Bessie B. Croffut

“ The Society endeavors to have all the houses alike and each plot of ground as desirable as every other, After the Holland fashion, the stable, barn and house of the farmer are all under one roof, but they are all subjected to the proverbial Dutch cleanliness. The combined structure shelters the family, the cow and the products of the farm. ”

“ Children even while apprentices are taught to make salable articles, which are purchased from them, the compensation being proportioned to the excellence of the workmanship, and each child, when not engaged in learning a trade, must attend school. It is a curious fact that, though the free school originated within the borders of Holland, school attendance is compulsory in these colonies only, so dear is the liberty of the individual held. ”

“ The best results, as a rule, are obtained with colonists coming from rural districts or from the smaller towns, and, it may be added, that proportionately more money comes to the charity from the same sources.
The people who come to avail themselves of the benefactions of the colony have generally led a life of hardship and privation, so that they early reach a helpless old age. To minimize their sufferings an "Old Folks' Rest" has been built, which is supported in part by the Society and in part by the more thrifty and generous of the colonists. ”

“ In any case, the prime consideration is its comprehensive humanity and the serious and momentous fact that, instead of multiplying beggars, this charity multiplies citizens, the children of the first tenant almost always acquiring an energetic and provident spirit which renders them independent of all assistance. ”

“ This is an age when man has assumed the office of his brother's keeper more vigorously, perhaps, than at any previous period. Sociology — the science of living so as to obtain for all and from all the best results of living — engrosses public attention as much as it did in that theory vortex of the French Revolution, with this difference — the application of theories is insisted upon more strongly than their evolution. ”

“ Two years of successful probation as a workman on the farms of the colony, or in its shops or factories, entitle a man to an individual farm, of 7.7 acres (small enough in our eyes, but in Holland large enough and fertile enough to support a family) , and to the franchise of the colony. ”

“ Charity has made further provision that the helplessness of the parent shall not handicap youth in its preparation for the battle of life. In addition to the public schools established by the State, technical or professional schools exist, endowed by General Van Swieten as a memorial to a departed son. And a nobler gift never was known, for in these institutions agriculture, horticulture and forestry are taught, there being 943 acres of forest land within the bounds of the colonies, and pupils are paid for work done in the course of their education. ”

“ The farmer is lord of his own land, with the understanding merely that he will use it to the best advantage, and he has a vote in the election of the four delegates to the council of the colony which co-operates with the Director, Secretary and Treasurer in the management of its affairs. ”

“ That the colonists are happy and contented is shown by the fact that during 1894, out of 284 heads of families living under the wing of the Society and, in a measure, on its bounty, not one farmer left, and only three laborers failed of their promotion to the dignity of a farm. ”

“ Every subscriber or group of subscribers paying into the treasury of the Society the sum of $20.40 annually, is entitled to send a family to one of the four colonies, which are named respectively Frederiksoord, Wilhelminasoord, Willemsoord, and, wherefore is unknown, Colony Number Seven. The necessitous individual forced to enter on life as a beneficiary of the Society is provided with a home for himself and his family ”

“ Wages such as are current at the time in the neighborhood are paid weekly, and there is deducted from them, as an installment on the debt, house rent, not exceeding twenty cents, one cent infirmary fee for each inmate of the home, four cents for a clothing fund, and a sum amounting to ten per cent. ”

“ The Poor Colonies of Holland, four in number, are not, as might be supposed, a government institution, though at one time co-operation with the government was attempted which resulted quite injuriously to the undertaking. ”

“ Thorough training in forestry, as is well known, is almost security for a position in Europe, and, in addition to profit, many refining influences enter through the cultivation of flowers. And every year there are competitive exhibitions of produce, stock and general farm conditions,. ”

“ The reader must not assume that this novel Dutch experiment of directing the poor in ways of industry and economy has become as yet self-supporting. Such is not the case. At the close of each year each individual under its protection owes the Society $1.54, besides what has been supplied him on account ”

“ For rent he pays $20 annually, and $4 upon his indebtedness, For each payment tendered before it is due a remittance of 10 per cent. is made, and every inducement is held out to encourage thrift and stimulate industry. ”