Disappointed Public—The Truth About Wheat—Canada and Prohibition—Chinese Labour Question From Our Own Correspondent Kingston, Out., Oct. 30.
Sugar has occasioned a commotion from one end of Canada to the "other during the past month, and it has not actually ceased at the time of writing. Before the war sugar could be bought for five cents pound; the price has gradually increased' until it ross to 25 cents 'a pound, and in some few parts of the -country to even more. Recently its price dropped to about 15 cents in the United States, and the public here anticipated that there would be a considerable drop in the price. Prices, however, to some extent were settled by the Board of Commerce, a body formed by the Government primarily to -reduce the high cost of living by preventing monopolies, the imposition of excessive profits, and to advise proceedings against those who would not obey its orders.
Great, therefore, was the outery throughout the land when the Board ordered that the price of sugar should be 21 cents till the end of the year. Ottawa was deluged with protests, and the consequence was that the Government rescinded the order, the Board resigned, and sugar dropped to 18 cents a pound. The sugar refiners entered their protest against the rescinding of the order on the grounds that, the Board has prevented their raising their prices when they were less than those in the States, that they had been promised protection by the Board should sugar prices fall in the States, that they had large supplies of raw material bought at top prices, that if the order did not stand they would lose millions of dollars, which would probably ruin them, and lead to the closing down of the refineries. The Government replied that before it would take any steps to aid them the books of the refiners would have to be examined by chartered accountants to arrive at what the profits had been for the past few years. This the refiners agreed to, but wanted to know how the profits would be arrived at. One of them stated that his concern had made @ profit of several millions by a transaction in sugar which did not directly come within the actual operations of the refinery.
Tae Car our oF THE Bac.
'This statement would appear to have vather given the refiners' case "away, as it seemed to confirm the strong opinion held by the public, and certainly proved, at least in the case of Cuba, that speculation had "been answerable to a very large. extent for the high prices hich the public had been compelled'to pay. A particular reason, in "addition to the general feeling' regarding profiteering, why the public was so upset at the Board's order was that iv was given about preserving time," thafvis, the time when fruit is plentiful,, and vest stores of "preserves" are made by probably every family in Canada, and put away for winter and spring consumption. Preserves would be better known as "'stewed fruit"? to English people, and they can be said to take the place of jam to 2 great extent as used in Great Britain, So far as it can be judged at the moment there is not. very much likelihood of the Government going fo the assistance of the refiners, and it does not look as if they would be ruined, as the shares of sugar companies have not had the same phenomenal drop as they had rise, Which in the case of one was from $40 to $140, Tue Pricts oF Graix.
The Government has refused to continue the operations of the Wheat Board, and this can be taken as an indication that they will not be in a hurry to help the refiners. The Wheat Board was formed to control the country's sale of this grain when the Governments of other countries were practically the buyers, and at a time when Canada was establishing credits with other countries so that they could purchase this country's wheat. The wheat growers are assing practically that the Government—shall keep up the price of wheat to the high one of the past year or s0. They claim that Great Britain and other countries are working together to get the wheat at the lowest possible prices, and that the Government should act to get the best. possible price.
Sir George Foster, the Minister of Trade and Commerce, has told them that the Board will be put to work again should it become necessary, but that the law of supply and demand has in reality everything to do with the basic determination of the world price for wheat; circumstances of transport by sea and land, financial and exchange conditions, and methods of buying may temporarily affect and vary the price, but the determining factor is the relation of the supply to the demand.
a report has appeared in Canada that China is exporting wheat, it may be of importance to give one or two other statements made by the Minister. He said that neither Canada nor the United States is _givimg Governmental credits to European countries to enable them to supply wheat to their people; there is no concerted or pool buying by purchasing nations, each one of the European countries is buying independently of the other and making its own arrangements as to purchase and payment through normal agencies of purchase and sale; there is no longer Government control in the United ant Canadian wheat may be freely sent to that country; last year's con-carted Government buying closed
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.