land caribou of the Arctic region ; the de- 
velopment of reindeer herds in the north 
country to feed the natives by furnishing 
transportation to permit of the explora- 
tion and development of the middle north 
from Hudson Bay west ; we have had to 
deal with the creation of bird sanctuaries 
and with the proposed treaty for the pro- 
tection of migratory birds. We have gone 
into the subject of fur-producing areas 
of the north with a view to the creation 
of breeding sanctuaries for the fur-bear- 
ers. 
In addition to all these many ques- 
tions more directly related to human wel- 
fare have also seemed to call for con- 
sideration and action by the parks organi- 
zation, such as children’s supervised play- 
grounds. the movement for the restora- 
tion of the play-spirit, and the social center 
question and its associated ideas. 
In asking for appropriations from Par- 
liament the Parks Branch presents its case 
from a purely business standpoint. The 
acid test of any business is: will it pay 
dividends and will it continue to pay them ? 
When we ask Parliament for money we 
submit a case to demonstrate that the 
establishment and development of national 
parks will pay. What is more we con- 
tend that there is no national enterprise 
that will pay better dividends, because they 
will pay not only in the strictly com- 
mercial dollars and cents way, but they 
will also pay in a still more important 
way — by adding to the efficiency and viril- 
ity of the nation. 
From a purely commercial standpoint it 
is well known that there is no better 
paying business than tourist traffic. Na- 
tional parks of outstanding scenic and 
other natural attractions constitute focal 
points for tourist attraction and tourist 
interest. Parks will pay in a commercial 
sense because people each year are willing 
to spend vast amounts of money upon 
tours. It is calculated that tourists an- 
nually spend in France, Italy and Switzer- 
land a total of $750,000,000. It has been 
estimated that Americans spend abroad 
from $300,000,000 to $400,000,000 each year. 
London, Paris and Berlin have each been 
collecting an annual toll from its tourists 
of from $25,000,000 to $30,000,000. Figures 
compiled by the New England railways in- 
dicate that in 1913 tourists spent in those 
States not less than $100,000,000. Mr. W. 
T. Robson, organizer of the Canadian 
Travel Association has prepared an esti- 
mate of the expenditure of foreign tour- 
ists in Canada last year which shows that 
field crops, forest products and minerals 
are the only natural resources in Canada 
producing a larger revenue than tourist 
traffic. 
The various figures demonstrate clearly 
the commercial potentialities of tourist 
traffic. Tourists go where the outstanding 
attractions are. Who, then, can have the 
temerity to place a limit upon the cash 
dividends to be paid by national parks such 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
as exist on this continent? If we take 
the foreign tourist figures of just one of 
our national parks, a simple arithmetical 
calculation proves that the country derived 
a revenue many times larger than our 
total expenditure on all our parks. 
From a purely commercial standpoint 
alone, therefore, national parks would 
justify their existence, but to me the com- 
mercial side is only an incident. It is 
in regard to what they do for the vitality 
and virility of the people that parks pay 
their biggest dividends. 
They pay these dividends by provid- 
ing man with exceptional facilities for 
recreation in the out-of-doors. By tempt- 
ing him to take advantage of them and 
by developing in him habits of life with 
regard to the out-of-doors whose good re- 
sults will persist long after a trip to a 
park has terminated. 
To an organization such as the Ameri- 
can Civic Association it is not necessary 
for me to argue that for the good of the 
nation something must be done, that a 
great deal must be done, to counteract 
the adverse effect of modern social and in- 
dustrial conditions upon the vitality and 
efficiency and happiness of mankind. Man 
is naturally an out-of-doors animal. Mod- 
ern conditions have largely banished na- 
ture and the out-of-doors from his life. 
Nature is subjecting him to the inevi- 
table retribution that follows the viola- 
tion of natural laws. 
If we cannot change the social condi- 
tions which are devitalizing man the next 
best step is to provide means by which 
he can periodically return to the out-of- 
doors. Let any individual here spend a 
few days or a few weeks or a few months 
in a national park. What does he get? 
He gets inspiring scenery and invigorating 
fresh air. He gets stimulating sunshine, 
and rejuvenating exercise and to vitalize 
all lie gets play-happiness, the greatest of 
all tonics. 
The body has a profound influence upon 
the mind and quite apart from the direct 
mental stimulus from life close to nature, 
his mind is clarified and energized by the 
effect of his bodily health. With such a 
body and such a mind who will say that 
his normal life is not also stimulated and 
enriched? Therefore, in this particular 
case the individual leaves the park in 
every respect a more efficient citizen. The 
park has paid a dividend. 
Is such a dividend worth while to the 
nation? Emphatically, yes. The position 
which a nation shall occupy with respect 
to leadership in the world in all that is 
worth while depends not upon its re- 
sources of soil and forest, mine and stream, 
but upon the character, virility and capacity 
of its people. The best resources in the 
world are of no value unless you can 
have the proper kind of people to handle 
and develop them. A ton of iron may 
be worth only a few dollars. Put brains 
into it and turn it into watch springs and 
171 
it is worth thousands. This country and 
other countries are spending vast sums 
of money in the conservation of forests 
and other natural resources. All this is 
in vain unless it also adequately provides 
for the conservation of the greatest re- 
source of all, its men and women. 
The human wealth of a country must 
always be its chief asset. Every dividend 
paid by a national park adds to this 
wealth. 
As national parks are today it is im- 
possible for them to pay dividends on all 
citizens because geographical and other 
considerations prevent the majority of 
citizens using them. Obviously there are 
not enough parks. The aim of our Parks 
Bureau is that eventually no citizen of 
Canada, whatever his circumstances, shall 
be denied the opportunity of receiving and 
enjoying what national parks can give 
him. 
This consideration has led our Parks 
Bureau to plan for national parks not only 
in the mountains of the west, but through- 
out the prairies and throughout the east. 
We want to bring the parks to the peo- 
ple. Our main purpose now is to get the 
parks established. We are not worrying 
much about their development. We want to 
get them while land is available and cheap. 
Probably there are no portions of Canada 
that would suffer today for lack of places 
for out-of-doors recreation if there was 
not a single park. But what of the future? 
We remember the moral of the speech 
delivered before your Association a few 
years ago by Ambassador Bryce : 
“Now let us remember that the quan- 
tity of natural beauty in the world, the 
number of spots calculated to give en- 
joyment in the highest form are limited 
and are being constantly encroached upon. 
We in England and Scotland have lost 
some of % the most beautiful scenery we 
possess because it has been taken into pri- 
vate estates. A great deal of the finest 
scenery in Scotland is now practically un- 
approachable by the pedestrian or the art- 
ist or the naturalist because people have 
appropriated it to their private purposes 
and keep the people out. There is no 
better service we can render the masses 
of the people than to set about to pre- 
serve for them wide spaces of fine scen- 
ery for their delight.” 
In its campaign for more parks in order 
to bring parks advantages to all the people 
our Bureau is in the first place seeking 
out new areas of outstanding scenic and 
other natural attractions. These we shall 
try to have set aside as national parks. 
We want to be sure that Canadians of one 
hundred years from now will have an equal 
opportunity with ourselves to enjoy the 
natural beauties of their country and that 
they will have access to them by right of 
citizenship. We recognize that the peo- 
ple of the large centres of population are 
the people who need parks most and at 
the same time are the least likely to be 
