Free land
In 1896, under the Minister of the Interior Clifford Sifton's driving leadership, the Canadian government began a vigorous campaign to attract settlers to the prairies. Pamphlets advertising the soil's quality and its suitability for agriculture, were printed and distributed throughout the U.S. and Europe. A grant of 160 acres of land was given to anyone settling on the prairies. Subsidized fares were provided on sea passages, as well as reduced rail fares on C.P.R. colonist cars departing ports of embarkation. The great land rush gradually gained momentum as the world emerged from a long depression, and there was a growing demand for wheat. By 1914, over a million settlers had arrived on the prairies.
To ensure the success of the program, every Canadian official, from the minister down to the Mounted Policeman, was enlisted to advise and assist the new settlers. The police became land agents, agricultural experts, welfare officials and immigration officers. The immigrant's first contact with officialdom on stepping off the train was often the local N.W.M.P. detachment. The police would give advice on the remaining available land in the area, sometimes driving the settlers out and helping them choose their sections. The police issued seed grain, quarantined livestock, and wrote copious reports on crop and soil conditions. If a settler lost a cow, he came to the police. If his crops failed and he had insufficient means to get his family through the winter, he applied to the local detachment for welfare.
Almost a third of the settlers who arrived between 1896 and 1914 were from continental Europe - Ukrainians, Germans, Finns, Swedes and Russians. Many did not speak English, and the police had to employ interpreters to explain Canadian laws and customs. The only criterion used to select immigrants was their ability and willingness to settle the land. Some of them had strange religious beliefs which posed special problems for the police. During 1899, several thousand Doukhobors arrived to take up homesteads. They were excellent farmers, but by 1902, a fanatical element among them began the first of many protest marches. More than a thousand Doukhobors started out from Yorkton in winter weather, without adequate food or clothing. Insp. J.Q. Wilson commanded a group of 20 men to accompany the Doukhobors on their march and ensure their safety. in November they reached Minnedosa, Manitoba. Here, under Dominion officials' orders, and with a minimum of violence, the N.W.M.P. supervised boarding the Doukhobors onto trains for their return to Yorkton.
Assisting new settlers placed an additional burden on the Force. It also provided the Commissioner with a new argument to counter demands for a reduction in the Force's strength.
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