In California, Land Bill Very Liberal
The soldier land settlement and the home aid bills introduced in the California legislature are said by their backers to promise greater assistance to veterans than any similar measures yet proposed. The land settlement bill provides for grants from public lands, and, if necessary, loans up to $3,000 for purchasing live stock and making improvements. Loans would run for forty years with interest at five percent. The home aid act provides loans of not to exceed $5,000 to apply on the purchase price of homes, the loans to be secured by a mortgage on the house and to be repaid by the ex-service man to the State under the same conditions as the loans under the land settlement act.
The success of the South Dakota land settlement scheme is cited by advocates of the land settlement bills in California and other states.
South Dakota law permits loans up to $10,000, and loans made to 1,400 men to date have averaged $4,600 each, most of the men putting up ten percent of the capital required. The State Land Settlement Commissioner recently said 100 percent of the men who took the loans are making good.
The Land Settlement Committee of The American Legion in Washington State has just issued a report charging that the reclamation board of that State has not provided land for a single ex-service man, although it had ample funds and legislative authority. 