Canada's Greatest Need 



By T. E. Sedgwick. 



Canada is an outstanding example of the effects of 

 population and the Province of Manitoba is but a smaller 

 epitome of the effects of distributing the British people 

 over the British Empire. The production, development 

 and advance of the country have always proceeded par- 

 allel to the increase of settled population. When there 

 were no people settled on this vast territory there were 

 no cultivated areas, no manufactures, no exports, no roads 

 or other artificial means of communication and no accu- 

 mulated wealth. Now in practically half a century all 

 this has been reversed by the efforts of the migrating 

 British and other races who have settled here. 



Some Objections 



Some people still imagine that the fewer the people 

 the better off they are. They should compare the differ- 

 ence between Manitoba, or even Winnipeg, in the year 

 1894, when the Prince of Wales was born, and now. Then 

 the immediate effects of increased population at once 

 will become apparent. Such persons have a right to 

 object to the incursion either of races which have lower 

 standards of living and will not easily fuse with the pre- 

 dominant race of the people. They also may legitimately 

 object to people being encouraged to come here on false 

 assurances of unscrupulous persons that the earth will give 

 her increase without much effort from the cultivator and 

 that urban situations await all new arrivals. 



The mere possession of the property qualification of 

 $250 on arrival is no antitode to the harm that such 

 people may do to the welfare of those already here. At 

 the same time equal evil is wrought on the employment 

 of the community and the development of the Province 

 and of the Dominion by the exclusion of persons for whom 

 there are permanent opportunities of employment which 

 cannot be filled locally. 



Scientific control of population places the right man 

 in the right place at the right time. This is of benefit to 

 the people at large as it distributes the debt between more 

 tax payers, increases the earnings of the railways and 

 makes more employment for others already settled in 

 the Province. 



Means of Increase 



The foundation of Canada, as we know it now was 

 immigration, or as it is now called, Imperial migration. 

 The British people cannot migrate into an Empire of 

 which they already form a part. When they emigrate 

 to foreign countries they are lost to the Empire. When 

 they migrate under the same flag, they become more 

 effectual and consequently of greater Imperial value than 

 before. 



Natural increase is the subsequent additional method 

 of augmenting the population. This, however, takes 

 time as people have to be born at least 14 years before 

 they become effective producers, and it is usually ten or 

 more years later before they marry to so become the pro- 

 genitors of subsequent generations. Migration is how- 

 ever immediate, and being selective, enables the right 

 type of persons to be chosen for the work to be performed. 

 Their advent at a working age also saves the country of 

 destination the cost of their maintenance for the earlier 

 years of their existence. Thus Manitoba receives the 

 result of expenditure totalling over $1,000, in every lad 

 she gets from Britain. Other financial results of migra- 

 tion will be dealt with in a subsequent article. 



Natural Increase 



The annual excess of births over deaths can be in- 

 creased either by increasing the birth rate or by reducing 

 the death rate, or by both means at the same time. This 

 natural increase can be fostered by facilitating early mar- 

 riages, especially in rural districts; by providing good 

 hospital and maternity treatment, especially for scattered 

 communities; by the provision of decent homes, good 

 water supply and drainage. 



The proposed peace work of the Red Cross in Canada 

 is thus deserving of all support, as it helps the Dominion 

 to obtain its greatest need, population, and checks the 

 avoidable losses from sickness, accident, malnutrition 

 and other forms of premature decay. 



Density of Population 



It is impossible to estimate the present population of 

 the Dominion or of any province until the results of the 

 census now being taken, have been collated and tabulated. 

 In any case the average density of population in Canada 

 does not yet equal 3 persons to -the square mile. This 

 may be regarded as better than 1.82 persons to the square 

 mile in Australia, but compared to 33 per square mile in 

 thellnited States, it is not satisfactory and proves the 

 necessity for a more adequate effort in the future. 



At the same time care must be taken to prevent the 

 local standards of living being lowered by the influx of a 

 disproportionate number of persons of any race, or races, 

 having lower ideal of housing, food, clothing, comfort and 

 hygiene. Otherwise the local population will be swamped 

 in a very few generations. As a general rule it may be 

 allowed that races of inferior standards multiply more 

 rapidly than do others of higher standards, and as the 

 standards of living advance the number of descendants 

 per family decline in sympathy. This has been the ex- 

 perience of all civilization, both ancient and modern. 

 Double Population Every 25 Years 



America in its early days under the British flag doub- 

 led its population every 25 years and in some states dupli- 

 cation was effected in 15 years. As her standards of 

 living have advanced, her rate of natural increase has 

 fallen. Were her white population to remain stationary 

 her 10,000,000 black people if they only doubled in each 

 generation would in 4 generations, say 100 years, show 

 80 million coloured against 95 million whites. America 

 has depended largely on immigrants and their descendants 

 in maintaining the preponderance of the white inhabitants. 



All migration is economic pressure of population on 

 the local means of subsistence and volume of employ- 

 ment. Canada should thus realize the need for increasing 

 her foundation population as far as she is able, especially 

 from the British Isles. 



The Cost of Railway Executives 



In a little sheet called "Talking Points" issued 

 periodically by the Central of Georgia Railway, 

 some very interesting data regarding the "huge 

 salaries" of railway executives is discussed as wel 1 

 as comparative figures given for operation costs 

 of 1917 and 1921 As the subject is one of inter- 

 est to Canada as well as the United States at 

 the present time, the article is here reproduced. 

 Occasional references to "huge salaries" that are 

 alleged tc be paid to railway executives may, unless 

 corrected, have the effect of creating an erroneous im- 

 pression in the public mind. As a matter of fact, out 

 of every dollar expended by the railways in 1920, execu- 

 tive and general officers received less than one cent - 

 Therefore, if these executives and general officers had 

 served the railways free, the amount saved thereby 

 would have been, comparatively speaking, very li 

 certainly not enough to have an effect upon either 

 freight or passenger rates. 



To be sure, there are high-salaried executives and 

 general officers in the railway world. It is safe to say 

 that they earn their money and that their compensa- 

 tion would be even larger were their energies devoted 

 to other lines of endeavor requiring like ability and 

 imposing equal responsibility. 



To be exact, the average salary of general officers 

 in 1920 was $5,542; that of division officers, $3,319. 

 The average pay of passenger locomotive engineers in 

 1920 was $3,310 only $9 less than that of division 

 officers. 



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