Premiums and Qualifications 



Premiums are payable monthly, quarterly, 

 half-yearly or yearly. An additional advantage 

 of the scheme is that grace of one month is 

 allowed for the payment of any premium, other 

 than the first, without interest, and should 

 claim occur during the days of grace, it is paid 

 minus the amount of the premium. 



The scheme, as evolved, was mainly intended 

 for disabled or partially disabled men whom 

 existing companies would only take at very 

 high premiums or not at all. The government 

 scheme places all men on an. equality, and no 

 medical examination is necessary in order to 

 take out a policy which is merely based on the 

 age of the insured at the time of insuring. A 

 great number of fit men are, however, taking 

 advantage of the favorable terms and rates, 

 and the advantages it offers in the payment of 

 premiums. 



The majority of the policies issued so far 

 have been for $5,000, the maximum amount to 

 be obtained under the Act by the individual. 

 Ex-soldiers in every walk of civil life have 

 already insured under the scheme, many being, 

 it is stated, insurance agents, including several 

 chief officials of existing insurance companies. 

 Large numbers of physicians have also taken 

 out policies. 



The period during which applications for 

 insurance will be received is open until Sep- 

 tember 1st, 1922. 



The Labor Situation 



The monthly report of the Department of 

 Labor, covering investigations throughout the 

 Dominion, shows a further decline in the cost 

 of the weekly family budget, a decrease in the 

 demand for employment throughout Canada, 

 and a comparatively lower loss of time from 

 industrial disturbances. 



The decrease in the demand of employment 

 was exhibited over all parts of Canada, being, 

 however, less marked in the prairie provinces. 

 In the food and drink manufacturing line, 

 activity continued; fairly steady in abattoirs 

 and packing plants, but declines in sugar, 

 starch and canning industries reduced the 

 general percentage of employment throughout 

 the group. Textile and clothing continued to 

 register marked decreases and the boot and 

 shoe industries continued to drop. Pulp and 

 paper was still affected in certain areas by the 

 shortage of power due to low water and by the 

 closing of some mills for the season, especially 

 in Quebec. 



Periodical Seasonal Slackness 



Woodwork, clay, glass and stone groups 

 shared the depression resulting from the begin- 

 ning of the period of seasonal inactivity in 

 building and construction. Railway transporta- 



tion showed an increase which was pronounced 

 in the Maritime provinces due to the opening of 

 navigation in the winter ports. The closing 

 of summer ports on the St. Lawrence affected 

 the usual seasonal shifting of employment among 

 water transport workers; in British Columbia 

 this industry made steady gains. 



Mining showed increased activity in all 

 coal fields, but declines were recorded in lead, 

 tin, zinc, and copper in Quebec, and in smelting 

 and refining industries in Ontario. Lumber 

 mills continued on a period of seasonal slackness ; 

 logging operations continued to extend in 

 Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime provinces, 

 whilst a sharp drop occurred in British Columbia. 



There were in existence during the month 

 some twenty strikes, involving about 1,959 work 

 people, and resulting in a time loss of 23,442 

 working days. This was less than in the 

 previous month or in November of 1919. 



Weekly Family Budget 



Decreases appeared in both wholesale prices 

 index number and the weekly family budget 

 for food. In retail prices the average cost of a 

 list of staple foods in 60 cities was $15.32 in the 

 middle of November as compared with $15.83 

 at the middle of October, $14.23 for November, 

 1919, and $7.96 in November, 1914. 



In wholesale prices the chief decreases were 

 in grains, animals and meats, miscellaneous 

 foods, textiles, coke, paints, oil and glass, chem- 

 icals, and raw furs, whilst there were slight in- 

 creases in dairy products and fresh vegetables. 



Canada's Sulphur Ore Pyrite Resources 



By F. C. C. Lynch, Supl. Natural Resources Intelligence 

 Branch, Dept. of the Interior, Ottawa. 



Until recent years insufficient development 

 of her own resources of iroi pyrites, especially 

 in the Province of Ontario, had always made the 

 Dominion of Canada largely dependent, even in 

 the manufacture of sulphuric acid, upon supplies 

 of elemental sulphur from such sources as the 

 volcanic deposits of Sicily, the mines of the 

 Union Sulphur Company in the State of Louis- 

 iana or those of the Freeport Sulphur Company 

 in Texas. 



The stimulus that was given to the mining 

 of these sulphur ores in Canada was an outcome 

 of the war. Italy's entrance into hostilities and 

 the destruction of ocean vessels by submarines 

 cut off trans-Atlantic exports, and when the 

 United States joined the Allies, the production 

 at that time in the North American continent 

 was insufficient to meet the ammunition require- 

 ments of all the factories there. Consequently, 

 greater attention was turned to the Canadian 

 sources of sulphur, and as a result the production 

 of pyrites in the Province of Ontario alone 

 increased from 71,620 tons in 1913 to 286,049 



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