42.‘l2ll._~i-.1.?:i{

\em,ew gf Canadian Business And Industry For I930

5,. Honourable If. ll. Stevens, llllnLster of Trade and Commerce

, hundred and thirty i135 bgny} i; year of serious in Canada, as indeed L thc civilized world. While ‘mun, “flop has been less affected m Dimes: other countries, as is n1?“ 3d by 11m comparative posi- wdcn; m“. fiwurities 1n the money Noni‘. of London and New York. nmrhhcOu11ti-y' has undoubtedly suf- w mivm-civ from the repercussions we? skoyldyialtuflliOll. The immedi- M tltwllfic of the depression has been ra-it and disproportionate decline Lghllolggnlf‘ prices throughout the world. affecting moi‘! llflflliiuiffllt 111g focd products and raw materiasl which M. _.,,,,p1y in large quantities U, other countries. In November m0 11,.- trcneral index number o! ‘hoksaig- priccs in Canada. which is fairly representative 0i’ $11050 0f nthcr countries. stood at 79.8 P?!‘ m; of the 1926 average as compar- g wlht 957 per cent in the same "K111i of 1929. or n decline of ap- pi-aximritcir one-sixth in the last “who months. This means, of murfif‘, that commodities which sold m 55 .1 vent‘ ago will on the avcragc “~11 for only $5 now, but it means much more than that. Under the ynmpllftitffl svsicm of modern pro- ductloii, thc decline from $5 i0 $5 111 mi» wliorsnlc prices of general com- madam in many cases wipes oet the 9,0111; of thc enterprise. and thus does awav with the incentive to pro- duction, unless or until the expenses incidental to production can be pro- portionatclv reduced so as again t0 makfj production profitable. Accord- ingly the business man who uses capital and employs labour in his business has found that, for the mo- inept at least, he has nothing to gain from continuing in nwdlm- H"! while most business men are actu- all)’ continuing to pwdflflv in the ex- pectation of better times to come, a considerable number have either closed down altogether or are work- ing only part time. with the general result that in the business worldto- day we find large sums of idle mon- or and considerable numbers of idle IllPll,

‘rhcrc arc vcrlaill large firms con- iiilnizigr production in order to keep vnirlajrwl many vshom they other- ui-c would lay off. 1 would like to fir» "Ill t‘ii.: a-‘iiim on the part of icah iiiins. in Canada _who are in

- a tlv relieving the unem-

Ninctcri mdoubtcdil’ pprr: sion

MC

“pr. tlir- most serious feature racial iiccliiic in wholesale ,. p. it. iiicqiialiiy‘. certain com- lll.'3(lili"ii and ccriain classes of the fOllllllllllltY living proportionately for mon- rc iiisly affected than others. l'vl'llll.’ll‘,\' 1irodurr-rs have up to thc prcsciit timc siiflcrccl more than pro- ilucrra of manufactured commodities, ilic avrragc indcx number of the ]1l‘l(‘"$ of 252 raw and partly manu- farturrd commodities having declin- rd from 97.2 on Novcmbcr 1929 to 701i ill thc sanic month of 1930. v-iiili- thc nvcrage index number of the prices of 276 fully and chiefly iuanutacturcrl commodities has fal- lru viili- from 93.5 to 93.1 in the “"1" licrind. But the greatest suffer- l‘l'$ havc iii-en thc agriculturlsts; the 81711121‘ iiidcx number of the prices "of ‘*5 Camiiliil" T111111 products of the firlrl has dcclinefi from 94.8 to 49.3, "r "Y “fliltiv 4B per cont, in the past 117111‘ months. Thirteen animal Pmfllifh cf thc Canadian farm have fared railicr better, in that the aver- li"! inclcx number of their prices has fifilb-"ri only from mo to sos. ‘lni: nu tlic two together, 59 Canad- ian farm products had an average Prim index number of 07.0 in No- "mbfl 1'11". as compared with 101.5 a rear cai-licr, indicating a decline approximately one-third in gen- '"] Pitt" 0f all Canadian farm “mm” t" i1 51119.10 year. H3115.‘ however, is of the past, and nlééol-‘g HM practical use in post [hp “$11: Expert opinion inclines to ""11 iimt the fall of wholesale ml?“ 1111s nearly spent its force, and Iénntvl-‘iriat. remains is the readjust- "govfl the wholesale prices of dif- fillin-hcnmllloditlcs to each other. the M‘ of retail prices to corres- mxuchal i wholesale prices. and the m m“ n of costs of pioduction lo as prom“: production at lower prices romplflég When this process is (cmif-PHB or even in a fair way to and éhc "- Drosperlty will return, inaugural; capital will facilitate the the m" on of new enterprises and ‘Immense of employment. m" oi’ the depression has been and wound for some fifteen months mm m! farmer to have fairly well mm oree. ‘rho extraordinary "i" 91mm M m: m the “Mmmvhuumnaunm 3:1 Jhile tho si-nuh ominous’ tent ‘OPP?! It the rate of 01¢ per M"! in Oct! three‘ months‘ treasury m" n" lobar 19D. it is paying at November“! 0111! 9 1-0 Der cont in can bone nae-in other words, it I _ w 23 now for approximate- fluwi" ii wit to borrow ll a your on ‘M50111. "10 IVOYIII TIM 011M105 call loom in the New York

.,. ,.

a;

market, which was 8.92 per cent; in September 1929, was only 2 11¢,» cm; in December 1930. Beyond 110111;; then, there will be abundance of new Cflbital available at reasonable rates of interest for thc new developments of 1931. Ii: ls thedeclared opinion of economists that inter-egg rages must be 1111119113111’ reduced and there are those who believe that public bond issues now carrying a fate o; approximately five per cent; W111 probably ranch a definite 1cm] 0f below four per ccni. 1t wi11 be 1n. tcrestlug during thc coming year to ivntch thc stabilization of interest rates.

The different industries of Cau- adn may now be reviewed individu- ally.

Agriculture

As already stated, the economic di-‘Dression of the past year has borne Pflfilftllhirly hard on agriculture, and more especially on Canada's largzst. crop, wheat. As a consequence of the heavy world production of 1929 in the Northern Hemisphere and of 1929-30 in thc Southern Hemisphere, the price of No. 1 Northern Whcat at Winnipeg, which was $1.68 per bushel on August 3, 1929, has fallen to 57 3-8 cents on December" ll, 1930. A distributing factor in recent months has been the resumption oi’ exportation on a large scale by Soviet Russia. '1 Before the Great War, Russia was the world's leading exporter of wheat. and present ex- ports which this year amount to ap- proximately 80,000,000 bushels repre- sent less than 10 per cent ofRussiiFs total production, and while there is admittedly a shortage in some classes of foodstuffs and clothing in Xtussla, it. is generally accepted by those who are well acquainted with the situation that there is an abund- ance of wheat for internal consump- tion. Furthermorc, Russia meets cost of production by its policy of providing for its workers in cor":- munal form" and incurs no fixed ll- abality by losses resulting from wages paid out of borrowed money, and 1n my opinion wheat producers should face the probability of tho' export from Russia ncxt year of a much larger quantity than that rc- prcscntcd in the figures for this your.

Again, thc troubles in the Far East and the low price of silver have tended to limit our power of dispos- ing of our wheat across thc Pacific. Finally, thc latest Australian crop reports forecast the harvesting in January and February next of the largest crop on record.

Mineral Production

Oii thc whole, the depression of 1930 has not affected mining so sev- erely as agriculture, though much lower 1iriccs have been in evidence, more especially iii the metals, whcrc copper, lead, zinc and silver have been particularly affected. The pre- vailing depression, however, did not prevent further expansion in the physical output oi‘ several of thc lui- portant metals and minerals. Dur- ing the first nine months of thc year, the 1irocliictlon of copper was 235,000,000 potinds, an increase of 32.5 pcr cont ovcr thc same period of 1929. The output o.’ zinc at 195.000.-, 000 potinds shoivcd a gain of 30 1ierl cent. The production of load was up by 5 per cent. nickel by 8.5 per cent and gold by 4.6 per cent. Petroleum production, again. showed a gain of 31 per rent. On the other hand. thc physical production of coal. salt. gypsum. asbestos, cement and clay products all showed declines in 1930. The total value of production of metals, non-metals and fuel. during the first half of 1930 was 110,340.- 000 as compared with $123,702,000 in the same period of 1929, or a coin- paratively moderate decline of 8 per cent in value while volume increased. The latest reports indicate that be- fore long Canada will be the second largest- producer of gold in the world.

The firm: engaged in the mining industries reporting their employees monthly have shown seasonal in- creases in employment in the last few months, mainly in coal-mining, although the commence ‘ of min- ing operations in a large metallic ore mine in Manitoba during the autumn has also considerably im- proved conditions in that arovo- The index of employment in mining hu avenged rather lower than in 1929, but higher thanin 1929 and earlier yurl of tho record.

Forestry

Tho- induatriu which derive their raw materials from the forests have always been among the leodini i11- dustrles of Canada. may draw their

3116b a rapid growth it ls not cur-

total catch oi‘ [Columbia in the first ton months of

row material from a forest are: which, after all the demands that, hove been made upon it and 01hr!" the destruction b? fire. still extend!

over an czfitlmatcd area of 1,151,000 square miles, nearly ten times as large as the British Isles.

In former times the lumbering in- dustry in Canada was second only in importance to agriculture, and in more recent times we have seen the rise o! the more highly manufactur- 1118 0111p and paper industry to be the most important single brunch of manufacture in Canada. The total value of the production of that in- dustry ln 1929 was almost $244,000,. 000, and the production of paper alone was valued at $193,193,000, of which newsprint, the largest item, accounted for $150,800,000. Canada's newsprint production in 1929 was 95 per cent greater than that of the United States, which a few years ago was the worlds leading producer. The Canadian figure for 1929 was 2,- 725,000 tons, as compared with 805,- 000 tons as recently as 19:1, Ann

prising that there should have been recession, and thc figure of news- print production ln the first ton months of 1930 stands at 2,110,635 tons as compared with 2,244,518 tons for thc same period cf 1920-21 dc- clirie of 6 per cent. Employment in the pulp and paper manufacture at the beginning of November was only about tcn per cent lower than at thc same date of 1929. On thc other hand, employment in logging, thc P11111313’ 11199058 in tlic pulp and paper industry and in other indus- tries based on the forests, was, at the i930 date, little more than half what it was at thc same (late cf‘ i929, and tWo-thlrd= what it was at thc samc date of 1928. ‘

Fisheries

On thc whole, thc fisheries cf Cau- ada in i930 bid fair to show u b01110- what increaoscd yield and a. rather smaller total value. Preliminary fig- ures of the catch of sea fish in thc ten mouths ended October show thc total catch as 9,150,838 cwt., of an estimated valuc to the fishermen of $22,143,426, as compared with 8,927,- 242 cwt. valued at $23,262,696 in the corresponding pcrlod of 1929. The increase in the amount of thc catch is due to the salmon fisheries of Bri- tish Columbia while the decline in the value is due to thc fact that a. larger proportion of the catch of sal- mon is of the cheaper varieties. Thc salmon in British

1930 amounted to 2,304,959 cwL, valu- . cd at $7,491,752. tomparerl with. l,-

320,721 cwt. valued at $6,736,384 in tlierc has bccn in 1930 has bccu rc-i but in October _ ‘boon lcvcrscd, and we find a bal- or depressions and uoxv in (‘\'lt'PllC'J;lQl‘.S brunclius bv tlil-ii‘ aucc cf exports OTCl‘ imports. T111111 in Canada indicate tlic pivflnibilitvf:Ernest Eradlflv arslstvcl h" o! manufacturing i>\"o:l\'.:il0n in 1930 we Canadians arc commencing 011cc trot thrrc will be br-lcii" tiiii“; inlA.i\fc1=i~ci~ 1 will inrritiilily bc lcs-i than in 19133.] again to scll more to thc outside,;!‘2l. In thc first

the corresponding period of 1929. The puck 0f British Columbia salmon rorci from 1,322,170 cases in thc ten months cnclcd October 31st, 1929, to 2,139,351 casca in thc corresponding period of 1930.

During the fiscal your cud-ad 1920‘ Canadian fish and fish products found markets virtually all ovrr thc ivorld. and in spite of depressed con- ditions generally. total exports roach- ed $35,097,000 as compared with $36,- 156,000 in 1929. Imports of ihcsc products amounted tr 33.700000. about thc same as in thc 1ircvluus fiscal year. Canada's fish cxport trade includes everything from fro- zen smelts and carmcd sardines to canned whale meat, but the biggest sinblc item in point of value is cari- ncd salmon, the value of this (‘Q111- modity exported being $8,302,000 ,ln

the last fiscal year. Bcsldcs cnnncrl and prcscrvcd fir-h tlicrc is a big. and growing export trade in fresh] and frozen fish and thc figures in; this particular are one of the fcwi bright spots in the fiscal vcar 1920 trade record. being: $il.48~i.00-3 m} compared with $11,258,000 in 1927.‘ Most of thcsc exports go to thc: United States, and thc pl‘f‘iltl‘.'~‘li suvlcl itcm. lobsters, had a value of $2.319- 000 ac compared with 51.613000 in’ the 1ircvlnus year, thus ncmnutiiv: for tar more than thc increase in value of fresh fish exports as a ivholc.

‘Production of Electricity

In time past CanacYai-i manufac- turers were oftcii rcpronchcd with their dependence on United Statcs coal for fuel and for power, and it ivas claimed with some show of rea- son that thc lack of coal in thc chief manufacturing provinces of the Do- minion made our manufactures dc- pendgnt on thc good will of thc United States-m dcpcndcncc which had more than a mcrcly theoretical significance during the early years of the war, when wrman-Americans were doing all in their power to pre- vent thc manufacture of munitions of war for the Allies. Since 1921. though the production of manufac- tures has greatly increased, our im- ports of bituminous coll have largely fallen ofl, being only 13,888,000 tons in the latest fiscal year as compared with 18,408,000 tons in 1921. This decline fl due to Central Canada's effort to find in her own "white coal" a substitute for the black coal of the United States. otween 192i. and 1929 the hydraulic turbine horse pow- er installed in Canada increased from 2,784,000 to 5.7721000 horse power, and during 1030 it is estimated that some 400,000 horse power additional bu been added to the installation. Further, while in most of our in- duntrlu tho available 1980 fkuree

HON. H. H.

CHARLOTTETOWT '

‘rtcr vi Trade

._....,... . . ..__ ...

[Nyvhnnvawf-r

STEVENS ' and Commerce

aiioiv

with 19'

lty in iiic 1"" on mouths of 1930 is about l'_- p: (‘out liighcr than 1:1 the same 1icr1od of the 1irczcding year. As yct only about one-seventh of tho nt 1ircso1it 1'ccorcl?d'\vatei'

jowr-rs have bccii (l'.‘\.'f".O|)C(l, and the work of further dcvclcpizxcnt ii; act- lvcly ilvpiargrcss. lnutnllatlous ag- gregating more than 1,680,000 1131's: 1ioivor arc now undo:- activo develop- mcnt from coast to coast. T719111’ cf those installations are :0 designed as to permit the introduction of addi- tional oqulpmriit, ivhich when cum- plctcd will add a further 2,090,070 liorsc powcr to the total.

Manufactures

Nineteen liviiiilri-d and twenty-four was bcyond tnicsztlon thc greatest

_vcur that Canadian inzuiiifiictiircs too, have bccn in hmallcr value Bflltgyig figure being 129.9 as coiiipai-»'sclioo1 \‘.'-'.l'(‘ 1121f! on .l‘.~ at"

CV91" tllon zidii B00300.

cxporlcuccvl, the total produc- of inanuliictiirctl goodu iii Can-

cessiou from an r-xtrzugrdliiarlw lvgii level. Turtlirc, whit: the grosri vulu?

his will lic iuigoly due. t) the (‘Oll- r-iricraflalyi loivcr prim; of the ravv may tcrials which have gone into til?

flint the volum; n; .,l in thc 1111209552

of matiulnrturc vvll l be not 101')‘, uiifavorablr lazfancc of $15,449,671] 0503:7051 {r0111 5i_itl2,000.000 :1 $l.452.-;

mucli lost; than iii tlic dlugl year. The average index

thc (‘lli]ll(l_\'t‘(‘.‘§ in the mount

< - - v I . < ,,.' i. _, ... lllflllfltflfii; rcptiriiiij: iiiiizitlily is; till‘ imports in our lradc with t‘Ollllli'l“"i decline of nearly 510.007.0051. lliiial “oil laden (,l,.i~.i..~. 1.. 'f‘i*.t'

Bureau of S1,; i:.i '; stood lil 103. in Lhc first clcvrii months cf 1930 :12‘, compared with 117.3 in i110 same pcr- iod of 1929 niitl 109.8 1928. Thus cnipluynirnt in Canad- ian mautacturiiig industries has in

in the some!

l l

_ I period of 1228. ‘llii: l". n rltcllnc cl vi ,, __ ~11 i=1 0.6 pcr ccut. n: compnrczl with last, ‘L’ E -_ Q your, or iii nth/rt" “TQTdJ. the report-f g- § _=_i g ~6- ing (Initiation ll"1\'illl(\(".l|‘.'(‘l‘fi (“ll-Ii e- g i=1 21.2,, plnyirvl only l5 men in 19110 wliri“. 3 54 §p tlicy cmploycrl 15 iii i913!) and 15 in‘ k2 E l: H’: 1:- a 10130 . i‘ ‘ r a" atcl ' .9 l‘ C‘ 1928 ' ‘owl been 1,1,) o iin 1 r n ‘Jznvjny ‘_ _9~ 93.683 ‘ ' . ‘1"<'b1“-1a='i' 09149 74o 412

I .' i, i i‘.':l91i0."l.i ., ' ‘ ll tfwllfnil-Tnyrlu-‘iliqx: lllnllll;'li‘f"xl"llollf’ ‘Mann gummy]! ‘Imus q‘, l,“ bQQ, 4M,‘ lffijlpw; 711111! 52,509,160 ~13. .670 ail“ ff] (my; m‘ iin ‘u; .‘l_c_‘l 11111:: 101.544.1117 79.403709 --22.os1.1oa r: \ .' .9 . z . a.’ _

nice] 1;“ “linker _,n__m__i__in_: m" _ Juno ............ . . . . .. 91.543991, 90.530249 --11.007.73: thcir“ f-iclorv employment. in Cilil-IJU]? 84‘55O‘n35 77905521 “ ‘

nil-i l1 lwuiuiiaiiivliiccl at '1 muchmulzufm '77'906‘234 7013123766

hiéhw HI] mp_|“m “we Um“ si-piciiiiici- ....................... .. 97.900201 2.190.271 »-s,7o.7.o27 smrw “jléw m; ma,“ mmna,c‘diociiibci~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 793511251 81,207,932 211139.581, on‘ m; H-mm bqro as HQ; DDmini__ni,‘l'cii 010111.115‘ ’l"i1tnl . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 871,516,482 762,723,552 --109,090.93') Burc-iu of Statistic.‘ iiirlcxcs Favor-E —‘ “" "

I .-; ozuioo 5t l t. "s." i o - . . l n F 1 b I "m n ' J n c TIJlIRPOFlFl-IOH and Communication tcrprctation of banking statuiiraa,‘

tobcr. compared with H13 Canadian index at 104.6 on Novcinbcr 1st. An cncourziyfng rcncwal of activity hnr. fCCflllllfV been evident in thc textile group, while the food liitluritrics have, also isroviclcd work for largo mun-i bcr of 1icrsons. fruit and vcgctablc canncrlcs having bccn 1i_articularlyi busy this ycnr.

f‘.

Construction

The value cf construction contracts awarded in the first clcvcn mcnths of 1930, as compiled by thc lVlacLean Building u Reports. Ltd" stands at $432,457,300, as compared with $544.- 105000, $382,289,900 in the corres- ponding periods of 1929, 1928 and 1927 respectively. While ‘the 1920 figure is considerably lawer than that of 1929, it is nevertheless higher than tho figures for any complete year from 1913 t1 1927 inclusive. Again it has been achieved in the face of a declining level in the prices of building materials, the index num- ber of such prices standing at or average of 93.3 in the first ten months of 1930, as compared with 99.9 in the some period of 1929.

The November reports on employ- ment in the construction industries indicate that such employment eon-

‘dizctioil in the commodities

LlllllCS active for this time of year. Sonic thousands of men arc now working on rciicf uiiclcrtaklugx, and thcir earnings will tend to increase employment in other lincs. But al- together apart from this relief, a relatively high lcvcl ofcmployment is] being maintained in building con- struction, vshcrc the index of No- vcmbcr 1st, 1930 stood at 145.3 per cont of thc i926 average, a figure which though considerably lower than at thc same date of 1929. was substantially higher than in Novem- ber 1921i. External Trade

The cxtcriial trade of Canada ha: in i930 been ailcctcd, so far as cx- port: g0, by thc smaller crops of 1929 and 1930 and the lower 1irlccs obtained for thciri, as well as by the general tradc depression. Imports,

-».___. .-_..... ..-.-q-.

a-i-q. .,

an}: t; (l",.'l!l‘€‘ rs u rcgult Ll L114-

cuniprtitluii cl l...‘ automobile. At any rzitc, tlic grand total gross rov- cnuc: of tlic more l'2‘]l‘.‘ll"I‘.'. rail ways of Cauiarla in thc fri. lllll"

months of 1930 aggrcgair-il 03.13.7181.- 603 as compared with $398,105,213 lil the same period of 1920, a decline of

_ $58,723.S00..Ncarly two thirds of this

decline was otlsct by savings on op- eration, but even so, thc operating lu- I come of thc railways in thc first| thrce quarters of 1930 was only $39.- | 007,543 as compared with $58,938,492

in the same period of i929. Naturally, l one element in bringing down thc

operating expenses has been the rc- duction of the working force in 1930 than in any ‘year since 1926, as a rc- sult of the short crops of 1929 and, thc subsequent depression. Railway“ construction vvorl: was; also loss activr- in 1930 than in othrr rcctnt yw-zirs. Nevertheless, thc index of Clllpllljl- mcnt on railivay conr-tructloii ivar. distinctly lilglicr on Ncvicmbcr 1st, 1930, than on thc sainc datc of 1929.