King Country Chronicle Saturday, July 29, 1911. TRUSTS IN CANADA.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 382, 29 July 1911, Page 5

King Country Chronicle Saturday, July 29, 1911. TRUSTS IN CANADA.

Trusts, combines, rings, or whatever they m3y be called, are cunquering Canada as they have the United States, and the knowledge that New Zealand is far from free from their sinister influences leads one to read with interest what our Canadian friends are doing to save themselves from being plundered right and left. Living is dearer in Canada to day than it is in the States, and it is dear enough we all know, in the great Republic. Canadian statesmen do not intend to drive capital "out of the country," but they are determined to see that, as the great industrial organisations can supply their products more cheaply than before, because of economies brought about by amalgamations, they shall do so. Sc in their tariff law is a section providing that where a monopoly or combine increases the price of any article unjustly, the tariff may be removed altogether. In 1900 the government r#d reduce the duty on paper for printing purposes from twenty - five to fifteen per cent., but that is the only occasion on which that law was invoked. A new anti-trust law was recently passed, and its powers are briefly these: If any six or more Canadian citizens think a combine or trust has raised prices unjustly they may apply to a judge to fix a time and place for hearing them. They name one of their number to act as their re-

presentative, the combine appoints a representative and the two appoint an arbitrator, failing which the Minister of Labour appoints him. No proceedings under the Act are to be deemed invalid by reason of any defect of form or technical irregularity. The object is to prevent hanging up cases brought before the board by mere technical appeals. When the board has met, investigated and reported to the Minister of Labour, he has power to recommend that any patent used by the combine may be suspended and the article be mads freely by anyone, or to make the combine pay a heavy fin 3 per day

so long as it continues to oifend. If it

sells tobacco for example, its licenses may be taken away altogether. Or if subsidies or bounties have been ,granted by the Dominion they may be withdrawn. A great shoe machinery combination was the first case investigated under the new law, and the combination at once attempted to wriggle. But the 'law is too straight forward and simple and on May 16th the Quebec Court held that there could be no appeal from the order of the court establishing the board. Probably the trust has already appealed to the Privy Council, where it seem 3 likely it will meet with the same rebuff as the

lower court gave it. Some Canadian students of economics would net care if the appeal went against the applicants for an investigation,, on the grounds that the present law does not go far enough. They believe Canada should have a trust commission, wich jujtocratic powers to regulate the Hfc>es just as their railway commisregulates rates. The matter of

oiling the trusts is the one great qut. lion before Canada's statesmen, thinkers and people, and the intention to control thoroughly those modern aggregations of capital so as to make them serve the Canadian people is Canada's impending conflict.