168 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



ments, but a distinguishing feature of the one garden city at Letch- 

 worth is that a definite part of the estate which has been acquired 

 for the scheme is set apart for agricultural purposes. The general 

 objects of the scheme are as follows : — 



(1) The purchase of a large agricultural estate, on which to 

 establish an industrial and residential town, principally by securing 

 a concerted movement of manufacturers from crowded centres. 



(2) The restriction of the area set apart for urban development 

 and the permanent retention of the greater portion of the estate for agri- 

 cultural purposes. 



(3) The planning of the whole area, in order to secure health, 

 amenity, convenience and efficiency. 



(4) The limiting of the dividend to shareholders to 5 per cent 

 per annum; the balance of the profits to be used for the benefit of 

 the town and its inhabitants. 



In a previous work of the writer* it is stated that the scheme, 

 among other things, will have the effect of promoting the agricultural 

 industry in the district in which it is established by bringing the 

 market to the door of the farmers, providing security of tenure, 

 establishing small holdings, promoting co-operation and giving the 

 rural labourer accessibility to the social attractions of the town. It 

 is pointed out that the lack of public control over the building of 

 towns and the scarcity and dearness of urban land, due to the system 

 of land tenure, and the natural selfishness of the land owner, are among 

 the chief causes of overcrowding ; and that the wider distribution cf urban 

 populations should be encouraged. 



Large cities entail huge expenses for distribution, and even in Eng- 

 land, with its closely settled population, and good means of communi- 

 cation the producer does not receive an adequate proportion of the 

 price paid by the consumer. Among the causes of rural depopu- 

 lation in England have been absentee landlordism, isolation of the 

 farm land from the market, intensified by high railway rates and undue 

 growth of cities ; absence of co-operation among farmers, and national 

 neglect of agriculture in matters of education. In Canada these im- 

 pediments are further aggravated by the speculation that has taken 

 place and the necessarily scattered nature of the rural population. 



The aim of the garden city movement, as set out in the above 

 objects, may be described as the marriage of town and country. 

 The scheme has now been in operation since 1903, and has made sub- 

 stantial progress. It has suffered, however, from the lack of suffi- 



* Garden City and Agriculture, 1905. 



