Excerpt from Agricultural Population and Production: Canada's Urgently Important Problem

Is it necessary to argue that additional farming population will greatly benefit every class and industry? The universal advantage to be gained is so plain to me that I can scarcely bring myself to credit statements which are made to me that we have persons in our midst who view with dvisfav-our schemes or ideas intended to add to the volume of our farm produce. What class or industry can possibly sutter? What class or industry can possibly fail to reap advantage? Can farmers meet that annual interest. Payment more easily than farmers or farmers? Does a bushel export grain ci'op permit as low freight. Charges as a crop of bushels? Is a wheat yield of bushels sold less advantage ously than the crop of bushels which Western Canada produced a quarter - century ago? Certainly not. The larger the cropthe better we have been able to dispose of it. The lesson may well be applied to live stock and meat products. At present we fail to receive the price our meats are worth because we do not produce in sufficient regular volume. There is absolutely no possibility of the world's meat market being flooded. We may multiply our volume of production ten times, yes fifty times over, and there would still remain a wide disparity between the world's production and possible consumption unless all the recorded facts on this topic are mistaken and misleading. Every industry will be benefited by an increase of agricultural production, and agriculture itself most of all, because it will lead to a lowering of freight rates of which there seems no possibility without such increase, and it will make possible a solution on? The marketing disabilities under which we suffer especially as regards live stock an-d meats. Besides, as I have already mentioned, it will spread and thereby relieve the burden of the debt which we owe. Agriculture carries the burden. Speaking broadly it is true to say that it is agriculture alone which does carry the burden, and therefore it is plain that it is the agricultural industry which will be most benefited 'by any policy which will bring substantial enlargement of the volume of agricultural produce. In every possible way additional population must benefit, and strengthen us. It will strengthen the school district, the municipality, the church congregation, in fact the whole social structure. Add to the volume of the farming industry and thereby the cost of operation in every branch an-d department and item can be lessened. Who can be injured? Absolutely no person nor class as far as I can see. I take it then as established that we urgently need the increase and that collectively and individually we will be benefited by the largest possible enlargement.

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