WHEAT SLUMP IN CANADA

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1930, Page 7

WHEAT SLUMP IN CANADA

DECLINE OVER 50 PER CENT. FALL IN PURCHASING POWER. By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 5.5 p.m. Winnipeg, Nov. 21. The Canadian wheat pool will release a statement to-morrow indicating the national importance of'■the depressed grain priceq. The statement asserts that the return per acre of wheat in Saskatchewan declined from two dollars 20 cents to 92 cents. On the basis of present prices the return per acre of wheat land in Saskatchewan compared with the level of retail prices had declined. 58 per cent, since 1928, abnormally reducing the western farmers’ purchasing power. The present prices mean a big reduction in the value of wheat exports, which during the last fiscal year accounted for a third of the total Canadian exports. \ A message from Manitoba states that the president (Mr. Burnell) of the Manitoba Wheat Pool assured a convention of the United Farmers of Manitoba that the Canadian Wheat Pool was not going into liquidation unless the lending banks withdrew their support! He stated that “If the banks are not strong enough the responsibility is on the Government. The banks or the Government must take the responsibility, whether it is wanted or not.” He forecast that there would be a 100 per cent, pool comprising all the Prairie districts should the present Canadian Wheat Pool fail.