252 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTUEE. 



April, 1922. 



Soldier Land Settlement as a National Project. 



John Barnett, Cliairman, Soldier Settlement Board, Ottawa, 



Soldier Land Settlement is not, as gen- 

 erally imagined, purely a re-establish- 

 ment measure. So far as tlie individual is 

 concerned, it is probably not even prim- 

 arily re-establishment. It offered — or, 

 at least before the slump in prices, it was 

 thought to offer — substantial benefits to 

 the returned soldier farmer. It undertook 

 to supply for the purchase of the land and 

 equipment, large capital advances to men 

 without financial assets of their own. It 

 provided money at cost, and it undertook 

 to carry all the administrative expenses 

 of land and stock inspection, legal fees 

 and general supervision, without charge 

 to the applicant. No such assistance 

 could liave been obtained from any exisit- 

 ing land or loan company, or even from 

 any public or semi-public rural credit so- 

 ciety. 



These benefits were not offered as com- 

 pensation for military service. They were 

 not even made in recognition of the in- 

 dividual soldier's need of employment 

 They were due entirely to a national re- 

 cognition that land settlement was the 

 basis of -our future prosperity, and that 

 economically we could not afford to lose 

 from the soil any Canadian soldier who, 

 by experience and desire, was fitted to 

 engage in agriculture. Capital is neces- 

 sary to undertake farming. It could not 

 be expected that any large number of 

 men, after three or four years service of 

 war at -iil.lO a da}', would liave any ap- 

 preciable amount of personal capital. If 

 they were to take up farming, tlie State 

 had to be prepared to finance them. Even 

 SK) far as the Canadian soldier is con- 

 cerned, Soldier Settlement is, therefore, es- 

 sentially land settlement, and a real at- 

 tempt at agricultural colonization. 



The provisions of the Act cover all ex- 

 soldiers of the Imi)erial Army and of the 

 (tthcr Dominions. It is self-evident that 

 this country was uiuh'r no obligation to 

 provide re-establishment for these men, 

 and that so far as the Im])erial settler is 

 concerned, there can be no question of re- 

 establisliment. 



It is gencially conceded that the war 



demonstrated that in a time of national 

 peril, settlers from alien European coun- 

 tries were not, as a rule, a national asset, 

 but were rather a hindrance to concert- 

 ed national effort and progress. The war 

 also emphasized the economic advantage 

 of a population closely knit together by 

 language, aims, customs and civilization 

 generally. 



The British Army contained more than 

 six and a half millions of the most vigor- 

 ous, most energetic and most loyal of 

 Britain's young blood. The men were 

 drawn from every industrj' and calling, 

 and amongst them were more than 350,- 

 000 belonging to agriculture, who were 

 and are, by experience and training, weU 

 adapted to undertake settlement in Can- 

 ada, The inducement offered to thesie 

 men through The Soldier Settlement Act 

 is nothing more or less than a direct at- 

 tempt at State-aided land settlement, and 

 a new effort in agricultural colonization. 



Despite the hardships of the time, very 

 substantial re-establishment benefits have 

 accrued to Canadian veterans through the 

 Soldier Settlement Act, and as a factor 

 in re-establishment, the work done has 

 very great value. A very large majority 

 of our settlers, in spite of the difficulty 

 of getting adequate cash returns for their 

 produce, have at least been provided with 

 food for themselves and their families, a 

 roof over their heads, and an independent 

 source of livelihood, when but for the 

 Soldier Settlement Act, many would today 

 be found in the ranks of tlie unemployed 

 ex-soldiers who are congesting our urban 

 centres. Nevertheless, considered as a 

 national project, the methods adopted and 

 the results accomplished must be judged 

 on the broad basis of agricultural coloni- 

 zation. 



The incidental aspect of re-establish- 

 ment has (n-eated many administrative dif- 

 ficulties wiiich have been accentuated by 

 the i)opular belief tliat the primary object 

 underlying the Avhole effort was re-estab- 

 lishment, and as a conse(|uence the Board 

 lias not been able to safeguard its position 

 with all of those means wliich commercial 



