160 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



ment of capital, and, owing to its mobility, capital is one of the most 

 sensitive of economic instruments. 



In order that capital may be obtained for those engaged in small 

 detached industries, or for farmers whose trading transactions spread 

 over long periods, it is essential that there should be co-operation in 

 order that the security to attract capital can be mobilized to the best 

 advantage. 



Speculation in farm lands has had a tendency to destroy the 

 real values on which any sound system of credit must be established. 

 Moreover, homesteads have been arbitrarily fixed at sizes which can- 

 not be justified by the amount of capital which the new settler has 

 available to improve and develop them. It requires from $1,000 to 

 $2,500 capital to work a farm of 160 acres to advantage, and some 

 authorities advise that the settler should have a minimum of $1,000, 

 plus credit of $500 to $1,000, to "make good."* Unfortunately, the 

 average settler has too little capital, and the man who has been suc- 

 cessful in making money in the city does not usually go on the land. 

 The want of sufficient capital, when land is taken up, is one of the most 

 prolific causes of failure in farming. 



One weakness of rural credit legislation is that the whole value 

 of it may be lost by land speculation. Unless accompanied by a 

 proper system of organized colonization, the lending of money at 

 low interest may help to increase the selling price of land and therefore, 

 give to the seller the whole advantage intended to be given to the 

 purchaser. Thus a man who wants to go on the land may have to 

 pay more for it in proportion as he can obtain cheap money to buy it. 



RURAL CREDIT IN CANADA 



During the past few years there has been no subject which has 

 been more widely ventilated in Canada than that of rural credit. 



A joint committee of commerce and agriculture, composed of 

 representatives of the business interests of the western provinces 

 and representatives of the organized farmers' associations, has been 

 meeting in conference during the past year and discussing problems 

 affecting the mutual welfare of the agricultural, manufacturing and 

 general business interests. The object of the organization has been 

 to bring the different rural and urban interests together and to en- 



* "On the whole we would not feel warranted in advising any man to buy a 

 farm unless he had a minimum capital of $1,000. Even then he will need our as- 

 sistance. Without it, $1,500 to $2,000 is little enough. The same holds good even 

 in homesteading on government land where the land costs nothing." Mr. G. L. 

 Robinson in Report of the Jewish Immigration and Industrial Aid Society, New York. 



