THE ISSUE IN. CANADA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17957, 6 December 1921, Page 9

THE ISSUE IN. CANADA.

GENERAL ELECTION TO ; DAY. TARIFF AND ECONOMY. GQ.VERNMENT'S. APPEAL. [from our own correspondent.] \ VANCOUVER. Nov. 11. The genera! elections in Canada will take place on December 6, and according to a manifesto recently issued by the Prime Minister, Mr. Arthur v Meighen, Canada has to make a momentous decision upon a vital, clean-cut issue affecting tho future of every Canadian, and also the future of the Dominion. The people are asked to decide between reasonablo protection and-free trade, between " continued prosperity and economic ruin." "In view of the present world-wide conditions of uncertainty, unrest, and unemployment—the inevitable aftermath of war—protection is needed to-day more than ever before," Mr. Meighen declares. "In fact, protection, coupled with unflinching courage by the people and a strong, stable Government, is the only hope Canada has of emerging from the crisis with its strength and economic liberty unimpaired. " On the other hand, there is the spectre of national and individual ruin—the spectre of Canada's industrial and economic collapse—a collapse to follow if the people adopt the Free Trade policies' of Crerar, or the wobbling, indefinite tariff proposals of Iting. " Should Meighen fail to obtain a clear working majority, Crerar and King will combine to destroy the' fiscal policy that has made Canada industrially great. Business stagnation would be Hire to follow, and the country would be set back 20 years. Under Free Trade, the Canalian dollar would depreciate still more, Canadian industries would be driven to the United States, thousands of Canadian men and women would be deprived of their employment, and the Canadian farmer would lose hip home market." The Leader ol the Farmers. The campaign of the Progressive (Farmers') Party is led by Mr. T. A. Crerar, formerly Minister for Agriculture in the Borden Administration. In a reoent speech he denied that the Agrarian Party is a class organisation, claiming that in the Medicine Hat election the party's candidate received a majority in every town and ctiy in the constituency, being supported because the urban population believed that tho movement would elevate the moral tone of the publio life of Canada, and that out of it* would come great good to the whole of Canada. Turning to the fiscal questicm, Mr. Crerar drew a contrast between the prosperity of Britain and Holland under free trade,and the condition of Nova Scotia under protection, declaring that the great volume of emigration from the maritime province proved the failure of protection, j Someone in the audience asked if he I applied the same text to Belgium, which was prosperous under protection. It was not as a result of a protection, Mr./' Crerar replied. His questioner said it was, and Mr. Crerar replied that he was not going to be,drawn into a controversy on the point,' and it dropped. However, he added that the departure during thb last 10 years of 1,500,000 Canadians into the United States was owing to "unsatisfactory conditions in Canac& and ftroof positive of the failure "of the' protective polirfy. His own policy leaned toward free trade as a goaf, but planned for . arrival at it by easy stages /.that r would' not dislocate Canadian industry; Forvthe present the policy was free agricultural implements and free implements and machinery for the development of fields, forest,, mines, and fisheries. He was sure that negotiations could be reopened with the United States Government toward free trade in food products between tho United States and Canada. Generally, what was needed, he said, was. a large, broad-visioned policy that would make the country prosperous. He did not' give specific details of what would constitute such a policy, but suggested once more that a new moral tone was needed in the public life of Canada, a moral tone that would not subordinate public to privato interests.

The Government Shipping. A favourito subject with tho Opposition candidates is the Government mercantile marine, tho existence of which is declared to demonstrate the extravagance of the present Administration. Thin criticism has been answered by Mr. C. "C. Ballantyne, Minister for-Marine, who said that in November, 1917, one of the greatest and most pressing war [ roblems with which Sir Robert Borden had to deal was that of ocean tonnage. Additional shipping was urgently needed for war purposes : with tho Government-owned system of railways it was necessary to have ships to carry the inbound and out■bound freight transported by the railways, and Canada needed her own., mercantile marine to expand her export trade. He declared that the building of the ships had been absolutely necessary for the continuance of trade and industry and essential in the successful prosecution of thewar. Mr. Ballantyne further emphasised the importance of Canada's mercantile marine, which had developed trade routes in various of tho world, and had particularly expanded the Dominion trading with wife West Indies, South America, | Australia, New Zealand, and the Orient. Twitting the Liberal Leader. Mr. Mackenzie King, the Liberal leader, discovered a veritable mare s nest when he charged the Government with purchasing vaßt supplies of high explosives at, the present time. It seems that Canada made enormous quantities of these explosives during the war, and it was only recently that the last thousands of tons were returned from England. Mr. Kiug saw some of these munitions in some warehouses in Eastern Canada, and addressed an ambiguous letter to Mr. Meighen on the subject, and allowed his letter to appear in all tho leading Dominion newspapers beforo it was received'-bv the Prime Minister. Mr. King demanded whether there was going to be a viuj but ;ne Prime Minister replied that there nan been one. This was a rather sarcastic pill for tho Libera] leader to swallow, for he has been severely criticised for Jus personal war record.