SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT 281 



that there is no difficulty in obtaining work and good 

 wages, but for precisely the same reason a quid pro 

 quo must be rendered in the shape of strenuous toil. 

 The life is open and healthy and, given a good 

 constitution, it cannot fail to be interesting. 



In farming in the Western Provinces food and 

 housing are included, and as the opportunities for 

 spending are few, savings rapidly accumulate. On 

 the other hand there is the loneliness of the prairie 

 and the sense of detachment from the social environ- 

 ment. Some have been unable to bear this, and 

 have been known to run away from it. It may be 

 advisable to seek an opening nearer one of the 

 centres of population, where money-making is equally 

 certain, but the pace is slower. Leading men in 

 Parliament and connected with labour bureaus share 

 this opinion. But near large towns and cities there 

 are inducements to spending which in themselves arc 

 temptations unknown in more remote districts. 

 Progress is consequently retarded, and there may be 

 a very good reason for going further afield. It all 

 comes back to the question of the character and 

 temperament of the man. Whatever be the locality, 

 town or prairie, it is idle to be attracted to Canada 

 for the "soft jobs" it offers. There are none. A 

 man will reap the highest reward of his industry, but 

 industry it must be, and of the highest order. He 

 who goes for the purpose of gambling in mines or 

 land may find a short cut to fortune — or ruin. It is 



