Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-01

| ment over the subject of TAXATION with
the Selkirk council the road was sharply
DETECTED to the south and old Fort Garry
became the nucleus for the metropolis of
western Canada
THE history of Winnipeg is the history
of all boom towns. with their periods of
prosperity and decllne. with this excep-
ton, that Winnipeg. after it's last slump.
began life anew upon substantial lines.
and became a fixture, gathering sub
stantial growth from year to year be-
cause it was deserved 1t has been de-
scribed by optimistS as the future Chi
cago of western Canada. There is a good
and substantial reason for this. 1t is
today the largest manufacturing city in
western Canada; it boasts the largest
population, and is the great warehouse
city for the prairie provinces, which it
supplies with all necessities. Here con-
centrate five lines of railroad, which
radiate through the west, tapping all the
agricultural sections. so that Winnipeg
becomes at once the receiving station for
the west as well as its distributing
points. The millions of bushels of wheat
which are raised in western Canada go
through Winnipeg to the great elevators
at Fort William. at the head of the great
lakes, there to be distributed to the mar
ketS of the world.
winnipeg is alive to the ideas of the
century and today occupies notable
position as a city of
Municipal municipal ownership.
n..L: She owns her telephone
o"no'"ip' system, her asphalt
plant. her stone quarry, is building at a
cost Of several millions of dollars a
power plant to provide light and power
for the people, and is now negotiating
for the purchase of the street car system,
which is owned by the Mackenzie Mann
interests.
winnipeg is the great fur market of
western Canada. Millions of dollars
worth of furs are brought down each
spring from the northland, and the deal
ers in Winnipeg representing the great
fur trade of the world bid upon the packs
offered. During 1909 it is estimated that
furs to the value of s. 100000 were ship
ped from the western provinces to the
United States and England. When one
considers that these figures represent the
wholesale prices of the raw furs he can
appreciate in some measure the enormous
value Of the output when it is manufac-
tured. Raw furs enter the United States
free Of duty. and all the consignments
are made each year to New York.
THE northern parts of Manitoba. Sas-
katchewan and Alberta are great hunting
grounds. The trapper is being pushed
farther north by the advance of settle
ment and now operates in the Mackenzie
and Keewatin countries. trapping from
Great Slave lake through the connecting
lakes to Great Bear lake, and as far
north as Coronation gulf, an indent OF
the Arctic ocean.
THE muskrat is the most prolific of
Canadas fur-bearing animals, and its
fur can often be made over to initiate
expensive furs. such as seal. Other
Canadian furs are that Of the lynx, very
popular because Of its wearing quality
the raccoon. used by men for overcoats;
the Canadian weasel, or ermine; rev
sea otter, and the magnificent pelts OF
the silver and the black foxes, which
command in Winnipeg at wholesale from
$500 to $500 a skin. Shippers declare
that the best fur comes from the middle
Of February to the latter part of March.
Western Canada is fully alive to the
necessity of protecting It's fur-bearing
animals. Thus, in Manitoba the further
killing of beaver and otter has been In
definitely postponed: and reports from
trappers indicate that the closed season.
which has already been in operation for
several years, has shown magnificent re-
suits.
Winnipeg is the greatest shipping point
of western Canada for fish into the United
States; and one of the
Fish great surprises of this
country is the fact that
ouPPl1es' fish caught in the northern
lakes of Manitoba are shipped to the
great fish centers of Philadelphia and
Baltimore OF course, one would imme
diately surmise that the fish which finds
market in these southern cities would be
the whitefsh, for which the Canadian
lakes are noted. The reverse is true-it
is the cheaper grade Of fish, the Jackfish
and pickerel, selling in this market for
MOI Mound which finds market
I'm the southern part of the United States,
and the only reason that can be assigned
for this is the demand Of the people for
cheaper food.
while Winnipeg is the greatest distrib-
uting center for merchandise of all sorts,
it is also the distributing point for the
great mass of immigrants who are seek
ing homes and fortunes in western
Canada.
You ask for my opinion as to the rea-
son for the great influx of Americans
into this western country, and my answer
is that the immigrants from the United
States are seeking cheap land and big
crops, which western Canada offers. 1t is
estimated that nearly 100000 Americans
are domiciled in the three western prov
inces of Canada, and they are upon lands
which they took homesteads, or pur
chased at a price of from 81 to $50 per
acre. I violate no confidence when l say
that the American immigrant is the one
most desired. He comes better equipped
than any other. First. he has that most
valuable OF all assets to a new country
ready money. Then he brings with him
a superior knowledge of agriculture,
which he Immediately puts into practical
effect, and then he has the greatest of
all assets which make for quick develop
ment-Yankee hustle 1t is estimated that
the average amount of material wealth
brought into Canada by each immigrant
from the United States is S99S. This
means that during the year 1910 the
100 900 immigrants that arrived in that
year augmented the material wealth of
Canada, at the expense of the United
States, by s1OO.OOO,0OO"