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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1908-10-15, Page 54 t- • • - TJIE ERA OF FULFILLMENT, i . YEARS UNDER LIBERALS A Glance at the Big Things Which Have Been Accomplished Under Laurier. ACTION HAS REPLACED TALK As Illustrated by British Prefer- ence, Filling Up the West and Many Reforms. It Is a oharar.terlstlo of the last twelve years, the years of Jelreral ad- ministration, that things have been. done which were formerly talked about or promised, Take the question of the British preference. For many years this was talked sheet, Ilverybody said that It would be a fitting thing to show sumo friendship for Great Britain ,It1 our tariff legislation, to admit British mantifaeturee at n lower rate than the product of foreign eonntrles,'But no- thing was done. Fifteen years ago; Mr. Davies, then a prominent member of the Liberal Opposition, now a judge of the Supreme Court, moved a resolution !0 the effect that the tariff ought to be so fronted as to give a Preference to imports from Great Britain. The Con- servatives met 'the reaolutiou with an amendment to the effect that Canada would give a preference to Great Bri- tain "if and when" Great Britain gave a preference to Canada. The amend- . Brent was cerrlerl, and the result was that both countrlee marked time, and nothing was done. Action n.epinecd Talk. When the Laurier Government as- sumed office, the policy of marking time, the policy of "If and when," was discarded, and a bold, decisive step was taken, A,British preference was not merely talked about, but placed on. the statute book. The legislation at- tracted the attention and caught the imagination bf the British people, and It was one of the leading subjects of discussion in the Bnglislt newspapers during the Jubilee celebration of 1897. One of them sized up the situation when It said the Laurier Government had "taken the bull by the horns." 1n 1896 our total trade with Great Britain, imparts and exports, was less than one hundred millions. In 1907 It was mora than two hundred millions, The effect was to increase the volume, not only of British imputes into Canada, but of Canadian imports into Great Britain. The Inunet0eextension of the British market for Canadian grain, cheese, fruit, and meat. 1s a direct result of the British preference granted by the Fielding tariff of 1'0i. Bet ludnstry Prospered. When tete Fielding tariff was Intro- duced, Sir Charles ?.0009r Bald that he heard. "the wail, the sorrowful wail," of the manufacturers of Canada, la- r b meeting the coming downfall of their enterprises. This is what Industrial Canada says to -day: "During the pest decade all have enjoyed expanding prosperity. Workmen have.been Bald well, and farmers have received big prices for their grain and produce. There hes been no eomplalnt from either that clothing costs a.. few cents u 9 oar more than 1f there were no in- duetfies here, or tent their implements 00 household effects were a fraction higher In price The price of farm pro- ducts has increased decidedly more titan that of any manufactured article. ;.s a result of tete presence of the fac- tories they have wherewith to pay the price, and the savings banks of the country amply show that they have somewhat more." Tho N.P. was intro- duced with many prolnlses ofprosper- ity, and for a few years the country did prosper. But in the long run, as the census of 1891 showed, the results were disappointing. The manufactur- ers cf Canada never before enjoyed such prosperity as they have done dor. Ino; the twelve years -09'Liberal Admin- Ietratlon. The phenomenal growth of the pity of Toronto Is .palmy due to the growth of nlanufaoturhrg industry, and the whole surrounding country, the whole Province of Ontario, has felt the same life-giving impulse. The Conservativo party used. to claim to be the only friend and protector of Canadian industry. But the solid re- sults show that, in this respect as in others, the twelve years of Liberal A``imieistration have been years of ful- fil,tnent, The 'West Went Alread. e 10 Fpr mime years Canada fixed its ev' hopes of national expansion and eroe- perity upon - the West, Both parties were slneure and earnest .111 their de. sire to have title country peopled and developed. If we give credit to George Brown for his persistent and unwearied lllvoeaey of the addition or the West to Canada, we mtteL give credit aleo le the Conservative Government of a enarter of a nentu0y ago for Its bold. tossIn wishing forward the hulieing of the Canadian I'aelfie lle.11wey, Yet wo know that for many yeare the re- sults were disappointing, and that in his celebrated letter :of 1801, the Eton, 46'dward Blake s olte of "a North-'Weet empty 0(111.' Of the nreeent Muni - grant population of the three, Weeiern ] rovinees only 461f10 had arrived in Canada prior to 1891 719,980 arrived be.. iween 1991 and 1901 and 281,467 came In the five years between 7001 and 1900, when the immigration pellet' of the 1u'eeent i9or'ernnlent was in full awing, IL is net a mere aceldent that She Can- adian Weet under Coneervative rule was a land of the hope deferred that (0181111 the heart dela, while to -day it Is a land 01 fulfillment. The Railway Conlmleslon tallied of under the previous Administration he - fame a fact under the Laurier Admin» letratlon. service reform has been removed from the realm of dreams into the reale] of action. SIR WILFRID'S ` SUNNY SMILE." The Story of the ' Golden West Did Not Begin Until Laurier and a Business Administration Came Into Power. The marvelous growth of the West in the last twelve years is one of the stubborn facts which confront the Con- servative campaigners. It is easy to say that the prosperity of the 'West is due to the lertillty of its soil. But why, with its extraordinary natural re- sow'oes, did the West remain for so many years unpeopled, and of little practical benefit to Canada or to the world? Why, in a short time after. the Liberal Government came into power, did the stream of Ininnigratlon begin to flow in a volume ' commeesurato with the resources of the country? The figures of immigration, of homestead entries, of population, of the Western yield of wheat and other crops', have' been repeatedly given. and they tell a wonderful story, But it is not neces- sary to prove the prosperity and growth of the West by statistics. Anyone Who visited the West in 1896 and again in 1.908 will telt you that he districts, few and far between. To - saw virtually two countries, In 1896 there was one Province, and a groat stretch of unorganized territory, thin - 1y peopled and cultivated in little day there' are three Provinces, vieing with each other in population, settle- ment, and cultivation, and each with splendid prospects. The Calgary and Edmonton ,of 1908 are hardly to be compared with the Calgary and Ed- monton of 1896. There are thriving towns In Sashatcllewan which had not even a name twelve years ago. There was one transcontinental. railway in the West in 1896. There are three to- day, eagerly seeking for the privilege of sharing in the business of carrying the Western grain. And still the cry Is for more railways. The Calgary Herald, a Conservative paper, is carry- ing on a campaign for more railways In Alberto, to act as feeders for the three transnouthlentals. While the new Provinces are prngreseing at this tre- mendous pace, Manitoba is not lag- ging behinr7. The splendid city cf 'Winnipeg is an object lesson teaching the prosperity of ..Manitoba. If the appeal is to be made to his- tory, it can easily be shown that George Brown, the leader of the Liberal Party., Was the one public man who for twen- ty years upheld the advantages of the West and urged Its union with Can- ada., It min be shown that he did this in the face of•coldness and discourage- ment. It can be shown that up to the time of Confederation Sir Sohn Mae - WISE PROGRESS DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY The Principles That Tuve Guided and Now Guide the Lib- eral Party. EXPLANATION OF SUCCESS Policy of Opposition Little More Than One of Negation and Abuse. If the Liberal party were merely a po]itlaal faction, standing only for of- fice or spoils, or oven if its claim for support were simply the record of past achievements and traditions of honor and usefulness, there might be reason for challenging its request for a further lease of power. When, how- ever, it comesbefore the people as the. exponent of sound principles, and the active agency prolnating and guiding successful national development actu- ally going on, there becomes manlfeet the absurdity of the proposal to re- place it by another party whose policy is little more than negation and abuse. The progressive political virility Of this new country demands a leader- ship of men who can be relied upon to do things. What does the other party propose In the way of national de- velopment, except to continue the great undertakings which they have criti- cized and opposed? No one takes ser- iously Mr• Foster's tall( about a tun- nel under the Straits of Northumber- land. What else does Fla party re- present, except the recollection of Sir John A.. Macdonald's perfdrrnances, The Liberal party has always stood ptre'.toaaoowap ens; 'ssaaaoad ewIrtt to; personal liberty. To an earnest de- sire for the development and applica- tion of these great principles it owes its origin and success. Its history In Canada, as well as in Great Britain, Is a history of effective apposition to every repressive, oppressive, and unsocial attempt to subvert the wel- fare and advancement of the commun- ity, in the interests of privileged classes. - Nowhere have those great principles found Puller exemplification than in the administration of the pre- sent Dominion Government, Hence it is, that in our Parliament to -day, we find no Socialist faction, ne element representing discontent with our form of government, no represen- tatives of any seetlons of the commun- ity that consider themselves treated with injustice, What a contrast in this respect is the Parliament of Can- ada to the Legislature of nearly every other Country in which constitutional government prevails, This is because Canadians are well governed, prosperous, and satisfied with the prudent guidance of their Young country's rapid development.. It is largely because of. that large-vislon- ed guldance that the Dominion is now se attractive to the best and most intelligent Im- migrants from Other lands. To it, we owe the filling up of new territory with a population of the finest char- acter, that will maintain the ambi- tions which impel them and the condi- tions that attract them. Tho worthy representative and well qualified leader of this greet Liberal national life is the statesman who now asks the electors of Canada to pass judgment upon his record and his proposals. donald was Indifferent to 'the value of the West, except from the point of view of military defence. It can be shown that the bringing in of the West was a plank in the platform of a Lib- eral convention held in Toronto in 1887. But we live neither in 1857 nor in 1882, but In 1008. Wo are dealing with the present, and with the work done in the development of the West in the last twelve years, under the present Administration. I1 the Government had faired In the West, no excuse would have saved it from public condemna- tion, A.s it has succeeded beyond all expectation, it will receive credit from all fair-minded men. THE voYAGEUIZ THE 'RANCtiMAN THE TRAPPER - ieetwee Jet - Y • • A Series of Ngh tlE vWL1RV ti THE PhQSPEtTOR. °rliE t1INE,ti Tat Lull 1 MAnt '' • 1%ct.x$ THE CONOVEIt2NG OF WESTERN CANADA, --No. 2.--T [B SCOUTS. lateens drawn by Mr, C, W, Jeffreys, representing the Conquest of Canada for oivillzation and the men who are enga t. ed lit it, hat e is for It 8 sesseeMansanglaY Where Increases in Expenditures Have Taken Place and the Returns Obtained Therefrom. T+1. 0 leo n• 1{5 z<� 91 suosessossosossispassmatosscississweissenses Expenditures on the public services of the eountry have been increased under the Laurier Government. This, in varying forms, is one of the chief charges preferred by the Opposition against the Administration 'of the day. The fact is admitted. - :Expenditures have grown. The amount spent on the ordinary running services is larger than it was twelve years ago; more has been spent, also, on what is called "capital account" -Le., the construction of permanent public works. But have the people been burdened by the taxation imposed ? Has the future of the country been darkened by the piling on of a load of debt ? .Are there returns to show for the money spent ? These are the questions in which the country is chiefly interested. These are the questions to which answers are herewith submitted. THE ORDINARY SERVICES Let us take first a few of the ordinary services of the country and see why increases in cost have taken place in these. zt,,f1,414,� !1 L 0, .-.174 5'..0, ,,A .d THE POSTAL SERVICE. The expenditure on the postal service in the nine months ending with March, 1907, was $300,000 greater than for the whole year of 1896. But this does not mean an added burden for the people. The do- mestic rate on letters has actually been re- duced in the interval from three to two cents, and a letter can be sent from Vancouver to Lon- don to -day for two- thirds the charge im- posed for sending from Toronto to Richmond Hill in 1896. IMMIGRATION. The expenditure on immigration in 1896 was $120,000. In 1906 it was $842,000. Large- ly as •a result of the greater outlay the number of ferns in Western Canada in- creased from 54,000 in .1901 to 120,000 in 1906. ILb Nr...YJ,:'19tl, d' 61()»!1'1 ' 40 i SUBSIDIES TO PRO- VINCES, The sum of $4,235,000 was transferred in the form of subsidies from the Dominion treasury to the treasuries of the various P r o vinces in 1896. In the short year pf 1907 (nine months) the sum so transferred was $6,745,000. Part of the increase was due to the creation of two new Provinces. Part of it followed upon an in- crease in the subsidies to the older Provinces, A portion of theurplus WhitneyW of which Mr. boasts comes from this source. ,Jkt1iIH' wry '+!l:&M1-0?1l153 AGRICULTURE. The outlay by the Agricultural D e part- ment was $210,000 for the full year of 1896. In the nine months forming the short fiscal year of 1907 no less than $625.000 was spent by the same depart- ment, But in the same time, and partly as the result of the increased spending, the value of farm exports increased by $41,000,000. tat`'$. 4F9mwf xM; • :. t,1.'if0,,, at+ z� :•.i�,�.. LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE, On ,lighthouse a n d coastal service $466,000 was spent in 1896. In the nine months ending with March, 7.907, $2,- 000,000 was expended. As a result of the in- creased outlay in light- ing, coupled with the deepening and improve- ment in our waterways, the St. Lawrence route is capturing trade which formerly went via New York and Boston. More grain passed through Montreal in the last three months than through the combined rival American ports in the same time. MORE FOR QUARAN- TINE SERVICE, The post of the na- tional quarantine ser- vice has grown from $95,000 in 1896 to $624,000 in 1906. Could money be better spent than in guarding against the invasion of disease from abroad 1 The close of the fiscal year of the Dominion was changed in 1.907 from June to March. Thus the state- ment of expenditure for the last year for which of- ficial figures are available covers nine months only. Few, THE LA : GE EXPEN ITURES The chief explanation of the increase in the total disbursements of the fb country is found in the outlay on great public works—works which will be of lasting benefit to the country. ,fir #P PUBLICLY -OWNED RAILWAYS. Between 1896 and the end of the fiscal year of 1907 over $27,000,000 was expended on eon.. striation account of the Illtereolenial and con- nected railways. Up to the end of the same year over $8,000,- 000 had been spent on the portion of the Transcontinental own- ed by the people, The spending of this money has not only ad- ded to the country's transportation facilities, and so helped general trade; it has also in- creased the value of publiely-o w n e d rev- enue-producing proper- ties. aronru:9 ,p 04 AID TO PRIVATE RAILWAYS. In addition to t h e stuns spent on publicly - owned railways, over $18,000,000 has been ex- pended in the form of subsidies to private rail- ways. Some of these roads are providing transportation facilities for territory which oth- erwise would still be unoeeupied. As a con- sequence of the liberal policy pursued by the Government, the length of all the railways in Canada 11as increased from 16,270 miles in 1896 to 22,452 in 1907, and the total of the capital invested in rail- ways from $390,000,000 to $1,285,000,000. CANAL EXPENDI- TURE. • Over $20,000,000 was spent in the ten years ending with 1906 on the St. Lawrence, Wil- liamsburg, W e 1 land, Trent, and Soulanges canals --an expenditure which, with the im- proved lighting service, is helping to make our .waterways the great commercial artery of North America. About two-thirds of the capi- tal expenditure on the Soulanges Canal, which has made it navigable for heavy freighters, has taken place under the p r e sent Govern- ment, WITHOUT ED BURDENS :A.nd, in accomplishing all this, only a trine over five .million dollars has been added to the public debt. In the previous eleven years over sixty - two millions was added to the national obligations. ' While, too, more money has been spent, the rate of taxation has actu- ally been lessened. In. 1896 the average rate of Customs taxation on dutiable imports was nearly 30 per cent.; in 1907 it was 261-3 per cent. More money has been collected, but with less burden upon the taxpayers. A parallel rase would be afforded by a growing town which, while actually lowering the rate on the dollar, increased its total revenue as a result of additions to the number of taxpayers and taxable property. The Morley has been spent, but the country has obtained returns for the spending and the public burdens have been lessened rather than increased, o0.40*ss.e. fitea etk S, OGSVI D