74 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



in the country districts. The more evenly we can spread the popu- 

 lation, the more efficient and profitable we will make the railways. 

 Decentralization of manufacturing industries will not only bring the 

 producer nearer to the consumer, but will simplify and cheapen 

 transportation. The want of railways in advance of settlement is 

 declared to be a serious drawback in Australia. This need not be 

 so in Canada, except in a very limited degree, if we apply a large por- 

 tion of our effort for the next ten years to the task of filling up the 

 blank spaces near the existing railways with productive settlers. The 

 railway companies would benefit in the end if the government were 

 to initiate a policy which would, by means of reasonable restrictions, 

 limit the profits which companies could derive from land speculation, 

 and at the same time, place a larger burden of taxation on 

 idle land so as to encourage its use. A cheaper parcel post and lower 

 freights, which might mean temporary loss to the railways and ex- 

 press companies, would ultimately benefit them, because of the fact 

 that it would stimulate greater rural production. 



PLANNING OF RAILWAYS 



Before more railways are built or branch lines are extended 

 land should be planned and the road and railway systems devised 

 so as to fit in with each other. 



Railway extensions should be made with the primary object of 

 assisting production and facilitating distribution in the general pub- 

 lic interest. The general plan of railway extension should be pre- 

 pared after and not before a comprehensive survey and classification 

 of land and other resources are made. The initiation of railway enter- 

 prises too often rests with railway promoters and too seldom follows 

 any properly conceived plan of development The railways should 

 be made to serve the needs of the country through which it passes 

 and should be planned for that purpose. 



In regard to the detailed planning of railway lines, that is a mat- 

 ter which is safe in the hands of the railway engineers who are entrusted 

 with the work. Whereas, highways are laid out without plan or 

 adequate preliminary survey by government authorities, no railway 

 company has dared to follow a similar haphazard practice in regard 

 to the laying out of railways. No doubt there are many engineering 

 defects in the railway system, but they are not due to want of planning. 

 To some extent they may be due to imperfect judgment or lack of 

 skill on the part of the engineers, but probably they are more due to 

 the influence of ulterior considerations, such as the method of financ- 

 ing railway enterprises. 



