CANADA OF TO-DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11047, 2 November 1921, Page 8

CANADA OF TO-DAY

AN IMPROVED OUTLOOK THE AFTERMATH: UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM. HEAVY TAN ON INCOMES. A director of the largest and most important bank in Canada, writing to a correspondent in Wellington, under date 3rd ultimo, says:— "Conditions in this country are improving, I think, slightly. The liquidation of stocks of materials of. one character and another has been pretty well accomplished. The pulp and paper business suffered to a very large extent, and the management of one of the Largest companies—the Pulp and Paper Company—must have lost their hesras as the expenditures were of such a character that for the year 1921 they were faced with obligations and commitments amounting to some fouiteen million dollars. Their greatest error was in expanding and spending money in fixed investments; and their trade has fallen off to such an extent that I feel sure they will be put into liquidation. They owe their creditors alone some five million odd dollars. BETTER EFFICIENCY. “Wages have come down materially, and we have, of course, the natural result—better efficiency. W hat is staring us in the face for the coming winter is the large number of unemployed. ’The banks here are all in fairly good shape; some of them, I think, are a little on the side of lending more than they should in proportion to their capital and assets. They are charging the usual 6 per cent, up to 7 per eent. on first-class paper. The new securities that have been offered have, in some oases, been on an 8 per cent._ basis. The provinces have been borrowing money of late from the United States, and In a few instances have had to pay what is equal to about 61 per cent, to 7 per cent. TAXING INCOMES. It just happens that in this morn ing’s paper there is compiled the returns for last\ year; and yoi will note, from the enclosed clipping, that our farming community, which, of course, is in the majority, have been comparatively small subscribers. We have representing that class a large number who ore free-traders, and they have formed a party —the United Farmers!— which is generally spoken of as tho ‘U.F.O.’. They are now in control in the provinces of Ontario and Saskatchewan. "I am sending you, in addition, a booklet issued by the Royal Trust Company, which will give you an -idea of what we are up against in payments on incomes. You will see that our rich men have more than 44 per cent, of their income to pay. As a result, they are not in a position to, and do not take up any of what ' might be ventures in the interests of Canadian business. Our friends to the south are still maintaining their, income tax, though there was some publicity given to the effect that they were going to reduce it; but, with ail the gold of the world in their possession, they do not seem to be much better off than the rest of the world. ; AAIERICA’S FOREIGN TRADE. “The result of the foreign trade of the United States has been very disastrous in a financial way. A bank which was controlled by P, J. Morgan and Company and the Guarantee Trust Company made a perfect fiasco,; losing all their capital and drawing on their principal—27,ooo,ooo dollars it is stat-ed—-so they are buying their experience in foreign trade. “As you say, it seems ludicrous that, with a desire to do foreign business and having all the gold, they expect the buyers in foreign markets to pay gold,' and then put up a tariff to atop importations from these countries. One cannot understand what they ore trying to accomplish.” It may he added that 44 per cent, is the exact amount payable by tax payers in this country whose incomes amount to £IO,OOO per annum and over.