the lands in such a way as to ensure, as far as they could, 

 the settlement and development of the country. 



In accordance with this policy the lands were put on 

 the market at a flat price of $2.50 per acre, and sold ex- 

 clusively under settlement conditions which provided for 

 the breaking and cultivation of half the area sold under each 

 contract. Having thus done what they could to ensure 

 the purchase of the lands by actual settlers, the company, 

 through its land department, from this foundation built 

 up, step by step, the masterly, patriotic and at the same 

 time business-like policy which has at once served the best 

 interests of Western Canada, and has at the same time, 

 from the company's point of view, got the very best results 

 from the land grants. 



West Gets First Railroad 



The year 1882 saw the commencement of a long period 

 of depression which seriously affected every business in- 

 terest of the country, and which must have been a time of 

 special anxiety to the officials of the Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 way. They knew, of course, that so far as the agricultural 

 resources of the country were concerned, a setback of this 

 kind would be only a temporary one. By combining true 

 consideration for the interests of the settlers with a due 

 regard for the rights of the company, they tided over the 

 bad years and enabled every farmer settled upon Canadian 

 Pacific land, who made any effort at all, to gradually im- 

 prove his position and finally reap the reward which was in 

 store for him when the good times returned. It was in 

 1887 that a good crop, combined with improved financial 

 conditions, restored general confidence in the country, and 

 from that date onwards, so far as crops have been con- 

 cerned, the results have been most satisfactory. 



But this does not mean that it was all smooth sailing 

 in the administration of the company's lands. There was, 

 for instance, the period when the price of wheat went down 

 to the lowest figure on record, and when the land depart- 

 ment accepted wheat in settlement of deferred payments 

 under its land contracts, giving credit to its purchasers' 

 accounts at SOc a bushel, when the market price of wheat 

 went as low as 37c. 



Money Advanced for Taxes 



There were times, too, when, owing to the low price of 

 wheat, or for local reasons, which specially affected certain 

 districts, the settlers were utterly unable not only to make 

 any payment to the company on account of their lands, 

 but could not even settle their taxes. Some of the muni- 

 cipalities were very seriously affected financially on this 

 account. The company carried over the payments due 

 them, and from time to time advanced on its purchasers' 

 accounts very large sums in settlement of taxes. Later on, 

 as the country developed and new districts were opened up, 

 the land department inaugurated extensive systems of 

 advertising the country, and by agency arrangements all 

 over the world brought very large numbers of desirable 

 settlers. 



Under the auspices of the department, various colonies 

 were formed in different sections of the country, and dur- 

 ing their earlier stages were nursed along and finally have 

 become the centres of very prosperous settlements. Dur- 

 ing all these various periods, the company has disposed of 

 its land under terms and conditions which seemed to be 

 suitable to the times, and which were calculated to produce 

 the best results. When the time appeared to be ripe, the 

 company contributed largely to the tremendous influx of 

 the last 20 years by interesting several large colonizacion 

 organizations in Western Canada. Tracts of land were 

 sold at low rates, obtaining for Western Canada the bene- 

 fit of the machinery which had been largely instrumental 

 in settling up the northwest states. 



Regulation of Land^Prices 



There is one feature of the policy of the company which 

 calls for special reference, and that is, the system which has 

 been followed in pricing land, and the regulations under 



which the lands have been disposed. The policy in these 

 regards had a very considerable effect on the welfare of the 

 country from the point of view of speculation, as it affects 

 permanent and beneficial settlement and development. I n 

 this respect it may be said that the Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 way Company has many times, at periods of undue land 

 excitement, acted as a safety valve, and has been able to 

 safeguard the best interests of the country. 



Controlling a vast area of land, all of which is suitable 

 for settlement, the officials of the land department, by 

 carefully watching the signs of the times, and by following 

 closely their well-marked plan of building up agricultural 

 communities, have been in a position to see when the limit 

 of legitimate speculation has been reached, and have, with- 

 out working any hardship to anyone, and without putting 

 any obstacle in the way of desirable investment, been able 

 in a very large measure to direct the land business of the 

 whole country into proper channels. 



Towns Spring Up Along Lines 



In other ways, too, the company has been busy build- 

 ing up the commercial and agricultural prosperity of the 

 west. Notably may be cited the establishment and ad- 

 ministration of the townsites along the lines of the Cana- 

 dian Pacific Railway and branches the market towns at 

 which the farmer disposes of his produce and obtains his 

 supplies and the scores of prosperous and commercial cen- 

 tres which cluster around the railway stations are eloquent 

 witnesses in this regard. One special work of great im- 

 portance which must be mentioned is the irrigation pro- 

 ject in Alberta. It is the largest individual irrigation 

 undertaking on the American continent and serves a ter- 

 ritory stretching about 150 miles east from Calgary along 

 the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and lying 

 between the Bow River on the south and the Red River 

 on the north. It is a district suitable to irrigation, and 

 the aim of the company in developing it was not to make 

 a big profit out of the project, but to create an immensely 

 rich and productive community which would be a great 

 benefit to the country and furnish traffic for the railway. 



In 1912 the Department of Natural Resources was 

 formed and took over, amongst other things, the adminis- 

 tration of the company's lands and the direction of de- 

 velopment and colonization. A period of great actjvity 

 ensued, resulting in a tremendous increase of the business 

 of the land department and in the settlement of the 

 country. 



To encourage colonization by desirable settlers, various 

 new plans were inaugurated, including preparation of ready- 

 made farms, intended primarily for British settlers, loans 

 to selected settlers from the south, advances of pure-bred 

 stock, and, later on.when the overseas men began to return, 

 provision for soldier settlement. During the extraordinary 

 development which this period has witnessed, vast areas 

 have been settled, towns by the score have sprung up in 

 all directions and everything that would tend to encourage 

 the movement has received the valuable aid of the Cana- 

 dian Pacific Railway Company. 



Ultimately, a new department was formed called "The 

 Department of Development and Colonization," which has 

 had charge of all matters pertaining to colonization and 

 industrial development of the west, and of late years, most 

 of the important features of the great movement in West- 

 ern Canada have been initiated and carried to completion 

 by this Department. 



In promoting all these undertakings, and in carrying 

 on the land business and the immigration business of the 

 company, the Department has necessarily been, more or 

 less, in constant touch with a large majority of those who 

 are building up the farming industry and the commercial 

 business of the great west, and it is quite within the truth 

 to say that the verdict of all who know anything of the 

 matter is that fair treatment and business-like considera- 

 tion have at all stages marked the attitude of the com- 

 pany in their dealings with the land-seeking and land- 

 developing public. 



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