HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1917-8-2, Page 7INTERNATIONAL LESSON
AUGUST 5.
Lesson YI.-Munasseh's Sin and Re-
pentance -2 Chron, 33. 1-20.
Golden Text-Isa. 55. 7.
Verses 9-11. Sin and punishment of
Manasseh. Manasseh -Son and sue-
cessor of Bezekiah; reigned from
about B. C. 697 to B. 0, 641. ;Seduced
-By example and administrative
policy. Verses 3-7 and 2 Kings 21.
3-7 give a vivid description of condi-
tions. Assyrid-No mention is made'
of 1VInnasseh's captivity and sub-
sequent restoration in Kings or in the
Assyrian inscriptions; nevertheless,
they may well have taken place; (1)
the states along the Mediterranean
coast were involved in a rebellion
against Ashurbanipal of Assyria, in B.
0, 048-647; (2) Manasseh is named in
the inscriptions as tributary to Ash-
urbanipal and to his father llsarhad-
don; (3) the treatment accorded to
Manasseh is the treatment which ac-
cording to the inscriptions Necho I of
Egypt received at the hands of Ash-
urbanipal.
12, 13. Repentance and restora-
tion. Humbled himself The Chron-
icler records that as the result of his
disaster Manasseh 'humbled himself
before -Jehovah, turned from his evil'
ways, and sought to undo the evil
committed Miring the early part of his
reign. The. Chronicler's source of in-
formation is not knovnn. The ac-
count of the repentance is,'perhaps in-
tended to explain why the wicked Ma-
nasseh enjoyed such a long reign,
when, according to common Hebrew
opinion, the wicked clie young.
14-16.- Later deeds. Outer wall -
A wall outside of the one already en-
circling Jerusalem. Gihon-A spring
in the valley of Kidron, east of the
temple mount, the modern Virgin's
Fount, Ophel-The southern spur
of the temple mount. Fishgate-Prob-
ably in the north. Ile sought to un-
do the earlier wrongs, first by remov-
ing the idolatrous practices, then by
restoring the worship of Jehovah.
Foreign gods -0f Assyria and other
neighboring nations. According to
2 Kings 23. 4-6 these reforms were
brought about by Josiah. Peace -of-
ferings -Sacrifice offered for the pur-
pose of maintaining or restoring right
relations, with God. Thanksgiving-
Offerings in recognition of the divine
goodness and mercy. Commanded-
As in the beginni3ig he had used his
royal authority to root out Jehovah -
religion, so after his conversion he
used it to reestablish it.
WAR COINING NEW WORDS.
Some Examples of Terms Not to be
Found in Dictionary.
Latin is getting a little revival as
a result of the war. Latin phrases
abound in :law, diplomacy, etc. For
instance, the European pacifists are
demanding peace on the ba§is of the
"status quo- ante helium," which be-
ing interpreted means simply the con-
ditions existing before the war. Latin
is valuable because it. is so crisp; It
usually takes more words to express
the same idea in modern languages.
But the phrase "status quo ante hel-
ium" is too long, and so the initial
letters of it are used for brevity:
"S.Q.A.B."
The war is making lots of language.
For example, the new form of German
machine gun pit, .protected by rein-
forced
einforced concrete, is known as a
'mebu." The word will not be found
- in any dictionary. It is made from the
initials of the German term "Masch
inen Eisen Betun Uuterstand." In
this country we constantly abbreviate
'High- cost of living" to "H.C.L." Tho
initiative, referendum and recall are
likewise telescoped into "IRA." "An-
zacs" Is another word which the war
has created and which the professors
would hunt for In the dictionaries in
vain. It;'too, is a made-up word, in
which the "A" stands for Australia
and the "nz" for New Zealand; it
refers to the troops from those coun-
tries?? No doubt some term will be
found to distinguish the forces which
the U.S. Is to throw • into the war.
"American" is really too broad a term,
for it includes the whole Western
Hemisphere. "Usonan" may possibly
be adopted -standing for "United
States of North America,"though it
sounds too much like a breakfast food
or a brand of crackers.
In His Hat.
Two Australian soldiers, while at
Gallipoli Peninsula, were sent down to.
get a box of munitions. \When fetch-
ing it up the hill they became tired,
and sat down to rest, and smoke.
General Birdwood paslsed in the
meantime. Neither took any notice
of him. A lieutenant who saw the in-
cident rushed across,
He thundered: "Why didn't you
spring to attention when General Bird -
Wood passed?"
"Strike me pink!" said the Austra-
lian. "Was that Birdwood?"
"Yes," said the lieutenant.
"Well, why don't he wear a 'few
feathers like any other bird would?"
Fish is excellent food and not eaten
nearly Often enough.
.Alntost automatic in operation 1s a
now typo of automobile signal that
uses large 'dials with arrows to indi-
cate the direction a car is taking and
a virbating hand to show it will stop.
A. new unibrolla has a handle which
clasps over the wrist like a bracelet.
It in intended for the use of women
shopping, so that they will not lose
their umbrellas -
1 M3LA'
is a disinfectant that dries white,
not dark or colorless like other
dlsinfeetants, so that with it, one
disinfects and paints at the same
time, with the same labor and at
no greater cost than is required
for whitewashing and disinfect
ing only,
.Carbola is made of a finely
powdered minora) plament, the
Hahne as used by • many paint.
makers, combined with a germs-
1aas times stronger than
carbolic) acid
but non-poisonous and non -caus-
tic. Crones in convenient size
nacltages, does not spoil by stand -
ng. 'so can bekept on hand ready
to' use when convenient or on a
rainy day, Applied with either a
brush or a spraying machine, will
not clog the sprayer or blister,
flake or peel oLT, no matter how
many coats are put on.
It is easily o
prepared f t use.
oth'put the colddor 1n a.paand
stir in either cold or not water,
Used and endorsed by thousands
of poultry and branding farms and
by experiment stations and agri-
cultural colleges.
Sold by Dealers Everywhere
HOWLAND SONS & 00., Ltd.
Toronto - - Canada
PROVIDING
OR
HARVEST' UDS
The Quantity and Kinds of Foods
Required for Harvesters as
Estimated by An Expert in
Household Science.
For an accustomed cook, the work of
preparing meals for the extra, harvest -
hands, presents no special problem. It
is a matter of assembling food and
promptly preparing it in appetizing
ways.
To nearly every farm woman, how-
ever, comes an appalling first time
when she finds herself faced by the
question of how much she must pre-
pare for a given number of men. To
this question is now added our national
duty of economy. We are asked to
prepare for our tables not so much
what we best enjoy as what will most
acceptably and economically nourish
bodies for the work they must do.
In view of this situation, many of
my readers may welcome an estimate
of the amount of food needed for one
meal by one man employed at severe
work such as threshing.
I am reproducing , here the table
which gives in ounces n balanced ra-
tion for a man of one hundred and
fifty-four pounds. A little study of
the table as a whole will help the
housewife to understand how this bal-
ance is preserved and how to estimate
what sl,e will need to furnish for five
men or twenty-five.
Man at Severe Work
Kind of Food
Breakfast:
Apple sauce
Oatmeal
Cream
Sugar
Sausage (poilc)
Bread
Butter
Potatoes
Tea (1 cup)
Sugar
Cream
Total
Dinner:
Boiled ham
Potatoes
Carrots
Turnips
Corn bread
Brea
Butter
Cold slaw (cream)
Pie, prince
Tea (1 cup)
Sugar
Cream •
Total
Supper:
Dried beef (creamed)
Cream
Fried potatoes .......,..,
Bread
Butter
Apple sauce
Ginger bread ,_.
Milk, skimmed
Total
Total for day 73.11
Feeding the harvest helpers is hard!
for the woman who cannot have suit-!
able appliances and has to depend onj
Makeshifts. j
Among the helpful utensils is a
three or four gallon double boiler for;
making soups, gr&vies and puddings;
also a large stdhm cooker which will
take careof fifteen or twenty leaver
of 'brown.bread or steamed puddings,
at once.
A good homemade fireless cooker
will help in Cooking ham or boiled
beef.
Beware of trying to fill up hungry
men with .foods that take =eh time to
prepare. One should not try to,
serve pies often, unless there is plenty
of help. Rolling crust is slow work
even for a. swift pie -maker.
Ounces
4.00
2.00
2.15
0.56
2.00
2.60
0.50
4.00
0.40
0.28
1.07
19.56
3.00
4.00 •
4.00
4.30
5.20
1.30
0.75
1,33
4.00
0,40
0.28
1.07
29.63
1.00
1.07
2.40
1,80
0.76
4.00
4.00
9.40
23,92
INVESTORS.
Our Capital Stoat, now
offered to the public
for the first time, omni.
bins absolute soourlty
'With purgey dividends.
Write for lune lilus-
Western Canada Farms a Company, Limited
P t p, Toronto
Need eftiom 43 ]m errIia or L aid .
•
Alleged Profits of The William Davies Coy
1916 on Bacon, as Indica rt F . t of
La i, or to be Five Ce_ ts �h���� bl �,
Actual Profits TWo=Thir,!s of i Cent per ound
..
THE statement issued by the Department of Labor concerning
the busynessilli The f
o William Davies Company om Limited has
y
l aS
been given widespread circulation throughout the country and
provoked public unrest.
Whatever the technical wording of the report was, the effect has
been that the newspapers have published that "the profits on Bacon
alone" of this Company "for 1916" were about "five millions of
dollars." This interpretation of the official report is not surprising
in view of certain statements that the Commissioner' of the Cost of
Living makes. The Commissioner is reported as saying that
"There were two' individual cases of profiteering in 1916 and that
had these cases occurred since the passage of the cost of living
Order -in -Council, he would consider it his duty to recommend that
the facts be laid before the Attorney -General for consideration as
to 'their criminality," The situation created by such erroneous
and damaging statements is serious as emanating from a Govern-
ment official, from whom one looks for not only accurate statements
but correct conclusions.
The William Davies Company, being a private concern, has fol-
lowed the practice of all private corporations, except when it made a
bond issue in 1911, in that it has not published reports of its assets and
liabilities or profit and loss. The present circumstance, how -ever, in
which a Government Official has led the public to false conclusions,
makes it advisable for this Company, for both the public interest and
its own interest, to publish particulars of its business as well as point
out the error of the statement of the Government Official.
For the last fiscal year ending March 27th, 1917, The 'William Davies Com-
pany bought and killed 1,043,000 head of Live Stock (Cattle, Hogs and Sheep,)
This, plus purchases of outside Meats, produced 160,000,000 pounds of Meats.
The Company handled 6,550,000 pounds of Butter and Cheese, 5,650,000 dozens
of Eggs, and manufactured 9,6,500,000 tins of Canned Goods.
The net profits on these were .68 cents (or two-thirds of a cent) per pound on
meats, 1.04 cents on Butter and Cheese, 1.04 cents per dozen on Eggs, and .47
cents (or slightly less than one-half a cent) per tin on Canned Goods. These
profits include profits on all By -Products derived from these accounts.
During the year the Company served at its retail stores 7,500,000 customers,
the average purchase of each customer was 35c„ and the net profit upon each
sale was 5-8 of 1 cent.
The turnover of the Company from all its operations for the last fiscal year
ending ]Vlarch £7th, 1017, was $40,000,000. The net percentage of profit upon
this turnover, after deducting war tax, was 1.69 per cent., or including war tax
3.45 per cent.
The 'William Davies Company has assets of $13,385,000 of which $3,865,000
is tied up in fixed investments.
To provide the necessary facilities for the increased volume of business the
Company expended $750,000 in buildings and equipment during the year.
Companies of other character present no more reasonable statement of profit
and loss based upon the investments made in the business.
The William Davies Company offered to the Imperial authorities, as well as
to the War Office Service (which represents the Imperial authorities in Canada)
to place the output of its Factory with respect to Bacon supplies, Canned Beef
and Pork and Beans at the service of the authorities, on the basis of cost plus an
agreed percentage. These offers were successively declined as the authorities
evidently desired to purchase in the open market, and on this basis The William
Davies Company has secured War Office business by open competition with the
world. '
Respecting the Report ®f the Commissioner on the Cost of Living:-
Last
iv ingo®
Last Winter the Commissioner, under authority of
Order -in -Council, required packers to submit statements
under oath for some years back and up to December lst,
1916, of incoming stocks of Meats and the cost of such, as
well as statements of outgoing product and the selling value.
This Company represented in writing at the time that the
information as specifically required was not in accordance
with Packing house Accounting methods, and invited the
Commissioner to send an Officer to the Head Office of the
'Company to examine the books for any information desired,
and to secure a viewpoint as to the best way of collecting
data which would be of use to the Government, This offer
was declined, and there was nothing to do but fill in the in-
formation required as literally as we could determine it.
For example, there was no recognition of the fact that a
raw product may enter a factory under a specific classification
and leave the factory as a finished product under some other
classification.
We submitted a series of accurate figures based upon our
interpretation of the official requirements which made no
provision for charges of any description other than incoming
freight and unloading charges to be included in the cost or
to be deducted from the selling price. There was nothing
in the report which could be read so as to determine a profit
and loss statement. The very fact that with only a statement
based upon cost of raw products and value of sales in Great
Britain a Government Official bas deduced"Large margins,"
"Profiteering" and "Criminality" if it had occurred since
the passage of a recent Act, shows too dangerous a trifling
and incapacity to, be permitted to deal with any important
situation. The statements of this Company have been treated
by the author of this report as if the out -going product was
identical with the incoming product, and from the series of
reports he has singled out two items -the Bacon and Egg
reports -and from them deduced an erroneous "margin"
which the newspapers have interpreted as "profit." The
author of the inquiry shows a strange lack of even a funda-
mental knowledge of simple bookkeeping and a dangerous
inability to co-ordinate figures. The following are specific
and outstanding errors in the report:
The principal item that is causing pxcitement deals with
cold storage bacon. The term "cold -storage" is not defined,
and the public is allowed to make its own definitions. As all
Bacon in a packing house is under refrigeration it Is really
all cold -storage, and therefore this Company's figures of
cold storage Bacon represent the complete quantity of
Bacon handled in its entire Plant, whether in freezers or in
process of cure for immediate shipment. That some com-
paniesinterpreted cold -storage product as "freezer" product
only is evidenced by the smallness or entire lack of
figures on the Bacon list for some Plants, indicating that many
sires did not submit statements of their complete stocks,
as did this Company. An Official of this Company pointed
out this cold -storage distinction to Mr. O'Connor and Miss
McKenna in Ottawa a few weeks ago, and the failure to make
the distinction after having had it painted out evidences lack
of desire for accuracy of the real information desired.
It is true The William Davies Company, in 1916, exported
97,791,000 pounds of Bacon, but we do not know how the
margin of 5.05 cents per pound is arrived at by Mr. O'Connor,
as there were no figures to justify such a conclusion. The
probabilities are that the margin is arrived at by taking the
average cost per pound of incoming product from the average
selling price per pound of outgoing product. This may be
a rough way of estimating the gross margin when dealing
with small figures, but when dealing with figures the size
that Mr. O'Connor bas to deal with, a very small fraction of
a cent per pound of error makes a very important difference
in the total, and one must be careful to make sure that the
outgoing product is the same finished merchandise of the
incoming product reported on.
Allowing it to pass, however, as a rough estimate, we
wish to point out -(first) -the inquiry of the Commissioner
allowed only for incoming freight and unloading charges,
and made no provision whatsoever for operating charges of
any kind, such as labor, curing materials, refrigeration, et
cetera. Such actual charges on the 97,791,000 pounds
exported were $1,162,000 -or 7.2 cents per pound. This
amount covered all charges up to the point of placing the
Bacon on cars f.o.b. packing -house. In addition to this was
the actual cost to land and sell this 97, 701,000 pounds in Eng-
land after leaving the packiug house, which involved charges
of 2.9 cents per pound -or 82,836,000. Thus 2.9 cents per
pound included inland and ocean freight, landing charges, war
and marine insurance, cables, and selling commission to agents.
The ocean freight and war risk alone would make up 2.4
cents of the charge of 2.9 cents per pound. This 1.2 cents,
plus 2.9. cents -a total of 4.1 cents -must be deducted from
Mr. O'Connor's margin of 5.05 cents per pound, leaving a
margin of .95 cents, or slightly less than a cent per pound,
which still has to be reduced because of the error of premises
and because of further factors which have to be considered
to determine net profits.
It is quite evident some of the other packers did not
show selling values in the country in which the goods were
The Company does not challenge either the legal or moral right of the Govern-
ment -to investigate business enterprises when public interests directs such an
investigation should be Trade. If an investigation of the packing and meat
business is ordered, the Company will place at the disposal of the Government
not only the data it would be required to supply under Order -in -Council
directing that inquiry be made, but will place the experience of its officers
at the disposal of the investigating committee, if it is considered they can
render any service which will be of value. The Company has not now -nor
at any time during the fifty years of its operation -anything to conceal in method
or practice of carrying on its business. It does, however, claim the right to con-
duct its export business without abusive comment from Government civil
servants -especially when tb.e conclusions drawn from the data asked for are
improper and false.
One of Canada's chief export industries is the packing business, It is essential
to the live stock industry, and, along with other export industries, it maintains
the financial stability of this country, and should, providing it is on a sound basis,
receive encouragement and, not slanderous abuse. In view of the publicity
given to the report of the Commissioner on the cost of living, the Company
demands the same publicity in having an official Government investigation of
thig report to determine the truthfulness or untruthfulness of its conclusions.
We do not seek public consideration as a company, but we do say that untruth-
ful official statements, or statements the effect of which is to create an untruth,
sold -a proceeding quite proper, as the forms subinited to be
filled in were indefinite and ambiguous, thus permitting with-
out charge of evasion a variety of interpretation as to the
information required. It is thus possible that of as the
figures submitted by the different packers that no two sets
of costs and sales prices are determined at the same common
point. It is this difference of interpretation of what was
required that accounts for the difference of the alleged
"margin" made by the different companies. Common
conclusions, however, have been drawn by the author of the
report from varying bases of premises.
The figures of the Egg business were submitted on the
same basis as Bacon, and similar deductions must be made.
(Second) -The above margin is further reduced in that
the author of this inquiry singled out the Bacon figures as an
item in which the selling price shows an alleged improper
advance over cost, but he did not give us credit for the
statements of other products, of which figures were submitted
the selling prices of which were under cost. The reason
of this was that through failure to inquire the Department
entirely overlooked the fact that product may come in as
pork and, through the process of manufacture, go out as Bacon
or, in another instance, enter the factory as beef and go out in
the form of canned meats; for example: much of the product
which came in as pork, and which was entered on the pork
sheet submitted to the Commissioner -about which he makes
no mention -was cured and left the factory in the form of
Bacon, and was, therefore, entered on the outgoing side of the
Bacon sheet -the result is that the Bacon sales are increased
by this amount over the incoming stocks of Bacon, and, like-
wise, the sheet showing sales of pork is reduced by the amount
that went out in the form of Bacon. If the Department
takes one set of figures that allow favorable to the Company
they should take another set of figures that show unfavorable,
as the principle in either case is the sawn, edit failure to do so
looks as if the author of the report was exercising more
enthusiasm than sound judgment in his investigations.
(Third) -It is queried in the report, that "if the margin of
3.47 cents," alleged to have been made in 1915, "was satis-
factory, why was it necessary' to show increased margin in
19162" Assuming again for the moment the soundness of
the premises in asking such a question based on an erroneous
"rnargin", itwili be found that the increased margin is chiefly
absorbed in increased ocean freight rates and war risk in-
surance in 1916, of which apparently the author of the report
was in ignorance.
adversely affect the live stock industry of this country, which is so valuable and
essential a wealth-prodineing power and, in the long run, are harmful to the very
people that the statement seeks to benefit.
If the passing out of existence of a corporation such as The Williams Davies
Company, or if nationalization of packing houses would materially and per-
manently reduce food prices, then in view of the present world tragedy it ought
to be consummated without delay. The fact of the matter is, however, that
with millions of people in Europe turning from producers into consumers because
of the war, and the tremendous destruction of food products incident to war,
there is no remedy for the high prices of food while such conditions last, except
the remedy of thrift' and increase of production.
Long before there was talk of a Food Controller in the United States or
Canada The William Davies Company urged the Government at Ottawa, in
writing, to appoint a Food Controller with full power to do what he saw fit, as
we realized at that time the upward tendency in the price of food commodities
unless checked by official effort. A.t the most a great deal cannot be done in
reducing food prices while currency is inflated a.nd until the scale of prices of all
kinds of commodities declines also, What can be done can only be clone by a
Food Controller. We wish to point out that nothing at all can be accomplished
unless the data secured are accurately and clearly made and the deductions
therefrom sound. Only public harm arises from dangerous incompetency
in the haphazard collection and careless use of important figures.
As far as The William Davies Company is concerned this terminates all public statements of the Company, and it will pay no more attention to speculative
and haphazard statements made either by newspapers -or servants. The only further statement that will be made will be at an official investigation,
Toronto, July 17th, 1917
-'three gallons of tapioca cream can
be made at once in n big double boil -
e', almost as easily as one quart.
When milk is available, it is no more
expensive than pie and is as nourish-
ing.
In the same way, n largo quantity
of berry pudding may be mixed at
once. A shortcico is more quicklyf
handled than pile crust.
E. C. FOX, General Manager
THE WILLIAM DAVIES COMPANY, I.IMITE
I When it is possible to buy bread
from a bakery during harvest time,
the women of the farm should not be
!expected to make it. Doughnuts re-
quire considerable handling but lit-
tle more than biscuit or muffins, and
I usually are more satisfactory.
The main thing to guard against is
taking proper caro of the food in the
hot weather. For that reason it is
best not to keep much over from day
to day.
The more variety we tan give in tine
grain foods, the less meat will be re-
quired. Try to serve biscuit, dumpl-
ings or squares of pie east and stuff-
ings with meats and fish to make a
less quantity satisfying.
Food must not be greasy. Bake
and broil and steam meats rather than
fry them. By planning ahead and
starting in season, the tougher por-
tions of meats may be cooked till ten-
der,
Fruit and shade trees, bush fruits
and roses will be benefited by receiv-
ing a good spraying of Bordeaux mix-
ture.
This 1s a crisis which culla for the
elimination of all selfishness. Men
"on the make" or with axes to grind
should be marched to the rear.
From paper made of the fibre of
the mulherry tree, a Jn_,anese naval
officer has invented a lifeboat that can
be, folded into a space of about rt eubia
foot,