The Right Hon. the Earl of Clarendon, Chairman, and Mr. T. C. Macnaghten, C.M.G., C.B.E., ViceChairman, of the Oversea Settlement Committee, on their VISIT TO CANADA in connection with BRITISH SETTLEMENT Presented by the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs November, 1926. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purchased directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: 15, Donegall Square West, Belfast; or through any Bookseller. 1926 Cmd. 2760. Price 1s. net. TABLE OF CONTENTS. : Settlement of Canadian Soldiers Handling of British Families Settling under the Scheme : : : : : : : 53 Report by The Right Hon. the Earl of Clarendon, Chairman, and Mr. T. C. Macnaghten, C.M.G., C.B.E., Vice-Chairman, of the Oversea Settlement Committee, on their visit to Canada in connection with British Settlement. MR. AMERY, In accordance with your instructions and by arrangement with the Dominion Authorities we left for Canada on the 10th of July, embarking at Southampton and travelling on Canadian Pacific Railway Company's s.s. "Empress of Scotland." We left Quebec on our return journey in the Canadian Pacific Railway Company's s.s. Empress of France" on the 29th September, and reached Southampton on the 6th October. Three Thousand Families Scheme. The primary purpose of our visit was to study land settlement in Canada and particularly to ascertain what progress has been made by the families who went to Canada from the United Kingdom during the seasons of 1925 and 1926 under the scheme known as the "Three Thousand Families Scheme." The scheme has been described in the Annual Reports of the Oversea Settlement Committee and in the Press, but we think it desirable again to describe its chief features. Under the terms of an Agreement entered into between His Majesty's Government and the Dominion Government in August, 1924, the latter Government agrees to provide suitable families from the United Kingdom who are recruited and selected by representatives of the Dominion Government, with suitable farms in established districts throughout Canada. The farms must contain a sufficient amount of land fit for immediate cultivation, and a house must be provided upon each of them. The total indebtedness which may be assumed by any family must not exceed $7,500 (roughly £1,500) and varies from a minimum of $3,500 up to this maximum. The debt incurred for the land, house and farm buildings, which must not exceed $6,000, is repayable to the Dominion Government, and the debt for live stock and equipment, which must not exceed $1,500, is repayable to His Majesty's Government. These debts are repayable with interest not exceeding 5 per cent. in twenty-five equal annual payments. The annual repayment in the case of a family whose debt is $3,500 would be approximately $250 a year, and about $525 in the case of a family whose debt is $7,500. Under the terms of the Agreement the first repayment falls due at the end of the second season after the family's arrival in Canada, but in the case of farms from which no immediate large revenue may be expected, the first repayment is usually deferred until the end of the third season after arrival. Under the Dominion Government at Ottawa, the scheme is supervised by the Land Settlement Branch of the Department of Immigration and Colonization, of which the Soldier Settlement Board (i.e., the organization set up to deal with the settlement of Canadian soldiers upon the land) has recently been made a part. The staff of the Board, throughout the Dominion, which actually handled the various stages of soldier settlement is now used to handle the settlement of the British families. The methods which are being adopted closely resemble those adopted for the settlement of Canadian soldiers. We therefore think it desirable to explain the origin and functions of the Soldier Settlement Board. The Soldier Settlement Board. The Board was organized for the purpose of settling upon the land in Canada Canadian soldiers who were returning from the Great War. For all practical purposes it started to function in 1919. It is composed of a Chairman and two Commissioners, appointed by the Governor-General in Council. The first permanent Chairman was Dr. W. J. Black, formerly head of the Manitoba Agricultural College, and later Commissioner of Agriculture in the Dominion Government. In 1920 he was succeeded as Chairman by Major J. Barnett, who had previously served under the Board. The two Commissioners are Major E. J. Ashton and Mr. S. Maber. The Head Office of the Board is at Ottawa, but with a view to decentralizing administration the Dominion is divided into eleven districts, viz. :- At the headquarters of each district a regular office staff was, and still is, maintained, including accounting staff, land appraisers, etc. Each of the eleven Districts was divided into sub-districts, of which there are about 120 in the whole of the Dominion. The size and number of the sub-districts depend upon the |