THE NEEDS OF WESTERN CANADA. [To TIER EDITOR OF THE
"SPECTATOR"] Sts.,—In your interesting article entitled " A Pound a Week " in your issue of November 30th you allude to the importance of "developing to the utmost" the emigration of women ; and you commend the letter in the Times of November 27th, appealing for help to forward a new scheme for sending out educated women to Canada. As one of the signatories of that letter, together with the Bishops of Winchester and Southwark, I venture to write to you on the furtherance of the plan there put forward. We of the United Girls' Mission draw our support from a large number of the most important girls' schools in England. The " Old Girls " of those schools maintain the U.G.S. Settlement, which has been established in Camberwell for some six years. They now propose to develop further by taking their place in the van of their country's enterprise and establishing a settlement of educated women in the Far West. The Settlement has pledged itself to go out to Quesnel in British Columbia in the spring of 1914, and in the meantime a most generous offer has been made them of a house and hall with land at Edmonton, in Alberta, provided it can be taken advantage of this coming spring. It is hoped that Edmonton may be made a centre, and workers sent on from there to Quesnel when needed. The demand for women's work in Canada is great, and, as you have pointed out, educated women go there in far too small a proportion to those of our young men of the same class. We who are connected with so many English girls feel it incumbent on us to do what we can to remedy this defect and to urge suitable women to go out. Any woman who is capable and has the desire to serve, in its widest sense, will be
of very great use. Our aim is to help the future life of the country, and to do our part to ensure that a young and coming nation should not grow up without that basis of all strength of character—a real and serious religion. The U.G.S. Settle- ment is not rich; it has as much as it can do to maintain its work in South London, so that it needs substantial and ready help if it is to avail itself of the munificent offer now made to it. We feel it is an opportunity both religious and Imperial, and one which we dare not refuse without at least trying to raise the necessary funds. The right women, we have reason to believe, will be forthcoming. Subscriptions to the United Girls' Schools' Settlement Canada Fund may be sent either to Colonel Esson, 6 Chelsea Court, S.W., or to myself at the U.G.S. Settlement, 19 Peckham Road, Camberwell, S.E. I shall, of course, be very glad to give further details.—I am,
Sir, &c., ETHEL DE BURGH° HODGE.
U.G.S. Settlement, 19 Peckham Road, Camberwell, S.B.
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