The Huron Expositor, 1933-12-15, Page 3.• 1
DECEMBER 15, mo,
CANADA'S EXPOR
CATTLE TRA
By J. H. Suitt •
An address delivered by Mr. Scott
before the Members of the Thomas
Millan Young 'Liberal Club;
At the outset I Wish to extend my
-thanks to the •executive of onr club
for the !very kind invitation they gave
to me a couple of weeks ago, to ad-
dress this meeting on the important
subject of "Canada's Export Cattle
Trade" for certainly there is no
phase of agricultural pursuit that can
be of more interest to the average
tamer, or the public generally, than
the market for the cattle production
of our Ontario farm's.
'It gives me also the privilege and
the opportunity of recounting my ex-
periences on a trip across the Atlan-
tic on a cattle liner, telling you all
about the pleasures and the sensa-
tions of a good spell of s•e•asekeess,
;fee
effects at the time it is most
acute, its , after effects, and all the
lest of it. It gives me also the op-
portanity of saying a few! words a-
bout the impression one ieceives of
conditions now prevailing in that
enotherland of ours across the sea.
In gathering material for these oh-
eervations, my memory took me back
to the first time I crossed the Atlan-
tic (in a cattle liner in the days of
i'mpressionable youth. It was in the
month of Jely, 1890, or 43 years' ago
this past iunerner, so you will con-
clude that I was very, very young
at that time, and that incidents id
' connection with that trip made a last•
-ling impression on the mind.
Those were the days when cattle
-were going by the thousande to the
Old Land, through the port of Mont -
Teal in the sumlmer Months. and
throughthe ports of Halifax and St.
...7ohn, Portland, Boston and other
'United States .ports in the winter
months.. Those were the days when
:the United •States had a surplus of
beef cattle to dispose of, and. she was
shipping them by the thousands to
the 'British market, to satisfy the
'cotaciou-s appetite of John Bull for
fresh beef.
And weren't they cattle! I never
'forgot my first glimpse of those Ant-
e . „erican steers from the famous corn
belt in Uncle •Sam's domain. They
-were fat and I had never really. seen'
fat cattle before. Over 1600 'pounds
on the average live weight, they had
n dressing percentage, every one of
them, well over .sixty pounds to the
hundred. And it is strange, indeed,
that cattle such as those, are not
wanted now on any cattle market in
the world. But I will come to a dis-
cussion of the class of cattle wanted
f at 'the ,preselteatirne in the British
eniaeket, later on this evening. I want
to get back for !the present to that
'first trip of mine -across the Atlantic
lin a cattle boat.
It was the time when the old firm
•• of John McMillan & Sons werei ship-
ping quite a number of cattle every
summer to the Old Countby, princi-
pally to Glasgow and occasionally to
London, if my memory serves me
'eight. 1 was on the •old steamer
'Alcides" of the Donaldson Line,
bound for Glasgow,. with three car-
load or 60 very decent cattle. I had
been given a foreman's „pass and
shared a stateroom .amidships, with
another cattle foreman, and we had
cur meals in the first cabin of the
elhip along with the Chief Officer and°
some of the engineers.
The trip was enjoyable from start
to finish and a wonderful experience
for a lad.. 'I had been carefully in•
structed bow to feed the cattle and
got along famously. 'My room mate
was a very decent chap, with years
,a cattle feeding experience on ocean
boats, and had many hair-raising ex-
•perienees to relate to me about
Stormy weather and 'seasickness and
•eo on. I thought he took advantage
of Ivy 'extreme youth to load me up
with yarns. He was a good compan-
ion, however, and I listened to his
stories with considerable enjoyment,
although I did not believe them all
by any means.
He told me going up the St. Lawr-
ence that the "Alcides" 'was a fair-
weather boat, behaved well if the sea
was smooth, but a bad roller if ;the
waves we 'running high and by
the way, I was told OU this 'last trip
that the old tub had happened with
an accident some few years after
that,and is now lying at the bottom
of the !$t. Lawrence a few mules out
from 'Father Point.
(But she was on her good behavior
on that trip and I have crossed a
few times -since then and never saw
the Atlantic Oeean in as 'amiable a
mood as she was on that occasion --
sea as smooth as glass all the way.
We had our cattle On the top deck
with nothing but the blue sky over
our heads when we were feeding
there in the fresh air all the time.
There was scarcely any sea-sicknees
et all and Men and cattle landed in,
Glasgow after a ten day trip in A 1
condition.
(But it was the conditionsprevail-
ing in Ole old land at that time that
made such an impression on my,minel.
I remember as we were steaming in-
to the mouth of the Clyde, Her Ma-
jesty's ship "Ajax" man of war, was
anchored in the channel and there
was a full dressed Highlander march-
ing back and forward on her upper'
deck, blowing the bagpipes to beat
'the 'band, and the men of that fight-
ing machine all took off their caps
to us.
Getting in a little closer to what
they call. the tail of the bank near
where we landed the cattle, ship build-
ineactivities on the Clytile loomed in-
to view. They built many ships in
the Clyde in those dlays. 'Phe noise
was deafening and the clang, clang
of the -shipbuilder's hamtmer sounded,
to me like the pulse beat of a mighty
nation. Keels were laid on the Clyde
for isome of Great Britain's mighty
men of war, for ocean greyhounds to
take care of the passenger traffic to
every port in the world, and for car
go carrying ships and every kind and
'description. Truly the banks of the
Clyde was a place of tremendous ac-
tivity forty years ago.
But to -day, alas, what a change.
We had the pleasure a little over a
month ago of st.rnotor drive with a
friend along the banks of the same
Clyde. The tide was out at the tine
end the noble river looked' juSt like .a
trail of slush, and !where I se* such
tremendous activity' 40 years' ago in
shipbuilding, there is scarcely any-
thing doing to -day. There is an add
ship in dry dock for repair or over -
lieu, but scarcely anything new under
c onstruction.
.Wihether shipbuilding oK the Clyde
will ever come 'back to its former ac-
tivity is very doubtful in the minds
of the British people themselves.
There seems to be an abundance of
boats at the present time for all pur-
poaes, and we were told that there
are a hundred good .s.thips or more at
the Liverpool docks, not engaged' in
any trade whatever.
• But right in the !business streets
of Glasgow there iseems to be about
as much activity as ever. Of course
there is a big change in the system
of transportation in the British Isles
as well as here. When' I saw Glas-
gow for the first time in 1890, horses
were drawing the street cars, and it
took a int of them for the job. There
was a wonderful market at that time
.in the Old Country for almost any
kind of a good, horse. I remember
how I used to stand and watch those
heavy cart horses, which you could
see by the hundreds on the streets of
any city in Britain at that tine.
Magnificent Clydesdale geldings,
many of them up.to a ton or more in
weight, kept in wonderful condition,
they moved heavy loads about the
city. There are a few good' drafters
to be seen there yet, but their place
has been eery largely taken by the
motor truck. There was one sight I
used to enjoy when I was a lad in the
Old 'Country for the first time, and
that was a spanking pair of carriage
horses hitched to a gentleman's or a
landlord's carriage, with a coachman
on the top handling the reins, taking
the family for a chive through the
countryside. They used to be quite
a fart -oilier sight in the old days,, but
they have now entirely passed from
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the scene. There is no merktit
4ritsitt to -day for those' Magnificent
carriage 'horses we USW to send from.
Canada in such large numbers before
the days of the auternlobile.
In conversation with Wim. Lang, of
Paisley, who used to deal quite ex-
tensively in carriage horses' and come
to Canada for a lot of them, we were
told that there is only one pair of
carriage horses that he knows of in
the Glasgow district. The automobile,
the truck and the 'bus have 'put the
horse out of business in Great Bri-
tain as well as on this side of the At-
lantic.
And there are many shrewd busi-
ness mien in the Old Country to -day
who regret the passing of the. horse
age. There is not nearly so good a
market for the farmers' hay and oats.
There is no job for the blacksmith,
the carriage builder, or the harness
maker. There is no market worth a
hill of beans for our hides, and worse
of all they say, there is scarcely any
market at all for those magnificent
Clydesdale horses., for which Scotland
was so famous in the days before
the world became envelop„ed• in this
rachine age in whioh we live.
(But the people of the Old Land are
carrying on and you do not hear the
whine of pessimism's to the same ex-
tent that you do here. Quite a num-
ber are on the dole, no doubt, and
they have their unemployment prob-
lems too. But there is nobody starv-
ing in the Old Country, and there is
still a lot of smoke coming out of
the chimneys in their industrial cen-
tres. and although they lost one gen-
eration of their best manhood during
the war, they are not complaining
to -day, and feel sure that the sacri-
fice 'was made in a just and worthy
cause, and are looking into the fu-
ture again with wonderful optimism,
And in discussing marketing prob-
lems and general world conditions
with all those I came in contact with
on our recent visit, I was impressed
perhaps more than ever before. with
the steadfast sincerity and rugged
honesty of the British 'people. To
such an extent was this the case that
while I mingled with them, the weeds
of one o1 their famous writers often
came back to me:
From scenes like these Auld Scotia's
grandeur springs, •
That makes her loved at hot -neat -ever -
ed abroad;
Princes and Lords are but the breath
of kings,
An honest man's the noblest work of
God.
The people of the British Iles as
a rule, will- look you directly in the
eye and you feel that you can depend
nn what they say. And when we left
Liverpool four weeks ago last Satur-
day, I felt assured, just as much as
on any former occasion, that the peo-
ple of the old land are still possessed
of that indomnitable spirit that has
characterized the British race for
generations.
That, energetic land indlomitable
spirit that has led the world for cen-
turies, in all matters of exploration
and coloniztation, that Indies -liftable
spirit that has planted the British flag
in the 'remotes. corners of the earth,
upon which the sun never sets, and
of which we ire:Canada form such a
glorious part. The British people to-
day, as in the days of old, have faith
in their country; they have faith in.
their government, and they have faith
in themselves, tend this is just the
very condition', gentlemen that cre-
ates so' much stability at the heart of
the British Empire. And in a world
of' chaos, unrest and dissatisfaction,
.such as we ere living in at.the. pres-
ent time, I. firmly believe that Great
Britain is the rock to which civiliza-
tion must cling. And in the stability
of those sound, democratic and long-
established British institutions, -which
have been the bulwark of the world
for centuries, lies the only hope for
better conditions in the future. Great
Britaitela,coenjug through once again
and will be the leading natien in the
world, in bringing order out of the
present chaos, beyond the shadow of
a doubt.
You will hear ninny references of
a kindly nature made about Canada
by the British people, wherever you
may go in the old land to -day, for a
great many of them have friends or
relativeomewhere within our 'bor-
ders. Some of the foodstuffs we have
been exporting to them in recent
years, have met with their approval.
They speak very highly of our •Can-
adian cheese and of our Canadian
bacon, and nothing tickles the palate
of their fastidious epicures like our
Ontario apples, our Northern Spies,
our Russets, or our Macintosh Reds.
You can tell the way they speak of
these varieties that they just ex-
actly touch the spot.
Everywhere you may go in the
British Isles to -day, the people ex-
press a keen desire to know all about
Canada, and I feel that the day is
not far distant when general condi-
tions improve and thit, country is in
a position to relax its immigration
laws, that we will get a heavy influx
of good people once more from the
Motherland. But the subject was to
be "Canada's Export Cattle Trade,"
and I must get around to it, but Must
tell you first of some of the beauties
of that wonderful country, it dens-
ity of population and a few other
things of interest. The total area of
the British Isles, and that includes
England, Scotland„ Ireland, Wales
and the Ise of Mann, is just a trifle
over 120,09p square miles and they
have a population there to -day in the
nieighlborbood of 45,000004 pleopld.;
Now this Province of Ontario of ours
with an ,area o just around 467,000
square miles, has a population of a
trifle over 8,009,000 people. There
are therefore fifteen times as many
people as we have in Ontario living
in one-third the area we have here.
This will give you some idea of the
density of ,population. Why there
are as many people living in the city
of Glasgow and its suburbs as in the
whole Province of Ontario.
IBut it is this density of population
that gilves the 01149,110 farmer a
market for his cheese, a market for
his bacon and his apples, and that is
what took us to Birkenhead in Octo-
ber with a shipment of live cattle.
We thought there might be some pen-
t ple in England that would have an
appetite for some Canadian beef, and
I just wendere.d when I was over
there if something could not be done
to equalize the popnlation of Great
Britain and her foremost colony, the
ir
OrE1140N
„.
P)0.P.494 .0.
Dominion cotanada. It ceets us a
great deal 0 nteneYtogthiPagic cattle,
our flour, our lbacon, our apples and
so on to the British market, and it
seem to me there is lots of room in
Canada for at least half the people
that are over there, and there seems
to be kits of foodstuffs here for them
to eat. It seerps at a 'glance that
something should be done albout it,
but iwe will leave it for some of OUT
soeial OT political economists to
wrestle with.
We had the pleasure on this visit
of travelling from Liverpool to Glas-
gow, a distance of approximately two
hunched miles. This trip takes you
through a „piece of both England and
Scotland. Some sections of the own -
try are very pleasing to the eye—
beautiful green pature lends, roll-
ing hills, seemingly very fertile, cult-
ivated, well up on the sides, and sheep
grazing on the higher points; many
email lakes and never failing streams.
It was turnip' harvest while we were
there and the farmers were harvest-
ing a very heavy crop of turnips and
storing them in immense pits. And
there was one thing very noticeable
to a 'Canatlian—the absence of weeds
on the farms of England and Scot-
land; no weeds on Wit paettre lank
or on the -road sides anywhere, the
farming districts seeming absolutely
free of weeds. I felt We could get
same pointers from the farmers over
there on the control or eradication
of weeds. Another thing we noticed
where the farmers had been plowing,
they make a first class job; they hold
a straight furrow in John Bull's land.
We had a very pleasant two day
visit with Mr. Win. Lang and his sis-
ter who have a beautiful home in the
suburbs of Paisley. Mr. Lang took
us for a cruise in his ear a. bitup
into the Highlands, up around Loch
Lomond as far as the village of Luse,
a little stone village, evidently very
old, but very substantially built;
housee'right on the edge of the side-
walk, a little wharf for the tourist
traffic on Loch Lomencl.in the sum-
mer season, a quaint and most in-
teresting Highland village indeed, and
reached by a splendid road winding
around Loch Lomond. This was a
beautiful drive. The weather was
propitious to display the scenic gran-
deur of the countryside. It was show-
ery with an occasional beautiful rain-
bow. The sun would flare out on the
'hillsides at times, and with snow-cap-
ped Ben Lomond in the distance, if
was grand indeed. I realized about
the middle of the afternoon that we
were travelling amid the scenes that
inspired the writer of that beautiful
ballad, "The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks
of Loch Lomond," and for a moment
or two I tried to recall the words.
I felt that someone should sing it
right on the spot, but the ever-ehang-
ing beautiful scene prevented me
fro,m getting the song started.
We returned home in the evening
along the banks of the Clyde, after
spending the afternoon in one of the
most enjoyable motor rides of my
whole life time, and I decided right
then and there that truly it is a beau-
tiful and a glorious land, that won-
derful land of our forefathers; those
right little, tight little 'Isles across
the sea.
Now in getting to the subject of
the evening it is not necessary to go
back too far to discuss "Canada's
Export Cattle .Trade." I have spok-
en of the flourishing trade in live
cattle that existed two score years
ago with the British market. Well
some time after that, about the year
1915 or 1916, cattle supplies ran short
in the United States and Uncle Sam
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OPEN
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took down his tariff wa„11- and our
cattle were worth more in the Buffalo
or Chicago markets than they were
in the Old Country. And while this.
lapted we had practically no trade
with Great, Britain. But time works
changes in maa'kets as well as in
many other thinks, and in 1929
think it was, Uncle Sam had a change
in poliey and again we found a pro-
hibitive tariff -imposed against our
live cattle to the United States mar-
ket, and back we had to come-enee
more •to the British market, and the
trade has been developing slowly for
the last three years. In 1930 we
shipped only 5,400 head of cattle to
Britain. You will understand that
after the trade had been dorinant for
a number of years, it was bound to
start slowly. Steamship dempanies
had no boats fitted to carry cattle
and had no definite assurance any-
way how long the trade would last.
Because this fact remains, that oue
urp1us Canadian cattle will fled the
market where they will net back the
best returns, and if Uncle Sam would
take down his' tariff wall again, or a
reciprocity treaty could be entered
into between Canada and the States
admitting our cattle to their markets
Ire,e of duty, they would certainly go
there as soon as generalecon.ditions
improve, for I do not believe the
United States would produce enough
cattle to.supply the demand for beef,
within her own borders in times of
reasonable prosperity.
(Continued next week.) ..
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