Evening star., 1929-12-20
MONTREAL GROWS
RAPIDLY IN TRADE
Canadian City Is Center of
Many Dominion Business
Enterprises.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.


MONTREAL, Canada, December 90
Skies heavy and dark! The fresh fall
ing snow, so white and crisp, sparkles
in the evening light. Automobiles,
even secondhand ones, glisten in the
frosty weather as they pass with their
occupants covered with gorgeous Cana
dian furs. Montreal citizens dress for
the cold weather-furs, tweeds, always
overshoeS.
Traffic at principal corners handled
by weather-b beaten policemen. Auto
matte electric signals not yet generally
installed. Why?
Montreal remains the sleigh city
an ideal Christmas city - jingle bells
covering thousands of horses that still
ply the streets. The city is sharply
divided between the old and the new.
Spick and span taxis move up and down
its streets, but the old sleighs with
horses driven by elderly French hack
drivers compete for the trade.
Montreal is adding about 100000
people year to its population. 1t Is
now well beyond the million mark, Z"
said one Of its citizens.
The new developments in Canada,
centering around power, manufacturing,
mining and shipping. continue to make
this French Canadian city. financially
and industrially one Of the great cities
of the world.
Sir Herbert Holt of Montreal, presi-
dent of the largest bank in Canada, the
Royal, believes CanadaS future will be
better served by considering her own
position first and that of the rest OF
the world second.
mo Canadian has any cause for COM
plant against the United States for
putting up tariff walls to protect her
people. That has been done from the
beginning of her history. The inter-
ests of her people were first and those
of other people second" said Sir Her
bert, as we sat in his Montreal office
this week.
Now, 1 believe that Canada should
take exactly the same position. That
means that Canada would occupy the
same strategic position at conference
table that the United States does now
when these two great nations meet to
work out their tariff differences.
You will be surprised when I tell
you that 1 believe the time will come
when paper will be selling at 500 a
ton-not $55. I do not believe paper
can be produced at a profit at SIS a
ton. Canada's virgin forests are being
cut into badly today. It's only matter
of time, if We don't develop a reforesta-
ton policy soon, when our wooded
country will be gone"
Sir Herbert, who entered Canada as
an Irish immigrant boy, and now is
considered the richest man in Canada,
turned in his chair and made this
pointed comment: And wonder II it
wouldn't be good policy to pay an
export duty on paper going out of
Canada and use that fund to reforest
our lands. Why not? Canada must
guard her natural resources, II she Is
to have any left"
1t is the contention of American
newspaper publishers that there is a
profit in selling paper at SIS a ton.
Canada and the United States have
much in common. And no one is more
anxious to build cordial good will than
have been through the years. Canada
must protect the interest of her people
in exactly the same way as the people
of the United States protect theirs. !
think that's fair proposition" con-
tinued Sir Herbert.
Lord Atholstan, formerly Hugh Gra-
ham of Montreal, owner of the Montreal
Star, opened Canada's first soup kitchen
for the Winter season in Montreal this
week to feed the unemployed.
The c. P. r. furnished the building,
and Lord Atholstan furnishes the food
and help.
It opened for the first time Monday
of this week. The hours are from 10
am. to / pm. No one is asked any
questions-no red tape. An unemployed
man enters. He receives as many bowls
of soup and as much bread and cheese
as he wants. The food is all first class.
Not much choice, but banquet" for
those who are hungry.
THE first day, Monday, total of
1,086 men we're served" said Manager
Little. We expect that this number will
be increased so per cent through the
Winter, so the total meals served should
be somewhere from ! 100 to 1000 a
day. This is an increase of so per
cent over the record of our soup kitchen
two years ago."
Lord Atholstan, 81, believing that
the Winter will be hard in many Cana
dian cities. opened the soup kitchen a
little earlier than usual this year. This
is the third time during the last five
years that this Montreal publisher has
conducted such charity but it is the
first time he has allowed 1t to be called
"the Atholstan Kitchen"
CCopyright, 1929, North American Newspaper