Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-07-27

Manitoba Mcnnonites Even with
the Canadian Government
II" Iphin Work o. tho Sturdy Coi
0~'.'. IN I'n,inc fo- Their Homes
Thritv and Grow
Ing Community.

h, MNnIoi4It,- farmers 81 Manitoba.
L. whuui the Dominion government
.'.,Aca hearly oh" hundred Thousand
- i.a!> eighteen Years hlp L. enable
II, Il. I aiming ate to fhrInlnE lands i'll
'ia...trta. have repaid the debt With
Interest. closing thc account. and also
ne unusual and romantic relations
'hn' all these wears have existed be-
'Nc'n them and III" government az
tuada. The story i told in the latest
report 81 \. VI. burgess. deputy minis
;"r IF the department IF III" interior.
and quoted by the N>w York sun.
Early in 1872, soon after the great
northwest had been transferred to Can
ada, the government began e. look
abroad for settlers to turn the bound
e>> prairie int" fruitful fields. They
heard that in Russia was an isolated
people the German Mennonites, race
IF farmers who desired to find new
homes ia the far west, where they and
their wives and children could live in
peace and quictnees. which was no
longer assured to them by the govern
ment of the ear. Canada at once sent
an agent to Russia t. ask these people
To send representatives to Manitoba to
Inspect the country. SO they sent to
Canada several persons in whom they
had confidence. and the result of their
report WAS that in 1874 many families
went to Manitoba and settled few
miles southeast of Winnipeg. They
were supplied with money and needed
no assistance. Hundreds Of their
l. a
them, but We're prevented by the fear
that they might become stranded in a
strange country before they were able
t. support themselves. This fact was
published in a Canadian newspaper,
and the result was that about $50 we'll
TODD farmers of German extraction,
who lived in the county of Waterloo,
Ont, formed themselves into the Wa
terloo society and told the government
that if it would advance the money re-
quired to assist the Minnonites to Man
itoba they would pledge their farms
as security for the repayment of the
loan. The government found the Sc
curity excellent and accordingly ad-
vanced 500, 400 to the immigrants with
the understanding that it would not
ask for any part of the principal or in
tcrest until the Mennonites who Dor
rowed the money had been able to get
fair start in their new homes All
the government had to do was to ad-
vance the money. The business de.
tails were looked after by the Waterloo
society. Its secretary saw to the dis
tribution of the loan. its collection and
its repayment to the government.
This branch of the Mennonite colony
settled in townships Immediately north
of the international border between
the Red river on the east and Pembins
mountain on the west. At that time
the tract was treeless prairie, rich in
everything, except trees. that makesag
ricultural lands desirable. The immi
grants began to cross the ocean il
1875. and the work Of preparing shelter
for the winter and the difficulty o,
getting supplies prevented them the
first season from bringing more than
small area under cultivation. Moth.
ing, however, disheartened the sturdy
workers, though their first crop was
injured by grasshoppers and the next
two crops by excessive rains. Each
year saw considerable additions tc
their number and larger area under
cultivation. Their village grew, they
built roads and bridges, and to-day the
country that seventeen years ago was
a treeless prairie without solitary
settler is one Of the most thriving in
the Canadian northwest. It is, in fact, |
beginning to overflow, and many Of the |
young men are looking for homesteads |
further west, either in Manitoba or the |
northwest territories. The money
which these people have repaid in
cludes not only the SOC, 400 borrowed,
but also S33, 9S6 interest, making .
total return of $3.50, 1856. Mr.. Burgess,
in his report, rightly observes that
''the history Of no country affords q
case in which an obligation to the gov
eminent on the part of any society,
company or individual has been full
filed with greater faithfulness than
this" The entire transaction seems
creditable to the government, the Men
MONTE immigrants and the Waterloo
society, and it is noteworthy that
neither of the persons to whom the
loan was made nor the Waterloo So
ciety, which became accountable for
its repayment, has ever requested any
abatement of the terms Of refund, nor
in any case has there been any effort
of the settlers or their bondsmen TO e.