attention.

One of the outstanding features of every study of land settlement is that the first great cause of failure is poor selection of land. The second chief cause of failure is insufficient length of time in which to pay for the land. While this is of very great importance, it stands far behind the first as a cause of failure. The third cause of failure is closely connected with the second. It is inadequate credit and capital.

We are dealing here with the results which are universal. The selection of land is extremely difficult, even for unusually intelligent farmers who have had long experience in our country. To select land wisely is quite beyond the capacity of the ordinary settler. The present writer could give unlimited illustrations of this truth. The man who has lived in the corn belt of Illinois is very apt to think that black soil is necessarily good soil, and, going to another state, may perhaps select some black peat land, underlain with sand, which is almost worthless. He is sure to be prejudiced against red soil, which may, after all, be good land. Once, when the writer was being shown citrous-fruit land in California, the wise friend who was his host would point to one orchard, which was "planted for oranges," and another "ranch" which "was planted to sell to suckers"; yet the ordinary man, even if he spent many years in the study of land values, could not tell the difference.

John Stuart Mill presents, in his Principles of Political Economy, strong arguments for non-intervention of public authority in "the business of the community." He says that those who stand for intervention must make out a strong case. When, however, he turns to the consumer or buyer, he finds he is obliged to make many exceptions to the rule of non-intervention. To use his own words,[1] "The proposition that the consumer is a competent judge of the commodity can be admitted only with numerous abatements and exceptions." He uses also these words: [2] "Is the buyer always qualified to judge of the commodity? If not, the presumption in favor of the competition of the market does not apply to the case; and if the commodity be one in the quality of which society has much at stake, the balance of advantages may be in favor of some mode and degree of intervention by the authorized representatives of the collective interest of the state."

We have, then, ample justification for some kind of help to the settler in the selection of land. What Doctor Speek presents to us simply confirms what is known to every thoughtful person who has given attention to the subject of land settlement. If we want to bring it about that our settlers should understand our institutions and become good American citizens, we must abandon all ideas of laissez-faire with respect to land selection. Generally the selection is made for the settler by the land agent. Doctor Speek gives attention to the real-estate business, and finds that it is not in a satisfactory condition. About this there can be no question. At the same time the present writer, as a result of careful observation, affirms without hesitation that probably no business has made greater progress toward a true professional level than has the land business during the last five years. Real-estate agents or brokers are forming associations and are doing a great deal to eliminate dishonest practices and to put into their business the idea of service.

There are two lines of progress especially noteworthy. One is the development of Blue Sky laws, and the other is the requirement that those who engage in the real-estate business should have licenses. Blue Sky laws do not as yet afford anything like adequate protection, but certainly they may not be disregarded with impunity in Wisconsin. Licensing an occupation has been very generally one of the first steps toward putting it upon a professional basis. Doctor Speek relates what was attempted unsuccessfully in California. In Wisconsin we are just beginning the system of licenses, and so far it promises to be extremely helpful. Much more needs to be done, however, to help the settler make a good selection of a farm.

Two outstanding movements are mentioned. One is the public-land settlement of California, under the direction of Dr. Elwood Mead, and the other is the work of the Director of Immigration of Wisconsin, Mr. B. G. Packer. Mr. Packer has been in the habit of meeting settlers in Chicago, the chief doorway into Wisconsin, and giving them advice of a general character in regard to the purchase of a farm in Wisconsin. While he is not in a position to recommend the purchase of a specific piece of land, the advice is pretty concrete and definite. His one thought very properly is the welfare of the settler, and he believes that it is in the interest of Wisconsin not to get as many settlers as possible, but to get settlers who, in his own words, "stick"—in other words, who will succeed. He does not for a moment hesitate to discourage a man from coming to Wisconsin if he is not likely to prove successful, and he does not for a moment hesitate to direct the attention of a settler away from a selection which would prove disastrous to him. The writer has visited many settlers in Wisconsin who have been brought to the state by Mr. Packer, and has found them almost universally prosperous.

However, attention should be directed particularly to an important point made by Doctor Speek in his report. At present irresponsible and dishonest people often get hold of the settler first. Mr. Packer's work is being rapidly developed and it should have still larger funds for expansion. How is it going to be possible, however, to bring to the knowledge of all the settlers the helpful agencies that exist? These helpful agencies include not only the work of Mr. Packer, but of the county agents, and the different departments of the agricultural college, especially that department concerned with soil surveys, as well as with many others.

In other states as well there are many helpful agencies for the settler. If the settler could only get hold of the men who are glad to help him he could make a wise selection of the land. Federal and state authorities must co-operate in efforts to bring to the settler a knowledge of the help that may be his.

The City and Suburban Homes Company, of New York City, affords a suggestion. This company was formed in order to give the best homes possible to people in and about New York City compatible with very modest return on capital. The idea is that of serving the urban dweller. Vast as is the field of operation, it has accomplished appreciable results in New York City. Could not companies be formed to begin where the City and Suburban Homes Company leaves off? Two possibilities suggest themselves. One is the purchase and sale of land, and the other is disinterested advice.

In this imperfect world perfection can never be attained, and with the best efforts mistakes will be made. With a strange perversity men often turn from those who are their true friends and give their confidence to the unscrupulous. A typical case is this: A man sold his small farm at a fair price. Those to whom he sold it were apprehensive lest he should waste the money and tried to help him make a wise investment. He had every reason for confidence in those who were trying to help him and who had never misled him, yet he was evidently