HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1914-09-16, Page 5'Coldstream Guards; One of the Crack Infantry Regiments of Great Britain, Passing Through Hyde Park in Heavy Marching Order,
on Their Way to the Front
#111 EARLY PEACE lk EIIROP
~ of European
other necessities of life
which Canada prod.itces, there must.
-be` an laminae -d'° demand from En-
.
DIA DerekWIVA'Es IS PREDICT-
CT -ED IN CANADA. -
Dr. Adana Shortt Says London Au
thorities Believe 'There Is No
Cause for Unrest Here.
Canada should :stiffer least, have
!a, quicker recovery from the effects
'of the present war, and ultimately
'snake more from it than any other
Ttoountry in the world.
That is the opinion- of Dr. Adam
Shortt, Civil Service Commissioner
at. Ottawa, and one of the best au-
thorities on economics in the Do-
minion. Dr. Shortt has just return-
ed from' England, where he was at
the•outbreak of the war, on a. Gov-
ernment mission, investigating civil
service reorganization and •condi-
lioens, with a view to their applica-
tion in Canada.
Before leaving London he intter-
iewed Sir George Paish, for many
years editor of The London Statist,
and tithe -leading; authorities on,
financial conditions in London. He
discussed with thein the problems
of Br'itieh finance,especiallyin their
elation to Canadian conditio»s.
he impression prevailed in Don -
on, said Dr. Shortt to The Globe,
.hatt°tthere is no reason why Canada
.uld not profit greatly from Eu-
opean conditions as effected by the
Var.
E•xpeet• Short Mar.
According to the London finan-
ers, the war will not be, of long
uration. Meng of them expect
;hat the ,struggle will not be mea-
t. cally decided by Obristmas, and,
•n any <event, by next spring, the
h roblem of financial and food ,sup -
lies for Germany . and Austria be -
jag alae determining' factor. With the,British navy in control of the seas,
d feed'suppliee for the allies from
broad being thereby guaranteed ;
firth the financial resources of .R.us-
'.ia, France and Greet Britain coli-
sideivably greater than those of the
enemy, and with the prospect of
broth Germany and Anstria being
unable to Maintain in the present' pace
or to till their fields next year, Dr.
1` laertt,says'tthe pressure from finan='
vial stringency and from, shortage.
of food supplies in Austria and
.Germany should compelthem to
tx»ne to teams with the allies with -
it a very few months. That is the
impression whioli prevails among
the beset economic authorities in
Great Britain.
To Stimulate Our Trade.
'As to Canadian conditions 'affect
rope for the thia5gs which are pro-
duced by the Dominion from its na-
tural resources. This inereased de-
mand means higher prices and a
stimulus to the basic industries of
Canada which, in turn, must mean
increased national prosperity in
practically every line of economical
production in Canada.
He noted that in the past inter-
national wars had invariably meant
good times in Canada, especially for
the basic industry of ageieulture.
"A good harvest and a bloody war"
were ironically said to be the farm-
ers' prayer. There was economic
justification, at least, for such an
idea, especially under present con-
ditions in Canada. Before the war
broke out, said Dr. Shortt, theyre
was in;process a, necessary and •salu-
tary readjustment of financial and
industrial conditions. Urban, de-
velopment had outdistanced agricul-
tural development. The floating of
securities of all kinds for industrial
enterprise, the mushroom growth
of cities, enormous expenditures
and borrowing for :municipal, pro-
vineial and national purp3ees, real
estate speculation, and all the other
concomitants of boom times had de-
veloped a condition . where Euro-
pean financiers were already calling
a halt and finanoiaa stringency bad
already _made itself felt, On the
other hand, ;agricultural production
had not by any, means keptpace
with urban and- industrial . expan-
sion. t
A Quick Transformation.
The chief need of Canada before
the war broke out was to get peo=
ple back to the land and 'to stimu-
late agricultural expansion on a
profitable and permanent basis. The
effeot of the` war, Dr. Shortt said,
Would be to aceelerate the process
which • had already begun. The
wind was let out more rapidly from
inflated eeeuritiee, bringing them
down to real values, while the en-
ha,nced prices for, foodstuffs and
other commodities of natural pro-
duction would mean a. greater stim-
ulus toward restoring natural in-
dustries to their ,proper place in the
Dominion.
11 mulct for Our Products.
•
.As a result of the waste of money
and of all surplus European oapi-
tat on the war, he continued, there
would have to be a, consequent econ-
omy for some years to come on "the
luxuries .and frills," on the part of
the European nations. But for food
products and other necessities there
must still be practically the same,
or . increased, demand. Canada's
exports were at .least- eleven
twelfths necessities of life. Only a,
ed as "frills." And it vas only'in
regard to' the latter that European
economies and the shortage of .capi-
tal 'would be felt, to any degree:
Moreover, after the war had been
brought to a, erose capital seeking
investment would be apt to consider
only the safest kind of opportunity.
Canada, with its natural prosperity
based on the development of its na-
tural resources, could offer to Euro-
pean investors a 'safer field and a
more ready return in dividends than
any other country in the world.
Basic conditions were sound, so far
as Canada was concerned, and,
though there would undoubtedly be
hardship in sone quarters through
the more rapid but neeessary read-
justment of abnormal conditions in
consequence of the war, the ulti-
mate result should, within a few
months at most, he beneficial for the
whole -country. There was abso-
lutely no reason. for any financial
panic or for any pessimistic view of
business conditions in Canada.
Financial Problems.
Dr. Shortt admits that there
would be considerable difii;eulty ex-
perienced for some time to come
with regard to municipal, provin-
cial, national and railway financing:
Canada had considerably over -bort
rowed in the past few years, and
even without the war there would
have been necessity for strict econ-
omy and aslowing down in regard
to borrowings and all unnecessary
expenditures for some little time in
the future. The war had empha-
sized the necessity, recognized
months ago, by the banks in Can-
ada and by every student of econ--
forputtingon of
the
i s the
in c
brakes. As would be the result in
Europe in regard to economy on
the frills, so in Canada, pending a
restoration to normal conditions
and the natural increase of general
'wealth through the .development of
agricultural prosperity, there must
be as cutting out of ;the ,frills here in
regard to public expenditures., in re-
gard to the flotation' of new or
doubtful enterprises, :and in regard
to .further railway expansion.
The British Moratoition.
As to what yatild happen in Great
Britain when the moratorium period
'expires, Dr. Shortt said ithat finan-
ciers in. 7,,ondon-could give no very
definite Opinion. The moratorium,
.he said, was declared not so much
because of any financial panic in
Britain itself as because of the in-
ternational situation,'with
n-ternationalsituation,'with Germany
and Austria endeavoring to hit Bri-
tain financially by selling tall securi-
ties held by these mations in the
great clearing "house of the world
and fencing & great drain of gold
from London. There was, he said,
ample evidence of a. deliberate de-
sign by Germany during the week
by the war, Dr. Shortt pointed very small proportion of our mann- intmediattel•y preceding the declara-
sut:that, because elf the limitation feetured exports could be consider -tion of war to oreazte a financial
panic in London by a concerted -
ceiling of stocks• not only from Ger-
many direct but through Holland
and Denmark: It was to prevent
this panic, to keep the London sup-
ply of gold from being exhausted,
aid to prevent a needless sacrifice
of good securities on the market
that the moratorium was declared.
Dr. Shortt believed that there need
to • that . securities
bal
but little fear t1
having sound value will be main-
tained et their intrinsic market
worth. Wildcatting, however,is
doomed far many years to come.
Practical Economies.
When the war broke out Dr.
Shortt had a somewhat humorous
experience in practically demon-
strating his reputation as an econo-
mist. He was caught in Birming-
ham with very little ready money in
his possession and the bank holiday
extended for several days. In or-
der to save enough to pay •for his
room at the hotel and to get to Lon-
don. he made his last two meals on
fourteen cents. On arrival in Lon-
don he was fortunately able to cash
a letter of credit by the intervention
of a friend in the Bank of Scotland
;before the banks actually resumed
'itisiness. •
PARIS :1.141 0379 SIECIE.
People ` Fed on •11ilonkeee a tai I,let
plumes • as toast Rewritten,.
Business may stiffer .and ptices
go up while the war is in progress,
bet • we in Canada svit1 ' prohaibly
never know such experiences as
those suffered• during rhe siege of
Peris•,by the: Germans in 18`i0-71.
With •• the`Prtsssitene ,fast adva-nc
itrg- on the capital and :before Bis-
mar0k had finally, bottled up the
city and refuted to permit food to.
'bestehen within the gates, there
was a eeurry to :gather provisions
from •the sxtrrotlndin•g country. So
long as the .zti, laded;.% .remained open
cattle, hay, grain, ooreserved meats,
salt, and everything edible .was
' -hurried to the capital and stored
in 'public buildifigs and parks.
But there was the utmost confu-
sion and cruel waste. On Septeen-
ber 19 the railways estopped run-
ning, the fifty-one gates of Paris
were closed, the railway stations
were walled tap and proclamations
were posted on the walls calling on
all good citizens to meet the com-
ing trial with their "usual forti-
tude.''
Up to October 31, when Bismarck
finally sealed the gates of Paris,
there was no perceptible lack of
bread and no increase of prices to
be complained of. Wine was plenty
but meat began to get scarce, and
horses were requisitioned for food.
Then the famine set in. Butter
rose by leaps and bounds until it
'was $5 a pound. Eggs were sold
at 25 cents apiece, and milk soon
became unobtainable at any price.
The babies diedlike flies. It 'was
reckoned at the end of the siege
that no less than 3,000 of the little.
ones had passed away for lack of
nutriment—about the same number
as the soldiers killed in the various
skirmishes by Prussian bullets.
The attention of the 'butchers
was soon drawn to the Jardine de
Plantes and its cages of strange
animals. Presently exotic meats
began to appear in the market.
Those who could afford it ate ante-
lope steak at >$3.60 apound and
found it not so good as stewed rab-
bit. Mule meat was found delicious,
much better than the best beef-
steak. Elephant's trunk was a de-
licacy at $8 a pound. Those who
could afford it regaled themselves
with yak, ostrich, kangaroo and
bear meat, at ,prices, in proportion
to their scarcity. More often than
not they didn't like the strange
meats at the price paid.
-Christmas, when it came, was a
sad holiday. Nothing was plenti-
ful in the markets but champagne
and English mustard, a mixture
which the Parisian taste did not
approve.
The saddest thing was that every-
one's appetite increased as the vis-
ible supply of food decreased.
Thinking constantly of eating made
fobs hungry, and when Christmas
had gene and New Year's Day hove
into'view there were serious appre-
hensions «f famine. Then, too late,
the 'reckless waste of two months
before was bemoanedwith bitter
tears.
To add to the misery the winter
of I871 was one of bitter cold.
es.
•
FOREST FIRES.
Russia's Cossacks.
Included in the Russian army are
about 1,500,000 Cossacks, strenuous
fighting men and magnificent horse-
men. The Cossacks, as a, rule, are
more highly educated than the
average Russian peasant, and
twenty years' military service is ob-
ligatory for the men, who supply
their own uniforms, horses, and
equipment, the Government pros,
t
siding the arms. In return for this
the State gives large grants of land
to the Cossacks. The C'ossatk s lia.
bility to military service does not
end at •forty or so. He is always
at the Czar's command.
it Seto1at��t't'' " ., 119 a►i•raaaE�a61, sol' ftp aai v : i� 9+>til9�a v
A: Prolonged •Dronglat Tests Pro-
teet,ion Plans.
The .ef6eieney and resources of
all forest -,protective organizations
in Canada have been put to a se-
vere test this year by the prolonged
drought which prevailed through-
out the greater portion of Canard:a,
during the earlier part of August.
It seems probable that 1914 will be
recorded as the worst fire year
since 1910. The situation in south-
ern British Columbia has been very
serious, and great areas have been
-burned over in Alberta, on the east
slope of the Rocky mountains.
Northern Ontario also has suffered
severely.
The railways are no longer the
chief source of forest fires, and the
necessity for a strioter earntrol of
the Letting of fires by settlers for
Clearing land, is 'beesomin•g inereas-
ingly apparent. Also, in many sec-
tions, especially on'ont-over lands,
where -most of the .fires originate,
the establishment- of a, more :ade-
qua,te patrol -system is essential to
protect young .growth, and prevent
the spread of fires into old ,timber.
The extension of the merit System
in the appointment of fire rangers
in the services• of both the Domin-
on and Provi:noial governments is,
necessary if the best results in fire
prittection are to be secured.
.14 •
"She tried to •'make ,.a, fool of
me," said Snapp, ''brut-eouldn' slo
it." "Of course she couldn,,t,"
Tapp replied, "eaturo had beat
raCfl '' :CE IS BETA in KO,
WarMayDini Torch of Proarees
for, Years to'Conte. ,
The Medical Record evpr gees
the opinion .hat a long drawn- , rut
struggle iii°Sure will retard ;the
progress of medical science abroad
for many years.
"It may be premature,'' says the
editor, "to atrteinpt, ' to prophesy
the ultimate effects of the insane'"
struggle in Europe upon • the I.irii-
gress, of mediea1 science, but there
can be no doubt that in :urepet
where the ttore'h of science bas been
earned high, the eeoncenie losses
resulting from a long -continued•
war would dim its radiance foo*
many years to come. Attainment
in science and in the Liberal arts is
favored by unrestricted leisure and
freedom from the ,stresses and Cares
of daily life, and the dissipartien. of
a country's resources "-cannot but
react unfavorably in 'halting the
onward march of science.
"In addition to the diminishing
endowments for research which will
presumably follow the war, there
is another important faastor that
will hamper medical investigation. _
The mobilization of the large Eu-
ropean armies must drain the la-
boratories and the clinics of their
brilliant young workers, v -ho, a'
reservists, volunteers, or meantbe ,
of the Red Cross, will be added
the medical corps -of the respect'
armies. On the ouher hand, th
men, or suoh of 'thein a>s survi'
will return with an experienv
which may perhaps more than com-
pensate for the interruption in the
orderly prosecution of research ;
but even research is not altogether
paralyzed by war,
"In addition to the surgeons .at-
tached to the ,armies in the field
there are medical men detailed at
headquarters or at the base of sup-
plies who carry on important inves-
tigations in connection vital the
hospital work of the .medical corps.
During the Rosso -Japanese w'a.r,
while the Russian army was engag-
ed in Manchuria theree were being
carried on in the army headquar-
ters at Moscow important bacterio-
logical' investigations as to the na-
ture of so -culled Manchurian ty-
phus, and the story need not be°re-
told of the wonderful achiaarements
of the Japanese ie camp sani-
tation."
ARlltY CORPS IS ('L'T OFF,
Forty Thousand Troop May Fall
Into Our Hands.
A despatch from Condon says: A
Paris despatch to the Daily Chroni-
cle says: "In the haste of the Ger-
mans' latest retrograde movement
many regiments of Germans have
been cut off and remain in the wood-
ed country within. the-riangIe.of
Senlis, Genesee and Uatnmartin..It
is believed that they amount in all
to about one Barmy corps. They have
been out off from the main body by
the allies' lines between Compeigne
and Meux, and their situation is
precarious.
"The remarkable resistance of the
fortress of Maubeuge to the invad-
ing Germans is one of the most in-
teresting featurea of the campaign.
Because of its ettubborn stand it
has • undoubtedly :seriously embar-
rassed
mb.arrassed the Germane in bringing up
field guns against Paris and main-
taining their communications.
Near Nancy the Raiser's forces
have succeeded. in '-making a slight
adv.anee, but elsewhere along th
centre the allies thieve made crie
pensating gains. Field Marshal
John Frenoh, ,eo netiande'r of t
British forces, reported that ti
Germans had been driven back al,
along the line ; GGlvat the British had
crossed the River M•a.rne ; that the
Germans taxi suffered severely, and
that their men were supposed to be
in a very exhattetet4 c, ndition.
Wherever the Germans- have yielded
ground the British and French have
been eager to, pursttte them, and
have followed up relentlessly ,'very.
advantage. The British cavalry has
been especially •at<tiire in driving
back the retreating enemy.
Jews Loyal to England.
We Jews., whhether 1+•ng,ltiand is to
us the beloved; country of . nr birth
or the equally beloved country c.4
our adoption. wistde go, forward our
one inspiring motive .-star- affection
for England, our one stern rets}lve
thateornee wha>,t.,tawa.y her .cause shell •
prevail. If we cannot, de snore we
-cannot do less, for, we repeat. Eng-
land ha•s been all ehse eiruk1 lw to
Jews; Jew,s will be 0.11 the, can to
England.>-elte Ctdeoe J s'iuish C'hrrind-
ole.
etei,ruin tip. ,their husbands,
we don't blare; stn women Ler be- •