OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3031, 17 April 1912, Page 38

OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

(Fbom Ocb Own Correspondent.) OTTAWA, February 5. Our people are becoming seriously oonserned with re.pect to the domestic beet :upply. According to the ofhcut statenentof Dr Rut her lord, VeterinaryDineotot Seneral and Live Stock Commissioner for ie Dominion, two things are taking place. First, a falling off in beef production; an.l »eoond a phenomenal increase in the consumption of moat. Elementary mathematics, to say nothing about economies, tell the Canadian people just what must be the result of such a situation. They are *l««*J realism- it. The price of beef is absurdly Eh Very soon it will be the luxury of the rich; for working people cann* t*y » shilling a pound for beet, and, to make matte* worse, we have nothing to take its place. If we could fall back on good mutton, as may the people of Australia and New Zealand, it would rot very much matter, out Canadian mutton is not popular; it k not even plentiful .and our• iarrcers would oppose the removal of the duties •which now hinder the bringing :n of tne frozen article from the Ant.podes W* the Canadian North-West, has been a large influx of populate the farmers go in for wheat-raising. . The sod Is rich, and cereals grow readily without Ly more preparation than the breaking up of the land. The West could quae easily produce vast quantities of beef, and at p.eeent market prices such production would seel™ be more profitable than the growing of grain; but the farmer has to wait for his beef crop. It does not grow up and torn iteelf into dollars between Apr, and October He will not wait. Possibly he £££ afford to do so. At all .veins aaisee wheat, and lets somebody else loot IftlfthTlneat supply. Instead of being a producer of beef, he adds to the number cf Cm The Eastern farmer >s a raiser Of battle, because he has long ago learned the foHy of selling his grain; but «*e farmer is * pretty individual, and has a shrewd eye for tne last finny to be made out of his farm. He ;i T en thiws patriotism to the winds when *fc stands in the way of 1» Proht», in v 1.4 respect he is no worse than anybody else Irf He does nothing which would tend to lower the market and, if Dr Rutherford is correct m iu» statement of basic conditions, we cannot look for a ?eduoson of prices in the near future, Whit seems much more probable IS an advance to the point where consumption is „ate»aily reduced and then the'«•«*« will temporarily fall reachable 'f."s° s - . If beef were tne only commodity which pointed to further advances in the cost of Egin Canada, we might have ground for hope of relief; but nearly every other Jtaple £ scoring new high levels this winter. 'Potatoes have never been so dear in the history of the country. They are selling at 8s and upwards'a bag. Butter is 2s a pound, and eggs are 2s to os per dozen. The price of butter is somewhat surprising, <for file Dairy Commissioner insists that production has largely increased. Our exports have fallen off alarmingly. Domestic consumption has increased faster than production, and that is said to explain the whole situation. Probably a larger interest .in beef cattle has had something to do with the matter too, but it must not be supposed that dairying is being neglected. It is far toe jwofitabie to have that happen. At i*ho recent winter cattle show here in Ottawa three Holstein cows in one group wet* on exhibition which yielded an enormous volume of milk. One of them gave m high as 901 b per day. AH over the country farmers are giving attention to dalrving, and yet the price of butter is almost prohibitive. Verily prosperity has 'its drawbacks. Side by side with our economic issues go those of a moral character. In Toronto a fierce struggle is in progress over the question of using the public toboggan slides on Sunday. The Lord's Day Alliance says " No," and many good people say the same; while, on the other hand, a lot of people who could not be classified as bad are shouting " Yes " very loudly. The sliders were out last Sunday, and 30,000 people watched them, drawn to the park very largely by the expectation that there would be police interference, and Toronto dearly loves a scrimmage with the bluecoats. But nothing occurred, because the matter has gone to the courts on a legal technicality, and will probably linger there 'until the winter is over. The issue is upon what may be considered a desecration of Tihe Sabbath. There are people who insist that recreation in the open air is a proper way of observing the Lord's. Day, and there '.are others who declare that people so benighted should be sent to gaol. There you are. It is not a far cry rom public morals to public health. In fact, there are some advanced thinkers who see an intimate relationship between the two things. Be that as it may, the Ontario Government has had prepared an exhibit which is intendod to ■how how the lives of babies may bo saved. Our infant death rate is startling, especially during the hot months of summer, and our people have become aroused. It doesn't pay to import foreigners and have our •native-born die. This exhibit will be shown •jn all. the cities. i;nd it may h e 'P *° stem "the tide of mortality by the force of education. Ignorance lies at the base of the trouble. Patent infant foods are the chief causes of death, as the published records '""show, and this fact will be brought out conspicuously by the exhibit, which will this month be started upon its rounds. ■ Mother's milk and fresh air, or modified milk, scientifically prepared, plus wholesome air, wi!i save the babies. And babies grow into men and women. The Department of Railways and Canals . has just issued a first report in relation to : tho telephone interests of the Dominion, and , the facts disclosed therein have come as a •Burprise to our people. It is >hown that there are nearly 800 distinct telephone com:pnnies in operation, having a wire mileage '"sufficient to irirdlc the earth nearly 50 times, and with 304,000 telephones in use. While j the business of Ontario and Quebec, so far j as the cities arc concerned, is entirely in the hands of the Boil Company, many villages have municipally-owned systems, and throughout the rural districts hundreds of independent organisations are operating. "'J'armers have discovered that a distinct •'commercial, value attaches to the telephone, .'giving him constant connection with the markets, and they are everywhere equipping themselves with this modern convenience. Tons of thousands of telephones have been installed in farmhouses during the past five years. In the Western proI vinces the local governmonts have taken ?Over the telephone interests at a cost of

£2,500,000. I'he total investment throughout the Dominion reaches nearly £10,000,000, and has resulted in the employment of about 12,000 persons. The expansion is proceeding rapidly, and, while a proposition is now before Parliament to nationalise all telephone and telegraph interests, it ie scarcely probable that immediate action i<i that direction will be taken. Quite a substantial gold rush occurred in the Swan River Valley, Manitoba, during the past month, and it had its cause in the finding of nuggets in the crop of a turkey. This happened at Christmas. Other turkeys of the same flock were examined, and several of them were found to be secreting gold in the native state. Then the excitement broke out The nearest village was promptly deserted, and, despite the severe cold, the staking out of claims began in mad fashion. Then a discovery was made. It was found that a construction camp had been burned near where the turkeys had been kept, and the nuggets were the residuo of rings melted by the fire. A little investigation showed this to be tho case, and the rush ended as sud'denb' as it had begun. But it was very genuine and interesting while it lasted. Two rats arrived ut Calgary, now a city of 60,000, on a railway train the other day. They wore seen, and, a general alarm was sounded. Men tunned out by the score, and finally the invaders were killed. The city rejoiced. Why ? Because Galgarv has never had a rat within her broad borders, and is to-day one of the few communities on earth in which the migratory rodent has not found a home. Whether the watchfulness of men will maintain this desirable situation, or the cunning and nomadic rat capture this lost kingdom for its race, remains to be seen. Other cities, incited probably by envy, are backing the rat. Our rather large colony of Hindua, on tho Pacific Coast, have been appealing to the Imperialism of the Canadian people These people came to Canada several years ago, most of them leaving their wives and families behind them. Meanwhile a restrictive law with respect to Asiatics has gone into farce, and the Hundus must either return to their native land or be separated from their families. Public sentiment is divided en the issue. In the West titere is strong opposition to any relaxation of the law as it stands, while in the East it is claimed that the Hindus are British subjects, who have fought Britain's battles, and are entitled to fair treatment. It all depends upon the point of view. Government has not given c»'iy indication of the course of action likely 'to be token. Away up on the shores of Hudson Bav, in the district where Government is building a railway, a trapper from Ontario named Harry E. Fennell, lost his life in a way that carries one back to the pioneer days on this continent He was on the way home from a dance with a companion and half a dozen half breed girls, when the party was attacked by wolves. Fennel! got out, climbed into a tree, sent the party on, and said he wouid liokl tho wolves at ljay until help could be sent back. He- had a rifle, and when rescuers came in the morning nine wolves lay dead. Brave Fennell, however, did not survive the exposure, and died after reaching home. January was' the coldest month in many years. There have been lower dips of temperature in the past, many of them, but seldom such sustained cold The results have been unusual. Georgian Ray, for example, is frozen over for the first time within the memory of anybody living in that district, and it is believed that the entire surface of Lake Superior is covered with ice. There has been no suffering, however, and an unbroken month of severe cold is not without commercial advantages "in a. country like Canada. The hockey season is i.n full blast, and tho contests are watched by thousands. It is probably the fastest and most exciting of all athletic confess. To stand the pace, men have to be in superb physical condition, and. having regard to tho terrific speed at which the players move, it is marvellous that few serious aocidents occur. Professionalism has developed it; but profession-alif-m is also its greatest mesiace today. Will it die out, as lacrosse is dying?