The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1923. UNITED STATES AND CANADA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 99, 31 August 1923, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1923. UNITED STATES AND CANADA.

The rush ot United States capitalinto Canada leads the "Financial Post," of Toronto, the leading business publication in Canada, to the conclusion that now, for the first time, the United States has a larger financial stake in Canada than Great Britain. Bfrfore the war London was alvfajs Canada';? Banker. Early t in Canada were financed

exclusively by British capital. British investments in Canadian railways alone were sufficiently large to dominate for decades Canada's external financing. They built the Grand Trunk, and to a large extent the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian Northern. 'ln public borrowings, too, British capital dominated almost to the exclusion of all other, either domestic or foreign. Whenever there was an important public loan to be made by the Federal Government, or by a Provincial Government, or by a municipality, London was invariably the source. That was the condition until the outbreak of war. Only in the department of private industry had British capital not been aggressive. That department was left to domestic capital supplemented by a few United States manufacturers. But. until a fey/ years ago, this department of investment was relatively, unimportant In all that mattered British investment controlled the situation. The war revolutionised -the situation. The supply of British capital was cut off. Canada called on the savings of her people, and the response was amazing. And for what Canada could not herself supply she went to the United States. "Since the end of the war," says the Financial Post, "American capital has poured Into Canada. In the development of water power, mines, timber, and other resources in Canada, United States investors have been greatly increasing their interest. The public borrowings of Canada have been concentrated in the United States during the same period. In the eight years from 1907 t 0 1914 Canada sold bond issues in the to a total of £297,WO.OOO, or 73.5 per cent. of the total Canadian bonds, issued during that period. In the same period borrowings in the United States were £36,500,000, or 9 per cent, of the .total volume. But in the eight years from 1914 to 1922, Cafafcda borrowed from England only £lB,000,000, or 2 per cent, of the total borrowings. And in the United States, issues were £310,000,000, or 33 per cent.,of the total. These figures represent bond issues. In other forms of investment similar conditions have prevailed." Reviewing the. whole volume of outstanding public securities, the Financial Post says • that»actual figures for the pre-war period are not available, but it may be assumed that at least half of all Canadian public bonds outstanding before the war were held in Great Britain, and only a very small percentage in the United States. The present indebtedness comprises debt of the Dominion Government, £497,000,000; debt of the Provincial Governments, £125,000,000; and debt of municipalities, £165,500,000—a total of £787,500,000, of which it is estimated Canadian investors hold 68.7 per cent., while the British holdings have declined to 12.8 per cent, and the American

Increased t0'12.8 per cent. Of industrial issues in Canada, the Financial Post estimates, the Unified States holds 31 per cent., the United Kingdom only 10.3 per cent. There are many Canadian industries that are practically controlled outright in the United States. In the field of automobile manufacture, meat packing, copper smelting. drugs and chemicals, electrical apparatus, rubber boots and shoes, patent and proprietary medicines, paints and varnishes, the United S'ntes capital invested far exceeds either the Canadian or British capital invested. Tt is now estimated that there are TOO branch factories of American concerns in Canada. Capital in-

vesica in industry in Canada is estimated at over .CfMS.OOO.OOO. of which Canadian investors have supplied G 8 per cent.. American 3.1 per rent., the United Kingdom 10.2 per cent., unci other countries. 7 per cont. Taking all foreign investments In Canada, including- share? in industrial companies and banks, private and public loans, railways, and everything, it is estimated by > the

h Bankers* Trust Company o{ Nefw York that, tho total la £1,050,000.0d0. Of that amount probably somewhat less than half came from Britala and somewhat more than half from the United States.