WOMEN AND CIGARETTES

Evening Star, Issue 19779, 1 February 1928, Page 4

WOMEN AND CIGARETTES

PRICE RISING IN CANADA. Increased use of cigarettes by Canadian women is given as a reason for the sharp advance in the shares of the Imperial Tobacco Company, which controls about 80 per cent, of cigarette production of Canada. At the present rate of dividend the stock is now selling to yield less than 5 per cent., but the high price is said to be justified by the possibilities of the new market that is opening up. Another factor is the likelihood that the heavy excise taxes which have litherto prevailed will be modified at )he next session of Parliament. Cigarettes in Canada cost Ig cents each, and [or the cheaper brands 1J cents, as tgainst 5-8 cents and | cents for standard brands in the United States—that is, two or three times as much in Canada. The excise tax, which is a purely revenue tax, is so high that it has passed the point of maximum revenue production. It either curtails purchases or promotes smuggling, or both. Cigarette smuggling is notorious. The Government is understood to be impressed by the argument. The Imperial Tobacco Company is one large Canadian corporation that remains British in control, being a subsidiary of the British Ame'ricanTobacco Company of London, England. Recent buying of the shares, it has originated largely with Canadians.