LABOUR IN CANADA.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20176, 3 March 1931, Page 14

LABOUR IN CANADA.

. . r+. THE ANNUAL MANIFESTO, -.. —/ ! V " {FBOK OUB own COKXMK>XIHD*T.) • - VANCOUVEE, February *. An incident of Canada's political life, which has no counterpart elsewhere ia the 1 British Empire; is the ' axuaup,! Labour manifesto, and informal presantation to the Prime Minister by il itele' gation o£ the-Trades and Labour Congress, ■ Preference to' Canada and Canadians in commodities and. work ia a feature of the 1930 pronouncement. In to the former, Mr Bennett has, in his tariff pplioy >and his at . the Imperial Conference, given % lofta that has been cheerfully followed by all Parties—liberal, Progressive, Labour.' The ,exclusive use of Canadian or £ippire in Government contracts is sought,.together with, preference for oab4dlan'labour< in' tarifE-proteited industries' and :/the observancepf of hours and 1 rates of .wage's equal to those adopted by the Federal Government for its public works.! This request concerning wa'ges, iieeds some explanation. There Federal law, known as 'the Fair 'Wage < Acty which provides-; that, in - contracts" by, the Federal, Government, 'th4 paid shall be not les3\than^th,e' vailing'in the, district 1 where ihefwork. h ; carried out This is-designed s& that thes'e workers shall have the beneflit of local wage conditions, which vjary in the provinces. In s it is ; generally fotlijd tha,t wage 'paid on Federal contracts is higher than pn the average run af iptovjnciar-worka; with the exception- of big' p6#er ( , undertak- 1 ings of private corporations} whoße wage rate is above the nprmal, owing, to the need for rapid completion, Of the-woWc. An amendment of the Fair Wage Act' ,is now',being sotoght to_inake it applies able to all undertakings! financed'wholly Sin part by the Dominion Government-. is latter . request applies to the recent subventions, tbtallirig l^ObO/000,. in- 1 elusive of railway appropriations, 'to provide further employment to counteract the resulting .frOni: ;the' fall in wheat prices. \ )( •' *: Preference to Canadians has itowt become lan article of fadth';'*-jth€( policy ia found, widely advanced-in the/Labour manifesto.' It is sought,,to' extend', jit to coastwise trading legislation, Hb ex-' elude from Canadian port-to-port trade other than ships built in C&nada, owned, by Canadians, manned and registered in Canada, and to permit'ships V of' other countries, to enter this trade. Labour.also seeks w to have all ; watefborne contracts for the Federal i government carried out in Canadianregistered ships, manned by Canadian personnel, and paying rates ,of wages recognised in Canada. Labour in Canada faces a year full of promise, especially for tfy} partly skilled worker or the artisan. New avenues, creating work for thousands, are being' opened up by the establishment ,M a large number of American branch 'factories, forced by the Bennett tariff to cross the, border into, Canada. The' volume of American trade affected'/by it cannot^easily be assessed. The most .striking acknowledgment of its,, effect is seen-,iii, the announced intention of UnitedStafces Steel Corporation establish blast furnaces ( cm the Canadian side of the border, near Windsor,- On-, tario, which. will ultimately cpst £12,000,000 and'ynploy 10,000 men.

A'gigantic olive trCe at Moranda. do Voro, in Portugal, whose hollow tjrunk is said to have - hidden a score Napoleon's troops, is still bearing fruit, and 'yielding its owner 100 quarts of * oil a year. , . v - Daring'*his absence of a mouth,from his farm'in Ontario, a'Canadian fatmer discovered that thieves had removed' the staf&ce* soil to a depth, of 18in Over a considerable area, renderiug thef laid unfit forfarming. * .