CANADIAN DEPARTMENT 



By ELWOOD WILSON 



THE sole topic in Canada at 

 present is the war and Canada 

 is determined to stand by the 

 Empire to the last gasp both 

 with men and money. A million bushels 

 of wheat have been contributed 

 by the Dominion Government, large 

 quantities of cheese and potatoes and 

 other products by the several provinces 

 and all the employees of the Canadian 

 Pacific Railway have given a day's pay 

 each. Nearly ^3,000 men are in train- 

 ing at Valcartier, near Quebec, await- 

 ing the call of the British War Min- 

 ister. Meanwhile an era of retrench- 

 ment and economy has set in which, 

 while wise in principle, has been car- 

 ried too far in practice. Many firms 

 have stopped work and all have cut 

 down their forces, throwing thousands 

 out of employment just at the begin- 

 ning of winter and much suffering will 

 ensue. Outside of the fact of war 

 there is nothing in the state of busi- 

 ness to warrant such drastic curtail- 

 ment, as Canada is now in a position 

 to supply to Europe and South America 

 all the goods heretofore made in Ger- 

 many, France, Belgium and Austria. 

 By this curtailment she is likely lo 

 lose these opportunities. 



Apropos of the above an English 

 agent has been sent out to Canada to 

 buy for the English colliers over 80,- 



000 cords of mine props, five feet to 

 six feet long and averaging five inches 

 in diameter. The supply has been 

 shut off from the countries lying on 

 the Baltic Sea and the mine owners 

 have been compelled to turn to 

 Canada. Any kind of wood will be 

 taken, but it will be a difficult matter 

 to get these timbers and not an un- 

 mixed blessing for the forests. Ow- 

 ing to Government regulations such 

 sizes cannot be cut on Crown lands and 

 the whole amount must be obtained 

 from freehold lands mostly in the hands 

 of men owning from two to three hun- 

 dred acres. If such trees are cut as 

 will be suitable the future supply of 

 pulp wood will be very materially de- 

 creased and the trees will be cut at the 

 time when they are making their most 

 rapid growth. 



The forest fire situation has been 

 very good this year in Quebec with one 

 exception. Early in the spring there 

 was a severe drouth and right in the 

 height of the dry weather the contrac- 

 tors for the new Government Railroad 

 ordered their section men to burn old 

 ties. The fire rangers warned them not 

 to, but in spite of this they persisted and 

 the fire spread over twenty-five square 

 miles, entailing a cost of over four thou- 

 >and dollars to extinguish it. These 

 same contractors' engines set fire along 



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