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'. t'HAiTk., F.-The 8ibylline (Mfar '*"", 11— Tito Hiatiirical Warning III.— Our Lnnded )-Utat« IV.— DiMi|M»tio.. of our Land Supply V. - A Land Tenure I'olicy VI.— An ExUtiuK M.«lein Nation VII. -Our W.KKlland Katate VIII. -Condition* of Pre.ent Forest Tenure IX.— A Foreu Tenure Policy X.— Mine and Water Power Tenure XI. — (Jther Con»tituent« of a Modern Natiun. . 7 Ifi 20 ai 6;; 56 «2 70 74 I .K^iF"rPi«aiiusfiSEHr"^ ■ THE OLD KING. "Sloven, 8ullen, savage, secret, uncontrolled — Laying on a new land evil of the old; Long-forgotten bondage, dwarfing heart and brain — All our fathers died to loose, he shall bind again. Here is naught at venture, random nor untrue — Swings the wheel full-circle, brims the cup anew." KiiiUii;i—Thi' Olil Issm. 'i CANADA, A MODERN NATION. i CHAPTER I. -THE SIBYLLIXK OFFKB. The reflections that follow are addressed to Canadians, as the thoughts of one concerning common interests. We love our fascin- ating, generous land, which produces no poor or oppressed; and our open-hearted people, who are going forward to a future so magnifi- cent as our present seems to paint. We rejoice In our descent from the highest races of the world; in our history, our freedom, our progress, our opportunities of education; the strength, the courage and the limitless resources which promise so much. We have each our dream of what shall be when that promise is fulfllled, of the limitless prairies populated, all the forests put to use, and all the gigantic mines developed, of a majestic nation more great than any now upon the globe,— of order, peace and happiness to hundreds of millions. Yet, do we ever stop to ask ourselves what manner of life that people will live, and whether, notwithstanding all its material might. It will be a good or an ill life for those who are to live it ? Whether, when grown old, our nation Is but to suffer all the evils of the na- tions we see grown old to-day ? Whether poverty, misery, unre- muneratlve toll, neglect, Ignorance, class contempt, domination by capitalistic or other greed and fraud, landlorlsm. servitude, privilege, drink, war, the social evil, crime, corruption, public peculation, and the host of associated Ills, are to become, as a matter of course, the lot of our land and people as they are now In fact those of others ? Whether worse slaveries. Indeed, are not the lot which threatens us? And if we do not like that thought, whether there seems any escape seeing that the process of nation-making, as It Is In course of pro- ceeding here, is the same as It Is with those others, to wit: by no better law than haphazard. For instance, take the trade question. DDes the unrestricted power of forming private trade corporations tend naturally to any other result than the mastery of our commerce, and, therefore, of our army of manufacturing labor, by an oligarchy In the form of a series of trusts ? Can the unrestricted power of acquiring land in private hands end naturally In any other way than In control of the whole of our m'l m i i 8 land, and thereby of the agriculturis' j and tenants, by a similar small oligarchy, as it has done In Great Britain and Ireland 7 Do not these processes tend to the old poverty of the crowd, the old starvation, the old helplessness, the old unhappiness, and the old vices which accompany them, and with them the old reign of greed, of force and of war ? Do they not tend also to the old rule of privilege and the settle- ment of unfair distribution of the power, the honors and the goods of life?— the death of ambition, the death of manliness, the loss of rights, careers and liberties? Are there sufficient natural counterpoises to these processes in the labor revolts, the trades-unions, the sporadic charities, the econ- omic revolutions, or even the educational systems, of our day ? Does it appear that they are satisfactory as cures, or that we should wait until remedies are produced by the diseases themselves ? Are we not drifting on to the results described by de Laveleye: •The destiny of modern democracies is already written in the his- tory of ancient democracies. It was the struggle between the rich end the poor which destroyed them, just as it will destroy modern societies unless they guard against it. In Greece, equal rights were granted to all the citizens. But ahcient legislators did not fail to recognize the fundamental truth, so constantly repeated by Aristotle, that liberty and democracy cannot exist without equality of condi- tions. But all their precautions were insufficient to check the progress of Inequality ; and then the social struggle began, pitting against each other the two classes almost as far separate in their interests as two rival nations, just as we see it in England and Ger- many at the present day. Note the ominous words of Plato, Each of the Greek states is not really a single state, but comprises at least two: one composed of the rich, the other of the poor.' As the poor enjoyed political rights, they sought to turn them to account to establish equality ; at one time they imposed all the taxes on the rich, at another they confiscated the goods of the latter and con- demned the owners to death and exile. The wealthy classes natur- ally took every means to defend themselves, even having recourse to arms. Hence,, there were constant social wars Inequality therefore, was the cause of the downfall of democracy in Greece. Rome presents the same picture A disinherited proletariat re- places the class of small citizen-proprietors who were the very mar- row of the republic. There was no longer a Roman nation : there remained but the rich and the poor, attacking and execrating each other. Finally, out of the enmity of the classes rose, as is always the case, despotism." "At the present moment modern societies are met by the probleai 9 which antiquity failed to solve ; and we scarcely seem to compre- hend its gravity, In spite of the sinister events occurring around us. The situation, however. Is far more critical nowadays than ever It was m Greece or Rome. In the authors opinion, modern demo- cracies will only escape the destiny of ancient democracies by adopt- ng laws such as shall secure the dlctrihatlon of property among a large number of holders, and shall escaoilsh a very general equality or conditions. * w^rfK*""'* T *"*«"'°*»"« advanuge over ancient lands In dealing with these evils. We have In our power what Is better than cure - prevention. th-^f *'!."!!"°* "**""* "' ^"^^ ^•■'^*'° •'"^^ *«" *hat Is wrong In their landed system. If they could begin anew as we can. they would take measures to prevent the monopolization of land but they are tied hand and foot by their settled institutions. We have nr" m 'L'° f!."'- ^'' °»"«'^««- the people, and not an oligarchy, are still the full proprietors of the vast proportion of our acreage and resources. We can prevent their monopolization, here and now. What would the thinkers of Britain not give for such a privilege • It Is this which is the reason why many observers have noted in us SrefaSirr:;: ^'''' ''''' ^•""^''"^ ^"'^ ^'•^ -"•^'^ '-'-'- Now, what is the use of our having this advantage of the exper- iences and conclusions of all history before us, if we idly allow' It to 8 p by. in place of giving these matters close and due popular study ttZZ '°"f ''' """* ""^'"^ '° '^^'^ ^••^^ »•»« experiences of the past leave off: in other words, putting together for ourselves acting upon, all the precious lessons of modern economics. Such conduct would be demanded in manufacturing: it would be required lolZ "'' '''"'*"°'' • " " '••" "usine^s-like and reasonable "Our older societies," writes de Laveleye. "can only arrive at an order more in accordance with justice and Christianity, after a series of soc al struggles in which liberty may succumb ; but the vounger societies still in process of formation In another hemisphere may ZtZT"" *"■'*" " '"'" '''' inspiration in the lessons of m^k^to'th'^^r ''.?* "'"'^*' "'""'' " *' '^^ °''J«^t °f these lines to th!i InH . r'""" ''°^'"= ''•'*' *" «»'°""' bring ourselves up to Ind 1 H ^ I''"' '"""''" ''"""^■' ""P-gnated with the ..udy dme." "'" '"'^'"' ';nce of the tenure of land upon national well-being has been shown in the history of every single civilized cornmunlty. It Is Impossible that It the United States. The fellaheen of the Nile Valley were slavish because the land did not belong to them : the Russian peasant was a sert. and Is largely a semi-savage, because the land was owne.i bv he nobles: with the gradual consolidation of farms In England th'e ndependent qualities of the sturdy .veomanry of the ages of .heap land, passed In large part to New England and later to the new .ol- onles; m Scotland, the grasping of the ancient .Ian lands bv greedy nobles, and their ejectment of the .lansmen to make room for sheep and gam^e. robbed the country of all that manhood which has led with suci energy the making of Canada. We should know the story well, because It is the story of the ancestors of many of our people who would look with loathing and s.orn on the miserable systen. if hey saw It in the life here. Th» case of Ireland and ,.. land troubles Is very familiar. That of an.ient Rome is not so familiar but is striking. The simple story of Cin.innatus. th. genera^ who Ztf"!? t." !^',."°"' '"' "'"'^'•"'^^ ^•'^ '"'''■ -Edition of the whole of the lUlian peoples.-communities of small agri, .iturists brought up in strength, simplicity and independen. e In later times, under the Empire, influential persons rented usurped, and at length permanently acquired, large tracks belonpin«; to the whole people, and established throughout Italy a rPgime of jP»*||f*Ui;r;u;K«uKMM*r*!ljfi«s; lU VMt etttates or laHfiimllH. which they peopled with slave* from the Baat. and In conaequence the aturdy lUltan warrior racM diaapptared and effeminate Rome at length fell before her enemies. In France, a striking change followed the transfer from the seig- neurs to the peasantry. The famous agricultural writer. Arthur Young a man of careful detail and absolute openness, had passed through as an observei in 1787-8. noting down the i-ondltlinn of (he rountry from Province to Province and place to place. In 1792. Jum after the Revolution (with whose bloody episodes In the cities he had no sympathy^, he felt curious to learn the effect of the changes, and therefore made enquiries from many French sources, omparlng them with his own notes. His conclusion was that "the result of tne whole enquiry cannot but Induce tempprtUe men to conclude that the advantages derived to the nation are of the very first Importance and such as must Inevitably secure to It. as long as they continue, an uncommon degree of prosperity." In Great Britain to;day the Intense misery and poverty of a tenth of the nation are connected with the facU that a fifth of the country is In the hands of some five hundred persons; one-half of Scotland In that of ten or twelve; more than two-thirds of the two countries are owned by five thousand peers and commoners, aver- aging ten thousand acres each; and the monopoly of landed pro- perty Is ever be<'omlnK greater and more exclusive. The Duke of Sutherland's territories (robbed less than a century ago from thou- sands of small proprietors) are sufficient. If put together, to enable him ti) walk forty-six miles In any direction on "his own" land. The Duke of Buccleuch holds 460.000 acres and draws a revenue of nearly £25o.(Mio a year; and many other Individuals stand In similar positions. The results appear In many wretched conditions economic and social, to which the typical Canadian would never wlllin- .y permit his fellow-countrymen, his descendants or himself to be submitted. Let him walk through any part of rural England. Everywhere ^rc silent prohibitions and rigid walls of exclusion. The small towns have few parks, the people few privileges. The generous freedoms of Canada with the land are unknown, and enqulrins deeper there Is everywhere the fiatterlng and debasing system of laste. It Is as Rraphlcally described by Richard Whiteing in "The Yellow Van":— "The feudal system has come down to you without a break, except in its forms, and the new one is worse than the (lid. The old lord had his duties, and he paid for the right of own- ins his fellow-creatures by flnding men and money for the service of the state. The new one has only his rights How muc h is left now? Every inch is mapped and owned— and come if ou dare: Saxon and Norman lords in the fulness of power were ■a*-.: 17 not in It with th* landowner of to-d>y. He haa got you. body and •out. The paraon !■ artualb hit nominee and often hU poor re- lation. The farmerR are hia i iianta at will and iioMlbly hi* debtom. The trade* people of the vlllaRe rent under him and even If they don't they can lie ruined by hlH frown. The lalwreri live In hl» •otugea and are absolutely at hit merry." Grant Allen, our countryman, who wrote and died In England. wa» sii.U and rontempfious of the dull blight of the iiyatem. II. We ran learn much fro these mUfortuneH ..f , the oU' world, but may take closer warning from the new. "Oreat quantities of public lan.l." says Professor J. E. Le Rosstgnol.* ••\m\f l)een given to railway companies. The Northern PaclAi- re- ceived 48.iMMi.(MM» acres. The I'nlon Pacific and the Central Padtlc received |25..iMMi.fM)o acres of land. In all. the Inlteil States Government has given 211,8!*o.4HS acres of land for the encouragement of railway building." But besides the United States Government, the different States, especially Texas, holding lar^e Ijodles of land In their own right, granted abo it lOu.ooo.oou prex to railways before 18«t(», making 1" all over 3<)0.0()0,»MKt. t rheise lands were usually selected by the company Itself and there- fore were of the nations best. Large and valuable portions of them havM been persoi.ally grabbed by the promoters and others. (Jf the prairie regions of the West, an American Professor wrote In t»!»l: "There the owneri of farms leave them for the leaaon that they can obtain sufflc lent rent from tenants to enable them to support their families in towns The result of this Is the formation of a distinct peasant class such as Is found in Ba- varia and Bohemia." " Thus." comments Joslah Strong, t " one re- su!r ol this Imniigration is the development ol an ignorant lural peasantry and a class of absentee landlords." and. quotes Strong aaain.** Mr. D. A. Wells says that It "is comins to l)e the opinion of many of the best authorities, both in the C'nitPil States and Kuroi)e. that the only possible future for aRriiUlture Is to be fo;inti in large farms, worked with ample capital, especially In the form of machinery, and with labor organized somewhat after the factory system." H. H. Lusk. ex-New Zealand parliamentarian, and now American I i I •.Monopolies Past and Present, P. 148. Crowell. N.Y. V Internal. Ry. Guide. .Ian. 19i»3, tThc> New Era. P. 173. « lb. P. 1.59. ^^itte. 18 .•ltl..n. In ••Ou,- Fo0H .t Home" .Do.iblH.y. N.Y.. I8»») wh|. h I «hall quote lii.r In another ronnwtlon. wy. _ • wm »> I P«oplr on condition of r«Hvln, . lar.e .ll.e of the peopl. , „! SjL^Ie^„!r.h. 1 "• "" """'" '"' '*'«•"' •P'-«" the ed to oron. '"'•"""'•-"' *•••»• '"en. If ,he .pe..„lator, ln,.n,I. *d to profit by the tranwirtlon. It .eeme.l ,ie.r that fh.v mupt were plaiwlble. The new era of monopolle. for the few an.' In- .•«.-.lng poverty for ,he many-the era of mlMlonalrLlra' ;hl; •d ' i by arguments like theae." . *«■")' ner troi. and it I. thin which the ■hort-alghted poll.y of the oeonle "a-JlLTh"'": "k ^'"""^* -• •"^- '"- »^«'' ^-" TO Kra.p the rlohe. of the West at their «o.,r.e In the form of land. have T..„ J". '"' "'^'"^ •" *•"■ ""*-^ '''"«•• «"" ♦"*• «''i-t .hey have Mined at no expen.e to themselves. The pro.e«i may from izT'z z:. ""'""' ^" •"^* '^"' * -•""" "" ■« I'- n the life of an Individual forty years oeem. Io„k. but In the hL: tory of a people It Is but a point of time. Yet the last forty years lnTr.H n I '^"*''" '^°"'"''«n« «' America more ,om->]eteIy and radically than a revolution. Half a century ago. rm^r!. with Is untold wealth of virgin land, was free to all .omers U of h wo"d :r'' ''" '" ^'"^'•"^'' """^' '" "" ""^ '-"'-■'' or the world, men were not only free but also equal. If this were rue fifty y.ars ago. the new era has .hange.I all that Ft has cl..ne so „ various ways. „„ doubt, but to a very grea exio„t r III done so in oonseque„..e of the country's dealings with the I^Li " older ..ou„tr.es separate ...asses have existed for many en ur.es passible, the basis upon which all of them have rested has been he possession of the land. Every aristocracy which was not 1^ Mnn," ! """• '"•" "' '••" oligarchies of Genoa and Venice in the Middle Ages, has been short-lived; none of them all eve am^s.^ a landed estate so Imperial In Us extent or so magniflcen i"'' Tvr;; r/r'"' " *'•' "'"•" ^'"' ■■"'■-•^ -"^^tV of Am", ca have filched fro,., the people In less than half a .sntury. A-m eJ ■ 10 have b*M» tlauRhtrrml, uionii ilfrtmitH and rrdtKiNl to ■»• inm in former ilmM, in a > trfari>. larrlnd on for Rpnerations. In ihe effort to aerure for the :>nquerora the lordiihlp of a territory far leaa expenalve than the mllllonalrea of America olitalned without atrlklDg a blow, and. In effear- Kaln. It U tnie was made by or for the |)eople— but It wai of all bar- aalna ever made the moat unfair and one-Hided. The people were to have a railroad which the lapltallBtii were to contruit; but there the people's advantaxe wholly tvknrt\. The rapltallats were to own the railroad when It wav made; they were to fix the < haraea to all intents and purpo«-ii to suit themielveii: they were alMo to own all the beat of the land* through wlil.h thf railroad ran. and »o to control both the trafllr and the nettlem. Thuw Amerba in- sulled her flrat great monopoly; thuH hei own |)eople eatabllHhed the great father of all American trusts. For the rule Is univemal and without exreption, rhat on the land of each country depemlH the wealth of ita people, becauoe It is the one poHHesslon on which all the comfort and well-being of the |)eop|p depend. The daxs which controls the land must In the end control the people, and It that class Is a small minority the government of the nation becomes an oligarchy." I have in my hands an account of the great e.states recently acquired by well-known millionaires of the Pnlted States. Thflr histories are singularly like those of the acquisitions of land by apltalists in Great Britain, only they are more rapidly carried out Beautiful lakes are acquired and hemmed In from th« neighboring villages. Vast estates are put under the keepli.c of game-keepers. Tenantries are established and -astles built. r:Hf'*fii"HtH;; 20 CHAPTER ril. Ol'll LA.NDKl) KSSIATK. 2ree hours «nd I i' ,?"'"' ""*'°°"' ^^^^^' "•"'"» " '««'«« the sun • abouJ aJ lar« t **' "°'" "' "^""'•^ ••°"«'>"' »'y the phrase that we mlih "^Lh hT''' ^^'^^"'"O'' «•"» Investigation shows that we might fairly add " about as rich In resources." Without disc..s8lng details, It may be said that, at least, as a homo fo >*hlte men. the Dominion has only two rival., in extent and d-h ness Of territory-the Russian Empire and the United states Let us examine the proposition. UhVl f ^'^ '•""nfies are in the comparison (exclu.mg the Brit- ne-e Em^'lre^R^n^?" ' ^'"^'^ "''''"'''^- '^»'«^ «- th^ C^ . ne,e Empire. Brazil,, the Argentine, Australia, British South Africa rrd:"^rt"hlf TaS '^' ''' ^'"'- --• -^- «- — ar; whf.V^ ^!!'"^'^ ^""""^ f4.278,000). the fertility of the one-fourth rlto V o'n't "r.'^'l"" Proper.-possibly the richest piece of te the mos? friehf "?"" f °""'* '" '•'^ ^'■"^"^ ""•«« Desert of Gobi, great relcrn ""'^ ". °' '''•■""" '"' '''' ^'«''«' «"'> '« ""I'tion fharafte. '. Th " "■'''' '°'' """"'' ^""^ ^*""^«« Turkestan, so par -on and ?r ''""' '° ^^" »^ '* ""^^t in the .,om- o" he^; oortir'', H ''' """''^ '^'■""^ "'^"^^ -« P°««'We in its oreco. land Xh ""' *"°' " '"""' ''""^ *^'""P"« '«"• ««nt o, o ^. * °"''^' ^' *'" P'-esentiy be shown. Of Brazil (3.219,000.. although so vast and fertile, we cannot .x- ho.,H""t' ''T' ''^ """"'"""•^ «' »^'"« 'n tropica, oountres >^o Id ..Itmate.y be changed, as they might be. (We have a c^„ wi come whr'h rr'-\;'"'""°^^"^"'^ *" agricultural machinery «ill come, which will totally alter the capacity of tropical region, for supporting white populations ; but until then. whUe Len^r, Africa 8«ol'''' !."' ""'' ^«'»«t««'-« "ave shown that South on he 'hi, ™^ •""««' - not only very n.uch smaller, but advantages ^ " ^ '" '"'"^'" '" '•^'"''"' ^'^ «ther ne^.essary Ind Un ,, ' "• '?/'? "" " '"'^^'^ """'^ '^nd •• by twelve to on- onportuniu of ,h' r r"'''"''' »'^'«htening by comparison the npportunit.v of the Canadian people ' 'tfitiT^n! ■ ■ 21 0U8 rivers, easy access to the sea, and every promise of an Interest- ing future. Still, it does not. with all it- advantages, apparently at all equal the Dominion,, which has three times its extent to come and go on. Australia, our brilliant sister of the Southern Cross (3.000 0.10 square miles), autter. so great a loss by her preponderant interior desert and serious drought*, that even her phenomenal golden drifts and other sources of wealth fail to place her In the sam^ rank as we, as owner, of a field for national activity. Her fertility compared with ours was estimated lately at fifteen per cent. There remain then for comparison the Russian Empire and th» United States. The extent of the former (g 660.000 square mile>». is almost ap palling, considering the fact th t it is self-contained and dominate, both Europe and Asia. Like Canada, it has a huge band of north- ern frost, and in the south large prairies. It has not yet been shown that it comprises any wide region approaching the best 200 - oca square miles (128.000,000 acres) of our Western Plains • al- though about 600.000,000 acres of European Russia are registered as "good." of which about 250.000 000 are under crop ; and although even Slberia,-though largely barren in the north, and the coldes' country In the world,-contains immense tracts of fertile lands and useful forests, its famous •' black earth-prairies alone being esti- mated at 25,000.000 acres. Siberia's northern half is far more severely cold and barren than any part of Canada ; it has no such immense boons as the Chinook breezes from the warm Pacific anl Hudson Bay. with its tempering waters ; aridity extends over an immense proportion; and a considerably greater proportion of it is in the Arctic than of Canada : So that this Empire, even with its considerable superiority in bulk over Canada, and its similarity In many respects, is possibly, taken all in all. not so suitable a home for a people. We now come to the last and most Interesting comparison— that with the United States (2,970,000 square miles). The true test of national value in a territory is its power to support population Hence agricultural possibilities stand immeasurably beyond all others, such as those of mining, hunting, fishing, tourist-trade or manufacturing. Nevada, for exampl . the fame of whose silve • output has been so much before the world, only supports a popula- tion of 45,000. An application of the principle appears in a broa.! fact, not very well-realized by the public ;-that one block comprls- Ing^bout two-fifths of the land within the United States* is. for Jan' "im"***"^ ^"'"' °' ^' ^' "^"'"S- Survey. " Booklovers' Mag. • 22 the most part, undt for agriculture. Two-flfths make about 750.000,- 000 acres :-of which the Government experts hope to see reclaimed by Irrigation from 60.000,000 to 100,000.000 ; leaving one-third of the entire Union Irreclaimable. In other language, the entire west. Including most of the two Dakotas. the western portions of Nebraska and Kansas, most of Texas, and all the States and Territories between them and the Pacific, except Western Washington, Western California and West- ern Oregon are arid, except in cases, smitten by deficient rainfall, and incapable of any great comparative agricultural development. The optimism of the Americans blinked these facts until quite re- quantities of third and fourth-rate arable land, which might be estimated at double the figure of the best class above described. A.lding them gives an estimate of 1.050,000.000 arable acre.* in Canada, rom- rr '?'^f"'''»•«"°° ^"h that of 1.300,000 square mile« recently Mnl . ,^''°«''^«'"^« Canada," (832.000000 acres), and Sir Oliver Ton nf. h'' ' °' '"'•""•' '^""'■^ ""'^^ °f *•''*'''' "»""« and ,.000.- 000 of timber and grass lands. .Speech, Niagara, 1892). The IMooIrono """f "'"*'' '^^ "^^" ^•'"•'°"^"' ^^'""^t-" «t from ItZlT!^ T ' ""' '"""'' "' '"''''' '■^''""•- "•"'•'^ field labor. capacity of the Lnited States for bearing a white population. It is a noble and almost matchless Inheritance. Of the whole of it we hold ninety-.s.x per cent, in common or national ownership; and, of the best cf it, something like half, and thus we still control its future tenure to that extent, although it is rapidly pass ng out of our hands ; and most of the cream of it has gone We ar? the wealthiest people at present on the globe : and are, for the time hundred years ago. We have a far better opportunity than the^ which has since accumulated. The capacity of such a territory for supporting population is bewildering China is the land where the number of p.r.ons Which a soil can support has been most fully demonstrated The latest reliable estimate of the density of agriculural pop- ulation there is given by Dr. Arthur Smith in his work • The Chinese Village." Within a given radius of three mile's i! ' typical district of Northern China, the number was found ai a l„i caUulation. to be 2.129 to the square mile, or over three to the PMH '7'L7^«''^t''°»sands of square miles in Southern and Central Chih-li, Western a.d South-Western Shan-tung and Northern Ho- nan. continues Dr. Smith, "where the villages are as thick as in this one tract, the contents of which we are thus able proximately to compute." Dr. McClure. the Canadian Northern China mission- ary, informs me that the districts where the counting wa« done are not rich for China. Those who are only a.- ustomTd to Ir methods of extensive cultivaLIuu-mere scratching of the land- are usually amused at anyone expec- oc so much of an a. re Those acquainted with the intensive syste .nd the crowded life of Europe and the East, however, knew well that in another gen- eration or two we must inevitably look at the matter in a differ- 20 ent way. as the Americana, whose available lands are all gone, are now finding It necessary to admit. Tl^^ Chinese agriculturist. In the regions on which the estimate Is founded, raises a crop and a half per year, instead of only one crop, as we do. At the same time. It should be .m that hi. crops are lessened by his ignorance of some of the advantages 'of rotation of crops, and of improved stocks of seed and fruit. He meets our advantage of Improved ma- chinery by his unremitting toll. He Is considered to possess a comptence If he ownn one acre. With care and frugality, one good ac re of rice-land will support six persons.* but the average number Is less because all land is not so good. At this rate of production and consumption, the 150,000,000 acres of best arable land in Can- n^rrh! ,\u''r"°° °' °"'"'""' "" ''"'"••" "^ '«=<='""»t of its more noi thei n latitude, would support 450,000.000 souls ; and if the re- malnder of the foregoing total estimate of 1.000,000,000 acres sup- ported only an equal number, we have a total capacity of popula- tion in Canada of 900,000,000. Consequently., in looking over our country, say In observing from a railway train, we find our people in a oosit on of universal comfort. We have no poor. We have those who cannot work are readily cared for. Domestic servants are scarce and independent, because of the prosperity of the coun- trj. A French-Canadian Judge observed in France that even our Znr. T""' '"' "''" ■■"'"'« ••°'«" "» comparison with similar people In Europe. n.,r ^1^7 'I"'^ 7*"'* ''^ "'^ astonished by some fresh discovery of our national wealth :-at one time It Is the Fertile Belt; at another. preemTnt "'k''"""'^ = "* "°°'''^'-' ""•• '^"''^ Klondike ; the pre-eminent lumber wealth of British Columbia ; the coal of Van- couver, of Fernle. of the Peace River, of the Craws' Nest and a score Of other districts ; the unexplored forest. aJd mine of L- brador and Hudson's Bay : the control of the world's sSppy^f BeU of'S; T T'""' °' '""^ ^'"''''^ ^"""'^ »' nicke?; thf Clay hundr rt .r ./'' '"""■"•""^ ""'"^ °' °"'- -«*«^ Powers, and a ZnZ . , 'l*«<^°-«'-ies of the same prodigious nature/full of wonder and of satisfaction. This is our Golden Age luxury . Can we use it at all ? No. let us look at it in the tTT^'^ r''' '°" '^" '^°"«''*^ °' * P«°P>« «° situated ought to be high. The purpose of those possession. Is that they be used fornecessity, not luxury-necesslties-not ours, but hose of S mUhon. to come. And our honorable office is to hold and hLdl • Adele M. Fielde, " Popular Science Monthly," July, iggg. be delivered to them safe them as trustees for those million* to anil intact when iiltimaiely reaiiired. Sufflclently provided with material provision, with our limitless laniLs about us for crops, and hunting park«. let us live as those ought who are reasonably provided— lives honorable and proud, in- tellectual and spiritual, ordering our estate and affairs, both pre- sent and future, in these lights, and despising and refu-.lng to he governed by the common manfy-grabl)ern. or to allow them to eat up our heritage. a'S^^ii^^l3iiaPfe'?s,l^pg!®s*w«hes«S3s-*, 2.S CHAPTRR IV. lUfSII'ATHI.N OF |)t I, t.,\M> SIPI'I.Y. That our lan.I supply, although so enormoua, will not la.- for- ever, nor even a great while comparatively, especially bh far a^ tue best Is concerntU, Is too obvious to require more than a bri^f con- sideration. It is not much longer than a dozen years nlnce it was the boast of Americans that ■'Uncle Sam has a free farm for every- one of his .hlldren." (Perhaps nephews would have accorded bet- ter with his title 7) The following news Item from the NVw York "Christian Herald.' of November 25th, 1903, is a ,ad commentary on that gen- erous saying : — " A Wild Rush for Land.— An extraordinary scene Is described in a despatch from Crookston, Minn... to the daily press. It was that of a fierce struggle of excited men and women to obtain part of aOO.OOO acres of land which have been allotted by the Govern- ment Office In the Red Lake Indian Reservation. The excitement was more intense than any ever known before in the North-WVst, and the number of entries was larger than on any previou.* dav' The prize claim fell to a girl from Minneapolis, who got a quarter section of valuable agrlcutural land, south of Red Lake, and a!)out nine miles north of the Great Northern Railroad. She wao much envied by her competitors, but she declares she would not undergo the experience again for a claim with twice the value. She was twice saved from fainting. A friend of hers was carried out uncon- scious and lost his claim. Several persons were carried out of the crowd and scores of others backed out rather than squeeze through Applicants came in with hats lost, coats torn off and clothes wet with perspiration. One woman fainted and fell through the door as it opened, and it was several minutes before s.ie could answer the necessary questions. All the men showed signs of the terrific struggle." Yet one of the Northern Pacific Railway's latest advertisements reads:— "There is land still left in the North-West The finest valleys in the North-West, good for grain, hay, fruits root crops, for mixed, stock or dairy farming, for irrigation or not as o^^^i^bes Call on any N. P. R. agent for rates." This proves who has the land. In Manitoba and our own North-West, the rate at which lands 29 wpip a(qulrPd from the Govornment, and the railway rompanlea In 1902 was about 5,000,000 acreH. Already over 87.fi0O.O0O are digpoaed of In railway. Indian and tlmb.r reservee, gihool grants, HudHona Bay Company lands, and settlers" domain^. About "5.0n«00n of these acres have been teded to companies or sold to settlers : and as those are selected from the best w^ had. and as we saw from Mr. McKellar's estimate that the cream of our property was about 75.000.000 acres, we must coh. ludi- that we no lonxer hold our choicest lands In national ownership. We have already ;mrted with them. There was much significance In th^ remark of Mr. Frank Oliver. M.P., of whom 1 recently In- quIiHil whether the West would favor a grant to the new Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. " They would favor a money grant." he said, "liut not gIvInK it the country as was done to the Canadian Pacific. ■■ I understoofi his remark and the feelings of the West, when I .saw the C. P. R. map of the North-West, showing Its landf In refl. covering all the best of all the sdect parts of the country. I kn*-w very well the company's careful system of survey*, which an- relied on by everybody who buys or sells land throughout that region. The C. P. R. still advertises IH.OOO.OOU acres for sale In the Great Fertile Belt, at from $3.00 to $10.00 per acre. The tract U proof that In the original liargaiii the Canadian people gave 16.- Ono.tMMi .splendid acres too much, which might to-day have been a part of our heritage. Yet. the transaction in those days was In many lights a fair one ; and the company is celling rapidly. In ISm' it sold 2,420,440 acres. The company's great work should also hf appreciated. But, accepting the tact that about 87.600,000 acres ini'iudin;; all "the cream" of the .\oi'th-West have already gone nut of national ownership, it is evident that out of the ap- proximately 200.000.000 useful acres there, a l)alance remains of sonio ! 12.000,000— not the choicest— disappearing at the rate of o.OOii.'HHi per year*, so that even in case that rate should not in- crease as expected, but only keep that average, the supply will be exhausted In twenty-threr yeai.-i. Twenty-three years then appear> to lie the probable limit of national ownership in our most impoi'tant region, the hope of the Dominion. But if the rush should accelerate as expected, pos- sibly only ten or fifteen years might see the end. Ir. ,iny event, every year l)rings a most ~erious «>r:i!iliitKBas-; :!0 ft^J^'n ''I "".'"" '""■""■'' «"'-»«'^'"'- By then. fact. It I. p, .v, d that Our land .upply will he rapidly exhausted." IT. Btirh a. to reqnir.. o,.r f„rther attention. A number of Improvl.l.nt .rant, a,^ ,.,„,,,„ „„,.„ ..^^^^,„ ^^,,^,^^^ ^^^ ^^^ popu.atlo , a time In formrr wnoratlons. AmouK hu.I, w.re the alleK.d n> II- rst'oTmo'".';?:'' ''''"'' '^"'"■'- """'- ""-• '"^ «^''^^ - Dr^ii/H ^' *"■' "'"" •""' "'"*'' "' ""• •P'-°vln.w iKv.m. parcelled out among absentee landlords, whone title, had n. v.r m iTmrtT r:""'':^- ^"^ '° '^•'""» '••^ "«— p"''- - ' until n 8bO the burden had be.ome ho Intolerable that IhkI.I ,-,n «•«. obtained which abolished the tenure or. payment by tin fa,;. ers of an "unearned Increment" of several dollar, per a IZ purcd.a«e by the Clovernment of 844.000 a.re^ from th.. lan-'llo ! 1.. out of a total area of 1.3«a000 a.res m the Island. The Ma«.l..|.n habltants paid a rent of a shilling an acre. .Mo,t of then, h.ve vZZ: •"' "•" '•^'"""^ """ ""•"^'•^- ^"'" '" '^ 'ompan, ;:; The abolition of the selRnlorial tenure of Quebec In UrA was Z'Td b" ''T'" """• ""' " '""■^^ •■'" -"> ^•'^'^ this o . r .! Kim. had been of considerable u..e In early day« l„ the mutter of defence and settlement. The Clergy Reserves of land "to, -h' of such grants, but had small p-rmanent efrect.s. Others were ?aTr"rxal'r?l'l"' ""'°''"' '" ""''''' '"'•' hasten settlement. A fair example of the workings of one pha.se of the.se Is th. K irish hu d.ed tho„.an.l acres of the best Crown lands in the E:;-r..rn Townships gratuitously, and. In consequ-nce, now owns L in, o?s ",::„:: T"' °' '"- '""'"' '''^-'- ■■" '^-^ ^anufacturi,,. ,.;,l of She, brooke. F ho ,.e„ts and control of the company a,e . .,ur.e of grea dissat sfaction there, and. at time, a .serioul drawback to he l.„slness o the place. U is not the purpose here to go i „ o ur her part culars on the subject, although they are ready to l.a^d In^tances will readily recur to anyone Intc-ested ^et the grants of former days did little compai^aflve l,a,n he- eause land had then small value apart from the labor upon ir but in o,.r day when every ace of good land in the United St.,;. i! worth not less than fifty dollars, and is rising in price, th^^ r,i«h 81 after land by monopoll.fH, their more hoIUI organliatlon and wealth, and their greatly lnrrpai«ed tenarlty, frequently looklnit to- warda complete permanency of nwner>hlp. are elementH which make the conMcqiienceg very Herlouti. Railway promotern real and fraudulent, are n^.v eager for land mihHldlPH. unhluHhliiK In the extent of the greeil of th. Ir demiind^. ami full of subterfugp to avoid ob!;KutlonN. We huve mentioned the giant of -the cream" of Canada to the Canadian I'ucinc Railway ( ompatiy. Although reduced to the extent of about «.soo.ono by ., partial rephi.enient In canh at SI..-.1) an acre, It has still amounted to over IX. ..000 ai'ren ; hut th^re was also received over l.tidH.imu for the SoupIh branch and fx'en- Blon. The entire land gruntH dlsposeil of to rallwayn by the Do- minion Oovernment In Manitoba and the North-We»t to April 3(V 1903, was 30.5«!»,3."i4 aeres. The homest.adK totalled about 1*1.000,- 000 at the end of June, 1903. Hrltl«h Columbia haw also been very extravagant In land grants to railways. Next to the Canaiian Pacific the mont mormouB grunt huH been that of one-.twentleth of the whole North-VVest to the Hudson m Flay Company In extlm rlon of Its pretensions. There was consldcrabl. patriotic groun I for recognition of the historic services of that company, though not of the kind. But what are we to think of the dlsposai of our herltag'o in the Helnfzp case In British Columbia. F. A. Helntze, a young mining promoter and adventurer of Butte. Montana. ol)tainpd u charter for building the Colunil)la and We-tern Railway. Later, he ^oid the road to the C. P. R. Imt pr!>onally retained two hundipd and fifty thousand acres of the grant, chiefly choice mining lands. -It is obviously an outrage upon decency." says the Montreal • Wit- ness." " that .s.ich an immense tract of land .«hould have l)ppn al- lowed to pass for nothing into the hands of a foreign speciila'or as his private property." We may adfl that the outrage might, have been easily avoided liy condition^ in the grant as to the teni-.re or ultimate disposition. The case is unfortunately not an isolated one. Although the [.jiurier Covernnipnt has a right to boa.st • that the land in the West has lieen kept for the settler and a .--lop put to the policy of giving it away to railways and other corporations." yet the case of the vast Yukon Railway grant, though exceptional and well-intended, was a departure from that principle that de- serves to be noted on the other side. The latest demand of the kind has b.en upon the Government of Quebec. In December, 1902, the promoters of the Trans-Canada Railway '■ ^!^?^IS ??'M! W ^! '. " ! ! .'\. .'!, ' :"" 32 T'Z-l 'VT •"' "'^ "' *»"'''^ •"«•" ">" '•'"'«'"••'•■ north v[n : r " •""'"' '" "" •••• ""»■•"«•.! portion of the pro- h MO- ,.. '^'^"' •""''* '" "'" ">' "" Amfrl..«n An.nciT to ■eieiif..j, an necessary to mention such possessions a* the 10.000 acres farmed by Sir John Uster Kaye. In ^ .Inlbo'a- B.iti..b Columbia; the 4.(iOO acres of Major Bell l„ Asslnlbola ; and the great holdings of numerous Americans of means throughout Cana.li.. These are the mild precursors of the latifundia-the rapacious great estates-which unks.s prevented, will, in due time devour the sniHller holdings, and abuse and enslave our people. Control of aliens is on.- of the most disagreeable features of the-e alienations from our national ownership. Quite recently we have ,een Anticostl. "an island of enormous size and some stra- tegic value bought by a single foreigner and with it the legal right to exiludf from it forever, if he chooses, all but foreigners It is . vident thai a movement for the exploitation of the public domain in Cair.da has l)egun in earnest among the millionaire spe- culator, of the public, presumably with no other purpose but an mon^y-inaklnn but po»iilbly with patrlotli' alm«."» A very great portion of thp Yukon mineti ari> owned by Amerirans. Say« the Amerlran Conaul nt Montreal : — The people of th* fnlt.Ml State, are Rldlnx largely In the deve- lopment of Canadu. Within the taut year, mllllona of dollara have bee.. Invested her.. In aurlcult' ral and timber landa, mlnlnx and maniifarturInK Induxtrleii. "Many American «vndlrHtPK have Iwen looking over the ground tn Cunada during the laHt f.w months. A algnincant fart to thoae COUP ted with the paper Indu.fry Ih that the Targeat of theB'> ayn- dlcHt the r.reK FuIIm Company, Ih lontrollid by men prominent In Ih^ International Paper Company. The Oreii Falla Company wan orKanlzed In April latit. an llmltM at Three RIvcth. The company U lapltallied at l.ifMi.iMtt). and It IR aald to be the intention to develop the Industry at one**. I .\.M> l'IIO.IK(Ts IN \VK!»T. • The Investments made by Americans In agricultural, grailns and tiniix'r landH amount to many mllllonH of dollars. Only re- cently, n. Columbus, O., -yndlcatc purchased «0f»,000 acres In the North-WPMt Territory. A MInneapoli.s and St. Paul syndicate has pur. halted a much larger area, and 1m promoting emigration from the uent.rn states to th*- Canadian North-West. to which over oO.tHHt ^(Pttlers have gone during the present year." The Consul-Oencral thfn «ppclflpn the following Industries, either recently established or about to be started and financed wholly or partly by Anierlcnn capital : — I.ouIh U. .Jennings. New York, has. r.cently organized the Cana- dian Steel and Coal Company, ca|)italizpil at |«,()Of»,uOO. HU proper- tie> . onslst of 4.(H)0 acres of Iron ore, and S.'OO.) acres of coal lands. Thpodote P. nurgcsa. pre.si.l, nt and general manager of the Unra^^.^n Sulphite Fiilp Comimnx, of Herlin Fulls. N.H., has closed a (!f 1 with the Qiiel)pc Dppurtnicnt of Lands, Forests and Flsh- erif-:^. for the p;'rcha>p of tiiio square miles of timber on the I'pper St. Maurice River. The Laurentlde Pulp & Paper Company has an immense plant, and has built up around it the thrivinj; town of Grand .MSre. The late-t announcement in conn.'ction with the incoming of foreian industries is the news that the International Paper Com- pany, a gigantic concern. Is about to utilize the areas It has secured In the Three Rivers district and establish pulp mills In that por- tion of the country.". Montreal " Witn.ss," 1903. [■■Sria;:.:' 'KlHi^mmi-i"'^' Americans grant us no such privileges, i know a man In Chi Z\Z: T:: ''^ ""'""•""•'" '^^^^ ^- natura^za l ev?;; Amer.r«n« J',!"'" ""''''"^^ "' '•«^'"»'°« »"« house. Whi e 'r.;i^:r:"gr,'r'''- '^""^ -^ -"'^^ -^ -^ '-•"-^- ■" - of o^uT^ontr'oTof" ^'"' '° '""'"■"^^ ""^ "--"^^^^ «' clisappearan.e thatlf S! I "'T '"""'""■ '"*"•"■ '^^^ ■"« ■•^"*'«« «n'e more hat If there Is one lesson in political economy clearly taught it is the ,leep importance of the tenure of land; and if thereTs on*', in clple to Which that experience finally brings us face to faT k" b wStlhait rr'" '""^ ^^^ '^ -arveilously rich nation to-dav Sivfour lami?enV° '". ' ''"'•"'■" ^'"^'°"' ^*" '"•■«' imme.iiate.v fngwe i an' «>;«*«•» our most serious thought ; and think- ouiZy. ' *" ""^ "'"' ""^ ^° thoroughly and ownrr^hlr,"'"'''"'" '"■• '""'• °' ^^"^'«''" thrown into national ownership to-morrow at the rising of the sun! What rojoUinl there would be among a public who value so highly the'r t„e commons and parks, rights of pathway, and otheT tiny r Lin soun . th ' h' T"" •''^'•'"'^'™*'' ^h-' "-ims of gladness woS ra loZTJ """• '^""^ '"^"^ "^ -"^ ^-»'" '- lifted- What hoary arrogances would go to their graves' What ii^nnm- t^ people' A "s 7" '•:'«^"-'--""" «-«',ian(ier s-ale. .shall ne be wise and hearken ? CHAPTER V. A I .^ M) TKM UK r'OI.KV. What aotion can be oUph to prevpnt thp land procpss so rapid- ly moving among r- (r.rn laf.tenlnK upon iis the evils we fear? I^t us repeat onrt i/oie thiit ^^. < i > have for a time the making of oiir nation in o ■ h: nds. d.. no- vant that nation to be a medi- oeval people, an > ifif/hy si!!;p<,- ed by a plebs. a nation lon- Rtructrd on the pri.' o'' ■ < t' mon-.ipolies. We desire a modern na- tion—a nation of real not rheuirii al freemen, each really, mil ahamly, starting life equal in opiiorliinity with the rest, each actual heir to an Inalienable birthright of property, education and provision for old age. each with a fair opportunity of winning such honor and doing such good, as it may be In him to do. and each taught the inspiration of that publii- spirit, moral soundn»;---.s and well-grounded patriotism which alone can make the continua- tion of these things possible. By what -neasures may the heaping together of overgrown landed estates be curbed, and perpetual Inheritance of our people at large be prevente such administration (but of administration only, not of fundamental policy ». All farmii'c lands aro sold outright, except some li'ased for grazin:;; hay. > , more than -((io acn'S is s:)l restrii t such persons In r"-;p|ling. Hcserves m.ny b" made of waterpowers. harbors, stone rjiiTrrie^, and for tov.-n site-;, high- ways, market places, tails. ( (itirt houses, divrches burying grounds, .'-chools. benevolent in.stitutlons. and squares, "and for other sJmilar public purpo.ses." and such reserves may be granted sub- .iect to su(di trusts and uses. In practice these reserves are unat- tended to. except for highways. Free homesteads of ISO acres are granted, but not to aliens fal- though they may purcha.se). Leases of grazing or hay lands may be obtained. For irrigation privileges, and. waterpowers are grant- •5HIBW"-K>tfa«B41i"^ :W) ed, instead of leased to individuals and companies, and lands to reclaimers of swamos. It is evident from ail this that what is followed is a jumble of principles considered sufficient for the present without any con- sistent provision for the future, even the almost immediate future. Lnder these principles we shall in time arrive at no other results than what we find among the other nations. Only in our forestry systems, as we shall see, is there some hope of saving our con- trol of our heritage. The best object that is being sought in the improvements which have been recently introduced in- to the management of Dominion Crown I.Ands has been to do something to get farms into the hands of the settler. Improvident previous grants have blocked this good inten- tion by a most unsatisfactory general situation. But let us sup- pose that after all this settler is able to get his land— not free in a good locality as he should, but forced to pay a heavy price or sub- mit to heavy disadvantages, but still to get his land after all, to temporarily prosper upon it. It is evident that, as the average ( onsequence of his tenure, his property will pass from his descen- dents. be swallowed up by stronger capital, the old course of the world will be reiieated with ail its results, a few will gain largely and the masses will serve them. Now is the time, if any. to meet this problem. Ought it not to be met manfully, by a devnlng more should be left alone, as their cases are not yei numerous enough to constitute any menace to our national Idea, and will In time correct themselves. That quantity should for the present be. say, 1.000 acres. The French law of succession which divides a deceased property among the heirs of the deceased proprietor without permitting the division to be vailed by will has resulted in the retention of two- thirds of France by small proprietors. About one-third, however, is in the hands of large, and is growing. There is a familiar objection in the argument that future agri- cultural progress will be bound up with large estates. Land be- coming scarce will be dear, capital will be required for its pur- chase. Increasing markets will Increase the returns, and it will pay more and more to make farming a highly organized business, oper- ated on a grand scale by masses of wage-earners, un-jer a wealthy proprietor, or what is much the same, a company In few hands. The inferior farmers first, and afterwards those with insufficient capital will, as in other businesses, be driven out by competition, and they and their progeny forced into the ranks of the employed, brought under the power of monopolists, and forced to start life with inferior opportunities of education and provision. The tendency of the times is undoubtedly in that direction; and when the process finally reaches such an issue, only one remedy will preserve the freedom of the individual— a remedy for which our people are not prepared, but with a view cO which the Sta^ should now use foresight respecting land titles— a remedy whid will require the highest grade of trained citizens before it will work satisfactorily on the complete scale,— the ultimate remedy of a highly organized National Cooperation, to-day almost visionary and certainly far from immediately practical, but in a century per- haps a necessity. As long as the monopolistic conclusion of farm- ing as a business can be staved off by those devices which Increase the number of property-holders, so long will it be possible to post- pon*^ and prepare for that ultimate remedy, which, unprepared for. will be a failure, and half prepared for a difficult enterprise. Re- cognized as our ultimate future, to be dealt with practically, ita difficulties can be gradually lessened until they dissolve when thi-y are finally grappled with. It would be well, too, not to exaggerate its difficulties and novelty. It is not a new system but one ancient and widespread in agriculture. And it is in operation among our- selves and other peoples In the forms of all public works, postal, military and naval services and other matters. National cooperation implies a return to national ownership of 40 the soil. Oiven that full cooperation in Its working might not at Zfl H* T'^lu "' """"^ '°°*''°' ^°"''* ^""'•^ '°«- "-^ny Purpose.. Instead o.; public ownership, it would consequently be far-seoing statesmanship to provide, by sufficiently expressed reservati ns, for the future return to public ownership when desired by the na- tloo generally. ' " A further ground for such a reservation must be taken Into con- 8 deration. It Is not only those engaged in agriculture lts.«If who will require to be finally considered as owners of the national land I he use of machinery and organization of labor will have driven from the soil the vast majority of the people, who will then be en- gaged m manufacturing and other occupations. Shall these be ll.J f "'■*^"' ^"^ representatives of the present farmer Serlta^e r' Tl?'".' ''"'' ''"'"' "' ^'"^'^ »°" «» ^his national heritage be in that day the property of a few only ? We should already seek to provide for those, our Disinherited of the- F,m e Who in justice and good policy ought never to be disinherS a^ .h J! "'"'' ''*' ""^"""^ "■"' *''"'■ 'o'-^'athers will have parted with the .proper y and received the price. But I hold that such lavs of .ale are limited by higher laws,-they are equitably subject o hu"sW ,„^° '^^"^^^^'- »>- '•>« ^'«ht to disinherit anotSe rrom his share n the property of the nation, and the existing laws are open to Wise revision when the good of the whole people shall re! esta?e"'whllh"ln u"l" T''"' """'^ "' '''' «'°^'°"« --^o" estate which in its beauty and illimitable wealtl. Is almost too toXrn""' sVn'"' "'•• "'"' '°*" ""' " '''^' "' Proprle'rsiip Ine«^f' "'"' ''°'"'"°" '■"^'•"^ ^"'l '°'- 'hem m the dark a le>s Of Doverty? Shall the sDlendid Independence of our landed freemen becon^e a legend forgotten among a race of dependents ' Many a rich man. a.s well as the poor, is sick of tSe eternal struggle Of care in moderr life. Large as he may make his pile he has no security that in his old age he may not be driven to Denary But that is a .mall thing to the reflection that, within a generation or two, the majority, if not all of his children, will be face to face again with the eternal treadmill of poverty,, and 'mimm--.imB:-.,^ b« not more than ten years, certainly not more than twenty-flve because twenty-flve years may be regarded as about the a cS ma-' Tp h! ^'T «^"*''*"°°- We ought to retognhe that Just a. no one has a right to give away the property of another, so one gener- ation has only a right to dispose of the national heritage for the per- iod ot Its own management One generation cannot give away the rights Of another, m departing from this rule except for the moat ne.essary purposes, we are dealing without authority and beyond our rue rights. Later on I shall have another word to say con- cerning thla ' V.-lt the amount of land to be owned or controlled by a single proprietor or corporation were restricted. It would not be a bar to agricultural operations on the large scale, when these become gener- ally advantageous, as seems Inevitable. It might be done to advan- Uge by renting from the several proprietors and this would dls- rlbute the benefits. But the ultimate object should be rental from he Mate as owner, with State control of operations, and ultimately in a more distant, but not now impossible future, the State aa farmer These are possibilities which ought not to be lost sight of in the avlah cessions of our present rights, because the life of a nation is not a year or a day. Vl.-Strict constitutional limitations of ownership of any Cana- dian real estate by aliens, directly or Indirectly. The principal limitation should be one of time, forbidding such alien control of ownership for more than a term of years, and never permitting It to be perpetual. There may be some temporary advantages in the system of permitting them to acquire blocks or portions of our territory to resell or develope. especially on the huge scale on which It 18 being done, and In view of the vaster scale on which it promises to be done, but it is full of dangers and is contrary to the rundamental right of our people as a whole to "do their owning them- selves." The case of Heinze* in British Columbia should be made entirely impossible. It Is a gross abuse. In connection with tim- ber limits, we shall later show still more enormous abuses of the same description. VII.-There are special reserves which we ought not to overlooit such as roads and parks, and the underground below a reasonable depth. Ordinarily a man owns the ground beneath his lot to the centre of the earth; but In cities the right of tunneling may yet be- come a very Important right, as an increasing number of instancea show in connection with modem improvements. But of far greater timeliness is the urgency of national reservation of all the desirable park properties in the country. In every neighborhood where th"re will be population there will be need of liberal park spaces Every 4:: •onspliiiouB or celehralfil point of natural beauty In the lands now In national ownershli) oiinht to be dedUated as a park reserve. If necessary, for use ;a the meantime, these place lould be leased. Sui h are the numerous Islands, points and villa lots belong to the Government throughout the country. The sale Instead of lease of the Thousand Ulands is a cp.se directly in point— a thoroughly use- less sarriflce. The subject ought to be entrusted to permanent runimlssloners appointed for the purpose and empowered to make al' necessary surveys and estimates. A similar reservation should be extended to frequent pai.hs and avenues of access to all lake and river shores, and points of scenic beauty or other Interest. Why should the public lose these to pri- vate persons' To Illustrate: Along one side of the large and beau- tiful l.ac T ul)lant. thirty leagues north of Montreal, runs for several .ies the shore of the Quebec National Park, sloping up ii. unbroken woodlands to the long crest of Trembling Mountain, the highest of the Laurentides. Kumor has It that all this shore is about to be Improvidently glinted by the Government to private proprietors. If so. the rights of the people of Canada to enjoy the Park will be seriously curtailed. They will no longer be able, except on temporary sufferance, to land upon the banks, nor pass through to climb the mountain side. Now. If such grants be made, and they are contrary to the principles of park reserva- tions, the titles ought (1) to be leases, of not more than a genera- tion, with right of renewal for another If any further leases be then given: (2) they should provide frequent reserves for right of public passage up to the mouni.iins; (3) access to the waterfalls and most notable points of view should be re.served; (4) some right of use of the shores for landing and passage along the waterside should be retained as in the towpaths of floatable rivers ; and !o) the lots leased should not be of farm size, but merely ample villa lots, say two or three acres deep. These dispositions would allow every use- ful purijose and not destroy the park-rights of the nation. To take another example from former times:— If ever a spot was destined for public park uses it was the Falls of Niagara. That destination w.u ignored and destroyed for several generations. The surroundings, at first wild and free, became enclosed. The ap- proaches were fenced in and surrounded by a revolting array of turnstiles and hotels and greed and utilitarianism did their best to destroy the God-likeness of the scene. In the end the public of two •in'ions were forced to redeem at a heavy ransom the rights of ac- cess which had originally belonged to them before the grants to pri- vate holders. It had been an antiquated and short-sighted operation and should not be repeated in a Modern Nation. Our Governments have done well in reserving and enlarging the Banff Natural Park «=»?>?«»»!•!»»= W^^^S^^mM^^^^^Bmmsm^B, -s^ma^mmamnKmmmm^'. 44 in the Rocklea ; the Algonquin Pnrk and TemogamI Reserve In On- tario; Laurentlde Park in Quebec ; the Plain* of Abraham: the OtUwa Improvement reaerves. and other of the kind. Let them Infinitely unlverMlIze the syitem and they will only be doing what the public of to-day will approve, and that ot fifty yean from now canonize them for. In our new country, with an abundance of land, we have grown up accuitomed to many generous customs, the value of which w^ fall to appreciate, which we should be careful as far as possible not to lose. Instance the picking of wild fruits, the occasional crossing of a farm, fish and game usages, the plcklng-up of a little firewood, and other incidentals, which are generally allowed In Canada arising from the rights originally held hy the public In the wild land. If such things were done in England or Scotland, the keeper would be promptly down on the offender and a criminal case would follow before the magistrates. Hence the tenacity with which a few remainders of ancient popular rlghu are retained. At Ogunqult. a watering-place on the coast of Maine. 1 have seen the public summarily deprived of such an original privilege, the custom- ary pathway along the brow of the shore cliffs. The farm on which these rocks were situated were bought by a pork-packer from Chi- cago, who erected a cottage near-by. Immediately afterwards signs and fences were put up. prohibiting "trespassers." The con- sequence was that the public were at once cut off from the best view In the locality, and also from convenient communication with the entire shore beyond. The pork-packer, as a matter of fact cared nothing abc • .; the view himself. He was. of course, within the law. as ii s..- .;a. But wha. a law! I put It to all thoughtful per- sons whether such customs are not really based on equitable rights and whether such equitable rights ought not to be expressed and' guarded by reservations In the title, and where necessary by new regulations under general principles of land-grants which ought to be enunciated by our governments as constituting contltutlonal understandings. Little Newfoundland has done better than any of our provinces In Its attempt to express such things. In Its Crown Lands Act. 1903. besides all the reserves In Dominion AcU. there are added "any bog lands, beaches or shores for general and public use five per cent, of all trees or wooded lands as shelter for stock, and' power to set apart commons for pasturage, and In all grants, leases and licenses there shall be reserved for public use a width of not less than iwenty-flve feet, and not exceeding one hundred feet round and adjoining all lakes and ponds, and on both banks of all rivers." besides on timber lands public rights of travel, firewood and timber for fishing and shipping purposes. 45 The movement of the oppoalt iroreu takes new shapefl yearly. In the report of the North-We«t <>partraent of AKrlcullural. 1902. the following nentence appears:* "The fencing of the water-front- ages Is a matter which Is creating a considerable amount of anxiety amunK the ranchers of this district." At a consequence of the foregoing considerations, I would pro- pose the following principles to form part of a reformation of our I.and Tenure Policy. To several of them. 1 think there can be little serious objection : — 1. The Imposition of a term on alien control of all Canadian real agtate. 2. The Imposition of a short term on alien control of all Cana- dian agricultural lands. 3. The Imposition of a term on all other proprietors of Cana- dian agricultural lands, except actual farmers, such term to be not morp than twenty-live years. 4. Limitation of the amount of agricultural land to be held or controlled at any one time by any person or association. 5. Abolition of right of willing. 6. Complete cessation of Issues of land grants to railways. 7. Expropriation of nil existing railway land grants. S. Reduction of free land grants from 160 to 100 acres (as In Quebec. » 9. Express assumption of the principle of national ownership In all future grants, but with very long leases, without rent to actm>I farmers, say 100 years. 10. Extensive reservations for future parks, roads, water fronts, public rights of passage and enjoyment, etc. 11. A complete survey of our national estate. 12. A special land commission for the Dominion. •Page 53. .rtjj;,-.-:ris:f:n',:?^ji trrtft P ^' f ft ( 4«( CHAPTER VI. iil AN KXIwTIMi MOItKIIN NATION, Although the foregoiiiR views and prnpogaU have l»een Brrlvp.r at Independently by a connlderatlon of the condition* In Canada Itgelf, by ownership of land In the Canadian Went and ViirlmiB prfrtH of the province of Qiieheo, and by examination of the history of land in Canada, of the varloii§ gyHtemg of tmd urantx. and of numerouii authorities on the subject of land tenure generally. It has been Interesting to find how closely similar conclusions have been arrived at in some other parts of the Empire. The colony of New Zealand, containing under a million inhabitants, but dpsttined to support a future population of many times the number, l.« the home of n gallant bram h of our Imperial race who have set them- selves resolutely to the work of solving the same problems. Mr. H. H. Lusk. a former member of the New Zealand Parliament and afterwards a resident of the United States, published In 1N»9 a wor) entitled " Our Foes at Home."* directed against monopoly In America. In which he has graphically explained the New Zealand legislation. His work is to be recommended to all who are Inter- ested, in the 8ul)Ject. Mr. husk yays : — • The people of New Zealand began with the land. In that country they were not in danger of being misled, as the peopl*- of America have been, by the exaggerated idea that the country was so l)ig that It was practically inexhaustible "The first reforms In New Zealand were therefore directed fo th.. land. It wa.s concluded that as the country was rich in soil and genial In climate, it was especially adapted for the .support of a large, prosperous and well-to-do population of farmers. It was also considered that the fact of the land being rich was an excellent reason why it should not 1)p owned In large estates, which ould not be necessary for the comfort of the owners, but rather in moderate and small farms that could he mad. the most of bv men of small means, whose own labor and that of heir families, might be sufficient to do It justice. It may be wortL while to notice that In these respects the case of New Zealand is^ i.ieciscly the sam as that of the best and richest lands of the Western States of this country. The evil of large estates had begun early in New Zea- * Quoted Ijy kind permission of Mfssrs. Doubleday, Page & Co. N.Y., the publishers of " Our Foes at Home." 47 land. From the nmt the lilandi were looked upon with iip»tUI favor by m certain dais of Rnillih rapltallglo. the lamp ilRim, In- deed, which haa Inveated, It In nalri. larne mmi^ In great PHtate- In the West— the claaa of Enxllfih landlords. A* they were eiirly In the fleld, they obtained, an a rule, choice land*, situated near the earlier centres of population, and. therefore, th, nr»t to b' In- creased In value by the Increase of Hettlement. The settlement of native dllBcultlea which hud done much to retard the .oiintry during the first thirty years of settlement, led to a greiitly Incrtined •peculation In land after the year 1h7o, and It was at thlw point that the Idea of reform first arose. The purpose of the party of reform was to prevent the continued acquisition of Lirne properties by Individuals and the first step taken was that of curtailing the amount which any one purchaser might buy. This Inchided cor- porations a» well as Individuals, liccuuse, there .is here, there was already seen the growing danger of the organized syndicate of wealth. A large part of the public lands were withdrawn at this time from absolute sale and reserved for perpetual lease at an annual rental, the amount of which was to be readjusted every twenty-one years by a new valuation, based on the value of 'he land, exclusive of the Improvements made bv the tenants It was also provided that lands still open for sale In the usual way should In no case be sold to the extent of more than three hundred and twenty acres with any land already held by him, A check wa.s In this way put upon the sale of public lands to large owners, and great encouragement was given to comparatively poor settlers to take land under the provlslon.s of perpetual lease, which relieved them of the need of paying anything for the land In the first in- stance beyond the Interest on the price fixed by the government as Its original value. The new arrangement, however, was manife.stly no cure for the mischief already done by th^ sale of large estates to Individuals and corporations, some of which were being held for the purpose of re-sale when the Increase of population should have greatly increased land values, while others were intended to be- come family estates to be occupied by a tenantry as in England. Neither of these purposes appeared to the party of land reform- ers In New Zealand calculated to be of benefit to the people at large. They were convinced that in the settlement of the country landlordism should, as far as possible, be discouraged, or, at least that the only landlord ought to be the nation, upon uniform terras for all holders It was decided that in the Interests of the country and its people, special taxation ought to be levied on great estates. It was the policy of the country, deliberately expres.sed to render it unequal, as a cure for what threatened to tiecome a great social mischief A special tax. called the absentee tax. i''^>mh .-.:;...-:.HH!f»5^ ';i:a.ii i j jj a ! HII(>UMwgfeawaiiatww<>uM B? 48 IS was added to whatever tax the land was liable to under the more ordinary provisions of the statute, at the rate of twenty per cent, upon the tax as levied In the case of all owners not residing In the country for three years or more before the annual assessment But there was one class of landholder, Including the owners of some of the largest and most valuable estates in the country, who were more difficult to reach. These were the purchasers of great family estates, the men who wished to establish a landed aristo- cracy In New Zealand, and to transplant the English landlord and tenant to the new country — The last step in land reform consist- ed In applying the principle of state landlordshlp to these lands, and 80 save them from the evils of the private landlord system. All such lands are now liable to be resumed by the State as soon as they ale required by the people ; the only provision In favor of the owner, beyond the provlslorfs for compensation at the pre- sent value of the property,, being that the homestead, with an area of a thousand acres surrounding it, may be reserved by him from any such sale It is but a few months ago that one such prop- erty was taken under the valuation of a Court at a cost of a mil- lion and a half of dollars, an-: ' ivlng been surveyed Into small farms, has already been divic. among resident farmers, who, with their families number nearly a thousand souls. Space will not permit any attempt to go into the details of this or any other of the statutes by which the Legislature of New Zealand has endeav- ored to do substantial justice to the classes who had begun the seizure, under the sanction of law, of the people's inheritance. In no instance was any attempt made to deprive them of what they had expended ; in none was it proposed to take from them the pro- fits they had already made by their transactions. What has been done has only been this : to put a limit to the injury which was being done to the people under cover of laws for which the people themselves had been In the past responsible. To a certain extent the people of New Zealand are the sufferers by the transaction be- cause they pay for increased values created not by the purchasers of the land, but by themselves ; but they do so willingly. By giving the great landholders money or government bonds they feel that they avoid the danger of making individuals the scapegoats for social and political sins that have been their own, and thus they consider they gain a moral advantage greater by far than the sacrifice they make. The question which remains is a crucial one : What has been the result of all these experiments ? In the first place, the reply must be that they have answered their purpose to an extent which 4!) Is surprising. They have turned * the tide of population, which ten years ago was setting towards the towns, towards the country; they have Increased yearly the number of holdings of agricultural lands in that time by upward of nixty per cent.; they have brought about a condition of things whereby, Instead of one man in four being the holder of farming lands, as was the case ten years ago, the population to-day is little shorv of one out of every two adult male persons in the country.t New Zealand can appeal to her sta- tistics to show that her population has increased more rapidly since her reforms were adopted ; she can refer to her trade and the value of her exports to show that hev policy of small farms has at least roir ' " d with a great increase in her production ; she can point to tht ncreased savingo of her people, and the general com- fort and well-being of her inhabitants, all of which h^ve kept pace with the progress of reform It is for the people of America to consider how far these things may serve as a lesson for them.* "The grand aim of the legislation of New Zealand during the last fifteen years has been the establishment of a community in which industry shall be recognized as king. No attempt has been made, nor has any attempt been advocated, to place all men on a footinr of equality of condition, such as animates the dreams of the more advanced socialists of to-day. No attempt has ever been made to take charge of the community on paternal lines, and so to discourage individual enterprise. What has been attempted and already with a large measure of success, has been to equalize, as far as possible, opportunity for all, and to render it impossible for any one class of the people to obtain the uncontrolled mastery over others."! These words of the New Zealand legislator seem as if written to fit the case of the very problems suggested in the pages of the present work. They show them not to be chimerical or impos- sible, but open for study In actual practice in a similarly situated country. • By 1899. IPaKe 114. :i:Page 244. ft!:;;*;- ii^mm. i:lftriv!aam. r I It. A MODERN FOREST, MINE AND WATER POWER TENURE POLICY. WiflfU'iiHW ill M l M LESSON'S OF IIISTOKY. (a).— Lands less productive for agriculture than forestry should be set apart as forest reserves. (b).— State ownership over all public forest lands Is the only system advantageous to the nation. (c).— Such ownership needs to be firmly and unequivocal' v as- serted, or it will be lost. (di.— Limited licenses to cut the timber crop, under the State and open to competition periodically, should be the only tenure of all forests. (e).— No waterpowers need or should be sold; all should be leased by the State. (f).— No mines should be sold, and especially none bearing coal, petroleum, iron, and other necessaries. r 53 CHAPTER VII. OfK WOODLAXD EKTATES. The extent of the forests of Canada cannot be stated exactly, as no man has ever been sufflclently acquainted with them to do so. They are the largest In the world. They are variously estimated at from about 800 000,000 to 1,657,000,000 acres, or over two-thirds of the total area of the Dominion. The conflicting estimates of their extent show the need of for- est survey for the Dominion. As the Ottawa Government, among Its many Improvements in such matters, has recently established a Dominion Forestry Department, doubtless this matter will receive earnest attention. To show the divergency of the estimates, the Dominion Report on the Forest Wealth of Canada, issued in 1894, sUtes the total forest surface as 799,230,720 acres. The Do- minion statistician. Dr. George Johnson, F.SS.,* gives about 1.400,000 square miles (1,000,000,000 acres), as a Conservative estl- niato at the same time quoting Dr. Bell, Assistant Director of the Gaological Survey, as estimating the area of the northern forest at 1,657,000,000 acres (2,600,000 square miles), or over two thirds of the entire area of Canada.! An Incredibly valuable property In themselves, they also carry vlUl possibilities in relation to our agriculture. One of the ablest men in Canada on such matters, Mr. A. A. Ayer, of Montreal, con- siders that, roughly speaking, three-fourths of our forest lands will ultimately betome farm land, principally as devoted to dairying, by aid of thorough education in farming, together with proper business system. It is then, in our forests that we have our farming reserve In the future. They hold also our water-shed protection, our con- trol of the world's paper trade, and our control of the trade in wooden goods. They are too the natural pillar of public ownership and the practical education of the future nation therein. All the European nations would sacrifice much to stand where we do in that respect ♦The Wood Pulp of Canada, page 18. t The dimensions of our great northern forests are so vast that they seem almost incredible. The central line of the forest belt may be described as starting from the vicinity of the Straits of Belle Isle, and following a west south-westerly course till it passes to the 80ut7J-of James Bay, then turning north-west it follows this course all the way to the border of Alaska, opposite the mouth of E^Mti:' !SSi^|W9P^BWB»W"«aa»»«W?=aBJCTit 1 54 Of recent years some of the chief principles advocated In the foregoing pages have been applied In a considerable degree to this portion of our national estate. National ownership has been the rule, leasehold the form. But control of aliens is entirely lacking, and limitation of the quantity leased and of the term of lease are not satisfactorily recognized In the various provincial and Domi- nion systems, and there are, besides, most serious abuses and prac- tical departures from safe courses even when the laws prescribe them. By the British North America Act, 1867, the management of public lands and timber in the organized provinces was handed over to the provincial governments. The Forestry System of the Province of Ontario Is the best developed, and Is claimed with rea- son, to be the most enlightened on the continent of America. A brief description then, of the Ontario system,' especially as its fun- damental principles are those of the other provinces, may open our discussion. I do not propose to deal, even if I could, with several of the subjects which are uppermost in the minds of the friends of foresty to-day,— subjects of undoubted importance, such as the annual waste of millions of dollars from neglected fires, the reck- less denudation of watersheds, the extinction of our pine, the ex- portation of pulp wood in place of its manufacture into paper wlth- ' 3 V^ Mackenzie River, the total distance being 3,700 miles. The breadth of the spruce belt taken at ten almost equal intervals in the above distance as follows : — Miles. From Halifax to Ungava Bay 1,000 In the Labrador Peninsula .' 950 From the north shore of Lake Huron to Richmond Gulf, on the east main coast 800 From the international boundary on the northwest side of Lake Superior to Cape Henrietta Maria, on Hudson Bay. 600 From the international boundary on Lake of the Woods to Cape Tatnaro,. on Hudson Bay 600 From Yorkton, East Assiniboia, to Fort Churchill 600 From Battleford to the limit of forest north-east of Rain- deer Lake.. ..• 600 From the summit of the Rocky Mountains on a north-easter ly line passing throusih the Athabasca Lake 800 From the water shed of the Pacific slope on a north-easterly line passing through Great Slave Lake 700 From the water shed of the Pacific slope on a north-easterly line crossing the Mackenzie River on the Arctic circle. 350 This gives an average bieadth of 700 miles. If we multiply the total by this breadth ^be result is an area of 2,590.000 square miles as the approximate area of our northern forests. In which the black and white spruces are the prevailing trees,"— Dr. Robert Bell. As- sistant Director Geological Survey. 55 In our borders, the work of tree-planting on the western prairies, or the hogus settler grants. Canadian*, as owners of enormous forest interests, should make themselves familiar with the efforts of the Canadian Forestry Association to disseminate the truth and aroii?e our governments to action regarding these subjects. But, belni? matters of current management, they are, after all. subordin- ate to the permanent question of " tenure." Are our forest possessions passing, or In danger of passing out of our hands as national owners If so, a second grand calamity Inferior only to the first, the loss of national control of farming land?, threaten us. And If so, what means can we take to cure and prevent the process ? ase^)SSff!^9m>m^»msfmao>a-jmimHmis:anfmn 56 CHAPTER VIII. i' I CONDITIONS OK PREHEXT FOREST TE.MHE. The Annual Report of the Clerk of Forestry for the Province of Ontario for 1899. Is one of the ablest public documents ever Issued In the Dominion. It contains a history of the forest legislation and management from the earliest days to the present, together with a full description of the existing state of things, both good and 111, and much expert opinion on needed Improvements.. It would be difficult to too highly praise the work of its authors, Messrs. Thomas Southworth, the Clerk of Forestry for Ontario, and Aubrey White, the Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands, by whom, with other officials and minister^ the high position of Ontario has been attained. The following quotations bear upon the matter of the tenure. " The growing of forest crops for profit requires not only cheap land,, but the ability to wait a long time for financial returns Because of this, forestry can only be successfully or satisfactorily carried on by the State, and the lands to be worked for timber crops should be owned or controlled by the whole people ; and as government control of private lands must necessarily be somewhat limited In this country, it Is expedient that government ownership *hould be the rule in our future forestry operations as it has been in the past.* "The amount paid Into the Provincial Treasury from the source m 1897 was 11,082,054.56 ; In 1898, »756,434.34 ; this is exclusive of bonus or ground rent, simply for dues on the timber as It is cutt [On this point of the advantage to the people as landlord draw- ing rent,, compare a passage from the official pamphlet entitled : •• Land Settlement In New Ontario (1893) " :— "Owing to the great extent of her national wealth and the policy adopted from the out- set of conserving the public Interest in the provincial timber and mineral resources, Ontario is in the fortunate position of being able to dispense with Provincial (or State) taxation. Not only is the ordinary business of government carried on from year to year without imposing any such burden upon the people, but in addition the Government distributes annually a very large amount in ser- vices such as In less favored countries are provided for by the municipalities. The amount spent on education by this Province * Page 7. + Page 8. .".7 »r„\''„?' ",'1""* ^''^•'^' '"* "PP'opriaUon for the encourage- ment of agriculture upwards of tsan nnn o-^ .v encourage- atThl *'°* * '*''°'**' "^ «" contractor, to cut timber at their own sweet will, where and when tley choosJ frl 11 m^oS '/ '•"' '"'*•'• ^° "'""« ^"^ "tandlng Pine t?„\ir "on/y^or When the timber Is cut. Is very great progress It the dlre^tlo" re ferred to. yet that 1. what ha. been accomplished." ■Under the present sy.tem " of '.eillngihe' tlm.ier'the lumber! man pay. by way of a lump sum In cash, called a bonus, what he b:ST.;°th''';'y'/"^ *" ^""^ ""'•^^ •*"'»"'« - « •••"•f »' berth, le.s the fixed stumpage charge of $1.25 p/.r thousand feet, for a year only, but relle. on the good faith of V. . government for wh7c°h T„ "" "'"'"=* "'''='' ^^"' """• •>« =^«» »'ave had time in "The Ontario .y.tem of dealing with the timber upon Crown r«"u atl" i.rr 'T'- •" '" •" ''''^"'^*' °' "^ otherZtemTf ?ho.« I'^K '^^ °' •"•""' "'"»'" "«°'"'=« «"> this continent Those in charge of It. from time to time, have made greater effort, o pre.erve for public uses a. large a mea.ure a. po.lS" oTZ S.Ih "f"™' ''**"'' *'""' ''^^^ »'«^° attempted etewhere Though, owing to the difference of local condition., we are as x^i far from the perfected forestry system of Europe, tie result o he «onT«^ h """"" '"*°"^ "•'"'^ ^''^ Question ^ foreTt'ieserla! ion has been a gradual development in the direction of modified fores ry methods, calculated to secure the perpetuation of the woodland. With the least possible disturbance of exlaTg .ntere t. The latest legislation, providing for the establl.hment of Fore.; ur: for'th""'" :'''' ^ '""^ ^*"'« «°'^' •^-'«-«' not o^ly 1 ZZ T. '"°''" '•*" '"'^"'^ P°««'^'« P'-^^^-'t return, but to secure that revenue In perpetuity." • In a long historical .ketch the report de.cribe. the feudal ten- ure of the French period with it. class privilege, and abuse ye With reserves in the grant, of timber for the navy and lands for PubUc works:-the earliest Britl.h period. Introdu'ciS provision. • Page 6. t iSf}9Jfi^g{H?iSS9S(»«t!*ai*W«mjraM^'»HS?»n^.-:;irv::- 58 i V i- J: (or th« tint forpst reserves, between Lmke Chaplain and the River St. lutwrence, and the following striking principle. In the Land Rules and Regulations of 1789: "And to prevent Individuals from monopolizing such spots as contain mines, minerals, fossils and conveniences for mills, and other singular advantages of a com- mon and public nature, to the prejudice of the general Interest of the settlers, the Surveyor-general and his agenu, or Depulr-Sur- veyor, shall confine themselves to such lands only as are fit for the common purposes of husbandry, and shall reserve all other «pots aforementioned, together with all such as many l>e fit for ports and harbors or works of defence, or such as contain valuable timber for ship-butlding or other purposes, rnnvenlently situated for water carriage. In the hands of the Crown." After continuing the hirtory of the timber trad.; In a very in- teresting manner, the report details the disastrous effect of monop- olistic abuses, which crept in. "In defiance of both the letter and the spirit of the official in- structions repeatedly issued by the Home Government, and of all sound principles of national economy, a system of reckless and pro- fuse alienation of the public resources had come Into vogue, which seriously retarded the settlement and development of the country, discouraged productive enterprise, and by the impoverishment and discontent which resulted, contributed much to swell the volume of popular disaffection towards the local governing class, which cul- minated in the rebellion of 1837,- The exhaustive investigation, made by Lord Durham, into the causes which led to that il-fated outbreak, fully exposed the extent of the mis-government and cor- ruption The main abuse from which the country suffered during the period of maladministration was the granting of wild lands In large tracts, under one pretext or another, to individuals or companies, who bad no intention of settling on or Improving them but simply held tbcmforthe rise in value, which they antici- pated as the result of (.pining up the country Dur x the administration of one Governor, Sir R. S. Milne, and under t ,ame «>ix members of the Legislative Council, who constituted . Land Board. 1.425,000 acres were granted to about 60 individi '.s. The profusion of this land-granting Board was rewarded by the Duke of Portland by grants of nearly 120,000 acres of land, rather less than 48.000 being granted to the Governor and rather less than 12.000 to each of the Executive Councillors of which It was com- posed An extensive tract in the western portion of the Province was placed under the entire control of Colonel Tal'-ot, and the whole of the Cro vn reserves and 1.100,000 acres in one block were sold to the Canada Company further aggra- vated by the p :y of setting aside Crown and Clergy Reserves. ymtian^^: : the latter conatltuting nominftlly one-teventh of the entire >rea The rtmv.it wm to dtKourage the settler from making a home In the wlldernew on account of the large tract* held for speculation. ■ ■■■'^^'> Oovernment policy did not In the end benellt the favored classes." The report gives an account of the proceedings of a Committee of the House of Commons in 1854. during which It was shown that the later Canadian lease system was "much superior to that of the United States In the matter of preventing the monopoly of natural reaources by comparatively few individuals and »ecurlng to the public treasury returns in some measure proportionate to the value .of the privileges granted." The United State, system was one of cash sale of the public lands into private ownership, without any nmltat o« as to the quantity that might be bought Mr. Jonathan th., ■ * ,*"'''"«" "P*« *''"«"■ 'ound reasons in support of that plan it aids the sale of lands, making them subject to tax- ation, and encouraging the settlement of the country, also promotes the sav ng of the timber." But "the Canadian lumbermen and Crown Unds Offlclals. who gave evidence, clearly pointed out the defects of the American system. I have read Mr. Whites evi- dence, said Mr. David Roblln. an experienced lumberman. ' and am decidedly of the opinion that the plan he proposes would at once place In the hands of the rich and opulent capiuilsts all the good lands of the Crown, or would lead to the formation of private companies for the purpose of purchasing the whole of them^ onci Ihu, ?" I 7^"**^ individuals or companies, they would Im- mdiT^ ' "*!? ""'"''''' "'*•' ^"^ '""^ »"" «*» them on time wo. ,H h '"'u*'"' '"'""**" ""'' ""P"'^* ">« '"I"- and who rJ'dernd-ed."'^'' '""'''''' "" '^ ^"^™" ''"'^ ^ ^^^' «- " w.r."h« ^''*'"-«^°""''^ tl'e" Objections to the American system *ere has been amply shown by the experience of later years. The a lenatlon of extensive tfms of the public domain of the United States has not promoted economical methods of lumbering On he contrary it has resulted in large regions adopted by nature fo! ree-bearlng. being stripped entirely of vegetktlon and turned Into barren wastes, while the fact that the ownership of the soil remains vested In private hands is a serious obstacle to ompr " hensive plans of reforestation." The State Governments either Ld their scheme eonflned within narrow limits or rendered abortive by the conflict with vested rights which should never have been accorded or find themselves compelled to repurchase at a heavy cost the lands necessary for their purpose." In logical pursuU of Jhe advantages of government ownership, the policy of Forest ResertS was introduced into Ontario. Keserves lrrf;'^•si^:^=3:^r.^^ prising 1,109.383 primarily int«na 1898. empowered from time to tiir tlie counties of 60 'The lmm«4iat ' nim of the Commissioner ul Crown Lands In proposini th« Forpci Reserves Act was the reclamation of waste areas of Crown Laud.-, that had been burned over after lumbering, and were unauU«d for settlement, but havlni also in view, no doubt, the ultimat • "nsion of the system of reserves to lands on which tb«« timti' r bas as yet been unsold, and to areas now under license, unStt.d loi agriculture.* Mr. Southworth tellK the Canadian For- •atry Association ^ . lat the first step In the policy of so spt- ttng aside aieas i '■tivsr unsulted for cultivation was the cre- ation by BUtute • ti. (f He Algonquin National Park, now com- f .. f :a id and *ater in the Nipissing District '. -i K! ine preserve. The Forest Reeerv*-* Act, ■ a<'"! :^ ration to set apart such tracts as might ii<< !• < ', d adv'.' able, and soon SO.CXk* acres in Ki I ,tp. ;"-• • , 1 were reserved, and 45,- 000 in Sibley town n , o-. th» -u ' . .oie of Lake Superior: and in 1801 the very In >> tr. .' n» or-, of 1,4W,000 acres around Lake Temogaml was aw -d. " Ih : h, ' he says, "we have at present only 2,634,000 acres lo For -t " erves, I do not think It unreason- able to expect the ultima ..•> u.a; Crown Forest of Ontario will comprise fully 25/iKi.00<) acres, u State forest larger than U pos- sessed by any other country I km.w of. What a forest of this size, owned by the pe woods par excellence, it Is the natural hablUl of the most valuable tree of them all, the lordly white pine, the tree which has already been so largely the cause of l^e unique position occupied by the Province of OnUrio in being a country without a debt and where the people are not subject to any tax for state purposes." lu 1900 some 1,250.000 acres, unfitted for agriculture, were re- served in Manitoba, west of Lakes Winnipegosis. t The Dominion had set aside 1,000,000 acres under the name of The Riding Moun- tain Reserve some years previously, as the natural protection of the streams of that region, and more recently in Alberta, the east- em slopes of the Rockies, the foothills between the Bow River and the 49th parallel. The Province of Quebec in 1895 set aside the •P. 29. f All the lands north of township 38. 6) Lftur^ntUlM Park Rewrve, I.840.nay ; and Trembling Mountain. 145e increased before that date). Also limit-holders lose all righto over any lands granted to settlers. The conditions of tenure in the Province of Ontario has been described. The forest area is about 65.000,000 acres. The system" of this Province is as before remarked, conducted on a well-reason- ed policy, although one capable still of much improvement. The forest reserves have Just been extended by new legislation. In Manitoba, the forest area is about 1,625,000 acres. Most of the remaining area and of the other Crown lands, are in the hands of the Dominion Government In British Columbia the area reaches the vast figure of 182,400 - 000 acres. Licenses are limited to one year and one thousand acres. But aliens have done much damage and the regulations are report- ed as not much attended to. that immense Province being in its Infancy in such respects. A very recent beneficial change has been the adoption of Ontario's policy of a heavy export duty on saw logs, to compel their manufacture within the Province. The Dominion Governments' treatment of Forestry has been erratic and wavering-on the one hand it has to show the forma- tion of the Banff Park and eleven other reserves, and also a new and promising Forestry Department, while on the other it has al- lowed such movements as the timber limit monopoly of the North West. The regulations resemble those of Ontario, and in the end from widespread criticism and responsibility, a model policy ought to be expected. One very bad thing In its composition Is that sev- eral of its members are limit-holders. What can be expected of Gi) such persons except the strengthening of their own position. 8U11. "owing to so large a part of the territory being still In the hands of the Oovernnuent," says Mr. Stewart, the able and pro- gressive head of the Department. "It Is obvious that fewer dlffl- cultles will arise In carrying out a Judicious forestry policy than if large vested Interests had been acquired." He Is thoroughly in favor of State ownership and reserves, and also of certain restrictions in all land patents. In the Newfoundland Crown Lands Act there are same unusually good provisions side by side with some unusually bad ones. The holder must preserve at least five per cent, of all trees or wooded lands as shelter for stock;" and areas or tracts may be set apart "to b© used as commons for pasturage." Licenses may be granted for ninety-nine years or longer; but not for more than one hundred and fifty square miles. Licenses do not debar any person from cutting for fisheries or ship-building, fire-wood, "and such like purposes." These are very ImporUnt reservations and their underlying principle deserves attention. Let us deduce from the foregoing account of the history and situation of Forests in the Dominion some of the outlines of a Forest Tenure Policy. Summing up the remedies apparent, they are : — 1. Abolition of alien proprietorship of forests. 2. Abolition of licenses to aliens. 3. Uneauivocal assertion of public ownership of all public lk>rest8. 4. Expropriation of large private forests. 5. Extension of Forest Reserve system to include permanently all lands unfitted for profitable agriculture. 6. Express recognition, over all public and private forests, of liberal public rights of passage and recreation, and on public forests of pasturage, firewood and other generous rights. 7. A system of villa lot leases. 8. Thorough forest surveys. To these should be added : A strenuous fire proter-tion policy. |'».": U I.. CHAPTER X. MISE ASD WATER POWER TENURE. l.—Mlnei. All that hag been said concerning forest tenure applies with double force to our mines. Forests, If ruined or alienated can be restored In growth and, perhaps, In the end recovered to some extent In ownership. But what Is taken from a mine Is so much gone, and often, as in the case of placer gold, cannot be replaced. It is 80 much the greater abuse then if aliens be permitted to grasp and ship away our treasures, without at least large returns to Can- ada. The State should own all, control all, and draw for us as large a share as possible, and above all It should prevent any such thing as a " corner " against us In those minerals such as coal and Iron, which are necessary to our general comfort and progress. Notwithstanding enormous grabs permitted and abetted by our governments, we are still partly in a position to prevent such wretched and frightful conditions as the Pennsylvania anthracite monopoly, which starved the poor of America in the winter of 1902-03, and cost over 1142,000,000. If our governments do not put that lesson into action they will' be guilty of crimmlnal neglect. The gener-l tenure on which our coal lands are granted to-day, Is the most short-sighted of our public policies. Now. whatever may be done concerning gold, copper and such minerals, coal, salt and petroleum, being prime necessaries, should be treated on one basis only— that of absolute control by the people, and In no less form than strict proprietorship. Instead, these lands are practi- cally all sold outright, and tend to fall Into the hands of large monopolists. The great deposits of Vancouver Island are chiefly under the control of the Dunsmulrs. The best coal la ids In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, covering prodigious areas, are In the hands of a few large capitalists. In the North- West Terrltorlea. similar people are rushing to corner our large coal flelds wherever discovered ; and the fact that the areps are vast will be no bar to their speedy dissipation as national r • -saesslons, to the loss and misery of Canadians generally. This will not be from any necess- ity. The happy condition of the North-West farmer Is, for the moment, so striking that such a dissipation seems doubly crue consider. What other land. In Its national condition. Is so ger 71 ous to iU children that Its inhabitant can "go o he banks of the rivers and from there get all the coal he requires, in some cases at the bare cost of handling and hauling It home." * Between the Red River and the Rocky Mounuins there are 66,000 square miles of coal-bearing straU. Let this " domestft: mining " be also pro- tected, like the righu of the public in Swedish foresU, for it is one of the sacred rights of the people over their own estate ! There is a disposition of the Dominion Lands Act regarding mines in the Rocky Mountain Park, which might well be extended to all mines: "That no disposition of mines or mining interests In the said park shall be for a longer period than twenty years, renewable. In the discretion of the Oovernor in Council from time to time, for further periods of twenty years each, and not exceeding sixty years."t Without such a policy, grabs, then combines, then a trust, and then alien control, will not less surely follow than night will follow day. Already, throughout Canada, such holders exist as these: The Dominion Coal Company controls practically "the whole of the enormous and valuable Sydney coal fields," except that The Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company owns "the valuable Ai M on the northern side of Sydney Harbours." The origin of these holdings, makes one impatient with all the old systems. First the whole of the minerals In Nova Scotia had been granted to the Duke of York. Next, in the early part of the last century an Eng- lish company, the General Mining Association, bought from him a monopoly of coal mining In Nova Scotia. They did so little with It that In 1845 a vigorous agitation against such a monopoly began, resulting in freedom of private exploration for coal, and the opening Is time of a number of collieries. Laws of Nova Scotia prevented the collieries from combining until 1892, when the Government was prevailed upon to permit their consolidation so as to control the great coal areas of Cape Breton, and they were granted, under the name of the Dominion Coal Company, a charter, and a lease for 120 years! One of the objects was "the avoidance to a great ex- tent of unreasonable competition as regards selling prices!" In New Brunswick very large areas of good coal exist, but these also are mostly under grab. The system is a twenty-year lease, renewable up to eighty years. The Canadian Pacific Interest own a great deal of the best fields in Alberta. • Atlas of Western Canada. +Sec. 47. ^^S^isaai*Ji^B?!'w»*=«>«*-!«!;'=»»'m»-»«r,, far The DuD.niulr. have all that is of much Importaace on t , AH the anthracite near Banff, which U the natural supply of the Tt wou';rj'.:.''r "^^ '" ^*"'*--- - »-- p^^ i.^. " by whTch o„^ r ° •"•' ""° ' •=°'"*"'^" •'^o"" °' «»>* P'oc— .n vJi arl T, 1 '"'""'' '^'"« '""" ''>« ""«»' •«««"'««' n.v.!!M !^' '*"■ '"•'^"«»y "ndleM period., leading to the InevlUhl. trueu and corner.. Whenever a new fleld 1. dliovered B^r^T *'^^«<'">°«o"- N.W.T.. Central New Brun.w'k '; BMff Natural Park." a ru.h 1. made to corral it. Let u. attend to hi. ,ue.tlon and ^ that we .ettle It permanently a. a Modern n1- «i .„H° " r "'r"* "* °''*' '''" '•-'»• "0 '-" control Of rate, and wrvlce should be stipulated at all mines alm«t' IT^" "' the foregolug remark, ha. received confirmation ;l?^V^ o" '•'*'' *"" ''""•"• A "-P-t^h from Ottawa dated Februyy 2nd. 1904. .ute. that the Hon. Mr. Slfton. MinuTer' of the inter or. ha. found It necessary to l..ue an orde; tb« ., f™^ i " •""" "°°«""=«» that .pedal regulation, are to b^ framed respecting 26,000 acre, of coal land, reeerved In Crow^ Incidentally, it may be remarked that a. the whole nation ha. Ton L nori*" ."'."""• •"^' * "'"'"""^ '""'"''' ^ unde^Soml" S; r„th w ♦" °^'" legislation. In forming new province. Tn the North West, and In dealing with the Railway Beit In British CWlumbla. It would be well for the Dominion to mS!e such - « "rrprod^tr ' '' '-• '-' "' *•— --- --- ™- ll.—Wattr Poicern. min?-""""^"* T ^"«^-P°*«" I "h*" be .till shorter than upon mine.. Several grave abuse, are current In regard to them .„.Il.K? ^n""*""* °' **"*'^ ^"^ Government 1. committing the incredible folly of selling them outright, and thl. l. chiefly to of t^i'^mn '* -°''«'7'>- " *•"" -"""^ °' *»>- •'••t posse slois of the nation are gone, including Shawlnlgan. • the NlaKara of the Ea.t." Ores. Orandmere and La TuQue. the key. of t/e st Maurlce-a^l to American., together with the control and pos e.sion of housand. of square miles of timber territory, u is safe to Z f.mJ.t*' '''*" " Shawlnlgan. where activity has ben shown, the ultimate progress would be much larger under a generous govern- shlp. The great powers are after all. but very few in number, and 73 •re necMsary to the welfare of vut portlona of terrJtory. It were a stupid folly eaougli then to hMdIeaaly leaie tbem .but to part with them outright la a crime. Let it stop Immediately ! Shaw- inlRan. eitlmated atioo.ooo horae-power, cheaply developable and within reach of Montreal aa a market, was sold to a Government •upporter for the paltry sum of flfty thousand dollars, and Its Mon- treal output Is now, in consequence, controlled by the power trust, which throttles the trade and the people of Montreal. Had the' Government reuined It the city would have been saved thU opprw- Slv..l. ' '^T^pi!3fl!iyiMaiBS?*'*^o<'rt«*5?fK«*«- 74 CHAPTBR XI. OTIIKM CONaTITl-BXT*. BuUding UtUititi-yatioHai HaUwa^ — LimitMhnt i(f WuUlk - pMriatk MdMutUm—CowaUuiitmat FoHndatumt-Riglu* ^ OkUdrtn— Old Aift Ptn»ion»—Mttrie Spittm. Several other elements appear to me to form part of the togltl- mate procramme of a Modem Nation, although none la lo prcMins a» thoec described. As near to public ownership of public utilities as our situation will Justify in practice is a line along which we should work. We should remember, however, that we tan only succeed In business If we are capable of busi- ness management, and that communities are no more exempt from this rule than commercial men. What will be a success In one, be- cause of the character of the people or the size of the community, would be a sure failure In another. On two things, however, the Dominion Government ought to enter. One Is the ownerahlp of all long distanee telephone lines, which should be served like the Poet Office. The other Is ownerahlp of a system of National Railways, owing to the vital nature of transportation In a country of the extent and circumsunces of ours. To no other country perhaps except the Russian Empire, Is transportation so viui a matter, and In no other way can this natural monopoly and inevitable ultimate trust be sat- factorlly controlled. Such a power Is too mighty to be the prl- vate master of so large a part of our citizenship as will be lU em- ployees and cllents.-practlcally the whole people. As freedom Is the flrat of necessities, the only safe master of so many Is the SUte The objections made are all curable. Because our own short Inter^ colonial has been somewhat expensive Is no proof that economy could not be sufficiently Introduced Into such a service on a large scale, and It may well be added that no such complaints have been made of the rates of service of the Intercolonial as of the private roads, and certainly never the complaint of extortion, or of pre- ferring a foreign terminus to a Canadian. And because the lines In Australia have been open to some temporary labor difficulties Is no argument when It is considered that no such difficulties exist In many other countries with such railways, and that an efficient postal service has been carried on In every civilized nation. Of one thing let us be cerum-that neither the private nor the state system will be without serious defects until we raise the standard of the Indl- '•■• vKla^ Fltlienahtp In publlr aplrit and pvraonal runaclcntiouBnep*. TTwB alone m» ahall no longer have to romplain of either greed on the part of private owners or tnelBclency through public eervanti. But until then we must aak niirMlves from which of theae the people hav« moat to fear, and the ultlnute answer. I think, la pUiin. Abolition— or, aa we should nuke It. prevention— of monopoltea In the necessities of the people must not, however, be turned Into a war upon wealth and private Initiative. Such a war would be not only unwise and wrong, but doomed to early failure. To maintain freedom, not to destroy It, is the proper aim— and to limit freedom of trade only where Its liberties are used to destroy frMdom of trade and other ItbertieH. The point for interfereace is where monopoly begins. Not only our personal prosperity, but our public and prlvat* culture are st prearat founded on these in- centives, ind It Is aulRcient to check them only In those occasional excesses and forms which render theni sources of danger to the public. All history shows U it hereditary accumulation of wealth is one of these, of which we havf iJUciisseil a form In hereditary accumulation of larsd. Already th mllllonalr*"; nf the Tnited States have succeeded in maklnu iliflr great fortuueH hereditary, with results In all directions injuiiot s to tup common stores of the national resources. Anti-entail law- ar* iherpfire a fair and re- quisite part of the constitution of a \I« riB?v«»«»nft«fi»t«KJW»f» —.^^. -»• 7fi f sLh . ?"*''"°"-^''^ ""^'y permanent aolution-wlll be atulned. .„.M ? '°™f "°" °' »'"' POP"'*"- character can only be attained by pecla tralnlnK of the young In duty and public spirit. Hence the vital institution of a Modern Nation will be an organised ele- ment of Patriotic Education. In Japan such a system ha. produced the marvellous self-abnegation of the Japanese people. In the schools, the college^ the churches, and on all possible occasions we Bhould insist on public spirit, which Is another name for unselfish- ness. Without It. inspiring the nation on a large scale, our pro- gress will be like the climbing of a cliff of dry sand. We shall be met at every point by greed, fraud. Intrigue, apathy Meanwhile, thank God, there Is plenty enough of honorable men In public life to carry through the first steps towards saving the situation to a large extent for the present generation. To them the people snould appeal, should strengthen their hands and call for a halt In the dissipation of our resources, and of the natural advantages of a virgin national career. But what If after all we can do, we should still see the process continue ? What If our voices are raised In vain, and we cannot obtain the laws and Institutions requisite to protect the weak of future generations, for whom we hold their heritage and ours In trust 7 What If, even after obtaining good laws and Institutions, we are betraved, as we have too often been, by base and venial re- presentatives 7 In that case. It is a constitutional question which rises— of the profoundest importance to us. I have heard some of the most absurd principles propounded in the legislatures as lounded on the British Constitution, and I have seen its trivialities of form made much of. But deeper than all written and all tradi- tional constitutions is the unwritten conatlfition-the fountain of all constitutional prlnciples-no oth- ui' Right itself! That is the rock-bottom of our constitution and nothing can deprive us of our recourse to It in rock-bottom matters. If a partner In a busi- ness firm found the agent of It In a distant city, selling away the assets for a sorg to his friends or to buyers who knew better or to promoters for stock in their enterprise, he would serve notice upon all the parties and refuse to allow either himself or the absent part- ners to be bound by the transaction. Now. parliamentary repre- sent : -8, notwithstanding a great deal of bombast to the con- trary, a.e simply aitents. We have said that "no generation has a right to disinherit another from its share in th» property of the natioR" and that no government can deprive It of this natural right. I will raise my voire here and now, and I know that It speaks for hundreds of thousands of other Canadians-as a notice for myself ami partners to all such acquirers and their assigns— that they l)e held strictly to account for every part of the national n heritage or franchl.e« so acquired, that their title Is taken at their lonlm " K °K '■*^°'=»"°° "O that they must discount their acquis tlons by the expecutlon that what they have acquired Is subject to be demanded back and that in no grant by the public do we grant a power to monopolixe. If a few such personal protests for posterity be made in parliament and elsewhere, they would some day be found to have largely helped in correcting the kinds of title just mentioned. One thing we need is a profound treatment of our Constitution adapted for Canada, and the assumption when necessary of the office of amendment by ourselves. The forms of England and many of the accretions of subsidiary prinrlple are local to Great Britain and obscure the-real spirit. But If the spirit Itself of the BrltLxh Constitution be after all Insufficient for the purpose of a Modern Nation, then let us heve a variant of it for ourselves What have we to do with lords and bishops, or those antiquated British land laws, which an eminent legist has styled " the Hercii- laneiim of feudalism ? "-or the solemn hypocrisies which, in Eng- land, skulk In the penumbra of the doctrine of • vested rights " With the King we have to do. as historic perpetual president but how far and in what sense are we ready to accept the assumption that any of us Is " socially inferior " to the gentleman who so nobly nils that office 7 and a fortiori to his friends and inferiors ^^e profoundly respect the office, and the man. his race his mothers memory and the historic, national connection involved but W0..1.1 King Edward himself expect of us the theory as it is read In England ? The Modern Nation is essentiallv a demo- rracy And so what have we to do with little titles, the tail end of a s.yst.-m not our own. and often beneath the dignity and real s»r- vice.^ of the men who itet them? These pallid Imitation Angli- cisms are parts of an exotic and provincial system. I hope these little " points of order " will not detract from the asseverance of pride felt In being a citizen not only of Canada but also of the Emplre-a privilege and source of duties which It Is meant in no way to lessen, while discussing the internal problems of our land. As trustees of our national heritage we are trustees not only for ourselves but In a wider right for every British citi- zen, m the same manner as they are trustees for us. for In that w der right the whole with its most glorious history and Its world wide grandeur. Is the common heritage of us all. It Is particularly mperativp on Canadians to cherish the Imperial Idea. It has Len well said that the .treat home of the Anglo-Saxon race in the L 78 territory of Canada should be the future centre and dominating portion Of the Brltiah Empire. The truth of this pJopSn ^J i! *?"""* '""» *••• •numeration of our capacity for support- L\'.e^?"rLrre.Vn'r " ' "'^ " ^^' ""^'^ -" -" Ou7llV T"" ''"' * '** ''°'*" °" *••« «'«•>»« «' Children, on Se nlff/ HI ? ,"" °" '"' *'**^*= ^'"'*«°'- These and others I7mc!^ T^"""" '" ''""°"' "*' ^'•»'''« »« •»«»"'"' them win be jufflclent to sugKert their niace In the conception of a Modern KiS8£ISiS9!U£St>aa 1