arden. Such a system should enable
the ambitious and thrifty family not only to save the entire cost of
rent, but possibly half the cost of food, while at the same time
enhancing its standard of living socially and spiritually, as well as
economically.

It has been suggested that there is no better place to demonstrate a new
form of suburban life than here at the National Capital, where we may
freely draw upon all the resources of the governmental departments for
expert knowledge and advice and where the demonstration can readily
command wide publicity and come under the observation of the Nation's
lawmakers. And I am expecting that this experiment will be made. Such a
plan of town or community life, rather than city life, should be
extended to every other large city in the Nation. A simple act of
legislation, accompanied by a moderate appropriation for organization
and educational work, would enable the department to put its facilities
at the service of local communities and of the industries throughout the
United States. This form of national leadership would be of value both
to investors in the local securities and to the home builders
themselves. If the work of land acquisition and construction, together
with the organization of community settlements resulting therefrom, were
conducted under the supervision of the State or the Federal Government
it would safeguard the character of the movement from every point of
view.

Therefore, I put first among the constructive things which may be done
by the exercise of the Government's power of supervision and direction,
with the smallest outlay of money, this matter of providing suburban
homes for our millions of wage earners.

RECLAMATION BY DISTRICT ORGANIZATION.

The provision of garden homes for millions of city workers will
contribute largely to the Nation's food supply and become in time a most
effective influence in reducing excessive cost of living for many of
our people. It will not, of course, solve the problem of increasing the
number of farms and the area of cultivation to meet the needs of growing
population. Neither will it enable us to expand our home market rapidly
and largely enough to keep the country on an even keel of prosperity.

We must go forward with the development of natural resources as we have
done for the past three centuries. And we must recognize at the outset
that conditions have changed with the depletion of the public domain to
the po