12 FRIDAY, DEC. 9, 1921, Fe -------- -- ee -- ank of Montreal WILL TRY FOX FARMING, Annual General Meeting "us mmx oven 10 xa . THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG. : ET Sit ah fo Ln) 4K RA ND -- ! Experts Believe That the Ranches Will Succeed In the Old Land as | Well as In the Dominion-- | Fortunes Have Been Made Very | Rapidly Here by Men Who Start- ed the Industry, Bir Vincent Meredith, the Pre=} Policy of Immigration. An interesting experiment, whieh | | | | Canada's Principal Problems and How They Can| ercome. In referring to the urgent neces- | is expected to lead to the establish- | sident, Shows Relation of or of a vigorous policy of immi- | ment in the British Isles of an im- | 'Railway Undertakin 0 | gration, Sir Vincent said:-- | portant new Industry, has just been | Public Finance -- Urges/ . nly second in importance to our : | 'Only sec 1 imp begun in East Ross-shire, Scotland Strong Policy of Immigra-| Railway Irie is that of en A number of silver foxes have been 8ee no Improve- ment Under Political Con- Frederi illiams-Fayl Gen ck Wi s-Faylor, - - ¥ Manager, Points Out That Bank of Montreal Came Through 'a Difficult Year in a Stronger Posi- tion Than Ever -- Canada Must Take Advantage of Experience to Deal With Future Problems. A most interesting survey of con- @itions in Canada and the policy that must be followed in order to work out of the many difficulties with which the country is confronted was made at the annual meeting of the nk of Montreal. Ban unusual conditions in the pountry constituted probably one of the main reasons for an unusually large gathering of shareholders and the reports submitted were listened to with the utmost interest. Sir Vincent Meredith, the Presi- dent, in his annual address to share- . holders, went very thoroughly into the exact position in which the coun- try finds itself to-day, reviewing the numerous debts that had been incur- red and respectfully suggested the principal ways through which the country might gradually re-establish berself in a sound position. In the midst of world-wide readjustment, it was only natural that Canada was being seriously affected by develop- ments in other countries and on this #ccount Sir Vincent submitted to the shareholders a review of the more important conditions in Great Britain and the United States. Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor, the General Manager, submitted to the shareholders a report of the work during the past twelve months. The banking conditions that prevailed, as is well known, were almost unpre- cedented and it was very likely on this account that Sir Frederick made reference to the part played by the Bank during the period of excep- tional deflation. In view of the sit- tation it was a satisfaction, said Sir Frederick, to be able to assure the shareholders that the actual loss to the Bank had been moderate and though profits had shrunk, the Bank had come through safely and its business as a whole was in a secure | condition, while its position was! Stronger than ever, with ample liquid Assets to meet any contingency. As regards the general business conditions of the country and the policy followed by the Bank in glv- ing special assistance to its cus- tomers, Sir Frederick pointed out that in many cases merchants and manufacturers simply could not de- flate at present. The demand for their goods had disappeared, while money borrowed from the banks in anticipation of sales cannot be re- paid--hence what vere now termed "frozen credits." Bank loans In many cdses had thus become fixed and the liquid surplus in mercantile balance sheets represented by inven- tories had for the time being lost its true meaning. As usual the Banks had come to the rescue and speaking for the Bank of Montreal, it had maintained to the limit of prudence its acknowledged century-old policy of carrying customers in difficult times. Seriousness of Railway Problem. Sir Vincent Meredith, in the course of his address, touched on the rallway problem and its effect on the debt of the country. In this connec- tion he said:-- "With our own national system of rallways it was well to face the _ facts. There has to be met an an- nual fixed charge of about $66,000,- 000, plus loss in operation, whic] year amounted to $32,000,000 and will this year not be greatly less, In addition, a sum $150,000,000 has to be provided in next few years for replacements betterments. I see no reason to change the views I have expressed to you on fermer Occasions, nor do I look for any marked Permanent im- provement in these conditions, so -long as the roads roRiinue under public--that is politi waership tion. upon the cataclysm of a great war, there has come in the past a desire for change and an exodus of people from many countries has resulted. | No such movement has yet occurred following the recent upheaval in Europe, but I think Canada has an exceptional epportunity of filling up her waste spaces if a vigorous, sus- tained immigration policy is set in motion. We need people upon the land--the cities will take care of themselves. Now that the United States has restricted the inflow into that country, now that Great Britain has awakened to the advantage of directing her emigrants to outer parts of the Empire, the time seems opportune for Canadian agencies of all kinds to exhaust every effort to turn the stream to our shores, so that our vast uncultivated arable territory may be populated and made productive," General Manager's Address. Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor, the General Manager in his address to the shareholders, referred more par- ticularly to the affairs of the Bank and the manner in which the variens | developments of the year had been met. Of special interest was the an. nouncement regarding the unusual banking conditions which had pre- vailed during the past year and in this connection Sir Frederick said: -- "Inevitably, losses brought about through the unprecedented drop in the price of heavy decline in the market value of securities have in many. instances fallen indirectly upon the banks, "More money has been lost by for- eign banking institutions operating in certain directions abroad than qQver before in a similar period in any country. "I think it may be asserted that in Canada banks generally have been more fortunate when compared with those of other countries, and while doubtless all Canadian banks have lost money in loan accounts that have 'gone bad' during the past year, no disaster has developed." Reviewing the general conditione in the country, Sir Frederick pointed out the necessity of paying the pen- Ity of having mortgaged our future 2 the building of superfluous rail- ways and in other extravagances. Summing up the situation in this re- gard, Sir Frederick said in part: -- '"'As regards the outlook in Canada and the prospect as affecting Cana- dian business generally, I have no desire to join the list of oracles who predict the date when normal condi- tions will be restored. For one thing, values are out of joint. Omnr main dependence is on our natural resources, and at present the pur- chasing power of the products there- of is at the lowest level reached for Several years past. On the other hand, we stil have with us high prices in other directions, while re- tail prices generally are conspicu- ously out of.line. "The cause of this anomaly is still mainly the cost of labor. Unemploy- ment is the natural corrective, though painful and regretted by everyone, "It is all very well to talk about our vast resources, but we as a people have pledged those resources and wasted our substance to an ex- tent only now being realized. Evi- dence of this is, first, in the great sum of nearly two hundred million dollars annually sent abroad to meet the interest on our debts; and, seo- ond, that our dollar is at a serious discount in the United States, with estimated at | Do: bition of our citizens. In thege re- Spects Canada is still rich, and, hav- ing learned our lesson from that in- exorable teacher, stern experience, we shall emerge from our difficulties in time a wiser nation and then pro- ceed to the full development of great inheritance on a sound ang sure basis, turning the experience of and operation, which all experience mns, the past to the advanta, on to ge of the morrow Alrig Cet a PEN: iS | commodities and the | taken over from Canada to form a | nueleus of a farm devoted solely to { the breeding and rearing of these ¥aluable animals. Unlike most experiments, this one will not be regarded entirely with in- difference by the majority. of people. The woman who hitherto has been | precluded frem buying silver fox furs | on account of their high price will be keenly interested. The capi:alist who is always on the look-out for new investments will watch the venture with a favorable eye. The experiment's greatest claim to attention lles in the fact that it is likely to be suecessful. Experts say that there is no reason why Scot- land and certain parts of England | should not have their fox farms, just | a8 they have their dairy, fruit, and | | Poultry farms. For the stock they look to Canada, where within the last seven years or 80 fur farms have become an indus- | try of great importance This is Proved by the recently-publis ied offi- | etal figures, which show that there | are no fewer than four hundred and thirty of these farms in this country. { The value of the land, buildings, | and stock on these fox farms exceeds | $5,000,000. Ev ery year thousands of | foxes are born In captivity, while | many thousands are killed. In the | first days of the industry invest- | ments yielded dividends of 1,000 per cent. Since then the returns have naturally declined, but even 80 the profits are enormous, and big for- | tunes are being made. One fox farme: in Canada has made $90,000 clear profit in five | Years... He started with a capital of | not quite $500. Prince Edward Is- | { land, where there are over two hun- | | dred of these farms, can boast many romances like this. Fox-farming, however, | 8ame for the novice to play. Foxes | {are fickle creatures. To rear them | lin close confinement you need to un- | {derstand them thoroughly. foxes are extraordinarily timid; they will frequently carry their young in | {their mouths for days, deposi.ing them first in one place and then in another, until the little ones die of exposure and exhaustion. For this reason the fox farmer must keep a strict wach on his charges. Keepers often have to sit up for nights on end during the breeding season in order to protect the young from the restlessness of the mothers. The actual breeding of the animals, it is to be noted, is attended with few difficulties; it is the rearing that occasions most anxiety. What are the foxes fed on? Their dietary is a varied one, ranging from mice to birds, and from insects to wild berries. Meat is given in con- siderable quantities, together with table scraps, dog biscuits, and milk. The danger lies not so much in the kind of food given as in the amount. The fox is a prodigious eater. The silver fox in captivity is in- elined to be treacherous towards its owner or keeper. A fox rancher in Nova Scotia not long ago lost his left hand through being bitten by one of his animals. They do not like being handled. Often they will fight Among themselves, the st-ong ones combining to stamp out the weak. A fight in a pen of silver foxes fre- quently means the loss, in a single balf-hour's combat, of hundreds of dollars' worth of animals and fur. Fox farmers have one great enemy to guard agains: --the fox poacher. This individual goes to work in an original fashion. Instead of stealing & fox straight from the pen---a dim- eult matter--he contrives to release, generally at night, one or two of the animals, and then shoots them when they reach the open. In do- Ing this, he is fairly safe, as it is naturally not easy to prove the own- ership of an escaped fox in a ecoun- try Where wild foxes are fairly | numerous. An instance of this, and of the amusing manner in which the thief was discovered, is given in the fol- lowing true story: A fox rancher recognized a fine Pelt in a Hudson Bay Company store as being that of a fox which had mysteriously disappeared from his farm some time before. He. com- municated his suspicions to the store- keeper, at the same time inquiring the source from which the company had obtained the pelt. In the in- terests of common honesty the store- keeper agreed to co-operate in a scheme to trap the thief. A live fox was secured and placed in the drawer where the pelts were 'usually kept. The suspected person =--& ne'er-do-well trapper--was then sent for. He arrived on the scene, fuddled with drink. The storekeeper then explained that a remarkable thing had happened. The pelt which the trapper had sold him, he said, bad disappeared, and a live fox had taken its place. It looked as if the skin itself had come to life! Completely bewildered, the super- stitious trapper went to the drawer. it ,and seeing a wid two eyes fashing at him from the darkness, he rushed yell- ing out of the ------ni 3 Until 1565 farthin, were made of allver. " It is stated in Toronto that James Murdock may bbcome minister of ;a- bor in the King cabinet. . 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