The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-16
27, ,O0O FORMER SOL DIERS ARE PLACED ON CANADIAN FARMS
 THROUGH GOVERNMENT LOANS

plicant must pass a rigid examina- ton as to physical ability, moral character and sincerity of purpose, with the result that. out of the 2G,- 900 men who have now been on the land upwards of two years, strict supervision of their operations has revealed the fact that only about 10 per cent have failed to show prom ise of satisfactory results. In some cases, 1t has been found necessary to allow the settler to withdraw from his obligation and the board has taken over his farm and sold 1t to another.
 In 425 such cases, where the in- vestment of the government was S1,GG2,729, the government realized on resale S1,654,528, showing loss ot only Sl9.30 on each farm
 Run For 25 Years
 The loans for land and permanent Improvements run for 25 years those for stock and equipment Tor six years with interest at per cent. No payments were due until the fall of 1920 when 12,321 men were liable. The number who made repayments was 9339 and l,439 made prepay'- ments There were 403 who repaid their entire loans.
 In view of the collapse of the mar kets in the middle of the threshing season and of the occurrence ot drouth and other visitations last year in some localities in the west, the government regards this state- ment as very satisfactory, and it is believed that very few years will see most of these soldier farmers well on their way to success Indeed, there are cases where settlers have taken from the ground crops aggre- gating in value more than the whole cost of their farms.
 Alberta Leads
 Alberta has ,ne iarg test number Of soldier settlers, with 605S; Saskatch- evan second, with 5.136; the other provinces in the order named, Mani toba, 3,319: British Columbia, 3975; ontario, 1,521; New Brunswick, 543; Nova Scotia, 3s1; Quebec, 363; Prince |. ru Island, 329.
 In addition to the loan advantages When a soldier settler has, the board secures for him very favorable arr engagements with regard to the pur- chase of his stock and equipment Farm machinery manufacturers lum- Der dealers, harness and wagon mak- CTS give special prices to soldier set tiers, Tn some cases. amounting to reduction of 30 per cent. In the pur- chase of equipment, the board has ef- fected saving of SSS6,S94. It also has saved the settlers large sums in land purchase. No intermediary is permitted to take a raSe-off on sol dier farms; the land is bought direct from the owner.
 The most important advantage, however, is the supervision which the board gives to it's settlers It ad- vises him in all his operations until satisfied that he Is doing we'll and in position to carry on without assist ance. It buys only what he needs, not what he wants, in this way curb ing his propensity for rash buying.
 A home branch counsels and as- sists in whatever manner seems to be desirable the dependents of the set tiers This branch has secured the co cooperation of the Red Cross and other societies in the establishment of hospitals in remote areas and it has brought thousands of the women to centers of population for courses in home economies. which have proved very interesting and helpful.
 This great re-establishmenf scheme, which it is claimed is unri- valed in the world, is administered by a board of three; Major John Barnett, Major E. J. Ashton and Samuel Ma Der The head office is at Ottawa and district offices are established in every province.