"I would go further and say that the very farthest thing from my intention or desire was to initiate and carry on a policy which would be in accord with the sentiments which hon. gentlemen opposite crystallised into action when they were in power. The policy of this government has been to carry on, so far as the land system is concerned, for the purpose, in the first place, of promoting the prosperity of the Western Country, in the second place of promoting the prosperity of the whole people of Canada, and in the third place for the purpose of pleasing the people of Western Canada with whom we had to deal. The men who are living in that western country, who are dealing with the land department, who are every day in familiar relations with the circumstances, have overwhelmingly given their endorsement to the administration of the affairs by this government."
A speech delivered in the House of Commons by the Honourable Clifford Sifton, regarding the benefits of a contract with the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company and the success of the government's policy while Sifton was leading the Department of the Interior.
Sifton's speech is divided into the following topics:
A Fatuous Conservative Policy; Mountains of Information; The Dominion Lands Act; A Department of Delay; Prompt Decision of Details; Settle the Land; Question of Secrecy; Favoritism Impossible; Parliament Fully Informed; Nothing to Conceal; Grazing Leases; Land Given to Speculators; Timber Berths; Danger of Timber Famine; The Talk of Family Graft; Grossly Unfair Statements; Lumbermen All Notified; Do-nothing Policy Wanted; Preservation of Forests; Settlement on Forest Areas; Renewal Licenses; A Progressive Policy; Why Was Mr. Foster Backward?; Saskatchewan Valley Land Co.; Letter from Osler and Hammond; Only Land Fit For Settlement; When the Contract was Made; Mr. Speers' Report; The Actual Fact; The Contract; What the Company Did; "Buncoed" by the Department; Company's Colonization Work; Brought in Settlers from U.S.; Beginning of Great Success; Canada $250,000 Ahead; The Settlers' Opinion; U.S. Moneyed Men's Influence; The Only Alternative; Mr. Foster's Bitter Grief; Mr. Turriff's Action; Was It an "Easy Contract"?; The People's Opinion; Temperance Colonization Company; A Sample Voucher; Business Under Old Government; A Charming Arrangement; Some General Observations; Settlers' Protection the Last Thing; The Canadian Northern; Vast Problem Disposed Of; Studying the West; The Homestead Law; Farmer Conditions; Where Are the Grievances Now?; A Triumphant Vindication; The Land for the Settler; and Conclusive Evidence.