OUR CANADIAN LETTER

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 11

OUR CANADIAN LETTER

(Fbom Oxtb, Own Correspondent.) OTTAWA, July 1. Canada has just passed through her crucial month. On the conditions which govern in June — the volume of sunshine and the rainfall — depend the assurance of » full harvest. Upon that harvest hang practically all the material interests of the Dominion. ; . for agriculture is. pur fundamental industry. If the crops fail, the loss is felt generally. This year the Outlook is most encouraging. The weather has been warm, and the rains frequent. Wheat and other cereals have made rapid progress, and at this moment there is every promise of .a rich and abundant yielcL The meadows have afforded" excellent pasturage, dairy interests are thriving, small fruits are plentiful, the orchards are looking well — in a word, the land from ocean to ocean is smiling. There is not a single condition, to suggest discouragement. During, Ijhe month there were many .forest fires; The most disastrous were in New . Brunswick, where large areas were* not onJy but -farm property was ( destroyed. At one time the iear was ~f eft . that -the loss -.would, be enormous ;■ but ; timely rains, canve,, and the flames were stayed. At one time several thousand men were engaged in battling, against the j fire.' Thest operations are usually carried j on at night, since for some unexplained ; reason it is only during the day time that j • the* flames make headway. The damage has been vsry great, and falls upon both . individuals and the Government. The ! principal source of -provincial revenue in ' New Brunswick is the forest. In Ontario ' a vast amount of .timber was burned, and j there also the loss falls chiefly upon the province. To make matters worse, when an area has been burned over the trees which afterwards grow up are' never of the valuable commercial varieties. June brought not only the assurance of a splendid harvest, but of » return to flourishing trade conditions as . well. Both were, welcome. Last year the falling off in imports was very large, bringing with it a proportionate decline in the public revenue. This shrinkage of- income had the very natural effect of compelling the Government to shorten sail. Large enterprises in contemplation, or ready lo be proceeded with, had to be abandoned, or, at leist, postponed. A deficit was not created; but the normal surplus of from £2,000,000 to £4,000,000 was <not realised. .For the Jirst three months of the current fiscal year .the" revenue chows a betterment of -about £600,000, as compared with the , corresponding period last .year.. This is due, of coarse, to larger imports. _ The volume of exports kept up very well last year, and this y*ar the out- , goiog trade is proceeding Very briskly. Th<* steady growth in. pur foreign sales of manufactures shows the -extent to which Canadian industries are gaining in strength and importance. Last year the exports cf this class aggregated £7,000,000 in round -figures, repressnting ah 4 " advance of over , 265 per cent, since 1898.- . Immigration, will show a considerable Jalftng off this year. During the current j season 60,000 settlers have come in at I Atlantic ports,- apart from those 'who have -entered from the < United States. These latter are the most desirable -of ail classes, because they invariably take up land and come with means. A record is kept of what they bring with them, and this year already the account of money and effects reached th« large total of £40,000,000. The influx front Europe and Asia has been checked by the stringent measures adopted to exclude undesirables. Every immigrant must be in good physical condition, and have at least £5 in cash and a .ticket to his destination. Certain classes, as for example Dukhobors, of whom we have 15,000 in the West, are entirely barred. Asiatics, including Syrians, must have £40 in gold in their possession, and are rigidly examined as to their physical condition. Many Syrians came in during recent years ; but few are now arriving. "TRje Government has been obliged to adopt a policy of restriction in response" to [public sentiment. Immigration is the life blood of a new country ; but "we have learned by ,a bitter experience that^there are -many classes of -settlers we can do very., well .without. "'"thiring the month the annual denominational meetings of the churches have been held. At all these j^therings four problems in chief w«re clwcussed — church union, home and foreign missions, the scarcity of men for the ministry, and | doctrinal views with respect to the Bible. The opening up of Western Canada has 1 involved heavy calls for missionaries and j means on all the churches. It would seem that the money is easier to be had than , men of the right stamp. With respect to ■ union, both the Presbyterians and Metho- i dists have taken another step forward ; but a fair measurement of the. situation would show that actual consolidation is Aill a long way ahead. It may come in j time ; but the influence of the older J ministers, leaning to conservatism, cannot j be overcome for some time. We have i grown accustomed to 'the outry for more students ; but the situation in that regard , is nevertheless very- grave. Commerce and the professions- .lead - young men to shun the sacrifices involved in the ministry, and with the activity of foreign mision enterprises the outlook is further ' aggravated. The doctrinal disciissions have clearly demonstrated that all the denominational bodies ar* divided into two classes — those who stand firmly for the acceptance of the Bible. in its entirety, historically, and otherwise, and those who insist upon a liberal and -spiritual interpretation- Those in ..the lattef class are becoming more out- j spoken, and. they. ' include many of the I brightest and strongest men in the ' ministry. A' dispassionate onlooker would j be disposed to say that no one is to-day J in danger of impeachment for heresy if j he were to assert the allegorical character j of the first 11 chapters of CjjP'&sis. That

much might be said with gaiety. .It is also clear that a great deal of deep-seated unrest prevails among ministers on this subject. The more aggressive demand freedom of discussion, and they confidently declare that such liberty would make for the advancement and strengthening of true religion. This state of uncertainty has something to do with the delaying of church union, since a definite agreement as to doctrine cannot very well be reached. Curiously enough, this situation arises at a time when the churches in Canada were never heartier in their allegiance to the religion of Jesus Christ nor more in earnest in their desire to see it dominate the world. The Women's Congress of the World also met in Canada during June. Lady ; Absrdesn, who was the founder of the congress, came out from Scotland to pre- ! side at the gathering. Representatives were here from many parts of the world, and the subjects dealt with were just as ! varied. Of course, a good 'deal was' «aid ] aboufc ' female ' suffrage, arid' some of the ' • martyrs of this cause were on hand from i- . England to stimulate interest in' the- sub- - ject. The writer has' an open' mind "on thitf question, with a leaning toward the positive side/ and he should not be suspected *©f mere prejudice when fie says female* .suffrage has -sot yet obtained a. ' fair foothold in Canada. The women of the Dominion are distinctly apathetic, and at this juncture it is doubtful if they would accept the right to vote even if it could be go for the asking. It would be hard to say just- why. They have been told a great' deal about the moral benefits which have been brought about in Jfew Zealand by the activity of women at the polls ; but they seem not to have been nudged thereby to a sense of personal responsibility in. the promises. The cynical woman was much in evidence at the congress, railing at men and denouncing marriage in strong terms. Incidentally, some sad etories of domestic wrongs were related. Such troubles began in . Eden. Perhaps the most serious topic under discussion had- reference to , the white slave trade — the traffic in girls. Some startling facts were given, and as a result the United States and Canadian Governments will be asked to co-operate in suppressing this foul business. It was shown that Montreal is the third largest centre of operation on this continent, chiefly because of the demand for attractive and virile French-Canadian girls. Frequently "they are Jured from their homes by scandalous means, and practically made prisoners in American dens of viee;~ The trade- has its recognised \ agents, and is undoubtedly a blot on our civilisation. .-- Efforts to stimulate both, foreign and , domestic trade are expensive. Pairing the fecal year ended March 3l lastCanada paid ,JG500,000 in bounties, which was nevertheless £65,000 lees than for the preceding year. A little more than * one-fourth of this was on pig iron, while a slightly larger proportion was on steel. Wire rods accounted for a further 12 per cent., and lead for about the- same. Crude petroleum absorbed £52,000. The pig iron bounty represented the use of 179,735 tons of native ore and 1,037,586 tons of foreign ore. Of petroleum 173,799 gallons were produced, a decrease of 87,000 gallons, as compared with 1908. A bounty is also paid on the products of Manila fibre, of" which there were 10,590,4561b of binder twine and 6,770,1651b of cordage. The total payments amounted, to £7000. The buffalo is not extinct. A herd of over 120 is to be seen at Banff, in the Rocky Mountains, as the result of careful breeding • from one pair which was secured by the Canadian Government some years ago. Another herd of 341 had been raised in Montana, and recently this was presented to Canada by the United States Government. The round-ing-up and transfer took place about the middle of the month. It was accomplished with difficulty, for the animals are practically wild, and under any circumstances are hard to handle. The bulls, are invariably bad-tempered and ferocious. It took 23 cars to transport the herd to Wainwright, Alberta, where a park had been provided for them. Apart from the commercial value of the animals, on account of their skins and meat, it was- considered desirable to preserve these survivors of the millions which once roved over the Western prairies. " ■ * The staff on the Government railway system was reduced by upwards of 300 during the past month. This action followed the appointment of a managing board of four experienced railway men, who have been given large powers. It is estimated that the reforms already anplied will result in a saving of £60,000 a year. The object of the?e measures is not to oroduce a profit from operation, But merely to make endb meet. The system cannot be alluded to as a t*>st of the principle of Government ownership, since it was built as a part of the bargain of confederation, and has perhaps the lowest freight rates in the vorld. It is a magnificent road, and provides a. high class, service. It is not expected to pay more than running expenses, which it seldom does.

The banana grows i,n st>-pci«lly favoured situations on the Na,T)i«»r Hills It cannot bo said to flourish, but-siveu tiho proper a-spect it does fairly well fbi 1 ornamental purposes. A mild s?n<si ion was eamsod on the deDartnre of the Kanio-ri from Whangarei on Monday, when Constable Boag discovered three youths aged about 12 years, who were endeavouring to stowaway to Auckland. It was a triatter of common knowledge that these youths had successfully managed to evade payin? fares by, s?cre.fing themselves in one of the Nsranuhi lifeboats on Saturday on her trip to Whangarei. The youths were allowed to proceed after a guarantiee had been given by relatives to nay the necessary costs Storrie's Ridger is the only one with patent hillside attachment an<l facilities for parkin? drills where the land is dry. — Niramo and Blair-