ALADDIN CITIES OF THE WEST

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 378, 2 May 1910, Page 8

ALADDIN CITIES OF THE WEST

A WONDERFUL RECORD. To the English mind one of the most interesting features of the development of Canada"is undoubtedly the almost uncanny way in which great cities have sprung up on the vast plains where but a few vears before wa~ unfiling hut rolling prairie. In Europe people move ! slowly; thev do not expect to find towns arising, like Aladdin's palace, on spots 1 which, when we la-t pa's-i A that way, I were lonely and uninhabited; indeed, J thev are surprised if they fiu4 that a town has altered very much in twenty years. But, unlike the palace which rose at the bidding of the Genie of the Lamp, these Canadian cities, whose development is so amazingly swift and recent, will not lie magicked away. They are firmly rooted, and their progress is as sound and healthy as the slower development of the great cities of Euri °Pej The Englishman expects everything to | go on in its regular groove; he is rather I apt to find that his" mental equilibrium is upset by finding in place of tie little wayside station he once knew a vast junction with multitudinous lines and signal-boxes, surrounded by a dense sea of grey-roofed houses, and factory chimneys. He usually calls it "spoiling the country," and does not think of the la-j bor and the capital that have been beneficially employed in the building, or that it will find a market fur, DELIGHT IN DEVELOPMENT j Tile Canadian, however, finds real Joy J in development avork. On his journey-' ings across Western Canada he lias wit-1 nessed the birth and growth of a dozen cities. First there appeared beside the track a few shacks, then a hotel, stores, and more houses come on the scene; nresently a wayside station shows up, and more dwellings. Two years later sidewalks and sewers have been laid down, a power-house is built, and now, when he visits it, .perhaps eight years after, there are banks, schools, churches (in place of a single tin tabernacle for all three purposes), three or four miles of paved streets, and a couple of daily papers. This wonderful growth of the Western cities has been admirably set out and presented in a compact and useful form by the Free Press, of Winnipeg, so that it is possible to see at a glance and compare the progress and development made by twelve principal cities in the West (Brandon, Calgary, Edmonton, Fernie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, Portage La Prairie, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg) during the last nine years. No greater proof of the attractions that these cities hold out to the capitalist and the laborer could be wanted than, the fact that in nine years their pomilations have increased 284 per cent., and in the last three years "0 per cent. Two examples should suffice. At the Dominion census of 1001 the inhabitants of Saskatoon numbered 113. in 11100 they Were 3011, in 1909 12,100—a total increase of 2565 per cent. Surely phenomenal! Edmonton comes second, with a gain of 852 per cent, for the period, her present population being 25,000, as against 2626 in 1901.

While their inhabitants are thus increasing in number? daily, it is interesting to note the arrangement..? which are being made for public health an J' convenience. Eleven of the cities possess between thpin 040 miles of sidewalk, 410 miles of water mains, and 343 miles of sewers, and there has been an increase in construction in-two years of, respectively, 31 per cent., 43 per cent., and 3S per cent. Among the little odds and ends gleaned in connection with this important subject one notes that Winnipeg has I*2l miles of paved streets, and has a revenue of 357.303d01. from the municipal water service, being an increase in three years of 113 per cent. BUILDING INVESTMENTS. In the matter of expenditure in erecting business houses and dwellings in the twelve Western cities, no less than 40,003,007d01. has been invested in building in the last three years. Last year was a record year: 20,G87,123d01. was spent in this way during the twelve months, as compared with a total of 14,553.064 for the year 1007. Examining the figures in detail, one notes that a sum of nearly nine and a quarter million dollars was invested in buildings by Winnipeg in 100!) (fourteen and a half million in 1007), 042,005d01. by Saska-' toon (as against 277.211 in 1007), Fer-1 nie jumped in three years from a quar-1 ter of a million to 1.374,700d0].. and ] Tollbridge from. 205.000 to 1,277.280 Soli • •• —I

Turning to the question of postal and' Customs revenue an even more remarkable gain lias been made. After Winnipeg—with the lordly sum of GG5,231d01. from postal revenue for 1000-10—comes Calgary with 138.813rt01.. being an increase of 150 per cent, on 53,408. the figures for 1005-6. Edmonton, however, has made the largest gain during the period, her postal revenue now standing at 75,140d01., an increase of 108 per cent, as compared with the 25,404d01. for 1005-0. Saskatoon is a close second, with a gain of 170 per cent. Tn nine years the Customs revenue of the twelve towns lias risen from 1.071.784 dol. to 4,751.005d01., an increase of 343 per cent. Edmonton lias made the largest gain in this, too, her increase durong the period being 1520 per cent. Kegina follows with an increase of 1140 tier cent.. Moose Jaw comes third with one of 1011 per cent., and Calgary fourth with a 027 ]ier cent. gain. The figures are respectivelyEdmonton, 230,240 dol. (1001, 14.127d01.); Regina, 101,057 dol. (15.332d01.): Moose Jaw 45.325d01. (4350d01.); Calgary 423,120d0l (41,104 dol.)

After reading those remarkable figures, proving as they do tlio unpnrallelod development of' the cities in the West, it does not seem fur-fetched to shadow forth a dav when the plains of Western Canada 4iall he studded with cities rivalling in wealth and size the leading capitals of Europe. And that day is likely to be seen by many people Avho are living now. There will lie manv great fortunes made between now and then, as the result of mere growth: and many move as the reward of individual effort.