60 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



proper trial; or they will fail to take advantage of the good qualities 

 of the system which has already been tried, and assume too much per- 

 fection of the ideas that have not been put to a practical test. 



One difficulty that has to be met in connection with these schemes 

 is the misunderstanding which is caused by the wrong use of terms. The 

 words "community" and "colonization" have taken on many mean- 

 ings, and to a large number of people they are anathema, because they 

 suggest something of an institutional character or something relating 

 to racial or religious community settlement. It should not be 

 necessary to point out that the proper planning of land will 

 not affect the individual freedom of the settler or the members 

 of his family. But because the present system has the presumed 

 merit of representing the extreme of individualism, and be- 

 cause some "communal schemes" have been socialistic in character, 

 it is unfortunately true that this has prejudiced many settlers 

 against departure from the individualistic method of settlement. 

 The right kind of plan and scheme of development will facilitate 

 but not force social intercourse, will permit but not compel co-opera- 

 tion, and will not affect, in the slightest degree, the individual who 

 wishes complete freedom of action. 



At a "Closer Community" conference held at Regina, in 1915, 

 a scheme to promote the settlement of agricultural communities 

 was put forward by Mr. J. H. Haslam, of the Regina Board of Trade. 

 The scheme seemed to involve too much paternalism on the part of 

 the government and met with a good deal of criticism, on the ground 

 that the artificial promotion of village communities would not solve 

 the real problem, namely, the unfavourable economic conditions 

 underlying the agricultural industry. It was held by some 

 speakers that the village community tended to attract people of the 

 same nationalities to settle in groups, retarding the process of 

 making the foreign settlers into Canadian citizens with Anglo-Saxon 

 ideals; and that the greatest need was to promote the prosperity 

 and the improvement of social conditions for those already on the 

 land rather than for bringing a greater area under cultivation. 



On general principles the advantages of closer settlement were 

 not opposed, but only the artificial promotion of that kind of settle- 

 ment by means of government subsidies. The creation of an improved 

 organization to further the agricultural interests and to secure bet- 

 ter means of raising capital for farming purposes was urged. 

 There seemed to be a general agreement as to the injury caused 

 .by speculation, the need for filling up the vacant lands held by ab- 



