Mr. MacLEAN (Cape Breton North-Victoria) :

AVhat action is the government taking in respect to the representations made by dominion command of the Canadian Legion in the matter of the claim for inclusive rates of pay on behalf of ex-members of the 3rd Tunnelling Company, Canadian Expeditionary Forces?

Mr. MacLEAN (Prince):

As an eastern member of parliament it was my privilege to make my first visit to the west this past season. Although I have heard this matter discussed on many occasions, it was the first occasion I had of seeing the destruction which the grasshopper can do. For the first time I saw the tremendous destruction that had been wrought on the wheat crops throughout the west, especially around Regina and in certain other sections of Saskatchewan. This small insect cuts off the head of the wheat just where it buds out; the head falls to the ground, and as there is no way of harvesting it, it is a complete loss.

My observations of the farming operations in western Canada lead me to the conclusion that possibly our friends in the west are trying to cultivate too many acres. If they confined their activities to a smaller acreage they might be able to control the situation much better. From my conversations with farmers I was led to understand that if the poison was put out in time and properly placed, it was quite effective. I consider it is a very worthy work that is being done, but I think the surface has hardly been scratched, having regard to what might be done. We have had to face similar difficulties in the east in connection with the potato beetle. Our potatoes are prohibited from entering the English market because of that pest. However, this has been controlled to such an extent that they are no longer considered a menace. We spray for blight and include in the spray a small amount of poison which controls the beetle situation.

Perhaps I may be permitted to suggest to our friends in the west that there is enough wheat wasted on every farm

this applies especially to those with which I came in contact-to keep two or three families in the east. Many farmers in the west apparently have launched out on an elaborate farming operation. On many of the farms I visited I noticed a lot of discarded machinery which may have cost more than the whole farm was worth. I do not know how this situation can be remedied, but my first impression was that they were endeavouring to farm on too large a scale and were spending too much money in purchasing up to date machinery. They were wasting much of the crop that should have been harvested. Could the minister tell me how many are employed in the entomology branch at Fredericton?

Mr. A. E. MacLEAN (Prince):

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition from the residents of O'Leary, Prince Edward Island, in opposition to any measure to legalize sweepstakes in Canada.

Mr. MacLEAN (Prince):

-and the business men followed suit, and so on right along the line.

Mr. MacLEAN (Prince):

What do our friends over there want? They must be hard to please if those figures do not please them.

Now let us look at the export figures, comparing the same two years, 1934-35 and 1937-38. The percentage of gain in Canada's exports to some of the leading countries was as follows: Great Britain, 40 per cent; United States, 39 per cent; Australia, 79 per cent; Japan, 57 per cent; South Africa, 33 per cent; New Zealand, 118 per cent; Belgium, 24 per cent; the Netherlands, 32 per cent; Germany, 174 per cent; Argentina, 85 per cent, and Ireland, 25 per cent.

Right down the list you find that we have made a substantial gain in our export trade. Is not that what our country needs? Is it not what we have been looking for? We have a great deal-I was going to say to be thankful for, and I do not know that I can use a better expression, in the very favourable situation we enjoy not only from the trade angle but also from the financial angle.

Hon. members will recall that during those five years Mr. Bennett was not only prime minister but for most of the time was finance minister as well. He was going to show this country not only how he could run it as prime minister but also how to finance it. In the last year that the Liberals were in power Canada had a surplus of over $47,000,000. The first year after our friends came in they had a deficit of over $87,000,000. The next year the deficit was $114,000,000, the next year $220,000,000, the next year $133,000,000, and in the year following there was a deficit of over $116,000,000. Again I use round figures. The total deficit for those five years was over $672,000,000. That is the record of their party, brought about largely by the trade policies they have followed, because it was shown here yesterday that you cannot have trade dropping off and at the same time maintain your revenue. Our friends opposite complain about the balance of trade. We find that last year we brought in from the United States only $78,000,000 more than we sold them and, as the Minister of Trade and Commerce (Mr. Euler) said the other day, our favourable balance of trade with the whole world was $280,000,000.

Now coming more particularly to the benefits which will accrue to my own province, I should like to refer to the potato situation. In one of his speeches the leader of the opposition (Mr. Manion) said he thought one county in the maritimes could supply all the potatoes we were permitted to ship under this agreement. I cannot agree with that suggestion; I do not think any county down there could produce 2,500,000 bushels of marketable potatoes, which is our quota under the new agreement. The important thing, however, is that if you take 2,500,000 bushels from the maritime provinces and ship them to the United States you relieve the situation to that extent, so that the different markets in the central provinces may be able to absorb the remainder of the crop. That is why we down there are so pleased with the provisions of this treaty.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, the duty prior to 1935 was 75 cents per hundred pounds. Under the 1935 agreement that was reduced to 45 cents, and there was a quota established of 750,000 bushels. Under the new agreement the quota has been increased to 1,500,000 bushels of seed potatoes, while the duty has been further reduced to 37i cents per hundred pounds or 22J cents per bushel. That is a real concession. We are permitted to ship in twice the amount of seed potatoes and matters can be arranged in regard to the months of

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Canada-United States Trade Agreement

shipment; potatoes can be held and shipped into the United States in plenty of time for spring seeding. Then in regard to table stock, in 1935 there was no quota for potatoes of this class. Under the new agreement, however, we have a quota of 1,000,000 bushels of table stock at .374 cents per hundred pounds, from March 1 to November 30. That gives us a total of 2,500,000 bushels that we are permitted to ship to the United States. That is what we in the maritimes have been looking and longing for during the past number of years. Quite a substantial duty remains, but I am glad to say that we have a wonderful trade in seed potatoes. I believe eighty per cent of the seed potatoes entering the United States come from Prince Edward Island. Some of the other members from the man-times are going to deal with this question, so I will leave it in their hands, since they are better prepared to deal with it than I am.

Under this treaty free entry is granted in connection with a great many of our fishery products. Our lobster industry alone is estimated to produce 83,000,000 annually, and we are given free entry for lobsters for the duration of the agreement. This means a great deal to the Canadian fishermen because, as you know, there has been a very strong agitation in some of the Atlantic states to shut out Canadian lobsters. We also have free entry for clams, quahaugs, oysters, crabs, scallops and smelts, and I may say there is a tremendous trade in the last named fish. A splendid table was placed upon Hansard the other day by the Minister of Trade and Commerce, appearing at page 1068. I will not take time to read it again, but I would direct the attention of hon. members to it.

Then, Mr. Speaker, the reduced duty on dairy cattle is a big item in our part of the country. We have always enjoyed a splendid trade in these cattle, and some of the finest dairy herds in the maritimes are in the province of Prince Edward Island. One of the boys from my county exhibited his cattle successfully in Ottawa; he swept the boards at the Royal Winter Fair in competition with United States herds and then went to the United States, where he was again successful against the very best herds from the different experimental farms in that country. I think that is a real tribute to the dairy farmers of Prince Edward Island.

If this agreement will do anything to bring about a more equitable distribution of products I think we should be all in favour of it. I think we all agree that our greatest difficulty to-day is that there is too great a spread between what the farmer receives for

what he sells and what he has to pay for what he buys. We have all spoken on this question. Our friends in the far corner are very strong in their views, and we appreciate their sentiments and their sincerity. But nothing concrete was done to deal with this situation until the negotiation of this treaty. The reduction of many duties, which means so much to the consumer, and the opportunity which is given the producer to widen his market, constitute the first concrete evidence we have had in this house that we are trying to bridge the gulf between the consumer and the man who has to market his products. So I think the government are to be congratulated on what they have done.

In conclusion I wish to repeat what the Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie King) said the other day. When the reciprocity agreement was defeated in 1911 Sir Wilfrid Laurier stated that it might be twenty-five years before another agreement could be negotiated, and he was quite correct. Would not those great statesmen of the past have rejoiced to see the consummation of such a trade pact as this? Would not Fielding, Paterson and Laurier have loved to see the triumph of the principles for which they stood? We are proud indeed that to-day we have a leader of the Liberal party who has caught the vision of those who have gone before, and who has understood so well the message expressed in the words of our own poet-

To you from falling hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.

Let us go on as a party. There is no doubt but that we are on the right track. This agreement gives consideration to all classes of citizens, the consumer, the producer, the farmer, the manufacturer, the labourer and the fisherman. I submit that trade is the very lifeblood of the nation. Without trade we become a decadent people. With trade we go forward to fulfil our destiny as a great and growing nation. Why should Canada fear competition? Canada, a young and virile nation, can compete with any country in the world.