CANADA’S FUTURE

Hokitika Guardian, 14 January 1927, Page 4

CANADA’S FUTURE

lifeF. HYDRO-ELECTRIC SCHEMES

StR PERCIVAL PHILLIPS, in the I,n)i(l(ni “ Daily Mail ”.)

MONTREAL. October 13

There is every reason to believe that Canada is at the beginning of tbo most.

prosperous era in her history

In the first days of winter the Dominion sliow.-j .steady improvement in all branches ol industry and coni' meree, a bumper harvest, decreased line m ploy men L. increased immigration of the right kind, an influx of capital based on appreciation of her financial stability, and a general quickening of activity in sell ernes ior the development of her varied resources.

The opinion of representative leaders of industry and enterprise was well expressed hy Mr E. \Y. lieaUy. chairman and president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, oil the conclusion of his recent tour of the country:-

“ I have made regular and frequent trips to Western Canada during the past ten years and I can safely say that at no time have I seen greater progress or more confidence, in the future than on the trip which the directors have just completed.”

The same may bo said of the eastern provinces, where many new schemes for industrial expansion are already being carried out and others are in preparation. Railways, which are the best barometer ol trade conditions, show a marked increase in earnings over last year. In the first eleven months of 1020 the earnings of the Canadian Pacific were more than C l ,1011.000 higher than during the same period in lf)2o. Agriculture, the Dominion’s first consideration. furnishes the corner-stone of prosperity. The wheat crop promises nearly 100.000.000 bushels and is only little less than that of last year. Rain and premature snow flurries have unexpectedly diminished the hopes of the farmers, who are now working against time, completing the harvest- which has hocn delayed by those adverse conditions.

Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the yield in cash will he very large, and for all the field crops—SO per cent, of which are raised in the West—approximately C 200.000.000 will he ideas-

cd iii the country. This moans the discharge of debts mid more money for future development. lIOKE KAILUKIIS WANTKD.

.More people arc going on the land. Sales of farms and the tiling of homestead claims have doubled in the past twelve months. There has been a corresponding increase in the distribution of argieultural machinery aijd the demand for farm labour. This has been partly met by the increased volume of immigration. During the first- seven months of this year it was 08 per cent, greater than in the first seven months of last year, t'.ven so, Canada is not getting as many farmers as she wants and can find accommodation lor in the rich piaiiio

provinces. Another prool oi sound prosperity can he found in the lowest unemployment rate since the war. This must not be interpreted as meaning that Canada can yet assimilate large numliers of skilled workers from Great Britain. There is still a margin of unemployment to he covered and the only demand, in the field of immigration, is for farmers, domestic servants, and helpers.

Export and import trade is greater than ever before. There is steady expansion of foreign markets, paiticularly ill the far hast. Dominion exports to .Japan last year were 50 per cent, higher than in the previous year, and the exports to China were more than trebled.

More business is being done through the Panama Canal. Thus far in 1920 newsprint exports have increased by 2-1 per cent. The building ‘‘boom” which began last winter has not slackened.

Tn the eastern provinces ol Ontario and Quebec, where industrial enterprise is greatest, ambitious hydro-electric schemes have engaged the attention of financiers both in and out of Canada. Xew water-power installation during lf'2s was double that of any year.

the first live months of 1929 the amount of electricity generated in Canada for interna! consumption was 12 per cent greater than last year. The Dominion is now second among the countries of the world in the amount of power developed. NEW TOWN IN WILD:-.

Industry is steadily invading the will of the Province of Quebec. An entire town for .10,000 people, complete with shops, churches, hanks, and dwellings, is being built by the Aluminium Company of Canada at Arvida. on Ihe Sagimay River.

Hydro-electric ilevelopmon; lms been planned nu a gigantic scale in I' lo area of the loner Si. Lawrence. which contains nearly 7U per cent, of the total industrial ilevelopnieut. !■> per cent of the total available water resources. ami 7*2 per cent of the total developed water power of the Dominion. Industrial development in Western Canada, although on a smaller scale gives cause for satisfaction. Between Winnipeg and the Croat Lakes the palp and paper mills, lumber trade, and construction work now in progress all

testify to the steady general improvement.

In .Manitoba there has been considerable expansion in factories and power plants, and new ones are under way. The mining field is active, especially in Central Manitoba, and new crushing mills are to be erected in several places to take care of the increased output. Still farther west the exponents ol prosperity point to the building of new flour mills, and extended exploration for oil and gas in the Province of Alberta; the widespread improvement schemes at Saskatchewan, which embrace new buildings, roads and branch railway lines, plans for coal briquetring plants and extension of the bricl: mid tile industry ; and the expansion in British Columbia along many lines.

This latter includes the increased acreage of the Okanagan tobacco fields, the construction of now packing plants, fruit-storage warehouses and cold storage plants, and an extension of power plants which supply local industries.