitted to popular vote. | |
| Montana | {House 130 | March 11, 1919 [10] | 50,000 | |
| {House 170 | March 4, 1919 [10] | 200,000 | To be drawn upon if necessary. | |
| Nevada | House 219 | March 28, 1919 | 1,000,000 | By bond sale. |
| New Jersey | Senate 5 | March 26, 1919 | Appropriation for placement work. | |
| New Mexico | House 204 | March, 1919 [10] | 30,000 | Plus half of certain state rentals and sales. |
| North Carolina | Chapter 266 | March 10, 1919 [10] | Commission appointed to report. | |
| North Dakota | House 128 | March 6, 1919 | Twenty-five dollars per soldier per month in service. | |
| Oklahoma | Number 249 | March 28, 1919 | 250,000 | For loans to land settlers. |
| Oregon | Senate 147 | March 4, 1919 [10] | 50,000 | |
| South Dakota | Senate 255 | March, 1919 [10] | 100,000 | |
| 1,000,000 | Bond issue. | |||
| Tennessee | House 447 | April 16, 1919 [10] | No appropriation indicated. | |
| Texas | May 24, 1919 | State credit for land settlers. | ||
| Utah | {Senate 79 | March 17, 1919 [10] | 25,000 | |
| {Senate 80 | March 17, 1919 [10] | 1,000,000 | Bond issue. | |
| Vermont | Number 15 | March 26, 1919 | ||
| Washington | {House 200 | March 18, 1919 | 1,050,000 | Revolving fund for state Reclamation Act. |
| {Senate 184 | March 20, 1919 [10] | 160,000 | For land settlement. | |
| Wisconsin | Senate 8 | February 23, 1919 [10] | Commission appointed to report. | |
| Wyoming | Senate 70 | February 28, 1919 [10] | 5,000 | |
| 200,000 | For loans to land settlers. |
In more than half the states the laws refer to Federal legislation, in a few cases specifying that the appropriation shall be contingent upon a national appropriation. Several states signify their approval of co-operation with Federal provision, but make no appropriation for the work. The largest appropriation in the form of a bond issue for popular approval of $10,000,000 was passed by the California legislature. Similar provision was made by Missouri, South Dakota, and Utah to the amount of $1,000,000. Nevada arranged for the borrowing of $1,000,000 for "reclamation, improvement, and equipment of lands ... for soldiers, sailors, marines, and other loyal citizens." Washington appropriated a revolving fund beginning with $1,050,000 and eventually reaching $3,000,000 to create a state Reclamation Service.
In spite of this evidence of awakened interest in soldier settlements, many such projects have died before any real attempt could be made to put them into practical operation. This is to be explained as follows. The projects in a number of cases were products rather of sentiment than of logic based upon experience. War-time patriotism created a desire to give some sort of reward to men fighting for the country's cause. "Let us give to each returning soldier a farm—a ready-made farm!" was heard throughout the country. Whether we had enough land, or economically available land, for millions of farms was not always asked. Many of the project-makers turned to our swamps, deserts, and cut-over lands filled with stumps and debris.
The easy-flowing imagination of these people, especially of the city type, made out of these lands new farms, flourishing gardens, meadows and fields burdened with crops waving in the winds. How much it would cost, whence would come the money and energy to create such a miracle, and how much time the prosecution of the plan would require was not asked. Would not our returned soldiers, who already are matured men, be in their graves before their desert and swamp farms gave a living to their cultivators? Still more strange was the common notion that all soldiers, even the crippled, were eager to settle on land—that all wanted land and all were fit to be farmers!
As the product of mere fancy, such sweeping soldiers' settlement projects were bound to die a natural death. And yet they have not been without value. They created lively discussion, and called attention to our land problems, especially to the reclamation and colonization of unused lands by the people who want land and are fit to be farmers and to do hard land-pioneering work, be they returned soldiers, native farmers, or newly arrived immigrants.
THE RECLAMATION ACT
The Federal Reclamation Service was established by an act of June 17, 1902, ch. 1093, 32 Stat., 388. [12] This act provides that the moneys received from the sale of public lands in the Western states, with the exception of the 5 per centum reserved by law for educational and other purposes, shall be set aside in the Treasury as a reclamation fund to be used for the construction and maintenance of irrigation works for the purpose of reclaiming arid and semiarid lands in these states.