CHAPTER III 



Present Systems of Surveying and Planning Land 



in Rural Areas 



Present system of surveying land in rural districts. Dominion surveys. 

 Provincial surveys. Township planning. Fixing road reserva- 

 tions. Reservation of land adjoining lakes and watercourses. 

 Object of surveys. Radial plans. Proposed scheme for townsite 

 in Northern Ontario. Manitoba scheme. Practicability of com- 

 munity settlements. Diagrams illustrating certain principles of 

 planning rural areas. Townsite and building sub-division plans 

 in rural areas. Effect of rural on urban planning. Ancient 

 rectangular plans. The beginnings of urban planning. Present 

 control of sub-division surveys. Land classification. 



Present System of Surveying Land in Rural Districts 



AS a general rule there has been no proper planning of rural and 

 r^k urban areas in Canada — merely adherence to a rectangular 

 system of survey. Land has been divided according to cer- 

 tain principles laid down by land surveyors, to whom have been assigned 

 greater responsibilities in defining boundaries of municipal areas and 

 land divisions than in older countries. The system originated in the 

 United States. Both in its inception and development it appears 

 to have been designed to promote speculation — both private and 

 public — rather than the economic use of the land.* From the sur- 

 veyor's point of view it appears to have been influenced in its growth 

 by two main considerations. These were, first, the necessity of mapping 

 out the territory on a geometrical plan, without regard to the physical 

 features of the surface of the land owing to the vastness of the areas 

 to be dealt with, and, second, the need for accuracy and simplicity 

 in defining boundaries of the different units of a geometrical system. 



* The intention of the Government of the United States was not to promote 

 speculation but that was the inevitable result of the system. In 1796 a minimum 

 price of $1 was charged per acre, and was later raised to $2, with the purpose of 

 stopping speculation, but this did not prevent wholesale speculation from being 

 carried on. The Homestead Act was not passed till 1862, but no change was made 

 in the system of survey. Over 250,000,000 acres of land were alienated under that 

 Act. See also article on "The Settlement of Public Lands in the United States," in 

 Vol. VI, No. 3, of Bulletin issued by Canadian Commissioner of International Insti- 

 tute of A griculture. 



45 



