The record-union., 1899-10-02
PRESENT DAY THOUGHTS.
BY G.. Grosvenor Dave.

A Glance Northward- -Cartoonists oc-
casionally picture Miss Canada as be-
ing very cold and forlorn and as knock
ing. at the door of Uncle Sans domain
for admission. 1t makes quite a pretty
picture and tends to increase our self.
satisfaction at the idea that we can
extend comfort to the lady with the
frosty nose and the toboggan blanket.
Certain of our orators also indulge in
declarations that sound very we'll and
read very we'll about the arms of Uncle
Sam being wide open to welcome Cam
ada They even go so far as to say,
not only that Canada is welcome or
that Canada desires to come in, but
that Canada in the course of time must
come in.
Miss Canada, instead of being puny,
cold and miserable, is a buxom, self
governing and maintaining lady
who owns nearly half a million square
miles more, exclusive of Alaska, than
her southern would-be protector We
will grant that some of it is cold and
unproductive on the extreme northern
border and the eastern border, but if
we throw aside the Biographies of
| twenty-five years ago it will be neces-
Sary to concede that the map of Can
ada has been remaking just as extern
sively as the map Of Africa. The
northwestern territory of Canada, for
instance, instead of being a barren
stretch of land is productive in the ex-
treme and is capable of providing food
stuffs for fifty millions of people. The
land of Ontario, Quebec Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island
is acre for acre as suitable for main
tanning a population, as is the land in
any other portion of the temperate
zones. Enormous possibilities are be-
fore British Columbia because of it's
agriculture, it's fruit growing and it's
timber So far, therefore, as keeping
the wolf from the door is concerned,
Miss Canada needs little of our SYM
pathy and certainly does not ask for it,
But 1T may truly be said that neither
man nor woman nor nation lives by
bread alone, and modern civilization
creates so many necessities in the way
of manufactured goods that purely
agricultural country will gravitate to-
wards a manufacturing country in or.
der to exchange products.
It is at this point that the cartoon
lists and the orators are a little apt to
show that they are speaking and
thinking of Miss Canada as she was
fifteen or twenty years ago. She is
learning very rapidly to manufacture
what she needs and thus to be largely
independent. In 1868 her imports were
SIT, 100000 more than her exports; even
as late as 1888 the balance was still
against her, but in 1898 she exported
S2S, 100000 more of goods than she i'm
ported. Whatever feature of her life
we look at we shall find similar evil
dence of increase in strength. The ton
mage of her shipping has doubled in
thirty years and increased % per cent.
in four years. In thirty years her rail-
road mileage has increased from 2,27S
to 1918 miles and the tonnage carried
in 1898 was nearly 29,000000 tons. one
third more than in 1895. Life insurance
has grown in nineteen years from S36,-
100000 to 1869, 100000, and savings
bank deposits have increased from
something over 100000 in 1868 to
nearly S66,0000 900 in 1898. Iron and
steel industry is being rapidly de-
veloped in Cape Breton, while at the
other end of the dominion the choicest