INFORMATION REGARDING 
 
 Progress Under the Land 
 Settlement Act 
 
 347 
 
 OF THE 
 
 State of California 
 
 AND ABOUT THE 
 
 Plans for Soldier Settlement 
 in the Future 
 
 Published by Authority of the 
 
 State/ Land Settlement Board 
 May 30, 1919 
 
 CALIFORNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 SACRAifENTO 
 
 1919
 
 INFORMATION REGARDING 
 
 Progress Under the Land 
 Settlement Act 
 
 OF THE 
 
 State of California 
 
 AND ABOUT THE 
 
 Plans for Soldier Settlement 
 in the Future 
 
 Published by Authority of the 
 
 State Land Settlement Board 
 May 30, 1919 
 
 CALIFORNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 SACRAMENTO 
 
 1919 
 
 46390
 
 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 
 
 To His Excellency, WM. D. STEPHENS, Governor, 
 
 State Capitol, Sacramento, California. 
 
 The numerous inquiries received by the State Land Settlement Board, 
 asking for information contained in this statement, we believe, war- 
 rants its publication and distribution by the state. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 ELWOOD MEAD, Chairman. 
 MORTIMER FLEISHHACKER. 
 PRESCOTT F. COGSWELL. 
 FRANK P. FLINT. 
 E. S. WANGENHEIM. 
 
 2-46390
 
 General view of farms and farm laborers' allotments on a portion of the 
 Durham Land Settlement, Durham, California.
 
 THE CALIFORNIA STATE LAND 
 SETTLEMENT ACT. 
 
 WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 So many wish to know about the progress of the California State 
 Land Settlement at Durham and about the plans for future colonies 
 that adequate replies to inquiries can not be made by letters. The 
 statement which follows will, it is hoped, give the facts which most of 
 those interested desire. 
 
 The State Land Settlement Act was passed by the legislature of 
 1917.* It was to be a demonstration of what could be done by planned 
 rural development, adequately financed, and to show how people of 
 small means could be helped by the state to secure farms and rural 
 homes without this aid becoming a burden to the taxpayer. 
 
 THE FIRST STATE SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The board to administer this act was appointed in August, 1917. It 
 Avas authorized to buy, improve and sell to settlers 10,000 acres of land, 
 and in order to do this invited offers of land. Out of forty tracts 
 submitted, two, having a total area of 6,219 acres, located in Butte 
 County near Chico in the Sacramento Valley, were bought. This 
 land, now known as the home of the Durham Settlement, was partly 
 under cultivation, had water rights from Butte Creek and a rudimentary 
 ditch system. 
 
 The cost of the land, which could be irrigated, was $100 per acre. 
 The cost of land above the ditch (about 700 acres) was $10 per acre. 
 
 MAKING THE LAND READY FOR SETTLEMENT. 
 
 It was the belief of those who favored this law, and of the Land 
 Settlement Board, that, if the ability and experience of the State Agri- 
 cultural College and other state agencies could be put to work to create 
 the conditions needed for making farm life attractive, to fix the size of 
 tarnis, the kind of crops to be grown and of stock to be raised, and to 
 l:nit these settlers together at the outset into business and social arrange- 
 ments needed to overcome the obstacles that must confront them, the 
 results would be far better than could be hoped for in an unplanned 
 
 *Senate Bill No. 584, Chapter 755. An act creating a state land settlement board 
 and defining its powers and duties and making an appropriation in aid of its opera- 
 tions. Approved June 1, 1917.
 
 development. The first thing, therefore, was to enlist the help and 
 co-operation of the state's experts in this task. As the land had to be 
 irrigated, the water right was as important as the title to land. A 
 water right litigation of five years' standing on Butte Creek was settled 
 by inducing all holders of rights to agree as to their respective interests, 
 and have this agreement entered as a decree by the court. In this the 
 aid of the Attorney General was freely given and was of great value. 
 
 The sanitary experts of the University recommended that a mosquito 
 abatement district be created as the surest way to prevent malarial 
 trouble. The Butte County Supervisors did this, fixing its boundaries 
 to include not only the colony lands, but a large surrounding area. 
 Plans were made for wells to provide an adequate supply of pure 
 \\ater for household and drinking purposes. The statistical expert of 
 the Prudential Life Insurance Company, after a visit to the settlement, 
 said "that the preliminary arrangements to insure the health of its 
 people were the most enlightened and efficient of which he had any 
 knowledge. ' '* 
 
 The soil experts of the university made a soil survoy and prepared a 
 soil map which was used in determining the sizes and selling prices of 
 farms. The professors of Animal Husbandry and Agronomy helped 
 work out the agriculture best suited to the locality. The drainage and 
 irrigation works were planned by the engineers of the Office of Public 
 Roads and Rural Engineering of the Federal Department of Agricul- 
 ture, and the designs for houses and farm buildings were made in part 
 
 *In no other state, therefore, it would seem, are the conditions more ideal than in 
 California to justify the undertaking of a thoroughly reorganized state health admin- 
 istration on the basis of new principles and inclusive of new functions essential to 
 the attainment of decidedly better results. No state is more progressive and more 
 willing to meet the required expense to attain the highest ideals in the proper sphere 
 and function of every branch of the state government. California has three great 
 universities, adequate medical schools and clinical facilities, and numerous well- 
 managed public Institutions, all useful for the purpose of sustaining a thoroughly well- 
 worked-out plan for a modernized health administration such as is here proposed. 
 
 How much has been achieved within a comparatively short period of time is best 
 illustrated by the gratifying success of the State Land Colony at Durham, which in 
 practically all the details of its administration rests upon the scientific advisory assist- 
 ance of the University of California. This work which has been carried forward to 
 such a successful termination by Prof. Elwood Mead, the distinguished authority on 
 irrigation, gives every promise of serving as a model to other sections of the country, 
 even though the plan may not prove feasible of universal adoption. What has thus 
 been achieved in the realm of agriculture should be equally possible In connection 
 with efforts to improve health and physical well-being. It is to be hoped that the 
 executive officers of the State Land Colony will see their way clear to initiate a 
 practical method of health supervision, including physical examinations, medical 
 assistance and institutional treatment in conformity to all the knowledge available 
 on these subjects at the present time. If this suggestion could be adopted, the 
 State Land Colony would only carry into further practical execution the method 
 so successfully worked out in behalf of the students of the University of California, 
 who for more than six years past have been under qualified medical supervision, 
 which has been provided for at minimum expense, and without the pretense of 
 social Insurance, including all that must be considered essential to reasonable medical 
 or surgical needs. [Extract from "A Plan for a More Effective Federal and State 
 Health Administration," by Frederick L. Hoffman, LL.D., Statistician The Prudential 
 Insurance Company of America.]
 
 by a farmstead engineer employed by the board and in part by the 
 Architectural Bureau of the California State Engineer's office. 
 
 The scheme of accounting and the forms to be used were prepared by 
 the State Board of Control and the numerous forms of contracts 
 required in the sales of land and water rights to settlers and in loaning 
 them money to improve and equip their farms were prepared by the 
 Attorney General. In other words, state and federal officials who had 
 for years been dealing with different features of rural life, and thereby 
 accumulating a practical knowledge of its needs, here worked together 
 to lay the foundation for the civilization these coming settlers would 
 create.* 
 
 In making the soil map, samples were taken at such intervals as was 
 necessary to make an accurate map of the whole area. With this in 
 hand the sizes of the farms were determined so as to give considerable 
 choice to intending settlers, keeping each farm within such limits that 
 one family with one farm hand could take care of it. As a consequence, 
 the farms suited to fruit growing are small, while the lands suited to 
 farm crops were laid out in rather large units, running as high as 160 
 acres. In some cases a tract of grain land went with a small tract of 
 fruit land, say 15 or 20 acres, the two tracts sometimes not being 
 contiguous. 
 
 HOMES FOR WAGE EARNERS. 
 
 In order to do the work and meet all the needs of a rural neighbor- 
 hood, something more than farms and farm owners are needed. There 
 is need for a local blacksmith shop, for a carpenter. Not all men who 
 like to work on farms care for the risk and worry of ownership. Some 
 prefer to work for wages. There are kinds of farm work where two 
 men working together can do more in one day than one man working 
 alone could do in three days. There is therefore the same need for 
 wage earners in farming that there is in other industries and a greater 
 need for looking after the welfare and comfort of this class. This fact 
 was realized in making the plans for Durham. 
 
 The greatest need of the married farm worker is to have a comfort- 
 able dwelling with ground for a garden. To provide these, 26 areas of 
 two acres or less were located in three groups at separate but con- 
 venient parts of the settlement. On these small tracts wage earners 
 could build a house, grow most of the vegetables needed for their table, 
 could keep a cow and chickens, and, because it was their own, it would 
 
 *The following assisted in working out the plans for Durham and for carrying the 
 State Land Settlement Act into effect: University of California, Professors Chas. F. 
 ShaW (Division of Soil Technology), W. B. Herms (Professor of Parasitology), 
 Gordon H. True (Division of Animal Husbandry), Frank Adams (Irrigation Investiga- 
 tions) ; U. S. Department of Agriculture, Mr. Milo B. Williams; State Engineering 
 Department, Mr. W. E. Backus; State Board of Control, Mr. W. B. Draper, account- 
 ant; Mr. Frank English, Deputy Attorney General of the state of California. 
 
 446300
 
 give to the family a sense of pride and independence which would be 
 of great value in shaping the character of the children who lived there, 
 and in making the whole household contented and prosperous. 
 
 These farm workers' homes were to be sold to those who lacked the 
 money or desire to become farm owners on the same conditions as the 
 farms. 
 
 The map, Plat (1), shows the sizes and location of farms and farm 
 workers' homes. Plat (2) is the soil map which explains the relation 
 of the variations in soil to the size of farms.
 
 CONDITIONS OF SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The Land Settlement Act contains the following general conditions : 
 
 Land must be sold either as farm allotments, each of which may have 
 
 a value not exceeding, without improvements, fifteen thousand ($15,000) 
 
 dollars, or as farm laborers ' allotments, each of which may have a value 
 
 not exceeding, without improvements, four hundred ($400) dollars. 
 
 APPENDIX 3. 
 
 Applicants must be citizens of the United States, or have declared 
 their intention to become citizens. 
 
 The State Land Settlement Board reserves the right to reject any or 
 all applications it may see fit to reject. 
 
 No more than one farm allotment or farm laborers' allotment shall 
 be sold to any one person.
 
 10 
 
 Settlers make a cash payment on land of 5 per cent and can have up 
 to 40 years to complete the payments. They may obtain a loan of 
 GO per cent of the cost of houses and other permanent improvements 
 and can have 20 years in which to repay this loan. The loans for all 
 improvements and equipment can not exceed $3,000. The repayment 
 of loans, which may be made by the board, on live stock or implements, 
 may extend over a period of five (5) years. 
 
 Every contract entered into between the board and an approved 
 purchaser shall contain, among other things, provisions that the pur- 
 chaser shall cultivate the land in a manner to be approved by the board 
 and shall keep in good order and repair all buildings, fences and other 
 permanent improvements situated on his allotment, reasonable wear 
 and tear and damage by fire excepted. 
 
 Each settler shall, if required, insure and keep insured against fire 
 all buildings on his allotment, the policies therefor to be made out in 
 favor of the board, and to be such amount or amounts and in such 
 insurance companies as may be prescribed by the board. 
 
 No allotment sold under the provisions of this act shall be transferred, 
 assigned, mortgaged or sublet, in whole or in part, within five (5) years 
 after the date of such contract, without the consent of the board given 
 in writing. 
 
 At the expiration of five (5) years after the purchase of an allotment, 
 if the board is satisfied that all covenants and conditions of the contract 
 covering such allotment purchase have been complied with, the pur- 
 chaser may, with the written consent of the board, transfer, assign, 
 mortgage, sublet, or part with the possession of the whole or any part 
 of the allotment covered by such contract, but the purchaser must 
 comply with the residence requirement of the act. 
 
 In the event of a failure of the settler to comply with any of the 
 terms of his contract of purchase and agreement with the board, the 
 state and the board shall have the right at its option to cancel the said 
 contract of purchase and agreement, and thereupon shall be released 
 from all obligation in law or equity to convey the property, and the 
 settler shall forfeit all right thereto, and all payments theretofore made 
 shall be deemed to be rental paid for occupancy. 
 
 The failure of the board or the state to exercise any option to cancel 
 for any default shall not be deemed as a waiver of the right to exercise 
 the option to cancel for any default thereafter on the settler's part. 
 
 No forfeiture occasioned by default on the part of the settler shall 
 be deemed in any way, or to any extent, to impair the lien and security 
 of the mortgage or trust instrument securing any loan that the board 
 may have made as in the Land Settlement Act provided.
 
 11 
 
 The board shall have the right and power to enter into a contract of 
 purchase for the sale and disposition of any land forfeited, because of 
 default on the part of a settler. 
 
 Actual residence on any allotment sold shall commence within six (6) 
 months from the date of the approval of the application, and shall 
 continue for at least eight (8) months in each calendar year for at 
 least ten (10) years from the date of the approval of the said applica- 
 tion, unless prevented by illness or some other cause satisfactory to the 
 board; provided, that in case any farm allotment disposed of is resold 
 by the state, the time of residence of the preceding purchaser may, in 
 the discretion of the board, be credited to the subsequent purchaser. 
 (Without this clause there would be a temptation for settlers to sell 
 their holdings as soon as development began to increase values. It 
 would also be more difficult to prevent farms being filed on by dummy 
 agents of speculators.) 
 
 The prices of land, in each farm, were fixed with due consideration 
 to all influencing factors, such as character of soil, roughness, accessi- 
 bility, etc., the character of the soil being the chief reason for variation 
 in price, the soil survey disclosing the fact that practically no two tracts 
 were exactly alike. The total price of farm units ranged from $3,600 
 to $15,000, the average selling price being $150 per acre. This increase 
 over the purchase price covers the administration expenses, cost of 
 roads, irrigation improvements, etc. The terms of purchase were 5 per 
 cent down and 5 per cent interest on the unpaid balance. To the 
 interest was added a 3 per cent annual payment on the principal, 
 making 8 per cent a year, which pays for the farm in 20 years. Amor- 
 tizing the payments lessens the heavy burden of the higher interest 
 amounts in the earlier years. 
 
 Where improvements had been made on the property, when sold to 
 settlers, a cash payment of 40 per cent of the value of these improve- 
 ments was required ; the balance to be paid in half-yearly installments 
 extending over 20 years. On both land and improvements settlers 
 might make a larger initial payment, or might pay off more than one 
 installment on any interest date after five years. 
 
 LEASES CAUSED LAND TO BE SETTLED AT DIFFERENT DATES. 
 
 When purchased, a portion of the land was leased for one year and 
 this portion could not be subdivided and sold until this lease expired, 
 which was in September, 1918. There was also a four years' lease on 
 320 acres which will be subdivided and sold at the expiration of this 
 lease. About 3,500 acres were available for immediate settlement. This
 
 12 
 
 area was subdivided into 52 farms and 21 farm laborers' allotments 
 and offered to settlers in May, 1918. 
 
 When the September lease had expired, these lands were subdivided 
 into 27 farms and 5 farm laborers' allotments. This was opened to 
 settlement in November. All these allotments have been sold and set- 
 tled; 700 acres of pasture land and 320 acres of farm land are still to 
 be dealt with. 
 
 PREPARING FARMS FOR SETTLERS. 
 
 Between January 1, 1918, when negotiations for the land were begun, 
 and June, when the farms of the first unit were sold to settlers, the land 
 was subdivided and as far as possible made ready for irrigation, and a 
 large area was seeded to crops. Owing to war conditions it was hard 
 to obtain teams, but on a majority of the farms all of the land or a very 
 considerable portion had crops growing from which the settler obtained 
 a harvest a few weeks or months after taking possession. 
 
 The settlers paid the state all the expenses of planting grain crops, 
 except in a few cases where the settler took possession after the crop 
 was harvested. The profit to the board from these crops was over 
 $2,000. A similar course was followed with the second area thrown 
 open in November, where 1,700 acres had been seeded to grain. 
 
 The ditching and leveling of land for irrigation were treated as per- 
 manent improvements and the settler paid 40 per cent of the cost. This 
 payment was made on all areas prepared for and seeded to alfalfa. 
 
 Great care was taken in valuing the different farms in order to make 
 them equally attractive and, although the price of the different lands 
 varied from $48 to $235 per acre, so well had the various factors been 
 balanced, that each farm offered tvas the first choice of some applicant. 
 
 SELECTION OF SETTLERS. 
 
 Intending settlers were asked to fill out a blank form which would 
 give a record of their experience and capital and give an outline of 
 what they planned to do if their application was approved. These 
 statements of plans were valuable because they indicated the applicant 's 
 judgment and experience. When there were several applicants for a 
 single farm, they were asked to appear before the board. The board 
 by questions and by talking with the different applicants was always 
 able to reach a conclusion as to who was most deserving or best qualified. 
 
 The board faced a harder task when it came to deciding between the 
 applicants for the farm workers' homes. There was some doubt as to 
 the use a single man would have for such an area. It was believed
 
 iq _ 
 
 I ' 
 
 these homes would be worth far more to the married worker who had a 
 family than to unmarried men, unless it was to enable them to marry. 
 Other things being equal, applicants with families were chosen. There 
 were also a number of applicants for these small areas who were not 
 farm workers and did not intend to work on farms for wages. Mainly 
 this class was made up of people who had a small income. They liked 
 the easy payments and the prospect of securing at small cost a com- 
 iortable home in a progressive neighborhood. These homes made a 
 special appeal to these lovers of rural life because the surroundings of 
 Durham are very attractive. On the east there is a lovely mountain 
 background with Mount Lassen in the distance ; on the west the almond 
 and prune orchards stretch away for miles. On two acres of land they 
 could have a poultry farm or a market garden, and if they had a small 
 fixed income, they could lead a pleasant care-free and comfortable life. 
 These applicants were, as a rule, educated, earnest people who would 
 be a valuable addition to the social life of the colony, but they were not 
 the kind of farm workers for whom these areas were intended. 
 
 The number of applications of this character showed there is need 
 for areas between the farm and the wage earners' home, but provision 
 had not been made for this class. Some of the 2-acre blocks were sold 
 to settlers who would have preferred 5 to 10 acres. In 1919 the law was 
 amended to permit farm workers' areas having a value of $1,000. 
 
 HELPING SETTLERS FORM A CO-OPERATIVE RURAL 
 COMMUNITY. 
 
 This act does not end, as many suppose it does, with buying land, 
 selling it to settlers on favorable terms, and then leaving them to shift 
 for themselves. If it did it would be a failure. The most important 
 work of the board comes after the settlers have selected their farms 
 and begin the long and arduous task of earning the money to improve, 
 equip and pay for the home. These settlers need to know each other, 
 to be helped in forming co-operative buying and selling associations. 
 Doing these things soon leads to the creation of a strong community 
 spirit. The settlers are soon welded together by a desire to foster public 
 as well as private ends. Nothing has made so favorable an impression 
 on those who have watched the growth of this colony as the strength of 
 the community spirit and the manner in which its creation has helped 
 settlers overcome the obstacles which lack of capital always presents.
 
 14 
 
 SOME OF THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES IN THE DURHAM 
 SETTLEMENT. 
 
 At the outset the settlers organized a co-operative stock breeders' 
 association. This was done with a view to making Durham the home 
 of pure-bred live stock. All the settlers are members. There is to be one 
 breed of dairy cattle, one breed of beef cattle, one breed of hogs and 
 two breeds of sheep. Only pure-bred sires are to be used and those 
 owned on the settlement are to belong to the association or be approved 
 by its executive committee. 
 
 In cattle Holsteins were adopted as the dairy breed, Shorthorns as 
 the beef breed, Duroc Jerseys is the approved breed of hogs, and Romney 
 Marsh and Rambouillet the breeds of sheep. 
 
 The executive committee of this association has done most of the 
 buying for the settlement. Professor Gordon H. True, head of the 
 Animal Husbandry Division of the University, is chairman and the 
 other members are all good stockmen. 
 
 As the settlers have little capital, they have not been able to buy many 
 pure-bred animals, but in what they have done, they have been helped 
 greatly by the generous interest and co-operation of men interested in 
 the breeds adopted. Mr. Fred J. Kiesel of Sacramento gave the asso- 
 ciation a registered Holstein bull, unsurpassed in breeding by any in 
 the state ; and Mr. R. K. Walker of Bonita, California, gave a registered 
 Duroc boar. They bought another pure-bred bull of excellent breeding 
 from the noted Morris herd, the owner letting them have this animal at 
 a greatly reduced price. Several farms have nothing but registered 
 cattle and hogs. 
 
 The committee appointed to buy cows bought only animals that had 
 been tested for tuberculosis, as it is intended to start and keep free of 
 this disease. Owing to the urgent need for more cows than the com- 
 mittee was able to buy, some of the settlers bought without testing, on 
 the understanding that they were to be tested in the near future. On 
 the visit of the university veterinarian, it was found that three-fourths 
 of the cows so purchased were tubercular. Action was taken at once 
 to dispose of all these animals, all the members of the association having 
 generously agreed to share the loss instead of leaving it to fall wholly 
 on the few unfortunate buyers. If it had not been organized as a 
 co-operative settlement, the effort to keep out tuberculosis would have 
 broken down the first year. 
 
 The settlement has a buying and selling committee which buys imple- 
 ments and supplies for the members at wholesale for cash. It has in 
 this way bought seed grain, seed alfalfa, seed potatoes, farm implements
 
 15 
 
 and numerous other things, and wholesale prices are often obtained. 
 They are making progress toward selling as a community. The benefits 
 of this co-operative action have already been strikingly illustrated. 
 
 AID TO SETTLERS IN IMPROVING THEIR FARMS. 
 
 Instead of leaving each of the 120 families on the settlement to buy 
 material, look for workmen and design his house and farm buildings, 
 the board has helped the settlers plan their houses, buy fence posts, fence 
 wire, cement, lumber and pipe in carload lots for cash. In this way an 
 & mount of time and money has been saved which can only be realized 
 i'ully by those who have seen the results. 
 
 The plans of houses for settlers and their location on each farm were 
 worked out by the farmstead engineer after he had gone into this 
 matter fully with the settler and his wife. The plans for each home- 
 stead worked out through these conferences of the engineer and the 
 settler, included the grouping of all the farm buildings and arrange- 
 ment of roads, the garden, the orchard and fields of each farm. The 
 -settler began therefore with a working plan, not only for present, but 
 future improvements. Nothing lias been done in a casual or haphazard 
 fashion and, as a result, a country neighborhood has been created in 
 less than a year's time which, because of convenient arrangement of 
 roads and farms and attractiveness of houses, is a source of pride and 
 satisfaction to the settlers and presents a favorable contrast to the 
 unplanned development of any new community elsewhere. 
 
 The photographs and drawings of some improved farmsteads and 
 the illustrations of farm laborers' homes (pages 23, 25, 28, 29) will 
 give some idea of what has been accomplished in the first twelve months 
 of this development. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT. 
 The people of this settlement have come together from all parts of 
 the country, from Alaska to Texas. They include a dozen nationalities. 
 To bring them into a harmonious working relation in matters affecting 
 the community and to determine what aid the state ought to give and 
 where it ought to be withheld is a task that requires tact, practical 
 knowledge of farming, and good judgment as to men. The board has 
 realized that it must restrict its activities to those things that would 
 assist, stimulate and encourage effort on the part of settlers and stop 
 at the point where aid would tend to lessen self-reliance and initia- 
 tive.- The personal representative of the board in the settlement is 
 therefore a very important individual. Mr. George C. Kreutzer, the 
 
 3-46390
 
 16 
 
 superintendent at Durham, is a graduate of an agricultural college, 
 has worked for the U. S. Reclamation Service, was superintendent of 
 a state land settlement in Australia, and a farm adviser in California. 
 He brought to his task not only fine natural qualities, but an unusually 
 rounded-out experience. 
 
 He has been the counselor and friend of each settler in regard to 
 when to plant crops, in the buying of live stock and equipment and 
 tools, and their adviser in forming co-operative buying and selling 
 organizations; has been an officer of the settlers' co-operative stock 
 breeders' association and has directed the construction of the extensive 
 scheme of roads, drains and other irrigation works which have cost over 
 $100,000, as well as preparation of land and putting in crops for settlers 
 by the board, which during the first year cost over $45,000. 
 
 Mr. Kreutzer has had a valuable assistant in Mr. Max E. Cook, the 
 farmstead engineer. The settlers have found in him a competent and 
 sympathetic adviser. He has saved them alike from the mistakes of 
 extravagance and of attempting to live in houses lacking sanitation and 
 convenience. His supervision of houses and farm buildings enabled 
 the 120 settlers to go about their urgent farming operations at a time 
 when this was of vital importance. Houses and barns have been built 
 in less time at less cost, are better planned, are more convenient and 
 comfortable than would have been possible under an unplanned unor- 
 ganized development. 
 
 THE ADVANTAGES OF READY-MADE FARMS. 
 The average cost of the 40-acre farms in this settlement, with the 
 improvements and equipment, would be about $300 an acre. The settler 
 must earn 5 per cent interest on this amount, taxes, and charges for 
 water used in irrigation, which together amount to about $20 an acre, 
 before he can set aside anything for living expenses or to meet the 
 payments on land and on money borrowed for improvements. This 
 makes time an element of first importance. The settler with small 
 capital mast grow a crop the first year. The board helped him to do 
 this by hiring a large outfit to prepare some land for irrigation and 
 seed it to alfalfa, and to prepare and seed a much larger area to grain. 
 The settlers who secured these ready-made farms paid the state 40 per 
 cent of the cost of preparing land for irrigation and the full cost of 
 .seeding land to grain. The settlers who secured farms in June, 1917, 
 were able to cut three crops of alfalfa before winter. Those that had 
 grain crops, harvested and sold them within two months after taking 
 possession. The ready-made farm gave them a living income the first 
 season.
 
 The following statement of returns from the grain crops planted by 
 the board shows how settlers were helped by this preparatory work. 
 Some of the settlers were able to grow 7 a crop of beans after the grain 
 crop was harvested: 
 
 ('. \V. BAKER, Allotment 1 15.4 acres oats. 
 
 Sold crop standing $262 40 
 
 Value of straw and stubble 04 00 
 
 $326 40 
 1'aid board _. 221 40 
 
 Net return $105 00 
 
 E. O. MESSINGER, Allotment 6 18.2 acres barley. 
 
 848 sacks at $2.25 $7s:>, 00 
 
 Value of straw and stubble 72 00 
 
 Paid board for planting $218 40 
 
 Sacks and threshing 205 32 
 
 Binding twine, hauling, etc 45 00 
 
 468 72 
 
 Net return $386 28 
 
 \\'M. DEVENEY, Allotment 7 20.4 acres barley. 
 
 410 sacks barley at $2.25 .$1)42 75 
 
 Value of straw and stubble ! SO 00 
 
 - $1,022 75 
 
 Sacks and threshing $251 40 
 
 Binding, hauling, twine, etc 105 25 
 
 356 65 
 
 Net return $666 10 
 
 CARL NEILSEN, Allotment 10 18 acres barley. 
 
 375 sacks barley at $2.25 $843 75 
 
 Straw and stubble 72 00 
 
 $915 75 
 2 tons hay 40 00 
 
 $955 75 
 Paid board $209 00 
 
 Threshing and sacks 225 00 
 
 Binding twine, hauling, etc 45 00 
 
 479 00 
 
 Net return $476 75 
 
 A. I. MAXWELL, Allotment 11 12.6 acres barley. 
 
 236 sacks barley at $2.25 $531 00 
 
 Value of straw and stubble 50 00 
 
 2 tons hay 40 00 
 
 $621 00 
 
 Paid board $126 00 
 
 Sacks and threshing ! 141 60 
 
 Binding twine, hauling, etc 40 00 
 
 307 60 
 
 Net return $313 40
 
 18 
 
 E. E. WILL, Allotment 61 47 acres barley. 
 
 713 sacks at $2.32* $1,657 73 
 
 Value of stubble for hog raising 75 00 
 
 $1,732 73 
 
 Paid state for plowing and seeding $640 90 
 
 Cost of harvesting 165 55 
 
 Sacks 178 25 
 
 Cartage to warehouse 35 00 
 
 Insurance and incidentals 16 65 
 
 1,036 35 
 
 Net return $696 38 
 
 Jos. N. THORNTON, Allotment 39 54 acres wheat. 
 
 337 sacks wheat at $4.50 $1,516 50 
 
 Value of cheat and stubble 162 00 
 
 - $1,678 50 
 Paid state $702 00 
 
 Harvesting, sacks, cartage and insurance 352 00 
 
 1,054 00 
 
 Net return $6L'4 50 
 
 FRANK M. HALL, Allotment 59 47.7 acres barley. 
 
 84,000 Ibs. (787 sacks) at $2.35 per cwt $1,974 00 
 
 13 sacks of cheat at $1.25 16 25 
 
 Stubble 25 00 
 
 - $2,01.-, 1T, 
 Paid board for putting in crop $620 10 
 
 Harvesting, sacks, insurance, etc 440 00 
 
 1,000 10 
 
 Net return $955 15 
 
 ROY WHITE, Allotment 60 60 acres barley. 
 
 980 sacks at $2.55 $2,499 00 
 
 3 tons grain hay at $15 45 00 
 
 Stubble 75 00 
 
 $2,619 00 
 
 Paid board $720 00 
 
 Harvesting, sacks, insurance, etc 508 50 
 
 1,228 50 
 
 Net return $1,390 50 
 
 The help given settlers in planting crops saved them a year's delay. 
 They could not have done this work themselves, nor could they have 
 hired the large number of teams and implements needed to do the 
 work in a short time. Even the board could not hire the needed teams. 
 It had to buy a 75-horsepower Best tractor and full equipment of plows 
 and cultivators. It has also had to buy teams to supplement the con- 
 tracting outfits engaged. Its work did not displace or lessen the set- 
 tlers' efforts because the board did only what the settler could not do. 
 The result has been that within twelve months from the date of begin- 
 ning settlement, all of the land is under cultivation. It would have
 
 19
 
 20 
 
 taken the settlers working without this aid two or three years to have 
 brought about this result. In the interval there would have been idle 
 land and small returns. This saving of time is a great factor in increas- 
 ing the settler's income, keeping him from becoming disheartened and 
 enabling him to make his payments. This kind of organized develop- 
 ment is more economical and far more valuable to the settler than lend- 
 ing him money with which to hire the work done. 
 
 FINANCIAL SUMMARY. 
 
 The board bought the two tracts of land for $542,719. The settlers' 
 contracts and the leased land have a value of $828,885. The difference 
 between the buying and selling price is being used to build roads, irriga- 
 tion works, drains and other community improvements and to pay all 
 administrative expenses, including salaries of the superintendent and 
 the farmstead engineer. The improvements are nearly all completed. 
 The ditches will be turned over to a co-operative association of settlers 
 without any additional charge. 
 
 The greater part of the area was bought from Stanford University. 
 the board paying one-tenth cash, and is to pay the remainder in amor- 
 tizing payments extending over 20 years. These payments are being 
 met by payments from settlers. It owes the state $250,000 and pays the 
 state $10,000 per year interest until the $250,000 begins to be repaid. 
 The present year's interest is in the state treasury, although it is not 
 due until June 30. 
 
 The settlers who were granted farms had an average capital of $:}.<)00 
 in cash and some of them had fairly good equipment. Considerably 
 more than half the settlers were tenant farmers and they would still be 
 renters if they had been compelled to buy under ordinary commercial 
 conditions. All have a knowledge of farming, but \vith all these advan- 
 tages, it will take industry and frugality and good management tor 
 them to meet their payments for the first five years. 
 
 It will be far easier for the people in this colony who are all making 
 the same struggle, all faced by the same problems and all required to 
 live in about the same way, to succeed, than it would be if they were 
 scattered through different communities and surrounded by neighbors 
 who either owned their farms or who were not trying to accumulate 
 money to pay for one. The fact that all these settlers are in debt, that 
 they are all compelled to work hard' and be careful and saving is a 
 source of strength to the less experienced members of the colony, and 
 especially to those who lack strength of purpose.
 
 21 
 
 Group settlement gives the benefits of pioneering without its hard- 
 ships. The first settlers in any new country take their privations and 
 hardships as a matter of course because everybody has to endure them. 
 There is no contrast of better conditions to make them discontented. 
 This spirit of cheerful indifference to temporary privations is marked 
 in the Durham Colony. Some of the settlers are living in their barns 
 the first year, either because they lacked money to build a house, or 
 because they believed labor and material would be cheaper later on. 
 Outside of the settlement living in a barn would be a humiliation, but 
 
 Part of 22 acres reserved for community purposes. 
 
 in the colony it commands admiration and respect. All these aids to 
 frugality, keeping settlers in good heart and willing to persevere, are 
 needed. 
 
 Fanning is not a highly lucrative occupation and the expenses of 
 converting raw land into a habitable and productive farm are far 
 greater today than they were a few years ago. Material needed for 
 fences, buildings, the cast of live stock and implements and skilled 
 labor when it is employed, all make heavy inroads on the settler's 
 capital. The fact that the board is in a position to extend sympathetic 
 help in cases of misfortune is a great encouragement to the aspiring, as 
 the oversight of the superintendent is a stimulant to those who might 
 otherwise become negligent and shiftless.
 
 22 
 
 SOCIAL PROGRESS OF THE COLONY. 
 
 The board set aside 22 acres as a community center. It is part of 
 an oak grove (see page 21). It is planned to have on this area a 
 community hall where different social and business organizations will 
 meet. There will be a sport grounds where the boys can play baseball 
 and the girls tennis. Later a vocational school is hoped for. This 
 grove has become the picnic grounds of that section. It is something 
 that every rural community needs and very few have. 
 
 When this property was purchased, no landowner had lived on it 
 for twenty years. It was farmed by tenants and hired labor. Today 
 120 families live in their own homes and till their own fields, and in 
 these homes there are over 200 children. The selling price of land has 
 been increased, not only within the boundaries of the settlement, but 
 around it. It has increased the revenue from taxes, increased the busi- 
 ness of the surrounding towns, added to the political and social, strength 
 of the state, has added to the aspirations, the comfort and happiness of 
 every family. This has been done without any cost to the taxpayers of 
 the state. It encourages those who believe in an enlarged use of tin- 
 ; state as an instrument of direct service in those things that affect the 
 'general welfare. . 4 
 
 THE FARM LABORER'S ALLOTMENT A STEPPING-STONE TO 
 
 THE FARM. 
 
 The families of small capital who were content with farm laborers' 
 allotments have done well. The initial payment on these allotments was 
 less than $20, and where the applicant did not have enough capital to 
 build his house he had no difficulty in securing a loan from the board 
 for money to buy the material, the settlers as a rule agreeing to make- 
 monthly payments. These workers were able to earn from $2.50 to $3.50 
 a day with board, or up to $4.50 where they boarded at home. Carpen- 
 ters have earned $5.25 a day for eight hours ' work and have been able to 
 improve and cultivate their blocks outside of the working hours without 
 losing any time. The farm worker who had a team was paid $6.50 a 
 day for himself and team. 
 
 Figures (1) and (2) are the homes of farm workers which are 
 inserted to show how comfortable and attractive they can be made, and 
 below each of these is a summary of what the settler has earned and 
 saved since June last. 
 
 Several farm workers are planning to buy more land in the near 
 future and become their own employers. They will have no difficulty 
 in disposing of their present homes when ready to make the change.
 
 23
 
 24 
 
 It is confidently believed thai many of these farm laborers or their 
 children will be farm owners of the future. This aspiration for larger 
 areas is not, however, universal. One farm worker had a capital of 
 4,700 when granted his 2-acre allotment. He has worked for others 
 all his life, has a horror of debt, and no desire to assume the responsi- 
 bilities of management. He prefers to continue the kind of employ- 
 ment he understands and with which he is content. 
 
 Before the plan of creating farm laborers' homes \\a.s adopted at 
 Durham, the farm laborer's family in California, as elsewhere, had as 
 a rule to live in town. The head of the family was away from home 
 and children. He and they had no social status. There was nothing 
 in their life to encourage independence, ambition or self-respect, the 
 things that develop character. Children had little opportunity to 
 become familiar with rural life or to learn how to plant and grow 
 crops. The homes on these 2-acre blocks will be the training school of 
 many an expert cultivator of the future and a source of pride and 
 .satisfaction to all w r ho dwell therein. 
 
 PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 Although less than a year old. the settlement has become widely 
 known. Officials from ten American states, from Canada and Australia 
 have visited the colony and made reports on the scheme and its results. 
 Agricultural and engineering papers, maga/ines and reviews have 
 described and discussed its plans and the state policy of which it is a 
 concrete illustration. This challenge to public attention is not due to 
 the size of the settlement or the amount of money appropriated to 
 iinance it. It. grows out of the fact that it is an attempt to solve in a 
 definite way some problems of rural life in the United States that for 
 the last twenty-five years have caused growing anxiety and unrest. 
 
 Acting on the recommendation of Governor Stephens, the legislature 
 in 1919 appropriated $1,000,000 for continuing the settlement policy 
 and authorized a bond issue of $10,000,000. The latter will have to be 
 ratified by vote of the people. If approved, it will enable the board to 
 proceed with land settlement work in a more systematic and economical 
 way than would otherwise be possible. 
 
 The $1,000,000 appropriation will not be available until August and 
 the Land Settlement Board can not officially invite offers of land until 
 then, but some land has already been tendered informally and it is 
 hoped other areas may be, so that the period of investigation, after the 
 money becomes available, may be shortened. It is hoped that the next 
 f.rea purchased will be large enough to provide homes for about 250
 
 25
 
 26 
 
 settlers-; more than twice this number have already registered as appli- 
 cants for farms or farm workers' homes. Under'the amended act, tin- 
 board may give preference to returning soldiers and sailors, and no 
 doubt this will be done. If the bond issue is approved, the larger sum 
 of money thus made available will enable the state to make this act an 
 adequate means of showing our gratitude for the sacrifices and risk of 
 the soldiers and to create in different sections of the state, organized 
 and highly successful rural communities. 
 
 The date of opening of the next settlement will depend on the amount 
 of work required to prepare the land for settlement. If an area can 
 be secured already provided with water for irrigation, or one which 
 does not require the construction of costly works, then it ought to be 
 possible to have farms ready for settlement in the spring of 1920. The 
 board will hasten the preliminary steps in every way consistent with 
 economy. 
 
 CAPITAL THE INTENDING SETTLER SHOULD HAVE. 
 
 Some objections have been raised to the requirement of the board, in 
 dealing with settlers at Durham, that each approved applicant for a 
 farm should have not less than $1,500 in money or its equivalent in live 
 stock and farming implements. It was thought that this would exclude 
 many otherwise worthy persons. The board believes that this require- 
 ment is a protection to oversanguine and inexperienced applicants. 
 The farm and its equipment mean an investment of anywhere fr.nn 
 $5,000 to $20,000. This is too great a burden of debt for a settler with- 
 out money to assume. Payments under these conditions can only be 
 met by toil and privations that are not desirable even if a settler is 
 willing to assume them. 
 
 It would also be a doubtful venture for the state to furnish an 
 improved and equipped farm to anyone who had no nnmey of his own 
 invested and who could, therefore, abandon the property at any time 
 without loss. It would be an invitation to the unstable and inexperi- 
 enced. It would also lessen the number benefited as there would be a 
 much larger expenditure for each accepted settler. Both in the interest 
 of the settler and of the state, therefore, a certain capital is needed and 
 &1,500 was regarded as a minimum for Durham. The wisdom of this 
 has been amply demonstrated. In one instance sickness and accidents 
 in the settler's family involved expenses equal to the settler's capital. 
 If he had had no funds of his own, the state would have not only had to 
 furnish the land, the money for .its improvement, but also to pay sur- 
 geons' and doctors' bills. In this instance the settler's capital was his
 
 97 
 
 ~ j I ~ 
 
 insurance. He has been able to pull through and will succeed. He 
 would have failed without it. 
 
 Other countries that have had considerable experience in planned 
 rural development have found it imperative to require the settler shall 
 have some capital. In Denmark he is required to have not less than one- 
 tenth of the cost of the completed farm. In most of the Australian 
 states he is required to have a capital of $1,200 to $1,500. As a rule, 
 it will be safer and better for a man with less than $1.500 in money or 
 equipment to begin with a farm laborer's allotment which does not 
 require any capital, and the act has been amended so that a farm 
 laborer's allotment can hereafter have a value of $1,000. Under 
 the original act it was $400. 
 
 The high price of land is a source of anxiety to the board. So much 
 of the colonizing activity of the past has been speculative that it has 
 helped to inflate land prices. In the best farm districts of America 
 farm lands cost more than in any other part of the world except in the 
 more densely peopled sections of western Europe. In other countries, 
 it has loiiy been recognized that high prices for land inflict the same 
 burden on agriculture that watered stock does on industrial under- 
 takings, and efforts are made by taxation and through the influence of 
 public opinion to keep land prices down to productive values. Here we 
 have encouraged inflation. 
 
 While it is believed that conditions in California are more favorable 
 than in the agricultural states of the Middle West, there is a danger 
 that land prices here may restrict the efforts of the board to help men 
 secure farms. This gives added importance to the farm workers' 
 homes. 
 
 The next settlement will involve less labor than was required to 
 start the first one. Its accounting forms have all been prepared, as 
 have the forms of contracts with settlers. Plans and estimates for 
 farm buildings for Durham can be used elsewhere. The tractor and 
 its equipment, the teams and tools bought for the first settlement, can 
 be moved to the next one, for the board's development at Durham will 
 soon be ended. 
 
 If the foregoing does not give the information desired, or if intending 
 settlers wish to be informed by letter when the next area will be ready, 
 write to the Secretary of the State Land Settlement Board at Berkeley, 
 California. 
 
 For the next settlement or settlements, the board desires an area of 
 10,000 to 15,000 acres, or two areas of 5,000 to 10,000 acres. The board 
 would like to hear from owners or others interested as to where suitable 
 land may be purchased.
 
 28
 
 29
 
 30
 
 31 
 
 Making concrete pipe for use in settlers' ditches.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 SENATE BILL NO. 584 (OLD ACT). 
 
 SENATE BILL NO. 221 (NEW LAW). 
 
 COPY OP APPLICATION FORM, COMPLETE.
 
 SENATE BILL NO. 584. 
 CHAPTER 755. 
 
 An act creating a state Jand settlement board and defining its powers and duties and 
 making an appropriation in aid of its operations. 
 
 [Approved June 1, 1917.] 
 
 The people of the State of California do enact as follows: 
 
 SECTION 1. The legislature believes that land settlement is a problem of great 
 importance to the welfare of all the people of the State of California and for that 
 reason through this particular act endeavors to improve the general economic and 
 social conditions of agricultural settlers within the state and of the people of tho 
 state in general. 
 
 SEC. 2. With the object of promoting closer agricultural settlement, assisting 
 deserving and qualified persons to acquire small improved farms, providing homes for 
 farm laborers, increasing opportunities under the federal farm loan act, and demon- 
 strating the value of adequate capital and organized direction in subdividing and 
 preparing agricultural land for settlement, there is hereby created a state land settle- 
 ment board to consist of five members appointed by the governor to hold office for a 
 term of four years and until their successors have been appointed and shall have 
 qualified ; provided, however, that of the members first appointed two shall be 
 appointed to hold office until the first day in January, nineteen hundred eighteen, 
 one until the first day in January, nineteen hundred nineteen, one until the first day 
 in January, nineteen hundred twenty, and one until the first day in January, nineteen 
 hundred twenty-one. 
 
 The members of the board shall receive a per diem for each meeting attended, to 
 be fixed by the state board of control with the approval of the governor ; they shall 
 also receive their actual necessary traveling expenses in the discharge of their duties. 
 
 The board shall elect its own chairman and secretary. The secretary may or may 
 not be a member of the board. The board shall appoint a superintendent who shall 
 be the general executive officer of the board, and such expert, technical, and clerical 
 assistance as may prove necessary, and shall define their duties. It shall fix the 
 salaries of all officers and other employees, with the approval of the state board of 
 control. 
 
 SEC. 3. The state land settlement board, hereinafter called the board, shall 
 constitute a body corporate with the right on behalf of the state to hold property, 
 receive and request donations, sue and be sued, and all other rights provided by the 
 constitution and laws of the State of California as belonging to bodies corporate. 
 
 Three members of the board shall constitute a quorum and such quorum may 
 exercise all the power and authority conferred on the board by this act. 
 
 SEC. 4. For the purposes of this act the board may in the manner hereinafter 
 provided acquire on behalf of the state agricultural lands in California that are sus- 
 ceptible of intensive culture and suitable for colonization in an area of not more 
 than ten thousand acres, together with any water rights and rights of way desirable 
 or necessary therefor, and shall without delay improve, subdivide and sell such lands 
 with appurtenant water rights to approved bona fide settlers under the conditions 
 and in the manner hereinafter provided ; provided, that, with the approval of the 
 governor, the board shall have the authority to set aside for township purposes a 
 suitable area purchased under the provisions of this act and to subdivide such area 
 and sell or lease the same for cash, in lots of such size, and with such restrictions as 
 to resale, as, with the approval of the governor, they shall deem best ; and provided, 
 further, that the board shall have authority to set aside and dedicate to public use 
 such area or areas as it may deem desirable for roads, schoolhouses, churches, or 
 other public purposes. 
 
 SEC. 5. Whenever the board believes that private land should be purchased for 
 settlement under this act, it shall give notice by publication in one or more news- 
 papers of general circulation in this state, setting forth the area and character of the 
 land desired and the conditions that shall govern such proposed purchase, and inviting 
 owners of lands believed to be suitable, and who are willing to enter into a contract 
 for the sale of such lands on the conditions proposed, to submit such lands for 
 inspection.
 
 36 
 
 SEC. 6. Within thirty days thereafter the board shall direct an officer or officers 
 in its employ, or one or more persons who may at its request be designated by the 
 dean of the college of agriculture of the University of California, to inspect and report 
 on all tracts of land suitable for closer settlement which are so submitted. 
 
 'SEC. 7. The board shall give not less than one week's notice of the approximate 
 date when tracts submitted will be inspected and every report of such inspection 
 shall as far as practicable specify the 
 
 (a) Situation and brief description thereof; 
 
 (6) Extent and situation of land comprising so much of any tract as it is proposed 
 to acquire ; 
 
 (c) Names and addresses of the owners thereof; 
 
 (d) Character of water rights; 
 
 (e) Nature of improvements; 
 
 ( f ) Crops being grown on land ; 
 
 (/) Appraisement of value of land, water rights and improvements. 
 
 SEC. 8. On receiving the reports on all of the land examined the board shall 
 decide which of the areas is best suited to the purposes of this act. Before so 
 deciding the board may examine the land, or it may employ one or more competent 
 valuers to fix the productive value of the land and report the same in writing ; the 
 owner or his agent may give evidence as to its value. 
 
 SEC. 9. If from the evidence submitted or from the results of its personal inspec- 
 tion the board is satisfied that one or more of the tracts submitted are suited to 
 intensive closer settlement and can be acquired at a reasonable price, it shall submit 
 to the governor its report, giving the reasons for recommending the purchase, and on 
 the approval of the governor the board shall be authorized to purchase the same ; 
 provided, that before such purchase is made, the attorney general shall approve the 
 title of such lands and any water rights appurtenant thereto, and the president of 
 the state water commission shall certify in writing as to the sufficiency of any water 
 rights to be conveyed. 
 
 SEC. 10. All purchases of land under this act shall be made under such terms 
 and conditions as shall give to the board full control of any subdivisions thereof until 
 all moneys advanced by the state for the purchase, improvement, or equipment of such 
 subdivisions are fully repaid, together with interest thereon as herein provided. 
 
 SEC. 11. Immediately upon taking possession of any land purchased as above, 
 and after deducting any areas to be set aside for townsites or public purposes in 
 accordance with section four of this act, the board shall subdivide it into areas suit- 
 able for farms and farm laborers' allotments, and lay out, and where necessary, 
 construct roads, ditches, and drains for giving access to and insuring the propel 
 cultivation of the several farms and allotments. The board, prior to disposing of 
 it to settlers, or at any time after such land has been disposed of, but not after the 
 end of the fifth year from the commencement of the term of the settler's purchase 
 contract, may 
 
 (a) Prepare all or any part of such land for irrigation and cultivation; 
 
 (6) Seed, plant, or fence such laud, and cause dwelling houses and outbuildings 
 to be erected on any farm allotment or make any other improvements not specified 
 above necessary to render the allotment habitable and productive in advance of or 
 after settlement, the total cost of such dwellings, outbuildings, and improvements not 
 to exceed one thousand five hundred ($1,500) dollars on any one farm allotment; 
 
 (c) Cause cottages to be erected on any farm laborer's allotment and provide a 
 domestic water supply, the combined cost of the cottage and water supply not to 
 exceed eight hundred ($800) dollars an any one farm laborer's allotment; 
 
 (d) Make loans to approved settlers on the security of stock and farm implements, 
 such loans to be secured by mortgage or mortgages on such stock or farm implements, 
 and the total amount of any such loan, together with money spent by the board on 
 improvements as above specified, not to exceed three thousand dollars on any one 
 farm allotment. 
 
 SEC. 12. Authority is hereby granted to the board, where deemed desirable, to 
 operate and maintain any irrigation works constructed to serve any lands purchased 
 and sold under the provisions of this act. All moneys received in tolls or charges 
 for the operation and maintenance of any works or for any water supplied therefrom, 
 shall be deposited in the land settlement fund created by this act and shall become 
 available for the payment of any costs, expenses, or other charges authorized in this 
 act to be paid from said land settlement fund.
 
 37 
 
 SEC. 13. After the purchase of land by the board under the provisions of this 
 act and before its disposal to approved bona fide applicants the board shall have 
 authority to lease such land or a part thereof on bonded or secured lease on such 
 terms as it shall deem fit. 
 
 SEC. 14. Lands disposed of under this act, other than lands set aside for town- 
 sites or public purposes, shall be sold either as farm allotments, each of which shall 
 have a value not exceeding, without improvements, fifteen thousand dollars, or as a 
 farm laborer's allotments, each of which shall have a value not exceeding, without 
 improvements, four hundred dollars. Before any part of an area is thrown open for 
 settlement there shall be public notice thereof for thirty days in one or more daily 
 newspapers of general circulation in the state, setting forth the number and size of 
 farm allotments or farm laborer's allotments, or both, the prices at which they are 
 offered for sale, the minimum amount of capital a settler will be required to have, the 
 mode of payment, the amount of cash payment required, and such other particulars 
 as the board may think proper and specifying a definite period within which applica- 
 tions therefor shall be filed with the board on forms provided by the board. The 
 board shall have the right in its uncontrolled discretion to reject any or all applica- 
 tions it may see fit and may readvertise as aforesaid as often as it sees fit until it 
 receives and accepts such number of applications as it may deem necessary. 
 
 SEC. 15. Any citizen of the United States, or any person who has declared his 
 intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, and who is not the holder of 
 agricultural land or of possessory rights thereto to the value of fifteen thousand 
 dollars, and who by this purchase would not become the holder of agricultural land 
 or of possessory rights thereto exceeding such value, and who is prepared to enter 
 within six months upon actual occupation of the land acquired, may apply for and 
 become the purchaser of either a farm allotment or a farm laborer's allotment; 
 provided, that no more than one farm allotment or more than one farm laborer's 
 allotment shall be sold to any one person ; provided, further, that no applicant shall 
 be approved who shall not satisfy the board as to his or her fitness successfully to 
 cultivate and develop the allotment applied for. 
 
 SEC. 10. Within ten days after the final date set for receiving applications for 
 either farm allotments or farm laborer's allotments the beard shall meet to consider 
 the applications, and may request applicants to appear in person ; provided, that the 
 board shall have the power and the uncontrolled discretion to reject any or all 
 applications. 
 
 SKC. 17. The selling prices of the several allotments into which lands purchased 
 under this act are subdivided, other than those set aside for townsite and public 
 purposes, shall be fixed by the board, so as to render such allotments as nearly as 
 possible equally attractive, and calculated to return to the state the original cost 
 of the land, together with a sufficient sum added thereto to cover all expenses and 
 costs of surveying, improving, subdividing, and selling such lands, including the pay- 
 ment of interest, and all costs of engineering, superintendence, and administration, 
 including the cost of operating any works built, directly chargeable to such land, and 
 also the price of so much land as shall on subdivision be used for roads and other 
 public purposes, and also such sum as shall be deemed necessary to meet unforeseen 
 contingencies. 
 
 SEC. IS. Every approved applicant shall enter into a contract of purchase with 
 the board, which contract shall among other things provide that the purchaser shall 
 pay as a cash deposit a sum equal to five per cent of the sale price of the allotment 
 and in addition not less than ten per cent of the cost of any improvements made 
 thereon, and, unless prepared to pay one-half of the purchase price in cash, such 
 applicant shall enter into an agreement to make an immediate application for a loan 
 from the federal farm loan bank under the provisions of the federal farm loan act 
 for an amount equal to fifty per cent of the appraised value of the land and twenty 
 per cent of the value of the improvements thereon, and shall pay the amount of any 
 loan so made to the board as a partial payment on such land and improvements. 
 The balance due on the land shall be paid in amortizing payments extending over a 
 period to be fixed by the board not exceeding forty years, together with interest 
 therefor at the rate of five per cent per annum. The amount due on improvements 
 shall be paid in amortizing payments extending over a period to be fixed by the board 
 not exceeding twenty years, together with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent 
 per annum. The repayment of loans made on live stock or implements shall extend 
 over a period to be fixed by the board not exceeding five years ; provided, however, in
 
 38 
 
 each case, that the settler shall have the right oil any installment date after five years 
 from the first payment, but not before, to pay any or all installments still remaining 
 unpaid. 
 
 SEC. 19. The number and amount of yearly or half yearly installments of prin- 
 cipal and interest to be paid to the board under contracts of purchase shall be 
 calculated according to any table adopted or approved by the federal farm loan board. 
 
 SEC. 20. Every contract entered into between the board and an approved pur- 
 chaser shall contain among other things provisions that the purchaser shall cultivate 
 the land in a manner to be approved by the board and shall keep in good order and 
 repair all buildings, fences, and other permanent improvements situated on his allot- 
 ment, reasonable wear and tear and damage by fire excepted. Each settler shall, if 
 required, insure and keep insured against fire all buildings on his allotment, the 
 policies therefor to be made out in favor of the board and to be such amount or 
 amounts and in such insurance companies as may be prescribed by the board. 
 
 SEC. 21. No allotment sold under the provisions of this act shall be transferred, 
 assigned, mortgaged, or sublet in whole or in part, within five years after the date 
 of such contract without the consent of the board given in writing. At the expiration 
 of five years after the purchase of an allotment, if the board is satisfied that all 
 covenants and conditions of the contract covering such allotment purchase have been 
 complied with, the purchaser may, with the written consent of the board, transfer, 
 assign, mortgage, sublet, or part with the possession of the whole or any part of the 
 allotment covered by such contract. 
 
 In the event of a failure of a settler to comply with any of the terms of his 
 contract of purchase and agreement with the board, the state and the board shall have 
 the right at its option to cancel the said contract of purchase and agreement and 
 thereupon shall be released from all obligation in law or equity to convey the prop- 
 erty and the settler shall forfeit all right thereto and all payments theretofore made 
 shall be deemed to be rental paid for occupancy. The failure of the board or the 
 state to exercise any option to cancel for any default shaJl not be deemed as a waiver 
 of the right to exercise the option to cancel for any default thereafter on the 
 settler's part. But no forfeiture so occasioned by default on the part of the settler 
 shall be deemed in any way or to any extent to impair the lien and security of the 
 mortgage or trust instrument securing any loan that it may have made as in this act 
 provided. The board shall have the right and power to enter into a contract of 
 purchase for the sale and disposition of any land forfeited as above provided, because 
 of default on the part of a settler. 
 
 SEC. 23. Actual residence on any allotment sold under the provisions of this act 
 shall commence within six months from the date of the approval of the application 
 and shall continue for at least eight months in each calendar year for at least ten 
 years from the date of the approval of the said application, unless prevented by 
 illness or some other cause satisfactory to the board ; provided, that in case any farm 
 allotment disposed of under this act is returned to and resold by the state, the time 
 of residence of the preceding purchaser may in the discretion of the board be credited 
 to the subsequent purchaser. 
 
 SEC. 24. The power of eminent domain shall be exercised by the state at the 
 request of the board for the condemnation of water rights and rights of way for roads, 
 canals, ditches, dams, and reservoirs necessary or desirable for carrying out the pro- 
 visions of this act, and on request of the board the attorney general shall bring the 
 necessary and appropriate proceedings authorized by law for such condemnation of 
 said water rights or rights of way, and the cost of all water rights or rights of way 
 so condemned shall be paid out of the land settlement fund hereinafter provided for. 
 The board shall have full authority to appropriate water under the laws of the state 
 when such appropriation is necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of 
 this act. 
 
 SEC. 25. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act the sum of 
 two hundred sixty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the 
 state treasury not otherwise appropriated. Of this amount, the sum of two hundred 
 fifty thousand dollars shall constitute a revolving fund to be known as the "land 
 settlement fund," which is calculated to be returned to the state with interest at the 
 rate of four per cent per annum within a period of fifty years from the date of the 
 passage of this act. The remaining ten thousand dollars shall constitute a fund 
 available for the payment of administrative expenses alone until such time as other 
 moneys are available for such purposes from the sales of land as provided for in this
 
 39 
 
 act. The state controller is hereby authorized and directed to draw warrants upon 
 such funds from time to time upon requisition of the board approved by the state 
 board of control, and the state treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to pay 
 such warrants. 
 
 SEC. 26. The state board of control is hereby authorized to provide for advances 
 of money to the board needed to meet contingent expenses to such an amount, not 
 exceeding five thousand dollars as the said board of control shall deem necessary. 
 
 SEC. 27. The money paid by settlers on lands, iinproYements, or in the repayment 
 of advances, shall be deposited in the land settlement fund and be available under the 
 same conditions as the original appropriation for the following purposes : 
 
 (a) Making improvements on land being prepared for settlement; 
 
 (ft) Making advances to settlers; and 
 
 (c) Completing payments on lands purchased; provided, that when these expendi- 
 tures on an area of ten thousand acres shall have been completed, then all moneys 
 received shall be paid into the state treasury and used to reimburse the state for the 
 land settlement fund created by this act. 
 
 SEC. 28. The board with the approval of the governor shall have authority to 
 make all needed rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this act. 
 
 SEC. 29. The board is hereby authorized to investigate land settlement conditions 
 in California and elsewhere and to submit recommendations for such legislation as 
 may be deemed by it necessary or desirable. 
 
 SEC. 30. The act of the legislature entitled "An act providing for the appointment 
 of a commission to investigate and report at the forty-second session of the legislature 
 relative to the adoption of a system of land colonization and rural credits and making 
 an appropriation therefor, approved May 17, 1915, is hereby repealed. 
 
 SEC. 31. This act may be known and cited as the "land settlement act." 
 
 SENATE BILL NO. 221. 
 CHAPTER 450. 
 
 An act to amend an act entitled "An act creating a state land settlement board and 
 defining its powers and duties and making an appropriation in aid of its opera- 
 tions," approved June 1, 1917, by amending sections two, four, five, nine, ten, 
 eleven, fourteen, fifteen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-five, twenty-seven, 
 twenty-eight and twenty-nine thereof, and by adding a new section thereto to be 
 numbered section twenty-ttvo, and making an appropriation for the purpose of 
 carrying out the provisions of said act. 
 
 The people of the State of California do enact as follows: 
 
 SECTION 1. Section two of an act entitled "An act creating a state land settle- 
 ment board and defining its powers and duties and making an appropriation in aid 
 of its operations," approved June 1, 1917, is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 
 :Sec. 2. The object of this act is to provide employment and rural homes for 
 soldiers, sailors, marines and others who have served with the armed forces of the 
 United States in the European war or other wars of the United States, including 
 former American citizens who served in allied armies against the central powers and 
 have been repatriated, and who have been honorably discharged, to promote closer 
 agricultural settlement, to assist deserving and qualified persons to acquire small 
 improved farms, to demonstrate the value of adequate capital and organized direction 
 in subdividing and preparing agricultural land for settlement, and to provide homes 
 for farm laborers. 
 
 To carry out the objects herein stated, there is hereby created a state land settle- 
 ment board to consist of five members appointed by the governor to hold office for a 
 term of four years and until their successors have been appointed and shall have 
 qualified ; provided, however, that of the members first appointed two shall be 
 appointed to hold office until the first day in January, 1918, one until the first day in 
 January, 1919, one until the first day in January, 1920, and one until the first day in 
 January, 1921. 
 
 The governor shall designate one of the members as chairman of the board and 
 director of land settlement. The secretary may or may not be a member of the board.
 
 40 
 
 The board shall appoint such expert, technical, and clerical assistance as may prove 
 necessary, and shall define their duties. It shall fix the salaries of all employees, with 
 the approval of the state board of control. 
 
 The four members of the board shall receive a per diem for each meeting attended, 
 and the chairman shall receive a salary, said per diem and salary to be fixed by the 
 state board of control with the approval of the governor. The members shall also 
 receive their actual necessary traveling expenses in the discharge of their duties. 
 
 The said land settlement board shall have power to co-operate with and to contract 
 with the duly authorized representatives of the United States government in carrying 
 cut the provisions of this act. 
 
 SEC. 2. Section four of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 4. For the purposes of this act, the board may acquire on behalf of the 
 state by purchase, gift or the exercise of the power of eminent domain, all lands, 
 water rights and other property needed for the purposes hereof, and may take title in 
 trust and shall without delay improve, subdivide and sell such land, water rights and 
 other property with appurtenances and rights to approved bona fide settlers ; the 
 board shall have the authority to set aside for townsite purposes a suitable area 
 purchased under the provisions of this act and to subdivide such area and sell or 
 lease the same for cash, in lots of such size, and with such restrictions as to resale, 
 as they shall deem best ; and provided, further, that the board shall have authority to 
 set aside and dedicate to public use such area or areas as it may deem desirable for 
 roads, schoolhouses, churches, or other public purposes. 
 
 SEC. 3. Section five of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 5. Whenever the board believes that private land should be purchased for 
 settlement under this act, it shall give notice by publication in one or more news- 
 papers of general circulation in this state, setting forth approximately the area and 
 character of the land desired and the conditions that shall govern the proposed pur- 
 chase, and inviting owners of land willing to enter into a contract of sale on the 
 conditions proposed to submit such land for inspection. 
 
 SEC. 4. Section nine of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 9. If from the evidence submitted or from the results of its personal inspec- 
 tion, the board is satisfied that one or more of the tracts submitted are suited to 
 intensive, closer settlement and can be acquired at a reasonable price, it shall submit 
 to the governor its report, giving the reasons for recommending the purchase, and on 
 the approval of the governor the board shall be authorized to purchase the same ; 
 provided, that before such purchase is made, the attorney general shall approve the 
 title of such lands and any water rights appurtenant thereto, and the state water 
 commission shall certify in writing as to the sufficiency of any water rights to be 
 conveyed. 
 
 SEC. 5. Section ten of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 10. All sales to settlers of land under this act shall be made under such 
 terms and conditions as shall give to the board full control of any subdivisions thereof 
 until all moneys advanced by the state for the purchase, improvement, or equipment 
 of such subdivisions are fully repaid, together with interest thereon as herein provided. 
 SEC. 6. Section eleven of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 11. Immediately upon taking possession of any land purchased as above, 
 and after deducting any areas to be set aside for townsites or public purposes in 
 accordance with section four of this act, the board shall subdivide it into areas su't- 
 able for farms and farm laborer's allotments, and lay out, and where necessary, con- 
 struct roads, ditches, and drains for giving access to and insuring the proper cultiva- 
 tion of the several farms and allotments. The board, prior to disposing of it to 
 settlers, or at any time after such land has been disposed of, but not after the end of 
 the fifth year from the commencement of the term of the settler's purchase contract, 
 may 
 
 (a) Prepare all or any part of such land for irrigation and cultivation; 
 (6) Seed, plant, or fence such land, and cause dwelling houses and outbuildings to 
 be erected on any farm allotment or make any other improvements not specified above 
 necessary to render the allotment habitable and productive in advance of or after 
 settlement, the total cost to the board of such dwellings, outbuildings, and improve- 
 ments not to exceed one thousand five hundred ($1,500) dollars on any one farm 
 allotment ; 
 
 (c) Cause cottages to be erected on any farm laborer's allotment and provide a 
 domestic water supply, the combined cost to the board of the cottage and water supply 
 not to exceed eight hundred ($800) dollars on any one farm laborer's allotment;
 
 41 
 
 (d) Make loans to approved settlers on the security of permanent improvements, 
 stock and farm implements, such loans to be secured by mortgage or mortgages, deed 
 or deeds of trust on such permanent improvements, stock or farm implements, and 
 the total amount of any such loan, together with money spent by the board on 
 improvements as above specified, not to exceed three thousand dollars on any one 
 farm allotment, or two thousand dollars on any one farm laborer's allotment. 
 
 SEC. 7. Section fourteen of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 14. Lands disposed of under this act, other than lands set aside for town- 
 sites or public purposes, shall be sold either as farm allotments, each of which shall 
 have a value not exceeding, without improvements, fifteen thousand dollars, or as 
 farm laborers' allotments, each of which shall have a value not exceeding, without 
 improvements, one thousand dollars. Before any part of an area is thrown open for 
 settlement there shall be public notice thereof once a week for four weeks in one or 
 more daily newspapers of general circulation in the state, setting forth the number 
 and size of farm allotments or farm laborer's allotments, or both, the prices at which 
 they are offered for sale, the minimum amount of capital a settler will be required to 
 have, the mode of payment, the amount of cash payment required, and such other 
 particulars as the board may think proper and specifying a definite period within 
 which applications therefor shall be filed with the board on forms provided by the 
 board. The board shall have the right in its uncontrolled discretion to reject any or 
 all applications it may see fit and may readvertise as aforesaid as often as it sees fit 
 until it receives and accepts such number of applications as it may deem necessary. 
 
 If no applications satisfactory to the board are received for any farm allotment or 
 farm laborer's allotment following such advertising, the board at any time prior to 
 readvertising, may sell any such farm allotment or farm laborer's allotment at the 
 prices at which they were so offered for sale, without the necessity of readvertising. 
 
 The board shall also have the power in dealing with any such farm allotments or 
 farm laborer's allotments for which there has been no such application satisfactory 
 to the board, to subdivide or amalgamate any one or more of such allotments as it 
 may see fit, and fix the prices thereon, provided that the limitations of fifteen 
 thousand dollars for a farm allotment and one thousand dollars for the farm laborer's 
 allotment, as in this section set forth, are not violated. Such subdivision or amalga- 
 mation may be had without the necessity of readvertising. 
 
 The board may also sell at public auction, under such conditions of sale and notice 
 thereof as the board may prescribe, any areas which the board may determine are not 
 suitable for farm allotments or farm laborer's allotments, whether or not included 
 in any subdivision into farm allotments or farm laborer's allotments ; provided, that 
 if such area has been included in such a farm allotment or farm laborer's allotment, 
 then such sale at public auction can be made only after a failure to receive any appli- 
 cation satisfactory to the board after the advertising thereof, as required by the terms 
 of this section. 
 
 SEC. 8. Section fifteen of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 15. Any citizen of the United States, or any person who has declared his 
 intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, and who is not the holder of 
 agricultural land or of possessory rights thereto to the value of fifteen thousand 
 dollars, and who by this purchase would not become the holder of agricultural land 
 or of possessory rights thereto exceeding such value, and who is prepared to enter 
 within six months upon actual occupation of the land acquired, may apply for and 
 become the purchaser of either a farm allotment or a farm laborer's allotment ; 
 provided, that no more than one farm allotment or more than one farm laborer's 
 allotment shall be sold to any one person; provided, further, that no applicant shall 
 be approved who shall not satisfy the board as to his or her fitness successfully to 
 cultivate and develop the allotment applied for. 
 
 The board may, in offering for sale farm allotments or farm laborer's allotments, 
 co-operate or contract with the duly authorized representatives of the United States 
 government and other public corporations or agencies generally. The board is hereby 
 authorized to perform all acts necessary to co-operate fully with the agencies of the 
 United States engaged in work of similar character, and with similar boards and 
 agencies of other states. In any such sales made in co-operation with such repre- 
 sentatives or agencies of the United States government, preference must be given to 
 soldiers, sailors, marines and others who have served with the armed forces of the 
 United States in the European war or other wars of the United States, including 
 former American citizens who served in allied armies against the central powers, and 
 have been repatriated, and who have been honorably discharged. The board may
 
 42 
 
 likewise, whether or not acting in co-operation with the duly authorized representa- 
 tives of the United States government, give such preference to any of such citizens 
 of California, who as soldiers, sailors, marines and others have served with the armed 
 forces of the United States, as in this section described. 
 
 SEC. 9. Section eighteen of said act is hereby amended to read as follows: 
 Sec. 18. Every approved applicant shall enter into a contract of purchase with 
 the board, which contract shall among other things provide that the purchaser shall 
 pay as a cash deposit a sum equal to five per cent of the sale price of the allotment 
 and in addition not less than ten per cent of the cost of any improvements made 
 thereon, and such applicant shall, if required by the board, enter into an agreement 
 to apply for a loan from the federal land bank under provisions of the federal farm 
 loan act for an amount to be fixed by the board, and shall pay to the board the 
 amount of any loan so made as a partial payment on such land and improvements. 
 The balance due on the land shall be paid in amortizing payments extending over a 
 period to be fixed by the board, not exceeding forty years, together with interest 
 thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum. The amount due on improvements 
 shall be paid in amortizing payments extending over a period to bo fixed by the board 
 not exceeding twenty years, together with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent 
 per annum. The repayment of loans made on live stock or implements shall extend 
 over a period to be fixed by the board not exceeding five years ; provided, however, in 
 each case, that the settler shall have the right, on any installment date, to pay any 
 or all installments still remaining unpaid. 
 
 SEC. 10. Section twenty of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 20. Every contract entered into between the board and an approved pur- 
 chaser shall contain among other things provisions that the purchaser shall cultivate 
 the land in a manner to be approved by the board and shall keep in good order and 
 repair all buildings, fences, and other permanent improvements situated on his allot- 
 ment, reasonable wear and tear and damage by fire excepted. Each settler shall, if 
 required, insure and keep insured against fire all buildings on his allotment, the 
 policies therefor to be made out in favor of the board and to be in such amount or 
 amounts and in such insurance companies as may be prescribed by the board. 
 
 The board shall have power in its own name to insure and keep insured agaiiust 
 fire all buildings or other improvements on any of the lands under the control of the 
 l>oard, and any contract of insurance heretofore made by the board is hereby ratified 
 arid confirmed. The board shall likewise have the power in any contract of purchase 
 under which the board purchases lands as authorized in this act, to provide for the 
 return by the board to the owner so selling to the state of any insurance premiums or 
 taxes which may have been paid on said property by such owner, or for which such 
 owner may have become obligated to pay, and any such agreement or contract of 
 purchase heretofore made by the board is hereby ratified and confirmed. 
 
 SEc. 11. Section twenty-one of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 21. No allotment sold under the provisions of this act shall be transferred, 
 assigned, mortgaged, or sublet in whole or in part, without the consent of the board 
 given in writing, until the settler has paid for his farm allotment or farm laborer's 
 allotment in full and complied with all of the terms and conditions of his contract of 
 purchase. 
 
 SEC. 12. Section twenty-five of said act is hereby amended to read as follows: 
 Sec. 25. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act the sum of 
 two hundred sixty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the 
 state treasury not otherwise appropriated. Of this amount, the sum of two hundred 
 fifty thousand dollars shall constitute a revolving fund to be known as the "land settle- 
 ment fund," which is calculated to be returned to the state with interest at the rate 
 of four per cent per annum within a period of fifty years from the date of the 
 passage of this act, on the daily balances representing the amounts drawn out of 
 such fund and thus depleting the fund to an amount less than said sum of two 
 hundred fifty thousand dollars, which said daily balances shall be so calculated only 
 on the amounts so drawn out of such fund, from the date of the passage of this act. 
 The remaining ten thousand dollars shall constitute a fund available for the payment 
 of administrative expenses alone until such time as other moneys are available for 
 such purpose from the sales of land as provided for in this act. 
 
 SBC. 13. Section twenty-seven of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 Sec. 27. The money paid by settlers on lands, improvements, or in the repayment 
 of advances, shall be deposited in the land settlement fund and be available under 
 the same conditions as the original appropriation.
 
 43 
 
 SEC. 14. Section twenty-eight of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 28. The board shall have authority to make all needed rules and regulations 
 for carrying out the provisions of this act. 
 
 SEX;. 15. Section twenty-nine of said act is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 29. The board is hereby authorized to investigate land settlement conditions 
 in California and elsewhere and to submit recommendations for such legislation as 
 may be deemed by it necessary or desirable. 
 
 The board shall render an annual report to the governor and a copy thereof to the 
 secretary of the interior, which report shall be filed and printed as required by 
 sections three hundred thirty-two, three hundred thirty-three, three hundred thirty- 
 four, three hundred thirty-six and three hundred thirty-seven of the Political Code, 
 with the exception that they shall be so filed and printed annually instead of bien- 
 nially, as provided in said sections. 
 
 SEC. 1C. A new section is hereby added to said act, numbered twenty-two, to 
 read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 22. In the event of a failure of a settler to comply with any of the terms 
 of his contract of purchase and agreement with the board, the state and the board 
 shall have the right at its option to cancel the said contract of purchase and agree- 
 ment and thereupon shall be released from all obligation in law or equity to convey 
 the property and the settler shall forfeit all right thereto and all payments thereto- 
 fore made shall be deemed to be rental paid for occupancy. The board may require 
 of the settler such mortgage or deed of trust or other instrument as may be necessary 
 under the terms and conditions of the contract of purchase in order to adequately 
 protect and secure, the board. There may be included in such contract of purchase, 
 mortgage, deed of trust or other instrument any conditions with reference to sale of 
 the property or reconveyance back to the board or notice of such sale or reconvey- 
 ance as may in the discretion of the board be required to be so included in such 
 contract of purchase, mortgage, deed of trust or other instrument, in order to so 
 adequately protect the said board in the premises ; and any such contracts of purchase, 
 mortgages, deeds of trust or other instruments heretofore executed are hereby con- 
 firmed. The failure of the board or of the state to exercise any option to cancel, or 
 other privilege under the contract of purchase for any default shall not be deemed as 
 a waiver of the right to exercise the option to cancel or other privilege under the 
 contract of purchase for any default thereafter on the settler's part. But no for- 
 feiture so occasioned by default on the part of the settler shall be deemed in any way, 
 or to any extent, to impair the lien and security of the mortgage or trust instrument 
 securing any loan that it may have made as in this act provided. The board shall 
 have the right and power to enter into a contract of purchase for the sale and dispo- 
 sition of any land forfeited as above provided, because of default on the part of a 
 settler, and this right may be exercised indefinitely without the necessity of advertising. 
 
 SEC. 17. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act and of the act 
 amended by this act, the sum of one million dollars is hereby appropriated out of any 
 moneys in the state treasury not otherwise appropriated, which sum of one million 
 dollars is calculated to be returned to the state within a period of fifty years from the 
 date of this appropriation of one million dollars going into effect, with interest at the 
 rate of four per cent per annum on the daily balances representing the amounts drawn 
 out of such appropriation, and thus depleting the appropriation to an amount less than 
 said sum of one million dollars. The state controller is hereby authorized and 
 directed to draw warants upon such funds from time to time upon requisition of the 
 board approved by the state board of control, and the state treasurer is hereby 
 authorized and directed to pay such warrants. 
 
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