20 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



to our railways and when the greatest need of Canada is for more 

 human energy to cultivate these fertile acres, it is unfortunate, to 

 say the least, that settlement has been encouraged where failure was 

 inevitable. Although efforts are now being made, in Ontario and 

 other provinces, to stop the settlement of land which is unsuit- 

 able for agriculture,* it is questionable if the organization which is 

 endeavouring to accomplish this task can do more than touch the 

 fringe of the problem. Having regard to its seriousness, and to the 

 train of evils which follow as a result of failure in land settlement, 

 everything possible should be .done to safeguard the country against 

 such consequences. The wasted energy and capital of settlers who 

 break down in a losing fight against natural obstacles is only a small 

 part of the loss to themselves and their country ; there is also the phy- 

 sical and moral deterioration which seems to set in, in every poor 

 agricultural district; there is the loss of hope in themselves and their 

 broken faith in the capacity of the land to give them a living. Child- 

 ren who grow up under such conditions are often worse housed, 

 worse cared for and worse educated than children in the city slums. 

 When people reach this condition they warn other people off the land, 

 both by their appearance and by the accounts they give of their 

 hopeless struggles. 



PHYSICAL AND MORAL DETERIORATION 



That there is physical and moral deterioration going on in some 

 of the rural districts in Canada appears to be only too well estab- 

 lished. This is said to be the case, not only in the old settled parts of 

 the older provinces but also in new regions which are being opened 

 up for settlement. Further evidence regarding Ontario districts is 

 given in a report on conditions existing in a part of the county of Peter- 

 borough, prepared at the request of Sir Wm. Mulock, the presiding 

 judge at the assizes held in the city of Peterborough, in February, 

 1916. In the press report of the remarks made by the presiding judge 

 he is credited with having said : 



"Attention was drawn to the degenerate condition of people 

 in the back townships of this and the county of Hastings. These 

 people were in poverty, living on unproductive land and the children 

 brought up in an immoral atmosphere. The grand jury was asked 



* "Having seen the folly of opening for settlement townships which are rough 

 and which contain only a small percentage of good land, the Government of Ontario 

 has provided that, before a township is opened for settlement, it must be inspected 

 by a competent officer to ascertain (a) the percentage of good land in it; (b) the 

 quantity and varieties of timber; (c) whether it is chiefly valuable for its mines 

 and minerals." Hon. Frank Cochrane, Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines of 

 Ontario, in address to Commission of Conservation, 1910. First Annual Report, 

 p. 75. 



