LABOR COLONIES. Agricultural communi ties maintained for the purpose of giving em ployment and training to individuals who, on account of inefficiency or valsfortune, find it im pcssible to make an independent living. Such colonies are carried on the State in France, Germany. 'Koltun. and 'New Zealand, and by private effort in Holland. Switzerland, and the 'United States. four colonic,. Fred eriksoord, Wilhelmsoord, Wilhelminasoo•d, and Colony No. 7, are the oldest, the first establish ment dating from 1818. Situated near the cen tre of the Kingdom, they occupy 5000 acres of land, and have 20U0 colonists. Admission is open to all arc willing to work. On entering the newcomer is enrolled as a laborer, and he and all members of his family able to work arc pro vided with an opportunity to gain a livelihood. 11 is wages, paid weekly, are equal to the rate common in the locality, deduction being made for interest, rent. chatting, infirmary fee, and the family emergency fund. A colonist remains a laborer on probation for two years, at the end of which time, if he has proved himself indus trious, he becomes a free farmer (vrij boor), re ceiving 7.7 acres of land, for which a yearly rental averaging is paid. The colonies are governed by a director and several assistants, must be residents. They are practically self-supporting, and the total value of their property is estimated at half a million dollars. They are operated by the Society of Beneficence (Jlautschappy ran reldadiyh•id).
In France the labor colony at La Chalmelle was established by the city of Paris in 1892. It oc cupies 316 acre, of land and contain, on an average 300 colonists, who are chosen from the most promising of those applying to the Parisian authorities for aid.
Germany has 26 Arbeiter-l•olonien, all estab lished since 1882. The system is under control of a central board (C'entrulrorstand Deutsche, Jrbeiterkolonicn). All able-bodied men who are willing to work are admitted. The colonists are chiefly employed in reclaiming land. The rate of wages paid is a trifle less than that pre vailing, locally, it being deemed desirable to dis courage prolonged residence. It is believed that the establishment of these colonies has materially lessened vagrancy and , „ing,. They also af
ford an opportunity for discharged convicts to obtain employment, the statistics showing that of all colonists received 75 per cent. have served in prison. New Zealand has provided a Govern ment farm of 1000 acres on which unemployed may find lvo•k, and those who show themselves capable may share in the profits. Belgium main tain, Iwo, called Beneficent Agricultural Colonies (Colonies agricoles de bienfaisanec), which are really penal colonies for vagrants and beggars rather than labor colonies proper. They are situated at Merxplas and Wort el. and comprise 3000 acres with nearly 5u00 residents. lgt Switzerland a private company (Tannrahof .tr bciterheint) has a colony occupying 107 acres, and conducted on the German plan. In England. near Chesham, Buckinghamshire. a training farm of 225 acres: is maintained for the unemployed by a private philanthropist. At Starnthwarte the Westmoreland Home Colonization S4' adety has 130 with about 30 colonists. It is nearly self-supporting and aims at the permanent set tling of the colonists on the soil. At Hadley. near London, the Salvation Army has a farm of 1150 acres with about. 300 colonists to whom temporary employment is furnished. It also is nearly self-supporting, and is verT successful. In the United States the Salvation Army has three coloni-s. in Colorado, California. and Ohio, all of recent date. The Colorado colony includes about 150 persons. and is being successfully operated.
Consult : "Arbeit erkolonien," in Conrad's Handivorterbuch der .taatsu-issenschaften (re wised ed., Jena, 1901) ; Bulil-Bernberg, Die Rol lundischen Arbeiterkolonien (Vienna, 1853) ; Evert, Entioickelung der Arbciterkolonien in Preussen (Berlin, I 885 ) ; llobson, Coliperative Labor Upon the Land (London, 1895) ; Report on the German. Workmen's Colonies, presented to Parliament March, 1880; Booth-Tucker, The Naleation Army in the United States (New York, 1899 ) : Booth, In Darkest England, and the Way Out (New York, 1890) ; Gore, The Poor Colonies of Holland, Bulletin Department of Labor No. 2 (Washington, 1596).