numbers of them on farms in the Western 

 Provinces of Canada. Like the Germans and 

 Scandinavians, they form into little colonies, 

 having their own church, language and schools. 

 Though not as progressive as the Scandinavians 

 they make splendid citizens and as farmers 

 cannot be excelled. At Winnipeg, Manitoba, 

 these people publish papers written in their 

 native language. 



The Italian, like the Jew, tends towards 

 city life, but quite frequently they operate 

 small farms outside large cities, on which they 

 grow vegetables and other garden truck to 

 be retailed in the city. They have a successful 

 agricultural colony at Venice, Lake La Biche, 

 Northern Alberta. 



During the war many of these foreign-born 

 immigrants from Europe enlisted in the Cana- 

 dian Army, while a large number of them 

 were reservists in the Allied Armies. Those 

 at home bought Victory Bonds, and sub- 

 scribed to the Red Cross as well as to various 

 other war funds. They also planted an increased 

 acreage in g^ain crops in order to relieve the 

 food situation and in many other ways dis- 

 played their good citizenship. Many of the 

 pre-war immigrants, such as Germans, Austrians, 

 Hungarians and Turks, are now barred from 

 Canada and it will be some years before the 

 'ban is lifted. 



The Labor Situation 



In the month of August there was a moderate 

 improvement in the employment situation in 

 Canada according to reports received from 

 employers, though the volume of employment 

 was decidedly less than in the corresponding 

 month a year ago. Trade union reports in- 

 dicated greater activity, vacancies notified by 

 employers noted a gain, and there was also 

 a gain in the number of placements effected. 

 Less time was lost on account of industrial 

 disputes than in the previous month, whilst 

 wholesale prices continued their movement 

 downward. There was a slight increase in 

 the cost of living as indicated in the price 

 of general commodities over the Dominion. 



Industrially, activity was evidenced in the 

 Maritimes whilst the reverse situation was ex- 

 perienced in Ontario and Quebec. The Prairie 

 Provinces manifested a steady increase in the 

 volume of employment, conditions being some- 

 what less favorable in British Columbia. In- 

 dustries which showed net increases were 

 edible plant products, textiles, coal mining, 

 railway and water transportation, building 

 and railway construction. Smaller net increases 

 were registered in leather goods, wholesale 

 trade, telegraph communication, and hotels 

 and restaurants. Sawmills registered the most 

 pronounced losses in the period under review, 

 2,068 persons having been released in the 

 tour weeks. 



Cost of Living Rises Slightly 



There were important losses in iron and 

 steel, weakness was shown in shipbuilding, 

 railway car manufacturing, general machinery 

 and agricultural machinery, whilst tools and 

 rolling mills registered gains. Pulp and paper 

 and rubber goods reported pronounced losses, 

 whilst the electrical apparatus manufacturing 

 exhibited a considerably smaller amount of 

 employment. Tobacco made substantial gains. 

 Glass, cement making, asbestos, gypsum quar- 

 rying, retail trade, local transportation, logging 

 and telephone operation indicated contrac- 

 tions. 



There were in existence during the month 

 S5me 24 strikes involving about 3,221 work- 

 people and resulting in an estimated time loss 

 of 83,105 working days. In retail prices the 

 cost of a list of twenty-nine staple foods for 

 an average family in some sixty cities rose to 

 $11.41 at the beginning of August as compared 

 with $10.96 at the beginning of July, $16.42 

 in August, 1920, $14.43 in August, 1919, and 

 $7.68 in August, 1914. The chief increases in 

 foods were in potatoes, butter and eggs. Fresh 

 meats were lower. 



Maritime Oil Shales 



Exploitation and development in the 

 Canadian Maritime provinces go ofttimes un- 

 heralded by any great amount of publicity, 

 but because the people of that area have their 

 own modest ideas of unostentatious progres- 

 sion it is erroneous to conclude that little is 

 being done. Steps which have recently been 

 taken to develop the oil shales of two of the 

 provinces have considerable significance for the 

 industrial future of the Canadian Maritimes. 



New Brunswick has long been known to 

 geologists, engineers, and interested capitalists 

 as possessing extensive bituminous or oil shales, 

 which exist in the counties of Westmorland 

 and Albert, near Moncton. Though no real 

 attempt has previously been made to make 

 use of them commercially, it has long been 

 known from experimentation that they possess 

 a richer value in oil and by-products than the 

 famous Scottish shales which have been oper- 

 ated very profitably for years. The quantity 

 of the rich shale is practically unlimited and 

 has been estimated by several mining engineers 

 at as much as 270,000,000 tons. 



In Pictou county, Nova Scotia, there is an 

 area of about ten square miles estimated to 

 contain 500,000,000 tons of oil shales which 

 will yield a minimum of thirty gallons of oil 

 to the ton, of which fifty per cent is available 

 for motor fuel, the remainder making fuel oil, 

 lubricating oils and greases. 



A real system of exploitation and utilization 

 of the New Brunswick field is being undertaken 

 by the Imperial Government through the 



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