AFTER THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1926, Page 10

AFTER THE WAR.

RECOVERY OF CANADA. WONDERFUL PROSPERITY. The wonderful recovery of Canada from the post-war depression was touched upon by Mr. L. B. Beale, who arrived by the Niagara to take up the post of British Trade Commissioner in New Zealand. One very gratifying phase of the trade recovery, he said, was that Britain had. shared largely in the results of the increased, prosperity. Mr. Beale has been in Canada in the Trade Commissioner service since the end of the Great War, and recently his headquarters have been at Vancouver, his territory extending eastward for nearly 2000 miles to the Great Lakes. During the period of his service, lie said, he had witnessed, a recovery from depression (which probably had hit Canada as hard as any other country) to what appeared to be a sound normal basis. Canada’s export trade in many products had changed since the war, for the United Kingdom had now become by far her greatest customer, even outdistancing the United States, while in the reverse direction, Britain’s share of Canadian imports had increased from 8 to 20 per cent., showing the real importance of this movement. The British exports to Canada had increased at the rate of about £200,000 a month for the past eighteen months, while the secondary industries were of increasing importance in Canada. Mr. Beale pointed out that the country’s strength as yet rested in the production and export of primary products. One of the features of the progress of Western Canada was that not only had there been a great increase in the area planted in wheat, but the daiiying industry was flourishing. Wheat now covered 21 million acres in the West, and there was also ten million acres in other coarse grains. The growth of the dairy industry was phenomenal. The production of factory or creamery butter, as distinct from dairy or farm butter, had increased from a few thousand pounds to ten millions last year. Most of this was for home consumption, but a great deal went from Vancouver in refrigerated ships via the Panama Canal to the United Kingdom. One other important factor in the progress of Western Canada was the growth of mining in British Columbia. Last year’s output was a record, and it was almost certain that the production this year would exceed that of 1925.