RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 201 



great need is to make this production the basis of manufacturing indus- 

 tries at home. These would be primarily rural industries, helping 

 the farmer with markets as well as increasing the country's wealth. 

 Why should most of the $7,000,000 which it costs to run the Cobalt 

 mines be largely spent in the great cities? By making life in mining 

 centres more attractive, much can be done to keep the wealth of these 

 centres where it is produced. Why should the men who, with their 

 labour, produce the $20,000,000 in gold and silver in Northern Ontario 

 be so poorly housed, to the injury of themselves and the nation and 

 to the advantage of the agitator for industrial unrest? Much is being 

 done to improve conditions, but not enough by means of government 

 guidance, and the Cobalts and Porcupines of the future will thrive 

 all the more if the social organization and planning of the new centres 

 of industry receive adequate attention of government authorities. 

 This matter may come more directly under the jurisdiction of pro- 

 vincial governments, but the lead of the Federal Government, and the 

 provision by it of financial aid to stimulate rural manufacturing, 

 subject to proper schemes of development, will be of great value in 

 promoting the industrial welfare of the country. 



While the organization of community settlements by special pres- 

 sure and artificial means hardly ever leads to permanent success, 

 everything points to the conclusion that efforts given to artificially 

 promote rural industries, which are established to develop natural 

 resources and are economically sound, can produce successful results. 



The education and training of inhabitants of rural districts in 

 handicrafts similar to those which have been so successful in Europe 

 in developing artistic skill and in preventing rural depopulation, 

 and the stimulation of domestic industries in the homes of farmers and 

 villagers, is another important direction in which governments can 

 assist to build up a more stable rural organization. 



Improvement of Highways and Control of Railway Development 



Federal aid to highway development should be given in co-opera- 

 tion with and not independent of the provinces. If this matter is 

 taken up by the Federal Government the precedent of the British 

 Government, in placing the administration of road improvement 

 under an expert board instead of under a department of the govern- 

 ment, is one which it would probably be safe to follow. There is 

 no matter in regard to which there can be greater waste in construc- 

 tion than in a highway system which is badly planned. Only after 

 a well-defined system of highways fitted into detailed schemes of 

 development has been prepared by the provincial governments 



