IMPRESSIONS OF CANAD

Hokitika Guardian, 20 November 1920, Page 4

IMPRESSIONS OF CANAD

pre:s conferßncß tour. WORK ANb PROSPERITY. f . . » 'By Win. A, Brennan). SASKATOON, Sept. 3. bive iveeks ago (lolegates to the press conference reaehedX'anada from various puts of the Empire. Since then they have travelled through the Dominion as guests of the Government, of the Canadian Pacific Railway .Company, and it might be added of the people in every district which they have visited The country has been crossed from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the Canadian Pacific line, and the party is now on its nay by the Grand Trunk, or northern line, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Arrangements have been caTried out on a grand scale; and with « success's clbwn to the most minute detail, which has won the admiration of all who' were privileged to take part in it. Two special trains/have been employed to take the party on this great tour. Thousands of motor-cars Jiftve been placed at the disposal of the party at every point where the trains stop, and in every towii the arrival of the delegates has been rgnrded as an event of great importance. Rings have been flown from public and private buildings, and the streets iiavtrbcen decorated. In many cases there have been illuminations, notabie examples of this being in Winnipeg, tiie prosperous capital of Manitoba, and at Victoria, the beautiful ' capital of British Columbia, in Vancouver island. The greatest hospitality has been showered upon the guests, but no one attempts to conceal that there is , business in it, a great Imperial business i no doubt, but still a business. PUBLIC SPIRIT.

The point which should be of more than passing interest to Australians is that th'e Dominion and the Provnici; 1 Governments, with the active eo-opera-tion of the whole people, have .eritar’d upon this great undertaking. All feel intensely that they have something in tbeir country of which the world should be informed, and neither time, expense, nor organising talent has been spared in making the resources of the country known. It is an official tour in one sense, and it .has been availed cf fully U, ventilate rind to fan the Empire spirit. Th success of it, however, has been clue to the manner in which the people, as a whole, have entered into K. Th faith in the country and the determination to make i|s resources known have not been merelj an official effort. Residents ol’ the various districts have.

left their work for the day when the delegation arrived, and put themselves Ait the service of the visitors. They vie with each other in the desire to place the attractions of each place before the visitors. These men who are the temporary hosts in .each town do not speak and eat like men who have taken a day off for a joy-ride. They each have an intense pride in their own their own district, iii their own province, and in their own great Dominion. They are not performing a mere polite social obligation to strangers within their gates. Tl.eir generosity ’ and their personal kindliness ar beyond description, but it L the spirit which lias moved'them to co-operate withHlie Government and with the grat corporations to make the Dominion kiioivn, which is of the greatest significance, and which has a peculiar significance for Australia. One of the most pleasing features of the tour has been the kindly feeling displayed by

the workmen in great factories. They appear to recognise that if this visit of oversea journalists brings men from

European countries, and particularly from Great Britain, to Canada, so much the better not only for the great enterprises, but for the workmen now there. Canada wants men and money, and it does not .hesitate to say so. It has begun in ti vigorous fashion to reconstitute itself after Hie war. Its people are not waiting or merely talking; they are doing something. Again, the question presents itself, “What is the significance of all this for Australia?” GROWTH OF TOWNS.

Canadians,, in proper time and place

emphasise their serious purpose. Thousands of emigrants from the British Isles go to the United States every month. Canadians want to divert that stream to Canada. They want those men and women to have and to hold for the Empire. The United States does not attract only the immigrant from the Bri-

tish Isles. It is the great magnet which draws some of the best of the Canadian born. That force will operate as long as Canada remains the weaker

of the two. The educational institutions, particularly in the eastern portion ' of the Dominion, turn out men who, when they win distinction, are attracted to the United States by offers of high salaries. New York is only a day’s run from Montreal or Toronto, and hundreds] of workmen are tempted to try their fortune in the great city of the United States. In the western portions of Canada the trend of population is rather the > other way. _ There hundreds of thousands of acres have been opened up and put under cultivation within the last decade. The growth of cities like Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan ; of Calgary, in Alberatj of Edmonton, and, for other reasons, of Vancouver, furnishes each a romance in itself. Even the most prosperous of Australian towns offer no parallel for the amazing growth of these towns, A great number of Americans have crossed the border, and have shared in the good fortune of tlie progressive place. Tlie Canadians welcome them. These immigrants are excellent material for developing new country, and the Cana, dians have no reaspn to fear that their assimilation will present any difficulties. Western Canadians, however, do not hesitate to discuss tlie possible effect of this movement of population ; and one of tlie many good speeches delivered during the tour was made by a public man*with a long political career, who made this one of the points of his address. The gist of his speech was that the western provinces of Canada were far aw r ay from Great Britain, and Were bordered by the United States. The aim of the public men in Canada was to see that no portion of the Dominion became merely a nominal payt of the British Empire. They wanted to keep the prenohderating sentiment unmistakably British. ° Immigration from the United States was a good thing, but Canada wants immigration from Great Britain at least to keep pace.

JAPANESE AND CHINESE. Rivnli'ies between friendly people arc discussed more freely,-and,, apparently occupy more tff the thoughts of the Canadian people than racial questions. In the west of Canada there arc many Japanese and Chinese. The Chinese are engaged on the more distasteful track work on the far reaches of the riiilMys. The Japanese in British Columbia are small cultivators, and there and in btlier pllices occupy minor posts ii. tlifc large hotels. There is some opposition to the Eastern invasion inBritish Columbia, but in the middle ' west little notice is taken of it. - Labour is scarce, and the land development (if Canada must go on. No one would wish to see able-bodied white men act-

ing as hotel porters while better work for this class and for the country can be found elsewhere. In every town, even where the population does not exceed 40,000, ’ there is a hotel usually owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which is as large and often larger than the best hotels even

in the metropolitan cities of Australia. These hotels are the centre of the town’s activity, and there is perpetual movement in and around them. The •greatest difficulty' is experienced in maintaining the* stalls at a sufficient standard,' notwithstanding that the earningsijf in wages and tips must be very high. Neither Ja-

panese nor Chinese labour is cheap in Western Canada. Botli are quick to learn their value, and no unions are required to lip tile rate. Consetition \is muf-li more powerful than ilnibnisnL>AVork being available for all,,there is no clashing of interest. In tne more famous resorts, like those of Banff and Lake Louise, the Japanese are employed as porters, and the waiting in tile dining-room is done by Canadian young women, who are directed by Canadian and European head waiters. On the railway trains none of the menial work is performed by the con-

ductors. Their status is consequently relatively high, while the negro porters perform the lower-class work. Canadians appear to have solved the problem of keeping races apart With-

out having to resort to the extreme measure of seeing that they do not. inhabit the same continent. Whatever may be the ultimate results of this policy, there can be no denying that it is greatly to the present economic advantage of the country, and that the advantages are shared by all classes, including the wage earners.