Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 127, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1912 — “ONE MILLION LEAGUE FOR MANITOBA.” [ARTICLE]

“ONE MILLION LEAGUE FOR MANITOBA.”

The purposes of the "Million for Manitoba League” are set out in the fact that Manitoba wants more people. Today the population is less than five hundred thousand, and the determination of the representative men of the Province to devote their best energies to increasing this to a million is a worthy one. There is already a widespread interest in every municipality; committees are appointed, whose duties are to secure such a thorough knowledge of local Conditions that, whether the applicant for Information be a laborer for the farm, a would-be tenant, a probable homesteader, the buyer of a small improved farm or the purchaser of a large tract for colonizing farmers, the information is at hand, free. The advantages that Manitoba possesses are many, and with the exploitation that will be given them by the birth of this new acquisition to the settlement and immigration propaganda that is being carried on by the Dominion Government, there is no doubt that the establishment of the bureau will very soon bring about the results looked for. Manitoba is practically the gateway of the great grain belt of the West Its farm lands have demonstrated time and again that they have a yielding value that practically makes them worth Over one hundred dollars per acre. Added to the yielding value of the land, there is an increased value on account of its nearness to markets, and the matter of freight rates is carefully considered by the cautious buyer. But the information more valuable to the Incoming settler is that it still has an immense amount of vacant fertile land open for homesteads. This dispels the Idea that free homesteads in Manitoba are about exhausted. In addition to this, the territory recently added to the Province will open up a homesteading area which when filled should fully satisfy the "Million for Manitoba League.” Within the old boundaries there is an area of 47,360,000 acres, less than six million acres of the 16% million acres occupied being under cultivation. At present there ure over 20 million acres of available land capable of being put under the plough. If in every one of the 195,000 vacant quarter sections of the Province an average family of four persons were placed, there would be added a rural population of nearly 800,000. So there Is room for additional hundreds of thousands on the farms of Manitoba, without any possibility of congestion. The population per mile in lowa is 39.4, in Minnesota it la 23.5. That in Manitoba is only 7.1. A glance at the map, copies of which will bd forwarded upon application to any Canadian Government Agent, shows that Manitoba is wonderfully well supplied with railways. There are but few farms that are more than ten or twelve miles from a railway line: elevators are convenient, and markets are always good. The growing of grain, while a big feature in the Inducements held out, is well reenforced by the great possibilities that exist in all portions of the Province, for the raising, of stock, for dairying, for hogs, and for a successful class of mixed farming, and what gives additional interest is the fact that there is so much land in the Province open for free homesteading that improved farms in almost all of the 98 municipalities can be purchased at very low figures. Many of the owners of these have made sufficient upon which to retire and are becoming residents of-the cities. In addition to the export market for the produce of the farm, Manitoba has a number of large cities and towns providing a splendid local market. Truck and garden farming are highly profitable branches. Winnipeg is a city bordering on 200,000. Brandon is a splendid centre, Portagp la Prairie is the hub of an excellent district, and Yorkton, Minnedosa, Dauphin, Morden, Manitou and a dozen other towns are' important help as consumers. The Dominion and Provincial immigration officials are working in strong sympathy with the "Million for Manitoba League,” and in addition to the general literature sent out by the Government, the League has prepared pamphlets giving useful and concise information, which on addressing the Secretary/ Million League, Winnipeg, Manitoba, will be forwarded free.