RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 191 



pages 5 and 6 of the bulletin it is stated that the best quality of set- 

 tlers are being attracted to this territory, 90 per cent being English 

 speaking. "The greater part of them are from Old Ontario, and 

 there are a great many of them from the United States as well, and 

 the greatest part of the remainder are the pick of the immigrants from 

 England, Scotland and Germany." 



We thus see that the soil of Northern Ontario and the character 

 of the settlers are all that can be desired, while the Ontario Govern- 

 ment appears to be willing to spend large sums in making roads and 

 other improvements. But the results, in spite of all these advant- 

 ages, do not appear to be satisfactory.* This is probably due to the 

 fact that sufficient money is not spent before settlement, that the 

 land is not properly planned and classified, and that a stereotyped 

 system of surveying is permitted to take the place of a series of proper 

 development schemes. The provincial governments have greater 

 power to make or mar the future of unorganized territory than the 

 municipal governments which follow them. Most of the evils of bad 

 development are created in the initial stages, when nothing but 

 proper organization and planning are needed to prevent them. 



The suggestion was made by the Ontario Commission on Unem- 

 ployment that, to make closer settlement plans effective in Ontario, 

 it might be desirable for the government to withdraw Crown lands 

 now open for settlement and to re-open other districts best suited 

 for intensive cultivation. This might be a desirable course to pur- 

 sue in all the provinces, and certainly there is need for consideration 

 being given to the improvement of all old settled areas already equip- 

 ped with railways and roads. Small expenditure in these areas, in 

 reclaiming swampy land and in improving roads, would probably 

 yield more permanent results than the same expenditure in new areas. 

 The whole matter requires thorough investigation and a complete 

 survey of conditions. 



As evidence of the want of efficient administration of Crown 

 lands in some provinces, we have such an admission as was made in 

 the report of the Crown Land Department of New Brunswick for 

 1915; wherein the Hon. George J. Clarke, Minister of Lands and 

 Mines, stated : 



"At present there is no information in this department bearing 

 on the extent of our Crown lands, nor have we any data as to the value 

 of the forests. Producing as they do the largest revenue return of 

 the province, more up-to-date methods should be taken in the man- 

 agement of the Crown lands." 



* See pages 56 and 135. 



