KEEN ELECTION FIGHT

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1027, 18 July 1930, Page 9

KEEN ELECTION FIGHT

TRADE TREATIES VITAL ISSUE IN CANADA BOTH PARTIES CONFIDENT United P.A.—By . clegraph —Copyright Reed. 10 a.m. OTTAWA, Thursday. With the Canadian General Election rapidly approaching, there is no political excitement of any consequence anywhere except in the Dominion. In Alberta the Prime Minister, Mr. W. L. Mackenzie King, met considerable opposition while addressing a meeting at Calgary, which came in the form of continued interruptions by a large number of unemployed. The two major issues facing the electors are those of unemployment and inter-Empire trade. The Conservatives have made unemployment a strong issue, while the Liberals'point to the fact that, tlrtmgh unemployment has been serious in Canada, it has not assumed the proportions it has in other countries, particularly the United States. They promise definitely if any province finds it cannot cope with the situation, the Federal Government is prepared to come to its assistance. Conservative headquarters claim they will capture from 10 to 15 seats in Quebec, and that Ontario will be almost solidly Tory, as will British Columbia. They expect also .to make several gains in Saskatchewan, which now has a Conservative Government for the first time in years. LIBERALS CONFIDENT Alberta, which has just re-elected its former Government, may hold the key to the situation when the votes are counted. Despite this Conservative optimism, the Liberals assert there is no likelihood of the Government being defeated, but that they will go back with a clear majority over all othc-r parties. As for the man in the street, the consensus of opinion is: “It is anybody’s election.” If anything, however, it favours the Conservatives. It is the unemplovmeut situation which is at the rockbottom and has been causing intense dissatisfaction, particularly in Western Canada, wliero it is most acute Upon the question of inter-Empire trade the Conservatives claim that Mr. C. A. Dunning’s Budget is an admission that Free Trade will be abandoned by the Liberals. Mr. Mackenzie King, however, asserts that the countervailing duties which this Budget provided will be the means of increasing trade within the Empire. One thing Is certain, namely, it the Conservatives are returned to power they will complete the overhauling of the trade treaties, including the Australian treaty, and in some cases perhaps the complete abrogation of pacts will result. EFFECT OF TREATIES The attacfks on the Australian treaty have not been received in any great fervour in the Prairie Provinces, while Mr. R. B. Bennett, Conservative leader, has been lamenting the fact that the dairy industry is ruined by the Australian and New Zealand agreements. * Official estimates show that although the farmers milked fewer cows last year they actually received more for their products than they did before, while, according to the Bureau of Statistics, though there were in Canada in 1928—the last year for which official figures are available—37,6s3 fewer cows than in 1925, the value of dairy products in that year exceeded the value of the production in 1925 by 12,761,702 dollars (about £2,550,000).