CANADA'S REVIVAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 25, 30 January 1934, Page 11

CANADA'S REVIVAL.

FIRST FAINT SIGNS.

SHARP EYE ON N.R.A

MAY PROFIT BY U.S EXPERIENCE.

(By SIR PERCIVAL PHILLIPS.)

CALGAPA" (Alberta), December 20. The premature arrival of winter after the severe drought and poor harvest is no incentive to the optimist in the prairie provinces of Canada. Alberta was blanketed in snow weeks before the usual time, and disgusted farmers and ranchers are digging themselves in with hungry mortgages as their companions. It is by no means a cheerful picture. Yet it might be worse. There are signs elsewhere that the Dominion is beginning to recover from the depyession, and the effect is beginning to be felt faintly here.

The farmer is again hoping that his voice, so long unheeded, will at last be heard, and that he will be relieved of his intolerable burden, brought about by the decline in prices during - the past three years. While not possessing the patience of Job, he has been showing wonderful courage. The margin between destitution and comfort is not so great that it cannot bo bridged by co-operation with his countrymen. He lias learned economy in production during the past few years, and overhead charges have been'so far reduced that it will not require a very, large rise in the; price of wheat to put him on a profitable basis. His spokesmen arc now urging the financial interests in the more prosperous provinces to come to his aid by writing down loans, modifying rates of interest, and wiping out wholly or partially the accumulated interest which he has never been able to pay. Until agriculture is restored on a sound basis it \ym remain a dead weight on the Dominion and the chief obstacle to recover;. Field crops in. the prairie provinces last year realised 35,575,60011>, the lieater part of which went to eastern Canada for purchases and services.

"Antagonistic Indifference." The burden of' debt was assumed when conditions were entirely dlff « l from those of. the present ty'J&* values were high, farm products brought good prices, and the tanner could support obligations by his ta nin"B. Owing to the decline in commodity prices, farms are now being carried on in most cases on an actual cash loss, apart from interest mortgage and living expenses. Mortgages are now in excess of the value of the property, and the mortgagor has no hope ioi payment. For these reasons the Canadian financial interests are urged_ to act without delay to remedy what is becoming a grave crisis. While agriculture is "stagnant and tied to moneylenders, there-is naturally no enthusiasm in the western areas for the proposal to reopen immigration.- The attitude of people? in Alberta, Whether stock growers, farmers or townsman, was described to me as "antagonistic indifference. Farming conditions obviously offer no 'inducement to new-settlers and there is certainly no room for them else-

where. . ■ Nearly 10,000 unemployed men and, women are registered in the towns of Alberta, 670 having been added last week. Provincial labour camps have absorbed 2100 unmarried men, who are engaged in public works and are fed and lodged free and given tabacco and 10d a day, not as a wage, but to pay for necessaries. The renewal of nnmigration would be unpopular until conditions materially improved and immigrants are safeguarded against dotting into the ranks of the unemployed.

One Healthy Indication. One indication' of a healthy revival is the availability, of funds for investment. Insurance companies have had little or no monev to lend for this purpose, because of the raids for advances bv policy-holders. This pressure, combined with the declining stock and bond inventories, compelled a course of extreme caution. The companes are now to make loans again, which. will lead' to a revival of building construction, badly needed in many cities. The Canadian Chamber, which speaka for some 250,000 farmers and business men, 180 boards of trade, and 250 firms and corporations, sees reason for encouragement in the upward trend ot business. Members are paying close attention to the working of the National Recovery Act in the United States. The only official opinion on President Roosevelt's experiment expressed in the Dominion comes from the chamber, which says that the development of the recovery movement in the United States will be followed with interest, but it believes that such enactments are inadvisable in Canada at the present time, as the trade situation here is entirely different. By adopting a policy of watchful waiting, it states, the Dominion will be able to profit by the success as well as the shortcomings revealed in the operation of the National Recovery Act. Business men in the United States are showing anxiety over the loss of their trade in Canada. 'A conference was held recently in eastern Canada by the committee of the chamber and a delegation of American industrialists, which sheds significant lio-ht on the new movement across the frc-ntier to tighten the commercial ties between the two countries. Americans are alarmed by the effect of what they call "discriminatory tariffs" in Canada, which have nullified trade advantages formerly possessed by both' countries.

New Agreement Urged. Thev are asking for a "neighbourly review" of tariff differences at the forthjoming "trade negotiations, in which President Roosevelt is showing a strong personal interest. Canada's predominance as'an exporter of agricultural commodities is put forward as a reason for a new bilateral agreement. American business men think their country is rapidly nearing conditions, so far as foreign trade is concerned, such as existed in pre-war days- a decliningagricultural surplus for export. They propose a reciprocal trade plan giving "reasonable opportunity ami fair competition on the basis of relative cost and economical efficient production. The Canadian delegates listened with interest and, without committing themselves, framed a carefully worded resolution endorsing the need for surveying trade possibilities. The Chamber, at the annual convention recently, received convincing evidence of steady and even rapid improvement in commercial conditions. Canada, has issued a call to the business interests of the country to take the fullest advantage of the' opportunity for active development of trade aiul the promotion of Canadian enterprises. — (X.A.X.A.)