Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-01-24
CANADIAN CORRESPONDENCE.
ST.. TnoMAs. Jan. 2lst. 1859.


The springlike weather that has pre-
vailed quite generally throughout Can
ada during the fan and winter was
abruptly changed into something like
real winter by the great storm of last
week. The storm was the seYerest
that has been experienced in years and
did considerable damage. The st.
Thomas Journal facetiously observes:
-"If the Minister of Customs will inn
pose a specific duty Of 30 per cent. al
valorem, on all cyclones or billiards.,
the growth or manufacture of Penn
sylvania, he will confer favor on
millions of unprotected Canadians.
The free importation of these products
of the rigorous climate of the United
States has decided tendency to dis
turb the climate conditions, so favor
able to the wearers of linen busters and
straw hats, that have prevailed in
Canada"
Canadian lumbermen doing business
with the United States are much exer-
cised at the threatened retaliation by
Congress for the increased export duty
on logs, recently imposed by the Cana
dian Government. 1t is charged that
this increased duty was put OH at the
instigatiOn of the Ottawa lumbermen
who do comparatively no business with
the United States. The plea Of the Gov
eminent is that the light duty too much
encouraged the destruction of the pine
ries. On the other hand 1t is shown
that only $4,000 feet of pine logs per
year were exported when the duty was
only 500 thousand, and that while
last year Ontario exported of long tim
Der, masts, spars. &c, 100000 feet, yet
the preparation of this kind of timber
requires large outlay in the country
and should not be hampered by heavy
duty. The principal lumbermen of
Canada have protested against the in
creased duty as they fear that it will
result in the exclusion Of all kinds of
Canadian manufactured lumber from
l.. $. markets, the effect Of which
would be almost runous to these in
dustries.
Despite the mild weather the con-
struction of the Montreal ice castle
proceeds apace In few DAYS it will
be ready for the carnival. Montreal,
by its winter carnival, has gained for
Canada a reputation for cold weather.
but it has also shown that the frosty
season has its pleasures. The carnival
has become SO well known that it is at
tracing this year participants from
England.
O'COnnor accepts Gaudaur'S chal-
lenge and will row at San Francisco.
This contest for the championship of
America will not be the first time that
the honor has been battled for by two
Canadians, nor the first time they have
rowed for this honor on United States
waters.
The Toronto Globe says: Custom
officials and informers received hast
year, S95,06S in addition to their sala-
ries for their share of fees imposed up
on seizure of goods. AS was proved in |
court great amount of this money
ought TO be described as blackmail.
The Canadian mariners held their |
annual meeting at Kingston, Ont, and !
carefully discussed the interests of the |
shipping trade on the lakes and the !
river st Lawrence. The lake shippers
claimed that the forwarding companies
controlling the st Lawrence have, by
fixing rate for freight, thrown all the
risk of competition with the railroads.
on the lake shippers. 1t came out that
the st Lawrence shippers have fixed
their business on NJ per cent. basis
while some of the lake shippers declar--
ed that three per cent. was all the re-
turn their business brought them and
that such small returns means the ruin
of the lake trade. The st. Lawrence
shippers manifested disposition to
compromise as it was shown that the
rate prevailing last season of 81 from
Duluth and Chicago would compel the
lake shippers to lay up their vessels
next year and thus would be killed the
goose that laid the golden egg for the
st. Lawrence trade. 1t was also decid-
ed to interview the Government in
reference to reduction of the tolls for
passage through the Welland canal to
two cents per ton. During the discus
sion on the resolution to appoint COM
mittee to interview the Government
the subject of discrimination of IS per
cent. against vessels unloading at Os-
wego and Ogdensburg was warmly dis
cussed, some vindicating the policy OF
the Government and conteuding that
the Americans got just as good treat
ment as they gave and others contend
ing that the discrimination was quite
unfair and likely to lead to serious in
ternational complications.
In the Ontario Legislature the labour