PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20087, 26 October 1928, Page 11

PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST

CANADA'S GREAT INTEREST.

PREFERENCE FOR MR. HOOVER. VALUE OF AMERICAN GOLD. [from outl own correspondent.] VANCOUVER, Oct. 3. Canada lias a greater interest in the forthcoming American Presidential election than in any that has preceded it. At no time in tile history of either country have the policies of the United States nnd the Dominion converged more closely. At no time has American gold had a larger stake in the development of Canada. To the Republican Regime of "big business" Canada owes much of her remarkable industrial development of the past few years. Whereas before the Great War 7f> per cent, of the new capital coming into the Dominion was British, now that proportion comes from the United States. The money is available in the Federal Reserve vaults in New York and in the reserves of private enterprise throughout the country. Mainly is this due to the inflow of gold in Britain's war debt repayments. Industry in Canada has never prospered as it has done recently. Canadians realise, therefore, that )>t is to their interest to have a continuance of the Republican regime in the election of Mr. Hoover. But Mr. Hoover's election will not be without its drawback for Canada. In order to placate and reconcile the farmer of the Middle West, he has promised an upward revision of the tariff on agricultural products. This will have a farreaching effect in Canada, where there is already a feeling that American fruits and vegetables are coming into the Dominion in such volume and at such prices as to render domestic production with fair chance of success and profit impracticable.

An Important Fiscal Issue. With Mr. Hoover's election, therefore, the Canadian tariff is likely to come up for further review. Tariff revision, never popular in any country, will plunge Canada into political turmoil from sea to sea. As a further aid to the farmer of the Middle West Mr. Hoover would reduce his transportation costs by going ahead with the project for deepening the St. Lawrence waterway—a scheme that will involve expenditure by both countries aggregating £30,000,000. The experts on either side of tho international boundary are not at all in agreement on the question of the proprietary rights of the waters of the St. Lawrence.

There is a strong body of public opinion in Canada, mainly on the prairie, whose support keeps Mr. Mackenzie King in power at Ottawa, that will steads fastly oppose any alteration in the tariff. It. might be expected even to go to the extreme of withholding Canadian consent to the St. Lawrence project if Mr. Hoover's intentions regarding the United States tariff are implemented by Congress and the people.

The election of Mr. Smith would also have its effect oh Canada. Just what it, would be is more difficult to determine than in the case of Mr. Hoover, whosa intentions are more explicit on issues affecting Canada. Mr. Smith proposes to modify the Volstead law to permit the States to control liquor sales on lines similar to the law of eight of the nine provinces—the ninth being " dry " with immediate promise of going " wet."

Value of the Liquor Tr&de. If Mr. Smith's proposal is adopted, it will mean a loss to Canada of £10,000,000 annually in liquor export trade with the United States. He told a Canadian correspondent at Albany, on the eve of setting out on his campaign tour, that he is very much impressed with the Canadian liquor law, its administration and its effect, and is watching developments closely. . Taking a cross-section of Canadian opinion, it would appear to be generally in favour of the election of Mr. Hoover and the continuance of the Republican regime at Washington. Canadians know the value to them of the United States policy of the past four years, and would be loth to see a change, seeing that it has been accompanied by the introduction of capitol into tho Dominion which may be assessed anywhere in the vicinity of £150,000,000 a year.