Dominion Lands Policy

287 Pages·1973·14.083 MB·English

by  Thomas Martin

"Dominion Lands" Policy
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"Dominion Lands" Policy
Chester Martin
Edited and with an Introduction
by Lewis H. Thomas
The Carleton Library No. 69
McClelland and Stewart Limited
© McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1973
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Canadian Publishers
McClelland and Stewart Limited
25 Hollinger Road, Toronto 374
Printed and bound in Canada by
T. H. Best Printing Company Limited
THE CARLETON LIBRARY
A series of Canadian reprints and new
collections of source material relating
to Canada, issued under the editorial
supervision of the Institute of Canadian
Studies of Carleton University, Ottawa.
INTERIM DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE
N. H. Lithwick
GENERAL EDITOR
Michael Gnarowski
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
James H. Marsh
EDITORIAL BOARD
Duncan Anderson (Geography)
B. Carman Bickerton (History)
Dennis Forcese (Sociology)
J. George Neuspiel (Law)
Thomas K. Rymes (Economics)
Derek G. Smith (Anthropology)
Michael S. Whittington (Political Science)
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION, ix
PREFACE, xix
1. THE SURRENDER OF RUPERT'S LAND, 1
2. 'THE PURPOSES OF THE DOMINION"
1. Canada and the Transfer, 7
2. Historic "Purposes", 10
3. Parallels and Precedents, 13
4. The Surveys, 16
5. Half-breed Grants and Hudson's Bay Reserves, 20
3. RAILWAY LAND GRANTS: THE C.P.R.
1. A Kingdom for a Horse, 28
2. Origins in the United States, 29
3. A New Technique, 32
4. Two Other Analogies, 36
5. A "Pacific Railway" for Canada, 38
•6. Trends and Tendencies, 41
7. The C.P.R. Charter, 45
4. RAILWAY LAND GRANTS: COLONIZATION
RAILWAYS
1. Branch Lines and Local Patriotism, 53
2. The C.P.R. Subsidiaries, 55
3. The Canadian Northern and Subsidiaries, 65
4. The Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railroad,
71
5. RAILWAY LAND GRANTS: POLICIES AND
BY-PRODUCTS
1. Railways and Settlement, 73
2. Sales and Prices, 78
3. C.P.R. Land Policies, 80
4. Colonization Railways and Land Companies, 88
5. The End of the Railway Land Grant System, 96
6. SCHOOL LANDS
1. Dominion Policy at its Best, 100
2. Precedents in the U.S. and "Canada", 101
3. School Lands in Dominion Policy, 103
4. School Lands Policy and Administration, 106
7. THE FREE HOMESTEAD SYSTEM: THE
BACKGROUND IN THE UNITED STATES
1. Analogies and Contrasts, 116
2. Sectionalism and the Frontier, 120
3. The Homestead Act of 1862, 122
4. The Homestead Act in the United States, 124
8. THE FREE-HOMESTEAD SYSTEM: THE BRITISH
PROVINCES
1. Contrasts and Complications, 128
2. The Maritime Provinces, 129
3. Land Policy in the Canadas, 132
4. Free Homesteads and "Dominion Lands", 137
9. THE FREE-HOMESTEAD SYSTEM FOR
"DOMINION LANDS"
1. Free Homesteads Taken for Granted, 140
2. Homesteads and Railway Land Grants, 143
3. The Staple of Land Policy, 147
4. The System at Work: Early Defects, 150
5. The System at Work: Later Results, 154
10. PRE-EMPTIONS AND PURCHASED HOMESTEADS:
THE PASSING OF THE FREE-HOMESTEAD SYSTEM
1. Tendencies towards Larger Holdings, 157
2. The Passing of the Free Homestead, 168
11. SWAMP LANDS, GRAZING, TIMBER, MINING AND
WATER RIGHTS
1. Swamp Lands, 175
2. Grazing Lands, 178
3. Timber, 181
4. Forest Reserves and Parks, 189
5. Mining Policy on Dominion Lands, 190
6. Water Rights, 199
12. "THE NATURAL RESOURCES QUESTION": THE
TRANSFER OF 1930
1. Poverty and Provincial Rights, 1870-1905, 204
2. New Provinces and Subsidies "in Lieu of Lands", 210
3. The Transfer of 1930: The Manitoba Settlement, 214
4. The Transfer of 1930: Alberta and Saskatchewan, 222
13. FEDERAL POLICIES AND PROVINCIAL PROBLEMS
1. Federal Alienations: Free Homesteads and Land Sales, 227
2. Land Sales versus Free Grants, 231
3. The Railway Land Grant System, 233
4. The Free-Homestead System, 237
5. Conclusion, 244
NOTE ON THE EDITOR, 247
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES, 248
INDEX, 251
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Introduction to the
Carleton
Library Edition
Professor Chester Martin's "Dominion Lands'' Policy is one of
ten studies prepared by Canadian scholars for the Canadian Fron-
tiers of Settlement series, published in eight volumes between
1934 and 1940. In the mid-1920's Dr. Isiah Bowman, the distin-
guished American geographer and Director of the American Geo-
graphical Society, had conceived the idea of studying the contem-
porary occupancy of the pioneer lands of the world. This process,
he argued, differed from the nineteenth century American frontier
experience which predated the era of machine agriculture. The
twentieth century "pioneer belts of the world are regions of
experiment," he wrote, "'experimental zones' we might call
them."1 Governments were much concerned with "questions of
immigration and land use and the thrust of settlement into
pioneer areas,"2-hence the desirability of formulating "a science
of settlement."
A science of settlement is not desirable merely to provide
means by which to attract men to new land. The ultimate
withdrawal of the borders of settlement in the least favourable
situations is also one of its objects. It is unintelligent to grow
everything that can be grown in a given place. Pioneering is an
acute question of national magnitude not only because men
have gone to the frontier but also because they are now going
in large numbers. Science no less than government seeks to
follow them in their advance and in their community building.3
After several years' scrutiny by national research-sponsoring
organizations in the United States, Bowman's project was
approved. The American Social Science Research Council made
available substantial funds for research and publication costs, and
an advisory committee of the American Geographical Society,
under Bowman's leadership, sought the cooperation of Canadian
scholars in preparing a series of studies of pioneer zones in
1 Isiah Bowman, The Pioneer Fringe (New York, 1931), p. v.
2 Ibid., p. vi.
3 Ibid.