OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3098, 30 July 1913, Page 7

OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

(FP.Oil uu O’.VX C&KKH.- ; rON DUXX. j OTTAWA, June 4. When my last letter was written we were enjoying exceptionally warm and due May weather: but it did not persist. During the second week of the month the temperature began to fall, and soon reached the point of causing discomfort. Frequent rains did not help matters. Finally, frost came one night —not a serious frost, but enough to cause slight damage to growing crops here and facie. These conditions meant that fires had to bo lit; and we certainly do not expect to have either our grates or other heating appliances going in May. It shortens tie summer to have such a thing. The tneimometer had been up to 88, and to ha\e it fall to 50 was not agreeable. A succession of ups and downs has prevailed tor the past fortnight or more —one day warm and the next chilly. Canadians do not mind the winter —on the contrary, the} enjoy it, —but when it is over they waul summer. Parliament will prorogue the day alter to-morrow, after having been iii_ more or less constant session since last November. Toward the close a rather heavy list cu railway subsidies was brought down b} the Minister of Railways, running into many millions of dollars—probably titty all told. The matter, however, does not provoke controversy. It is the fixed policy of both political parties to encourage the building of railways- by means of direct subventions, loans, or guarantees. Ibe rapid settlement of the country, the widening out of population, and the increasing volume of production demand the extension of old lines and the construction of new ones. ,As has often been said in this column, the transportation needs of the dominion are urgent. Hence ~ i '/ Cj ' jects are being put forward in considerable numbers, and they rely very largely upon Government subsidies in some form for financing purposes in Fngland. ihe time does not seem to be near at hand when new railway undertakings will be self-sustaining. The aid account runs into huge figures; but whatever the resulting popular burden may be it is borne with cheerfulness. There were other measures of importance brought before Parliament. For example, material amendments were made to the Bank Act. Canada boasts of the best banking system in the world, and it was deemed expedient to preserve her good reputation in that regard by certain changes in the law which have been suggested by experience, chiefly in relation to Government supervision. A Bill was also passed by the House of Commons which provided for generous aid by the Federal Government for the improvement of public highways; but the Senate, fearing that the Act might bo made a partisan mstrumeut, made changes which 1 He Commons declined to accept. The Bill will therefore come up again next session. It must be explained that while the majority in the House of Commons is Conservative, the Senate is Liberal. It will remain so until the filling of vacancies as they arise creates a change. This situation is not new, and each time it becomes' acute a great deal of talk is heard about the reform or abolition of the Upper House; but nothing overcomes of it. Senate appointments are for life, and they invariably go to partisans. Of course, the time of Parliament was chiefly taken up with the discussion of the Naval Bill, the nature of which has been fully explained in preceding letters. Rally in the month tins measure was passed bv the House of Commons, alter the closure had been applied. The closing stages were marked by fierce debating and a great deal of feeling. Then the Bill went to the Senate, where, after a relatively -short discussion, it was thrown out. Canada will not, therefore, for I fie present make any contribution toward Imperial defence. It may seem strange to outsiders that this matter should have been dealt with in a partisan spirit; but so it came about. As to the attitude of public sentiment, no one may say. The question had not been before the people, and that was one of the reasons for the action of the Senate. it mav be safely asserted that an overwhelming majority of Canadians are in favour of aiding the Mother Country; but there is a sharp division of judgment as to the form which the contribution should take. Probably the matter will not be satisfactorily settled until it is made an issue in a general election. The Prime Minister announced, however, that the Bill would be brought up again next session, which would seem to indicate that an appeal to the country is not imminent. Toward the end of the session the Post-master-general brought down a Bill for the amendment of th? Annuities Act. The original measure was introduced some five or six years ago, and has been fairly popular. It provided for the payment of annuities by Government in proportion to the sum deposited by applicants. There was nothing of an eleemosynary character in it. But the maximum annuity was fixed at £l2O, and it has been found that this amount was not sufficiently large to satisfy everybody. The new Bill therefore, provides for an annuity up to £2OO. and the Postmaster-general informed Parliament that he believed this change would lead to a considerable increase in business. While the volume of life insurance carried in Canada is perhaps the highest in the world, measured by population, the annuity plan has not made much headway. Since the Government took up the matter, however, a exeat deal of educational work lino been done, and popular interest has been aroused. Postmasters throughout the country act as annuity agevts. The’Militia estimates came Jn foy a good deal of criticism during g the closing days of Parliament. The amount asked for was £600,000 larger than the demand of last vear, and brought the total up to £2,000,000. The Minister explained that Canada was now training 58,000 men, and 70.000 more were clamouring to he trained. He emphasised the imperative need of

[ having a thoroughly efficient force for pur- | poses of defence,- and to better the 1 nation’s equipment in that regard, as well i ns to provide for improved methods, a larger outlay was necessary. On the whole, popular judgment will approve of this course, regardless of the higher cost. It cannot be said that there is a conspicuously strong military spirit in the country ; but there appears to be a general conviction that we should have a sufficient force, and that this force should be well trained and have adequate equipment. The present Minister, Colonel Hughes, has abolished the canteen ; and while it was predicted that there would be a falling off in the attendance at training camps, such a result has not yet occurred. In fact, in every direction there is a steadily growing sentiment in support of temperance measures generally. In this connection it might bo observed taht our people were deeply interested in what the Hon. James Allen had to say respecting the system of military training in New Zealand. He said that 30,000 men would be trained this year, and the difficulty was not in finding that number, but in keeping within the limit. “If I am long enough Minister of Defence,” he said, “ I hope to introduce some kind of physical training for those who are not fit for military training, which will develop them into useful citizens. I am going back to New Zealand after consulting with the Imperial authorities as to the best method of raising and maintaining an expeditionary force, which will be ready to be sent anywhere at a moment’s notice. There will be one condition, and that will be that no man is to bo sent out of his country who docs not volunteer to go. Accordingly, i expect that in a few years about 8000 men will be ready at a moment’s notice to go anywhere the Empire needs them I Canada now stands ninth among the 1 nA 4 ,?a:w ; i shipping. The total number rf r-Socls on the register was 8380 at the dose of 1812. measuring 836,278 tons. This represented an increase of 292 in numbers over the preceding vear, and of 65.832 in the tonnage. The steamers accounted for 3667, with an aggregate cf 641.226 tons. Assuming the average value to be £5 per ton, which takes account of a considerable depreciation, a respectable total of over £5.000,000 is had. There were actually 420 new vessels built during 1912. and the cost came close to £lO per ton. It might be observed that there has been a persistent advance in the cost of steel vessels during recent years, due in part to the heavy demand, both on the Atlantic and Pacific coast, as well as on the inland waters of the Dominion. It was estimated that 42,490 men and boys found employment on Canadian ships last year. During 1912 an inquiry was undertaken by the Department of Railways and Canale into the cost of transportation by water per ton per mile. The rate of freight on 93 per cent, of all Canadian waterborne business which passed through the canals was definitely ascertained for the first time. It was found that the actual cost to shippers was on the whole considerably lower than carriage by 7 rail; but a number of qualifications had to be taken into account. In the first place, for certain commodities which could not be moved in bulk the water rates between some points were quite up to rail rates. In the next place, when the Government contribution was added to the average charges by water the rate was brought up to the rail level. For example, the cost I cf moving wheat by water fiom Fort \\ di liam to Montreal, a distance" of 1228 miles, I was 7c per bushel, as against a railway j charge between the same points of 12c. | 'The Government, however, not only coni sf meted the canals, but maintains them, and when the annual volume of interest on capital and cost of maintenance was distributed over the traffic of 1912 it was found that the difference between water and rail rates to shippers was made up by thus public contribution. The canals of Canada are not only free, but the terminals and aids to navigation are also supplied by the Government. It may be that the construction and maintenance of canals is economically unsound ; but there is a profound conviction in the minds of the people that there waterways serve as an effective check on railway rates. Probably they do. It would really seem, however, that there is little of real competition between the railways and carriers by water. W hat happens is that certain bulky commodities, such as gram, take naturally to the waterways, while other commodities gravitate to the railnays. If competition were keen and persistent. it is clear that the moment water rates fell below rail rates traffic would flow to the steamers, and vice versa ; yet nothing of the kind occurs. The railways pay little attention to carriers by water, and the shipowners appear to disregard the railways. Each has a separate business. Fur two or three years past a swelling volume of trade has led lo steady advances in rates by water, and last year the profits lo steamship owners were the best in the history of our inland waters. Ocean rates, it might be added, have also made marked advances, and relief does not appear to be in sight. It Is said that the low price of wheat in Western Canada is not due so much to market conditions in importing countries as to me cost of ocean transportation. There would appear to be ample foundation for this contention. Certain it is that it costs two or three times as much to transport i a quarter of wehat to England or to Gerj many a.s it did five or 10 years ago. [ Marine insurance charges are also a faoI tor ; but it is the ocean freight rate which I controls. Farmers in the west are in despair over the low price of wheat. ! While all other products of the farm have I been going up and up, wheat lias actually gone down. No other reason can be | found than tire steadily using cost of ocean transportation. Ships cannot be \ bad fast enough to meet the rising de- | rnund. The owners of steamers are mak- | ing unprecedented profits, and, as has j been said, relief is not in sight. Yet, curiously, the price of bread is lower ;n ' London than it is in Montreal.

If ocean rates are going up—and they are quite outside of Government control under existing conditions—express rates will hereafter be lower. An order to that effect has just been made by the Board of Railway Commissioners. The express business in Canada is almost wholly in the hands of railway companies, and Government statistics show that it is exceedingly profitable. It has made marvellous growth during the past 10 years. In the absence of a parcel post, the carrying of small packages and traffic requiring quick delivery has passed into the hands of the express companies. The Government has. however, instituted a limited parcel-post system, and this may bring a measure of relief. Time will tell. Meanwhile, the express companies have more or less of a monopoly, and, while their rates arc subject to control, they have been permitted to do business on a basis which, to say iho least, is generous. This may have been due in part to the fact that, prior to 1911, they were not required to make a statistical report to the Government, and little really was known about their operations f ! he annual report of the Dairy Commissioner calls attention to the fact that while Canada is producing more butter she is becoming vearlv a heavier importer of that staple. In 1912 she sent abroad, purely incidentally, 42561 b, while she imported 7.000,0001 b. Is early all of these imports come from New Zealand. There is no immediate likelihood of a reduction in the volume of such imports. It is estimated that Canadians are using £8,000,000 worth more of dairy products than they did 10 years ago. In 1903 the western prairie provinces produced about 300,0001 b of creamery butter. Last year the production exceeded 4,000,000ib. __ Yet. while domestic requirements wore 500,0001 b in 1903, they were 20,000,0001 b in 1912. The increased needs are primarily due to a growing population, but in almost equal measure to the use of sweet cream and ice cream. It is believed that the consumption of cream in these two forms last year was equal to 8,000,0001 b of butter. The Dairy Commissioner gives strong emphasis in his report to the need for a market extension of the dairy industry if Canada is to realise upon her opportunities in that regard. New Zealand has come to be Canada's keenest competitor in the cheese market of Great Britain. There is this difference, however : While New Zealand is steadily increasing the volume of her sales_ in the British market, Canada is decreasing betexports. In 1911 Canada sent 170.684,9 t6lb of cheese to the United Kingdom, and New Zealand 46,30Y,2951b. In 1912 Canada’s share fell to 151,238,4161 b, while New Zealand’s rose to 45,009,7281 b. It is well to know that the business is kept in the family, and what Canada has lost a sister colony has gained. Of course, Canada has not produced less milk. She has simply consumed more at home in the form of cream. The demand for cream has not only affected the production of butter, but it has also cut down the output of cheese. The foundation of the decline in exports of both butter and cheese is a fewer number of dairy cows. The dairy industry is but one aspect of a situation which must soon become exceedingly serious; for, despite higher prices, and a rising demand, the number of beef and dairy cattle in the country is falling with alarming rapidity. Is there not in this important fact something in the nature of a large trade opportunity for New Zealand ? If, however, our sales of dairy products abroad are falling off, the general trade of the Dominion is growing at a most encouraging rate. In April, the first month of our fiscal year, there was an increase of 18 per cent, over the corresponding month of 1912. Using our own money figures, it may be pointed out that domestic exports increased from 15,676,959d0l in April, 1912, to 22,016,880d0l in .April, 1913. Imports grew from 45,607,491d0l to 48.488,280d01. Among the exports, agricultural products nearly doubled, and manufactures went ahead by over 50 per cent In the West, despite the low price of wheat, a largely increased acreage lias been seeded. .More attention is being given, however, to other crops and to live stock. This is well The larger acreage under cultivation is due almost wholly to the continued influx of settlers. During five months of the current calendar year 11.086 homestead entries were made, and 75 per cent, of those went to Englishspeaking people. The foreigners come in flocks to construction work, at which they earn enough to staid fanning. Sunclav, May 11, was Mothers’ Day, and it was generally observed throughout Canada. The sale of flowers for the day was erroneous. The demand, in fact, was far beyond the supply. Appropriate sermons ' were preached in most of the churches. The observance of Mothers’ Day is a relativclv new thing in this country, but it bids fair to become an established institution. General Mackenzie, Chief of the Headquarters Staff, lias resigned owing to a conflict of judgment with the Minister of Militia. The details of the matter have not been made public. Canada has had a most unfortunate experience with British military officers. Since Confederation not more than half a dozen have completed their terms of service. i lie hasio of the trouble has invariably been a misiindeistunding of our sell-contained disposition in domestic matters. There has been during the past month a marked depression in the stock market. Kvon the strongest shares, like Canadian Pacific, have suffered. The real cause is tightness of money. The banks arc having heavy demands for other purposes, and this may in the last analysis be a sign of health. * Under such conditions there is a disposition to shut down on speculation, whether in stocks or real estate. The cool weather of the past three weeks has retarded activity at the summer resorts, but it lias not had any effect on the movement of tourists abroad. Qwtiroing steamers have been filled to capacity. ,I,L -- baseball season ie in full swing, and

there has been a marvellous development of interest in Soccer football. Lacrosse, once the great national game, is on the decline. Professionalism and rough play are killing it.