The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-04-27
THE TEEMlN0 WEST,
The Prairie Lands Of Western Canad,
Being Filled with Excellent eettlers.

The Prairie Lands Of Western Canada
Being Filled with Excellent Settlers.
The salient fact that presents itself
On taking birdseye view of the Cana
dian West Is that of intense activity
in every department.. Whether the
glance be turned upon the district east
of Winnipeg, the Red River valley
south or north, the Dauphin and NJ. l.
N. w. district, the southwestern, or
whether it take in the great central
division along the main line of the &.
T. r. stretching away out to the Rock
les and from there bending north and
south to Prince, Alberta and Edmon-
ton, Mcleod and neutrality-suspicious.
the examination be made in any OF
these directions the same activity,
growth and hopefulness Is observable.
The Canadian West is not only
good place to locate permanently, but
it is also a good place to invite their
relatives and friends to come to. This
IS the spirit that seems to animate the
West at the present time, and its eff
fects are to be seen on every hand.
TO enumerate the towns where hand
some and substantial blocks and resi-
dences have gone up this year would
be simply to give list of the towns
and villages along the railway lines.
And this movement has not been con-
fined to these centers of population, but
in many cases it has been overshad-
owed by the improvement in farm
buildings.
SO far as one can see, this is no pass
ing phrase, no repetition of any tempo
rary boom following a period of good
crops and fair prices. 1t is a movement
more spontaneous, more general, more
marked than anything that has gone
before. and seems to indicate that the
great West, like Samson bursting the
encompassing bands, has awakened to
period of activity and development
that will surpass anything we have
known in the past and which will only
be paralleled by the opening out Of
some of the most fertile of the Western
States of the Union.
Look at some of the figures. Over
thousand schools in Manitoba, and
the number going up by leaps and
bounds. Something like five hundred
schools in the territories, Winnipeg az
representing: the gateway of the West,
the third city in the Dominion in regard
to bank clearings, postal business and
probably in regard to customs, the GUS
toms returns at Winnipeg running
about thirty to forty per cent greater
month by month than in the fiscal year
of 1878, the largest previous year for
actual business entries. when over
100000 was paid through the Winni-
peg office for duty. The C. P. r. and
Canada Northwest land sales together
run over 81 100000 for the year. These,
and thousand more signs show how
the West has leaped into new life.
This is an inspiring and cheering
spectacle, but it brings with it great
responsibilities. The business men real
ize this, the banks realize 1T, and have
spread their agencies through every
bustling little town clear out to the
coast, the churches realize it, and one
denomination alone has opened an av-
erage. of about thirty new stations in
each Of the past two years. and will
increase this in the year now entered
upon, the Government departments re-
alize it, and there is talk of redistribu-
ton and additional members. The ed
ucational branches realize it and new
schools are sprlnging up everywhere.
Over 10000 settlers came in from the
United States alone last year, and
these, with the people who came in
from the East, prove the most vigorous
Westerners. They lose no time in de-
veloping their farms, in filling their
grazing lands with stock. and in every
district are to be found evidences OF
thrift and prosperity.