GROWTH OF CANADA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19675, 29 June 1927, Page 8

GROWTH OF CANADA.

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. SIXTY YEARS OF PROGRESS. OPENING OF' VICTORY TOWER. VISIT OF PRINCE OF WALES. The diamond jubilee of the Confederation of Canada and of her birth as a Dominion falls next Friday, and celebrations of the important event will extend over several weeks. The Prince of W ales and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr. Stanley Baldwin, are expected to leave for Canada about the middle of July to take part in the festival. By act of the Dominion Parliament, a large and representative body known as the National Committee for the Celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation was set up to organise the arrangements. The committee has sought to co-ordinate the efforts of provinces and municipalities from one end of Canada to the other with those of the Dominion Government. The most important event will be the opening of the Victory Memorial Tower at Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, to perpetuate the memory of the 56,634 Canadian officers and men who gave their lives in the Great War. The tower is a wonderful piece of architecture and contains a carillon of 53 bells, which will peal for the first time on Friday. Ideal of National Unity. The following resolution was passed in the Canadian House of Commons and in the Senate, on April 14:—"It is the earnest wish of Parliament that the diamond. jubilee celebration, for which plans are now being rapidly matured, shall commemorate appropriately and enthusiastically tho acconfplishment of confederation and the subsequent progress of the Dominion. We trust that this com- | memoration will lend added inspiration to the patriotic fervour of our people, and ' afford a clearer vision of our aspirations and ideals, to tho end that from sea to sea there may be developed a robust Canadian spirit, and in all things Canadian, profounder national unity."

Canadians iu all parts of the world may be justly proud of the progress of their native land during the past 60 yearsprogress that few nations in the world's history have achieved in so short a time. Ever since the memorable day, July 1, 1867, when tha Act providing for the anion of the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as the Dominion of Canada came into force, ths nation has never looked back. Area and Population. Since then the Dominion of Canada has extended. The four original provinces contained 350,188 square miles of land and inland waters. After the purchase of the vast Hudson Bay Territory in 1870. the admission of British Columbia in 1871, and of Prince Edward Island in 1873, the area of the Dominion was stated in tho census of 1881 as 3,470,592 square miles Further exploration in the northeri' regions has resulted in increasing the esti mated land area to 3,654,200 square miles, or well over 10 times the area of tlx Dominion as originally constituted. The population growth of Canada afford.an excellent measure of general econouiri progress. Canada began the 19th cen4ttr_\ with a population estimated betweei: 250,000 and 260,000. The first census wa>taken in 1851 and the total was 2,384.91<for the territory now included in the L)o minion of Canada. Since then there havr been rapid increases in population anrl to day the people in the Dominion numbei nearly 10,000.000. Much could be written of the natural resources of Canada, consisting mainly ot agricultural lands, forests, fisheries, minerals, waterpowers and fur-bearinp animals. In recent years Canada has made rapid strides as a manufacturing country, the value of her manufactures in 1925 being approximated £590.000,000, compared with £44,000,000 in 1870. In 1925 over half a million of )her people were employed in manufacturing concerns. In that year also she possessed 22,331 manufacturing establishments with capital investment in lands, building and equipment, running into many millions of pounds. Favourable Trade Balance. In no other field is the progress of Canada more significantly written than in her trade annals. Her favourable trade balance per capita was the largest in the world in 1926". Her trade with all countries for the fiscal year 1926 amounted to approximately £452.000,000, or about 20 times what it was at confederation. The United States had a population of 75,000,000 before her total foreign trade was as large as that of Canada to-day. There has been a tendency within recent years to cement the ties of trade relationship between Canada and New Zealand ana efforts in this direction have met with a large measure of success. The Canadian Government has a trade commissioner in New Zealand with headquarters in Auckland, and it is felt in manv quarters that New Zealand should be likewise represented in Canada. Canadian organisations in all parts of the world will observe the occasion in some way. The office of the trade commissioner in Auckland will be open on Friday to receive visitors, and in the .evening' the Canadian Club will hold a reunion. The club numbers about 4tfand an interesting programme is being prepared.