CANADA AND AMERICA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 28 September 1915, Page 5

CANADA AND AMERICA.

A NEW ZEALANDEJR'S IMPRESa._Tt?» war > con"nerce, industrial BE*, the Panama Exposition, the temper^ * ance movement, and the growth%af cities were the topics of Mr T. J. Ifc-. Uride s conversation when he was interviewed by a Lyttelton Times reporter, alter spending six months in Canada. and the United States. In Canada he saw evidence of exactly tiie same patriotic spirit as actuates the people of New Zealand. In all parts, amongst all classes, there is awilhngness to make the heaviest sacrifice ol material, money ft n4 moj^ to J-£ &twminat, 5n -~ u s £ {t tt-o^,^ use a phrase that is on everybody's lips. In the United States, between 75 and 80 per cent, of the people, perhaps, believe in the justness of the. AJ* lies' cause. Many of them think that President Wilson has been wise to keen out of the struggle, but Mr Mcßride's ooservations convinced him that if the Allies are very hard pressed by their enemies, the United States will find a__ excuse for intervention, and will take a hand in the fight. There is a strong feeling that that is the policy Presi- ' dent Wilson will follow. American manufacturers receive most of ther orders placed by the Allies, but Canada's share recently has been increased. The Dominion *has found that it i* really competent to manufacture shells. Large buildings previously used for ordinary industrial purposes have been converted into shell factories. Many firms which, on account of the slackness, were working at half-time, now :»r_ Earning thei' attention to themanufacture of munitions. The prices. paid for these warlike goods are sufficiently high to allow the manufacturer* to "scrap" the special machinery ani_ plant whenV they are no longer re* quired. ' As far as this year's crops are concerned, botTr cou_rt.ries have splendid prospects. Some of the" cities in Canada have groun extraordinarily since: Mr Mcßride left that Dominion seventeen years ago to come to live in New Zealand, but many of them are passing through very quiet times. As a matter of fact, with some of them it is a case of absolutely hard times. This has been brought about by the bursting of theland boom about the same time as the declaration of war. It is expected that the depression will be fairly widespread,, because values have been greatly inflated and banks are "closing down" in all directions. This makes the money market very "tight" just at the time when people are most urgently in need of accommodation. The crop, however, will help the country to overcome its difficulties. It will not be exactly a boom crop, but there will be a large yield of all cereals, and these, probably, will be disposed of before "Ehe .gates Ol the -Dardanelles are opened nnd the output of two of Russia's vast harvests is liberated.

The temperance movement has gone ahead by leaps and bounds in Canada and the United States during Mr MfcBrfde's seventeen years' residence in. these parts. In Toronto, the leading city of Ontario, all hotels close prompt-'----ly at 8 p.m. on week days and at 7 rp.m. on Sundays. In Canada, the ruleis one hotel one bar. The Government of Saskatchewan has taken complete centrol of the liquor traffic in the district, and monotjolisps the sale. In Alberta, on adjoining district, a plebiscite disclosed a majority of 25,000 in favor of Government control or complete prohibition. Passing through the' United States, Mr Mcßride found a large number of districts that had gone dry. Notices are posted in railway carriages announcing thai, the train will' soon enter a. certain 1 district, where limior is prohibited. It is believed that California will" be the next on the list. The. temperance movement is much 'stronger just now in both Canada and the United States, Mr Mcßride thinks, than in New Zealand, and it is growing rapidly.