OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16003, 20 February 1914, Page 8

OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

(Fiifiii Oon Own Cohhicsi'ONDent.) OTTAWA. January 5. The year 1914 Juis opened with strong probabilities of a swinging away from the naval qui alien as an immediate issue between political parties and the establishment of a new basis of controversy -a basis winch the common people will be better able, to understand. The Leader of the Opposition, Si" Wilfrid Laurwr, has come our, for the removal of all duties on foodstuffs as a, means to fl.« lowering of l.h<' cost of hying 'Ihe Government parly has iK.t, declared itself against this measure; but has appointed "a commission to study the. bar.l-: course, of the. existing scale of prices for articles of food. This s taken as suggesting a tendency to at; least compromise. Such an attitude would be popularly accepted as being more or less m the nature of opposition, and would have the efleot of creating a sharp line of cleavage Of course Ihe situation will not he clearly <<- lined until after Parliament, meets on th ■ 15th inst. , Whatever may lie the outcome from a partisan point of view, it, is certain that Kir Wilfrid Laurier will not have to light the battle-should little there be-alone. He will have powerful allies- A delegation from the Dominion Council of Agriculture, which is a rather large and influential body, recently waited unon the Government and presented a long" list, of request*. Some of these had reference to such matters as the better marketing of .grain, co-operation, freight rates, scarcity of farm labour, and so on; but tile essence of their memorial related to lower duties and a gradual approach toward Frcctrade. The representations made at some length were summed up in the following resolution:— "Whrreas the progress and development of the agricultural industry is of viral importance" to the general welfare of the .State, all other industries being largely dependent on its success, and as the Government has the interest and welfare of the country at, heart and is desirous of improving conditions; and whereas the cost of the production of all farm products is materially enhanced, and the development of our agricultural resources retarded by the excessive cost of agricultural implements, and other commodities, due to Customs duties; and whereas an import tax on foodstuffs increases the cost of kving to the extent of the tax imposed, and enables dealers and manufacturers to form cornbines and create artificial restrictions in the distribution of commercial commodities; and whereas the best interests of the people of Canada, and our loyalty to the British Crown, demand that the tariff barriers of trade with the Motherland be removed, and thus cheapen the cost to Canadian consumers ol goods manufactured in Great Britain; and whereas the free interchange of all natural products between Canada and the United States would tend to reduce the cost of living to town and country people alike; and whereas the United States Congress ha*-; passed an Act which is still in force, oli'.-nng free interchange of natural products between the two countries; therefore be it resolved;—]. That we urge the Government to recommend to Parliament at its next session, a reduction in tho tariff on imports from Great Britain to onehalf the general tariff, and to provide for a further .gradual reduction until there is Freetra.de with Great Britain in five years. 2. That Parliament accepts the oiler of tiio. United States of free interchange of all agricultural and animal products between tho two countries. 3. That all foodstuffs not provided for in the above referred to offer of the United States be transfer-rod to the free list. 4. That agricultural implements, lumber, and Cement be transferred to tae free list. 5. That, pending the passage ot legislation asked for herein, any dut;ets now imposed under the Canadian Customs tariff which arc the cause of countervailing duties being imposed against any food products ol this country by any foreign country be immediately "removed. 6. That any tariff or trade" concession granted to any other country be immediately extended to Great Britain."

in the spwch which the leader of the delegation made the taxation of food was characterised as "a crime against Immunity.'' Said the speaker in hit. conc-hieling otocrvations: "Iho crying need ot Canada to-day is increased 'production of agricultural r.ro ducts for export, and cheaper Ihing. Canada •spent hundreds of millions ot dolJais to provide waterways and other transportation facilities, yet it coats more to bring our grain to Liverpool now than ever Defore." \Ve do not ask for hu-our*, but merely for fair play. Wo . make no . request for expenditure of public money in the interest of tile industry we represent; we do ask, however, that exploiiition of fanners by transportation companies' and'.' manuiactiircrs should cease, and tnal artificial barriers to trade be removed. The policy of propping up and nourishing manulacturers at the expense of the resj, of the people must be given up. The larmcTs and wagc-earnci-s who have borne and are still bearing the heavy end of the burden are not bondslaves, but Canadians of equal rights with tiiose who profit by 'protective tariffs and restricted markets, and.at whose behe6t the Government periiiits this national wrong to continue."

Sir Wilfrid Laurier had rather anticipated the demands of tho Dominion Council of Agriculture. In a speech delivered during a ny-elcction in December ho had addressed himself almo.it wholly to the cost of living, and had declared that the existing', situation demanded the immediate removal of all duties on food. Such was the positive character of his utterances that they have been generally accepted as voicing the policy of the Liberal party for the approaching session ot -Parliament. As I have said, tin's is a matter more eao.ly understood by the people at large than the naval question. Jt brings to the fore the interests of the consumer, who has pernaps been ignored in tile appeals widen, have* 40 long been made to clao« niterefte It is somewhat curious that tfte suggestion of Kreetiudc should come from tile farmers, in whose interest Protcet.on was advanced as a policy many years ago. Neither party was prepared to tnrow oif the duties on foods, lest the farmer should be afraid, ol undue competition trom lis American neighbour, 'lruly times have changed, ai.'l i-Hould the proposition of Sir Wiltnd Laurier be accepted m due time, it seems to me the people of New Zealand will have a new anil deeper interest in the Canadian market. Be that as it may, it is premature to predict the outcome until the matter lias at least been discussed in Parliament; but it looks vcrv much at tins juncture a*> if the next polit.cal struggle before the country would be over the matter of free iood. Air John S. Ewart, K.C., a prominent Canadian, and the author of the widely read •■Kingdom Papers," has just returned from a visit to .South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. He appears to have been ia-vourablv impressed by what he saw. Mr Ewart. however, is essentially a critic, and s:nee reaching home has been talking to the newspapers about affairs at the Antipodes, hpeaking of Ins slay at Wellington he said: "I had an opportunity there of meeting not only members of the Government, bui ol the Opposition. It was in Wellington that the Government tendered to Mr Amcry, one of the English parliaimntary delegates, and myself a complimentary 'luncheon, where, with some anoloaics." I undertook to tell parliamentarians i.vhat I thought of their naval policy.'' ileferring to the naval question in New" Zealand, Mr Kwart said: " I have no doubt that the policy which New Zealand has adopter! is largely due to disappointment with the disposition which the Admiralty has made of Ihe New Zealand battleship. It wa«s no doubt a free gift, but accepted on the understanding that the vi.f.sel wn.s to form the flagship of the British fl?et unit 'to be stationed in the neighbourhood of Chinese waters. The ship has been retained in tiie North Sea, and New Zcalardrrs very naturally think the rest of the mom y had" better be spent on shins over which (hey will have control." As to compulsory military laws now in force in Aus-tralia-'and New Zealand, Mr Ewart said: "1 think that compulsory serv.ee in the Antipodes has been instituted out. of dread of Asiatic invasion. The northern pajrt of Australia, being in the tropios, is not well adapted for white men. and Australians are doubtful whether within any reasonable pcrioil of time it can be so occupied. They are determined, nevertheless, that they shall have a white Australia, and that means that all other races are to be denied occupation of territory which Australians themselves will not occupy. Such a- claim cannot be supported on grounds of international law, for no nation will recognise the validity of a title not based upon effective occupancy. England has on many occasions declined to recognise any such title, and could not be expected to support an Australian claim so badly and selfishly founded. It must be remembered (Unit Australia is as large as the whole of Kuroiy and has a population lees iJi.iu that of Belgium alone." I

There is still some anxiety with regard to tho financial situation. .Money is* tight, and the share market has becu depressed. Active operations ;n real estate speculations have almost ceased; but there has been nothing approaching a collapse. No one seems to know just why there should be money stringency. Such experiences are believed to come in cycles, and it soetns to have been taken for granted that the time had come for a general tightening up. One of the immediate effects lias been to curtail imports, and this has reduced tho public revenue slightly.' It would perhaps be strictly accurate to say that it haii ttonped

this rapid expansion of income. On I las other hand, as demonstrating the strength and soundness of the domestic situation, exports have had a substantial increment. There is not the slightest sign of industriiil depression nor of disturb)!nee of the ordinary commerce of the country. Yet, people talk as though we. were passing through a touch of hard time*. The bulks have all published statements showing a year of almost unprecedented expansion, i>nd the opinion of experts is that, whatever may be the can.se of the present stay in speculative business it, will disappear with the coming of spring and the recommencement of building operations. The bank statements represent, the real situation. The railways have had the beat, year in their history—a re-ally extraordinary ycar-and that counts for much. During the statistical year, which ended 30th June last', 2577 miles were added to the operating mileage. That was the largest addition of anv year in the history of Canadian railways; and. as was pointed out in a preceding letter, 18,648, miles of line were in various stages of construction. Those are verv big and r.i'/i ' Mill figures. They mean that for 1915 thi re was completed and moving toward completion two-thirds as many miles of railway as there are in the United Kingdom, and more than the mileage of New Zealand and Australia combined. The work on this vast new mileage, which ha.< been suspended to a largo extent, during the months of scvero weather, will be resumed in the spring. It is reasonably corf.ii.in that for all the work under contract satisfactory financial arrangements have been made. I.n view of what has been said, it will be properly assumed that, traffic showed large advances tin 1913. Tt did. The number of passengers carried increased by over 5,000.000 over the preceding year, and represented a total of 46,230.765. It, must be remembered in considering those figures, that practically all the suburban business in Canada is done by electric lines, operated separately, which carried nearly 600,000,000 passengers in 1913. Freight traffic aggregated 106,992,710 tons, as against 89,444,331 in 1912. (Iross earnings ran up to £53.000.000, or £7,300,000 more than in 1912. The significance of these large earnings may be measured bv the fact that 10 years ago the total was "below £20,000,000. Nothing could more strikingly illustrate the rapid and substantial progress being made by the dominion; and yet we may quite properly look for a long stride forward as the mileage now under construction comes info operation. There were in the employ of the Canadian railways on 30th June last 178,652 persons, to whom were paid nearly £24,000,000. This was exclusive of the army of men employed on const ruction, and of the larger number engaged indirectly in the production of things consumed by the railways and for the purposes of transportation. In one -way and another it might lie assumed that one person in every seven composing the entire population makes a livelihood out of the railways. The indirect nature of this employment may be judged by the fact that 52,000 cars were added to the equipment during the year, and nearly 1000 locomotives. These were not all made .n Canada. They could not, be. The producing plants have for more than a year past had orders on hand for their full capacity, and in this situation it has been necessary to import largely from the United States. From the industrial point of view the rising needs of the railways are important.

The State contribution'to the railway progress of fihe dominion in 1913 was represents! in £2.000,000 of cash subsidies and £6.000,000 of guarantees. Guarantees by the Dominion and Provincial Governments now amount to £52,00-0.000, while cash subsidies have readied £44,000,000. Upon the 50,000.000 acres of land {riven in aid of railway construction no definite value can bo placed ; but it would bo very large. It was the duty of the writer recently to make up a. statement of the popular contribution to the entire transportation interests of the country--railways, canals, harbours, lighthouses, etc.—and it came to £275,000,000, including a conservative valuation of the land grants. It might be fairly stated that no other people under the sun have made as large sacrifices to secure adequate carrying facilities. That the end has not been reached is apparent from the. very large plans now under way, which involve not only huge investments of capital by corporate bodies, but very large, contributions and direct expenditures by Government.

It costs very much more to build a mile of railway to-day than it did In earlier years. When the Grand Trunk built the first main line of railway through parte of Quebec and the whole length of Ontario, labour cost three shillings per dnv and board —pretty cheap and coarse board too. The Canadian Pacilui in the early eighties put through a line from coast to coast at a labour cost of six shillings per day. 'J'he Grand Trunk Pacific and other fines building in the North West arc now paying fourteen shillings per day, with a deduction of twentyfour shillings per week for maintenance. Labour is not the only itent in which large advances have been made Fifteen ago a. good railway tie, or sleeper, cost from twelve, to twenty-three cents., according to the quality of the wood. To-day the price runs ffom thirty-live to seventy cents. The average for 1913 Mas forty-seven cents. All other materials ueed. in construction and maintenance are also much more costly than was the case in comparatively recent years. In other words, the high cost of living strikes the railways as it does individuals, and yet the former managed, by sound and capable administration, to realise £15,000,000 of net earning in 1913, and to pay dividends amounting to £7,000,000. This has been done, too, without any increase whatever in the carrying rates. Indeed there is a persistent demand that the railways should reduce their freight rates, particularly in the West. The remarkable prosperity of the Canadian Pacific has, in I'art, given rise to' this situation. The Canad.an Pacific to-day operates the largest mileage of any single railway corporation in the world, and is the most prosperous. Yet, when it was projected no farther back than 1831, it was predicted that it could never come near earning operating expenses; but the critics ot that ciav did not have a vision of the West of ISJI3.

C-cnsderable speculation lias taken place as to the probab.e programme of legislation lor the approaching session of Parliament. A wing ot the Conservative party is urging the revival of the Navy Bill. 'lucre is anotnor section, wh el: sii >vvs indifference. At tne moment the country is without an announcement-; but tne opinion might Uc hazarded, tnat tne matter will bo ieit to a party causus. 'the Liberals, as has been huited, will probably leel the temper ol tne House with regard to a tree lood measure, although it. is impracticable to predict (lie character of such a resolution. iM.ould such action be taken, or be even linely, there are grounds tor assuming that tne uoverniuent will take steps to ottset trie political eiuct by proposing a recasting 'ot tne tariff on rcrtam uatiual products. At tnis time of writing, however, there can be nothing more than conjecture.

'I'here has been a good deal of further activity in connection with the January municipal elections by the temperance bodies. Very marked progress has already been made. In Ontario, tor example, the bar has been abolished m over 50U municipalities out of a total of 800 odd. Tho law requires a three-fifths majority, and has caused- scores of failures by a few votes. On the whole, it may be said that both a restrictive and a prohibitive sentiment is growing in the country. The West is singularly tree from the dr.ink evil, ajid there are many who beheve the time is at hand for a national measure of prohibition. There is, however, one serious obstacle—the rising pertentage of English immigrants of a. certain class. They think IHe is jiot worth Imng without their -weekly spree. A striking* leature of the temperance movement t-lils year has been tho result in 14 municipalities in which the repeal of local option was attempted by the liquor interest. In every instance the prohibitive measure was confirm! d.

One ot the measures which has 'been announced for the approaching session of Parliament has reference to superannuation. \\ itlioul going into a long story as to how the existing situation was brought about, it must suffice to say that superannuation for civil .servants was abolished in 1888. A retiring allowance, created entirely by the deduction, monthly, of 5 per cent, of tho salary of each civil servant was substituted. That is wholly insufficient, and Government employees have been, appealing for years for a fair and liberal superannuation law. Sir George Murray was brought out from England to report on the wliole civil service situation, and he strongly recommended superannuation. There is also some likelihood of an appeal from civil servants for an adjustment of salaries in consequence of the rising ecst of living. The maximum salary for the head of a branch is £800; taut, the average actually paid to the top division is a. little over £500. On the other hand, 87 per cent, of the service receives an average ot less than £220. Relief is asked for ai both ends—more pay for the responsible heads, and more also for those who do the clerical work. ~_ The increasing cold of. winter has driven mure awl more people from outside districts, where construction work has been suspended by weather conditions. to the cities. This has produced' an army of unemployed- -i\ purely temporary situation. bu> none the less trying. Tho charitable and municipal organisations are dealing with all oases of reei.l need. There is nothing abnormal in it.

There may bo a money stringency, which affects speculators; liut nothing has occurred which in any degree, reduces the social activities, which reach tlioir lruvximum in January and February. It is clear that wo arc to havo a particularly brilliant winter from the friaudpoint of social life. 'J'hc character of tji"se (■ntertainmrnts, particularly n/i to their money costs, lias risen vastly in recent, years.