present be profitably cultivated, and a large proportion of it has no
value for the individual. Nevertheless, a large proportion of this
inferior land is privately owned, and the owner is under a constant
temptation to sell it to the settler. One of the chief problems we have
is to take out of the market this submarginal land, which is responsible
for so many ruined and embittered lives. Dishonest sale of poor land to
unsuspecting settlers is a cause of Bolshevism, which we ought to fight
in every possible way.

Another point made by Doctor Speek relates to access to the land. How
much utter nonsense has been talked about access to the land. As Doctor
Speek points out, access to the land means a great many different
things. If it is to amount to anything, it means knowledge based upon
experience and it means capital. There is no magic about access to the
land any more than there is about access to any other occupation than
farming. A man who goes into any occupation, if he is going to be
successful, must have the requisite tools, the requisite experience, and
the requisite capital.

The writer would like to touch upon many other points suggested by
Doctor Speek's excellent report. One only, however, will be mentioned.
We have spoken about the selection of land. We must also remember that
those who are settling the land are those who are going to make up our
rural population. Every state in the Union, as well as the Federal
government, should consider the qualifications of those who are
settling the land. We are going to have the experience of every European
country. That is, by no possibility can everyone who would like to own a
farm have one, any more than can everyone who would like to own some
other business obtain it. No better illustration could be taken than
that of Ireland, when visited by the writer in 1913. There was not land
enough to afford farms to all those who wanted farms. A selection had to
be made. As we should have agencies to help select land, we should also
make a wise selection of those who are to become our land owners and
cultivators in our rural communities.

RICHARD T. ELY,
_January, 1921._ UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.

[1] John Stuart Mill, _Principles of Political Economy_, p. 11.

[2] _Ibid._

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This report summarizes the results of a preliminary survey of rural
developments in the United States from the viewp