The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-03

StioIiiSl SSiiOOl Is CT Idiu 1OI LIS SAlll-
dren, and there is a complete system
of education from the kindergarten
to the university. The American finds
the cities and towns to be about the
same as corresponding communities
in the United States. The architecture
Is the same and the methods Of doing
business are not dissimilar. In the
stores he finds about the same class of
goods as he would find in like stores
in the United States. If he looks to
his social relations, he finds that the
composition of the community in which
he has settled is noWise diSSimilar from
that of thousands of communities in
the United States. He finds stable
banking system, whose solidity is the
admiration Of American financiers, and
he finds currency that is as reliable
as any in the world. The cost of living
is about the same as in the United
States, possibly little higher, though
there are certain kinds of goods that
are much cheaper in Canada than in
the United States, on account OF the
higher American tariff.
The Land of Wheat
The staple product of Western Can
ada is wheat, and wheat will doubtless
be king for many years to come. The
charging conditions Of agriculture in
the United States are forcing Western
Canada to become a great wheat
country. AS population increases in
the United States and the extent of
cheap or free land in the West de-
creases there IS a marked tendency for
the wheat acreage to decline. Ever
since the conquest of the American will
derness began there has been a steady
turning over of land from wheat to
other crops, but until recently the
Increase in the acreage on account of
the occupation of new farming coun-
try more than offset the loss by reason
of change. Now, however, there is
practically no more virgin country in
tho United States suitable for wheat
growing. The. farmers find, as has
ever been found before them, that
there are more profitable ways of
handling high-priced land adjacent to
large markets than. raising wheat. In
Western Canada, however, the land is
cheap and has been occupied only in a
small part. The conditions are favor
able to large farms, and for large
farms there is no better crop than
wheat, because it can be handled with
a minimum of labor and expense and
always finds a ready market The
gradual withdrawal of large portion
of the present United States acreage
from wheat raising will make it nee
essary for some other country to make
UP the large quantities of wheat the
TTnifa1 orlx
markets of the world. No country is
better suited than Canada to succeed
the United States in this work of pro-
viding white bread for the over-popu-
lated countries than Canada.
Extensive Railway Building
The railway building now going on
in Western Canada makes it certain
that the country will be well provided
with means of transport The Cana
dian Northern is building on to Ed
monitor, 500 miles northwest of VIM
nipeg, besides branch lines. The Ca
madam Pacific is at work on several
branch lines with an aggregate mileage
CT several hundred miles. The Grand
Trunk Pacific, keeping pace with the
expansion of the Dominion, is about to
begin work on a transcontinentaf rail-
way that will begin at Moncton, N.
B., and end at Port Simpson, b. c..
This line will pass through Winnipeg,
and between that city and Edmonton
will take course north Of the main
line of the Canadian Pacific and south
of the main line Of the Canadian
Northern. Freight rates on the Cana
dian railways are we'll known to be
very reasonable, so that a great dis
lance from the market is not a serious
drawback to farming operations.
1t now seems probable that within
few years railway will be built
from the Western Canadian wheat belt
to some point on Hudson's bay. When
that is done the larger part of the
wheat produced in Western Canada
will be within a few hundred miles
haul of salt water, and the distance to
the British markets will be reduced by
thousand miles. Western Canada
will then be much nearer to the
worlds markets than the western part
of the United States.