"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
Edmund Burke
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The Case for Alberta PART II The Urgent Need for Social and Economic Reform GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA
Edmonton: Addressed to THE SOVEREIGN PEOPLE of Canada and their Governments.TABLE· OF CONTENTS CHAPTER APPENDICES CHAPTER I. 1. The Province of Alberta is so richly endowed with natural resources that it is physically possible to provide every man, woman and child within its boundaries with a standard of living many times higher than that ruling at present. 2. The following statement shows the capitalized value of Alberta's resources--including population. (It should be emphasized that a correct statement of the assets of a province or a country must include its most essential factor--the capitalized value of its population in terms of productive capacity.) REAL CAPITAL ASSETS(l)
4. With a population of 772,782, the capital resources of the Province average about $300,000 per person. Assuming that these resources were exploited at the very low rate of one-half of one per cent per annum, the present standard of living of the people of Alberta would be increased approximately eight times. This would yield an average annual income of about $1,500 per person or about $6,000 per family of four at the existing price level. 5. While it may be argued that such a high living standard can be secured only by the export out of the Province of a very substantial portion of the increased production, in order to obtain the diverse variety of goods for which there would be a demand, this is partially true only. (1) See Appendix I for a detailed statement. 6. The abundant sources of power at the disposal of the Province in its natural assets of coal, oil and, to a limited extent, water power render it ideal for industrial development. Besides, in the main, the majority of the population are in want of the very products which could be supplied from the limited development that has taken place to the present time. 7. Coincident with these vast resources which
are at the disposal of the Province we find,- 8. In short, with resources adequate to provide the people of the Province with a balanced productive system and a high standard of living, the people of Alberta are poverty stricken, taxed to the limit of human endurance and debt-ridden to a point of desperation. 9. While the economic problem facing Alberta is the same problem which is facing every other province, the Dominion as a whole, and every country operating the so-called orthodox financial system, it exists here in a more acute degree, and the crass stupidity of abundant natural resources, with vast reserves of power for productive purposes, existing side by side with poverty, want and restriction is, perhaps, more apparent in Alberta than elsewhere. The absurdity of the anomaly is so startlingly obvious that a people who have given both study and thought to economic problems are demanding immediate action to have this state of affairs remedied. 10. Yet a comparison of Canada with the U.S.A. will reveal that what is so obvious in Alberta should be equally obvious to every person of reasonable intelligence, even though ignorant of economic matters, throughout the Dominion. 11. The U.S.A. comprises a smaller area than Canada. It has the climatic advantages which give it a greater diversity of production, but it is not so richly endowed in natural resources as Canada. It has a population about twelve times that of Canada, yet this smaller and naturally poorer area supports twelve times the population in at least equal comfort generally. 12. What then is the root cause of this startling disparity between the two countries? Why is it that Canada, with a population of but some 11,029,000 persons and resources sufficient to provide these with all reasonable material wants, is faced with a problem of widespread poverty? Why is it that unemployment persists when the services of those unemployed could be used to convert idle resources into wanted production? Why is it that Canada's debt increases as fast-or faster--than her wealth as represented by developed resources? Put another way, why are the people of Canada becoming financially poorer through debt as their country becomes physically wealthier--and to whom are they becoming indebted? 13. It is to these questions that the chapters which follow will be directed in the form of a short analytical examination of the economic structure. Such an examination must precede any recommendations for remedial measures--for the damage to social life which has resulted from ill considered and irresponsible experiments to patch up an obviously decaying economic system cannot be condemned too strongly. The human suffering in the world, and the spectacle of nations moving towards an armed conflict that may well end civilization, is a monument to the confused thought and the obstinate adherence to disastrous traditions which are the prevailing features of modern leadership. 14. In that outstanding contribution to our knowledge
of civilization, Human History, the author, Sir Grafton Elliot
Smith, states in the introductory chapter,- 15. The truth of Sir Grafton's strictures are
but too evident from the present economic plight of the world, and it
is in the spirit of the following extract taken from a leading article
which appeared in The Times, of London, England, on November
3rd, 1932, that the examination of the situation which follows is submitted
to the people of Canada: CHAPTER II. The Economic Structure The problems which face Alberta and every other province are basically economic. What we term the economic system is yielding the very results which create the problems. At the outset, therefore, it is important that we determine the purpose for which economic organization should exist, and then that we examine these organizations to ascertain whether, in fact, they are contributing to the objective, and if not, to seek the cause or causes of such failure. PURPOSE OF ECONOMIC SYSTEM The economie system has developed during the progress of civilization over a period of 6,000 years. The many interlocking organizations of which it consists, taken collectively, are highly complex, but the purpose of economic organization and the basic principles which should underlie it remain simple. Reference to Chapter V of this part, dealing
with social organization in relation to the constitutional problems
of Canada, will emphasize the fact that the social order which is natural
is one that is organized to enable individuals in association to get
that which they desire and need from their social activities. It is
this confidence, arising from the belief that in association they can
gain what would not otherwise be possible, that should constitute the
social power which prevents social disintegration. PRODUCTIVE ORGANIZATION For nearly sixty centuries the basic economic
problem facing humanity was in regard to production. Under the urge
of gaining material security--a sufficiency of food, clothing and shelter--organized
society struggled to improve its methods of production. However, in
this it was limited by the known sources of energy from which it could
draw and by the practical knowledge determining the rate at which it
could utilize this energy. Production depends upon the application of
energy to matter in order to convert it from a useless into a useful
form or to transfer products from where they are not wanted to where
they are wanted. This requires organization and is, of course, dependent
upon the knowledge, skill and character of the members of the community. In the Province of Alberta, the energy resources available in coal, oil, natural gas and gasoline are sufficient to develop the natural resources of the whole of Canada for a very long period of time. The availability of such vast sources of solar energy render the Province ideal for industrial development. If encouraged, wool could be produced and converted into clothing, blankets and other woollen goods. Shoes and all leather goods could be produced as could almost everything for houses. In addition, the Province could produce paper, furniture, chinaware, pottery, tiles, asphalt, dyes and other by-products of coal, biscuits, cereals, carpets, glassware, canned goods, matches, brushes, furs, and while, as yet, no known iron deposits are available for exploitation, the proximity of such vast power resources would render it economic to attract the heavier industries to the Province rather than to send out the energy supplies to eastern points where, in the main, industrial production is centred at present. UNEMPLOYMENT With these vast potentialities and with the productive
capacity to provide its people with all the food, clothing, homes, roads
and many of the amenities of life, the mass of the people are poverty
stricken, debt-ridden and taxed to the limit of their already too inadequate
incomes. What a startling anomaly it is that in such a situation the
Province has over 10,000 heads of families unemployed! It should be obvious that any system which is
directed towards deliberately substituting automatic and semi-automatic
processes of production, rendered possible by the application of solar
energy in place of the toil of human beings, and which thereby releases
them for other activities, while at the same time condemning those thus
released to a condition of economic indigence, is a system deserving
severe condemnation and immediate adjustment. The disastrous result
is that those released from the imposed necessity to toil in industrial
production instead of being in a better economic position, and the community
as a whole benefiting from the increased productive capacity, have become
"wageless" and unable to obtain a share in the increased production;
hence the entire community has its consuming powers curtailed and is,
therefore, unable to supply its members with needful goods and services.
TAXATION There is no more widely detested aspect of the machinery of government than modern taxation. The resentment of taxpayers to an increasing imposition which robs them of a large percentage of already inadequate incomes, and thereby renders them more insecure, has created a situation in which taxation is imperilling the fabric of government and, in Canada, endangering confederation. The following extract from an editorial in MacLeans
Magazine for June 1st, 1937, is indicative of the growing concern
regarding the increase in taxation, which is a natural result of the
present financial system common to most countries: As the figures in the quotation indicate, increasing
taxation is very largely the result of increased indebtedness and rising
expenditures on social services. It is but another anomaly of the present
financial system that as a country becomes wealthier in terms of development
of its physical resources, its people become poorer financially--poorer
in the sense that with the increase of national wealth, their collective
indebtedness increases and this forms an increasing drain on their incomes.
The limit of human endurance to the acceptance
of modern taxation methods is being reached in Canada--and in particular
in the Prairie Provinces. Dominion, provincial and local taxes have
reached a point where the taxpayer cannot meet the demands being made
upon him. Tax arrears accumulate and the consequent result is inadequate
revenue for the government authorities, concerned, and rebellious resentment
of an over-taxed public. Yet every government throughout the Dominion
is faced with a totally inadequate source of revenue. Taxation is a device whereby a governing body
secures revenue to carry out public services. The purpose of this revenue
is to provide incomes to those serving the community and to obtain materials
for certain public works. (For the moment debt charges are excluded
as this subject is examined fully later.) Those serving the community
in government service require incomes to obtain goods and services.
In short, by means of taxation the community as a whole surrender claims
to goods and services, and these are redistributed to those rendering
public service or are used to secure materials for public works or to
enable the indigent to obtain a share in the products available. But the assumption is incorrect. The basic premise
on which the structure of taxation is built is wrong. We know that in
Canada, for instance-and this applies particularly to Alberta--the potential
capacity to produce goods and services is many times greater than present
production. The goods and services which could be produced, but the
production of which is at present restricted, would provide a source
from which the requirements of all who are giving service to the public
could be supplied, without taking from the already inadequate amount
available to the people at present. However, condemnation cannot be confined to the system of taxation, for this is but an expedient to which governments are driven under stress of the financial system. The inexplicable anomaly of indigent unemployment in an economic environment of abundant potential productive resources, the widespread poverty, throughout the Dominion and every industrialized country, the growing insecurity and the loss of freedom resulting from the fantastic debt structure and economic stress all go to indicate that the disease is rooted in the financial system. THE ROOT CAUSE OF OUR TROUBLES FINANCIAL It is apparent that there is nothing very amiss
with our ability to produce. This Province and the entire Dominion have
resources sufficient to provide complete economic security for every
man, woman and child within their respective boundaries. Shops can be
filled as fast as they are emptied, stocks can be replenished as fast
as they are depleted. All the factories, all the roads and all the houses
which the people may require can be built. The problem is to obtain
markets for production. Every producer knows this, yet consumers cannot
obtain access to the limited production at present coming on the market.
Not that the desire to purchase the goods does not exist. The desire
and the want are there, the knowledge and the resources to satisfy the
want are there also, but the people cannot get the goods because they
do not possess the money to buy them. The financial system of Canada is basically the same as the financial system of most countries. Any differences which may exist are of minor importance and do not affect the system as such. Like other countries, the financial system of Canada is controlled through a central bank--the Bank of Canada, which by its manipulation of currency issue and by its open market operations can direct the entire financial arrangements throughout the Dominion. This is reviewed in the next chapter. CHAPTER III. The Financial System Before proceeding to a further investigation
of the financial system as a whole, it is desirable, particularly, to
consider the nature of money. In Canada, as in other countries, the basis
of the monetary system is cash--or tangible money. This consists of
notes and coins. Control of the issue of these rests with the Bank of
Canada--and, in the circumstances which exist, full responsibility for
the operations of the Bank of Canada must be assumed by the Dominion
Government, which purports to exercise an over-riding control. However,
the cash controlled by the Bank of Canada is but a part of the money
which serves the requirements of the Dominion. This part is used for
but a small fraction of money transactions. Money, as tickets to goods, is related to them
by means of a costing system of prices. The goods come on the market
at certain prices, and these prices determine the number of monetary
units which will purchase an article. Purchasing power is the ability
of the consuming public to meet these prices of goods with money. Prior to the establishment of the Bank of Canada
as the central and controlling institution, the Dominion Government
and the commercial banks issued currency notes. That is to say, they
alone were legally entitled to print and issue pieces of paper which
passed as money. However, this right has been curtailed so far as the
banks are concerned and gradually the right of note issue is being centralized
in the comparatively newly-created Bank of Canada, thus giving the Bank
of Canada complete control of the financial structure. By experience and tradition banks usually confine
their issues of financial credit to about nine times their cash holdings
and deposits with the central bank. The manner in which this is done
has been admirably stated in the Report of the MacMillan Committee
of Great Britain on Finance and Industry in 1931. In sections 74-76
it states,- "75. The process is much the same when we remove the assumption that there is only one bank. The credit granted by one bank may reach the accounts of customers in another bank. There is thus established a claim by the second bank upon the first for cash, and the ability of the second bank to grant loans is improved in so far as that of the first bank is reduced. Over the banking system as a whole, therefore, loans and investments made by the banks increase their deposits. There is, however, a limitation on this process. A bank which is actively creating deposits in this way will naturally find that a considerable part of the cheques drawn against them will be in favour of other banks. It will thus lose part of its cash reserve to those banks and must proceed to limit its loan operations if its normal cash ratio is to be maintained. In practice, therefore, no one bank can afford to pursue a policy of creating deposits by making loans or investments which is much out of line with the policies of other banks. "76. The cash which the banks hold is partly
in the form of bank notes and coin maintained in tills and reserves
to meet current demands by customers and for exigencies, and partly
in the form of a deposit with the Bank of England the bank of the bankers.
The latter credit affords first the means of settling day to day balances
between banks and secondly the means of obtaining any further supplies
of notes or coin that they may need for current use. A further cash
item is represented by balances with other banks and cheques on other
banks in course of collection. These claims on other banks, which are
settled within a day or two, usually amount to about 31/2
per cent of the deposits, varying of course with the amount of business
done by the bank." The following extract from "Cash and Credit"
by D. A. Barker (Cambridge University Press), gives a clear explanation
of the manner in which the financial credit system, not only in Britain,
but in Canada and every other country with an orthodox banking organization,
operates:
"To avoid the complications which would arise
if we had to consider transactions between many different banks, we
will suppose that this represents the consolidated balance sheets of
all the banks at our monetary centre; the items shown here being simply
the totals of similar items in the individual balance sheets. The total
liability of all the banks, then, amounts to £20,000,000 and against
this liability they can show £4,000,000 of actual cash, £2,000,000 invested
in securities, and £14,000,000 lent to customers.
But if he merely accepts a credit in the bank's books the change will be as follows:
"In this latter ease we see that there has been
a change on both sides of the account, and that the items 'deposits
of customers' and 'loans' have both been increased to the extent of
one million pounds. This is, then, the important point, that a loan
by the bank to a customer increases the item 'deposits', and that 'deposits',
therefore, are not made up, as they might seem to be, merely of idle
balances and savings, but also of credits given by the bank. CHAPTER IV. A Faulty Financial System In order to understand the operation of the financial
system it is necessary to have a background in regard to how production
is financed and the manner in which the system of money operates to
distribute the proceeds of economic activity. In the first instance, money originates as loans
from the banks to producers, and is then distributed to the public through
the productive system. Having served its purpose in getting goods to
the consumer, it is collected and returned to the banks in repayment
of their loans. The process is summarized in the Report of the Economic
Crisis Committee of the Southampton (England) Chamber of Commerce,
to which previous reference has been made,- The important feature to be noted in this arrangement
outlined above is that a producer or distributor, whether he is operating
on bank loans or on his own reserve of capital, must recover through
prices at least all the costs which he has incurred, otherwise
he will be unable to repay his loan or replace his working capital.
Once the consumers part with money in exchange for goods, in the aggregate and apart from that portion of price which represents the final sellers profit, this money will cease to be purchasing power. It will go either to repay a bank loan or to replenish depleted capital. In both instances the money is immobilized as purchasing power, and can be reissued as such only in respect of new production coming on to the market. In passing it should be noted also that all money saved is immobolized purchasing power during the period of saving. Owing to the manner in which money is distributed to the community, somewhere in the productive system costs have been carried into prices to an amount of such savings and, therefore, the act of saving leaves these goods coming into the market without purchasing power to liquidate the corresponding costs. The effect of the investment of such savings is realt with later. Modern productive methods involve serial production, that is to say, a product goes through a number of processes. Between the stages all the costs incurred, including wages, etc., go into price as the product moves from one process to the next. The total costs incurred throughout have to be recovered in the final price of the product when it comes to the consumers market. At this point it is necessary to digress for the purpose of considering another aspect of the question. It has been shown that the public becomes indebted to the banks for all money issued to it. In the main this is issued in the form of loans for productive purposes--and the banks charge interest on these loans. It will be obvious that unless the public are given the money to pay this interest beyond the amount distributed by the bank as salaries and dividends, they are in the impossible position of being required to surrender money to the banks which they do not possess. In other words, as all money is issued in the form of loans--in the last resort--and interest has to be paid on these loans, the amount required to be repaid to the banks must always be in excess of that issued. This must result in the public becoming increasingly indebted to the banks. Again, producers do not distribute money beyond the ordinary costs of production. Yet they must recover all these costs and, in addition, a profit as wages for their service to the community. Because of the serial processes in production, in theory, primary producers are reimbursed by those taking over the semi-processed product against which credit loans are made by the banks. But this is not true of the last person in the chain--the final retail distributor. He must try to obtain more money from the public than has been distributed to it--for, in addition to all incomes distributed and forming part of the ultimate cost which determines price, he has to endeavour to collect a profit. However, these obvious flaws which result in the distribution of inadequate purchasing power to enable production to come on the market and all costs to be liquidated in the process, are but insignificant beside a glaring fault in the financial system which, if permitted to continue unchecked, is likely to bring about the collapse of the entire economic structure of civilization. The section which follows is devoted to an examination of this fundamental aspect of our financial system. A SHORTAGE OF PURCHASING POWER Production falls into two groups--capital goods
and goods for ultimate consumption.
Referenee-Re Bank Clearings: "Monetary Times", 1938. Re Bank Deposits: "Canada Year Book", 1937. These figures indicate that after making full
allowance for all the factors involved, the average credit cycle--the
life of a bank-created credit loan--is only a few weeks. Capital production is financed by savings and investment. Even if the various processes of capital goods production are financed by short-term bank loans, they are established on a basis of permanency by the savings of the community being invested in the undertaking. For example, the production of bricks, machinery, and so forth, might be financed by short-term bank loans, the wages, salaries and profits flowing into the "purchasing power pool" of the public. But the erection of the factory is finally effected by the public investing their savings in the undertaking. The result of this is to take back from the financial resources available to the public as purchasing power, all that was distributed to it through wages, etc., in the production of the capital goods involved. and the money goes to repay the short-term bank loans, thus leaving the public with a factory, but no money equivalent to its cost value. The public owns a factory, but there is nowhere in their possession the money or financial credit equivalent to its cost. Presumably the theory is that there need not be as the public have, in effect, purchased a factory and therefore the equivalent amount of purchasing power should be immobilized or cancelled. However, this view is fundamentally false, for having already paid for the factory once (by savings drawn from the community's pool of purchasing power for investment), the public are charged with its cost again in the depreciation and replacement charges included in the price of the ultimate products produced. In short, while the cost of the factory is debited to the community as it wears out, at no time is the community provided with the financial credits for liquidating the debt. And this is true of all capital production. A more accurate conception of the effect of this feature can be obtained by bearing in mind the dynamic nature of economic activity. This can be viewed as a flow--and relating this to the two chief functions of the productive system, we can imagine two streams; the first a stream of goods bearing prices made up of all the costs involved in production, including depreciation on costs in respect of capital assets; and the second is a stream of purchasing power (wages, salaries and profits), which is being continuously depleted by savings going to finance new production higher up the stream. It will be readily seen that the rate of flow of prices attached to goods coming on the market will be greater than the rate of flow of purchasing power to the public. While the foregoing indicates the manner in which a chronic shortage of purchasing power is caused, it does not reveal the extent to which this defect exists. Owing to the complicating factors in considering a dynamic economic structure, the proposition is not easy to grasp, but the matter is of such tremendous importance that it is well worth the close study which it demands. In order to simplify the argument let us consider a period of, say, a year, without reference in the first instance to what has happened in preceding years in regard to the factors involved. During the year the communitywill receive as purchasing power the wages, salaries and profits distributed during the production and distribution at all stages of both capital and ultimate consumers' goods. An amount of purchasing power at least equal to that distributed in the production of capital goods will be absorbed by capital investments, for it is only by the investments of the community, either directly or indirectly, that these capital products will be placed on a basis of permanency, and this is the purpose for which they are produced. Also, purchasing power distributed during all
stages of production and distribution of ultimate consumers' goods constitute
costs which must be recovered through the prices of these goods. However, in considering the matter in regard to a period isolated from a continuous process, allowance must be made for the specific factors involved not necessarily taking place within this selected productive period--but the purchasing power distributed in this period will, unquestionably, be absorbed in respect of the total production for the period, as shown above. We must next observe that the costs of capital production will be carried forward and will enter into the prices of future production of ultimate consumers' goods, but since the entire purchasing power distributed to the community via wages, etc., has been absorbed during any given period, these capital costs can never be met out of purchasing power. Yet, this is not all. Similar costs carried forward from past capital production will enter into the prices of goods produced during the period under review. Morever, these costs will be included in the prices of capital, intermediate and ultimate products. Obviously they cannot be met with the purchasing power distributed. The resulting deficiency of purchasing power must be carried forward as an accumulating debt if the products are to be marketed. In considering this question it is well to bear in mind that money saved and invested, even if redistributed, ceases to be purchasing power in relation to the costs which its original distribution created. It will be redistributed only in respect of new production involving the creation of new costs. However, as all money reaches the community in the form of loans from the banking institutions, the surrender of purchasing power generally results in the cancellation of the money by the repayment of bank loans--and, in the final analysis always does so. An argument which has been advanced against
these contentions is that the inclusion of capital costs in the prices
of ultimate consumers' goods in depreciation and similar charges does
not cause any shortage of purchasing power as concurrently the products
to make good the depreciation are being produced and wages, etc., are
being distributed in the process. However, any doubts about the matter will be removed by approaching it from another angle. As economic progress in our time is accompanied by capital expansion, the accumulation of capital production costs carried forward for liquidation into prices of future ultimate goods increases progressively from year to year. It follows that in order to meet this increasing volume of capital charges appearing in the prices of ultimate goods, the community should have an increasing amount of money from year to year. A more or less fixed quantity of money would provide only for a non-expanding economy. It would be indicative of a condition in which the community's total production and total consumption of capital and ultimate goods are balanced from year to year. However, knowing that our economic structure is expanding and that production from year to year is in excess of consumption for the corresponding period--the accumulating unconsumed capital production being carried forward--if we find the quantity of money available to the community does not reflect this, but has remained more or less stationary, it is proof that the purchasing power available to the community has been insufficient. Reference to bank deposits for, say, the last twenty years, will reveal that they do not show a steady and cumulative increase. In fact they do not even reflect stability. There can be no possibility of doubt, if the evidence is examined dispassionately, that the present financial system produces a chronic and increasing insufficiency of purchasing power. Reference back to the manner in which this defect arises will show that in any period of time the community is, in effect, charged for its total production, leaving it without the monetary capacity to meet the costs of unconsumed production carried forward for liquidation into the price of future production. When it is realized that with the improvement
in processes with industrial progress, the ratio of capital charges
to direct labour costs in the computation of prices is increasing very
rapidly (the former being as much as 100 times the latter in some instances),
there is little wonder that economic chaos as a result of definite purchasing
power is threatening all industrial countries. The chronic and increasing shortage of purchasing
power provides a complete explanation of the economic plight of the
world frequently described as poverty amidst plenty, the accumulation
of huge and mounting debts, schemes of deferred payments for purchases,
and all the major features of the present situation. A DEBT-CREATING SYSTEM To gain an understanding of why it has been possible for the system to operate so long, it is necessary to consider the growth of industrialization. It is since the expansion of industry and the development of power production that capital costs have become such an important factor in the price system. And with industrial progress this characteristic has become of increasing importance, so that the defect in the system has become more and more pronounced. Even in the early days of the industrial revolution
in Great Britain, the inherent defect in the system was very noticeable.
A chronic shortage of purchasing power would be expected to result in
goods being unsaleable on the markets. This would create a tendency
towards capital production at the expense of ultimate goods production,
thereby providing a distribution of purchasing power without this being
immediately carried into prices. The goods were shipped to other countries and instead of receiving payment for them in goods these countries became indebted to her. This process was accelerated as other countries became industrialized and were driven for the same reasons to concentrate on foreign markets. This led to keen competition between nations to export their goods and get other countries into debt to them. It was the only way in which they could keep their economic system going. From time to time the situation became so difficult that a crisis was precipitated. Markets were choked with goods which could not be sold, production slackened, bank loans were curtailed, workers were dismissed, wages and prices fell, accompanied by bankruptcies, suicides and all the familiar features of economic depression until the fall in prices reached a point were exports could again compete with those of other countries. Then production was resumed, wages increased and under the stimulus of buying, prices tended to rise and the situation moved towards a boom, only to be followed later by another depression. Meantime the debt structure continued to increase. Here then is the complete explanation of so-called cyclical depressions and booms. The war of 1914-18 greatly accelerated the process--for nations at war were forced to expand their industries by the exigencies of the situation in which they found themselves--and at the end of the war a very much more industralized world immediately settled down to rapid economic expansion under so called peace conditions, saddled with enormous debts representing costs of production which had been destroyed in fighting each other. No sooner had the war of destruction ended than
the war for foreign markets commenced. Nation began to fight nation
for export markets--not that their people at home did not require the
production, but simply because the goods were unsaleable there. Owing
to the stimulus to industrial development caused by the war, foreign
markets were fewer and competitors for them were more. Also, the productivity
of all countries having increased, the pressure for exports was greater.
Similarly the growing stringency of the home market led to all sorts of devices like tariffs and embargoes to be employed to keep out the exports of other nations. In short, within a few months of the cessation of warfare, the nations of the world were engaged in bitter economic combat--until in 1929-30 there was a spectacular crisis which shook the foundations of the economic structure of most countries and brought foreign trade almost to a standstill. Meantime the crass stupidity of the state of the world became apparent to increasing numbers. Though the world was equipped to produce abundance, poverty and insecurity were the order of the day. It was widely recognized that the inevitable outcome of economic warfare would be armed conflict. After they had tried every conceivable expedient, disillusioned producers and business executives began to recognize that something was radically wrong with the present financial arrangements of the economic system. Debts continued to mount--bankruptcies and suicides increased-taxation rose steeply-international financial arrangements broken down-revolution and internal disruption rent countries--until the situation has developed towards a world catastrophe which threatens to destroy the very structure of our civilization. The following quotation from the exhaustive investigation
of the subject, Profits, by Messrs. Foster and Catchings (Pollak
Foundation for Economic Research) is deserving of close consideration,
as it provides independent evidence of the chronic shortage of consumer
buying power, and the expedients by which the system is being prevented
from total collapse at the present time: HOW WE HAVE FARED AS WELL AS WE HAVE "To many people our argument may seem to prove too much. How, they may ask, has it been possible to make the great material progress which is evident on every hand? In the United States, during the past century, the output has doubled again and again; railroads have spanned the continent; great cities have grown up on barren plains; electric lights, telephones, automobiles, phonographs, motion pictures, radio sets, and thousands of other achievements of science and industry, which were wholly unknown a generation or two ago, are now in widespread use. If it is true that the flow of money to consumers is insufficient to buy the output of industry, how has this great output been disposed of? "To a large extent, let us note at once, by methods which are evils in themselves, necessary evils, it seems, on account of deficient consumer income. Some of the stocks which could not be sold have been allowed to spoil or become obsolete. Others have gone into large, permanent increases in inventories. Still others have been wasted in making additions to industrial equipment far beyond the requirements of the markets. The exact extent of this waste is unknown; but it would certainly be understating the case to say that products to the value of a billion dollars a year are used in creating capital facilities which are never justified by the demand of consumers. "Larger still are the stocks of commodities which are sold at prices which entail business losses; and such losses, as we have seen are extensive. Indeed, the chief means of getting business under way after a depression is selling stocks at prices which not only wipe out all the gains or tens of thousands of men but also set back industry as a whole. This method not only discourages the competent leaders who survive, and not only eliminates the incompetent ones who ought to be eliminated, but also eliminates many of the competent who, in the interests of society, ought to be retained and encouraged. Thus business losses are borne by the community as well as by individuals. "Another evil which has offset part of the deficiency of money incomes is a large, permanent increase in consumer debts. Much of the output which otherwise could not be distributed, consumers have bought through the extensive mortgaging of their future incomes; and in recent years business has felt obliged to resort more and more to this method of making sales. Such a device, however, which at best cannot be extended indefinitely, is itself to a considerable extent an evil. What people need is the means of paying for goods, rather than the means of acquiring goods for which they cannot pay." Again the phenomenal increase in the debt structure, in itself sufficient evidence that the financial system is not self-liquidating and that no tinkering with it will remove the evils which it inflicts upon us, is brought out in the following extract from a speech by C. H. Douglas, delivered in 1935 to the Oslo Merchants' Club before H.M. the King of Norway: "In the 17th century, the world debt--and we
have pretty accurate figures with regard to these matters-increased
47 per cent. "By the end of the 18th century the world debt had increased
by 466 per cent, and by the end of the 19th century the world debt,
public and private, had increased by 12,000 per cent, and, according
to some very exact calculations which have been carried out by a quite
irreproachable professor of industrial engineering of Columbia University,
Professor Rautenstrauch, taking the year 1800 as the origin and taking
one hundred years as the unit, the world debt is now increasing as the
fourth power of time; that is to say, not increasing directly as time
goes on, not as the square of time and not as the cube of time, but
as the fourth power of time; and that is in spite of the numerous repudiations
of debt, the writing down of debts which takes place with every bankruptcy,
and other methods used to write off debts and start again. RULE BY FINANCE Under the rules of so-called "sound finance",
money is issued to the community only in the form of loans from the
banking institutions. The community is in debt to these institutions
for all the money it possesses. The banks have a prior claim on all
money in existence. Now, if money is to perform its function of
facilitating the production and distribution of goods and services as,
when and where required, it is clear that the financial system of the
nation should merely record in figures that which is taking place in
the economic sphere. The financial system should be the barometer of
economic activity. The amount of financial credit released to the community as loans by the banks is limited by their holdings of cash. This, in turn, is limited by the note issue of the Bank of Canada. Therefore, the present arbitrary restriction of the note issue by the Bank of Canada gives that institution complete control over the quantity of money, and therefore, over production and all economic activity. When it is borne in mind that this over-riding
control by the central bank is exercised in conjunction with a debt-creating
system which progressively places everything under the control of finance
because of its prior debt,claims against the community, something of
the enormous and extraordinary control of the highly centralized banking
system can be appreciated. Some very definite views have been expressed by men of affairs in regard to this hidden and over-riding tyranny dominating all government and controlling nations,- HIS HOLINESSPOPE PIUS XI: "Control of financial policy is control of the very life-blood of the entire economic body." PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON: "The great monopoly
in this country is the monopoly of big credits. A great industrial nation
is controlled by its system of credit. The growth of the nation, therefore,
and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who chill and check
and destroy genuine economic freedom." PRESIDENTROOSEVELT: "The practice of unscrupulous
money changers stands indicted in the court of public opinion and rejected
by the hearts and the minds of men. "Jealously have we guarded the right
to coin cash. Carelessly have we delegated the right to create credit
.... MR. G. K. CHESTERTON:
"The main mark of modern government is that we do not know who governs,
de facto any more than de jure. We see the politician and not his backer;
still less the backer of the backer; or (what is most important of all)
the banker of the backer .... MR.W. E. GLADSTONE(the British statesman): "From
the time I took office as Chancellor I began to learn that the State
held, in the face of the Bank and City, an essentially false position
as to finance .... " Is it then any wonder that the obvious destructive characteristics of the present system are not only allowed to persist, but hostile resistance from these financial interests is experienced in any serious attempt which is made to rectify the system? Is it likely that an all-powerful group, dominating all human activity and on the eve of assuming complete control of the world by its manipulation of the financial system, will willingly surrender its power? The system is operating to the sole advantage of these persons, and it is evident that they have no intention of relinquishing their control or power, even though their vicious monetary policy is rapidly bringing chaos to the world, while the cries of a suffering humanity can be heard on every side. DIVIDENDS FOR ALL There remains one important consideration before
proceeding to summarize the defects in the financial system and indicating
the manner in which these can be rectified. This is in regard to the
general question of unemployment and the social implications which arise
therefrom. All economic progress can be traced to the fundamental
policy of human endeavour, that is, the pursuit of security and freedom.
That these improved methods of production, under which human beings are released from toil and by which the productivity of the community is increased, should result in the persons released being rendered destitute through loss of wages is but another fantastic feature of the system. Instead of leisure and the well-being of the entire community being increased by an obvious economic advance, the community is rendered poorer to the extent of the purchasing power withdrawn, and the release from toil rendered possible by the improvement in processes is entirely negatived by the plight of those whose services have been replaced by mechanization and the economic consequences of further restricted markets caused thereby. The next question which arises is one of equity. Why should a person be rendered destitute because economic progress has been made and the productive capacity of industry has been increased without his services being required? To whom does the increased production belong? Again the amount of production per man under modern conditions, whether in the sphere of agriculture or industry, is some thousands of times greater than that which was possible to primitive man. To whom does credit for this rightfully belong? It is evident that modern productive processes have been rendered possible by the application of a store of knowledge which has been passed down from generation to generation something in the nature of a cultural heritage to which a community as a whole are the heirs. Modern productive methods are rendered possible only by the exploitation of this inheritance and to the extent that such exploitation contributes to the achievement of the social objectives of security and freedom, all the community should benefit. Take an exaggerated example. If the trend of
modern productive methods resulted in the complete mechanization of
all production, so that the services of, say, only two per cent of the
population were required, under the present system the 98 per cent would
be rendered destitute, without any right to the abundant production.
The principle is equally applicable whether the percentage is ninety-eight
or eight. PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL REFORM The defects in the financial system which have
been revealed by our examination can be summarized as follows: It is submitted that if these defects are remedied, the change which would result would be fundamental and that a smooth transition from the present social order, dominated by a group of financiers, to economic democracy would be accomplished without any violent shock to the social life of the nation. In contrast to this, it should be evident that the blind perpetuation of a defective and collapsing monetary system as the foundation of the nation's economic life, will inevitably end in social chaos. It is not intended to do more than indicate the basic principles of financial reform necessary to rectify the defects summarized above. Once these principles are recognized and accepted as the basis for reform, no difficulty will arise in regard to their application in a specific manner,- (1) It is fundamental to a democratic social order that the people shall determine the results which they desire from their social organizations. In order to ensure that financial policy shall conform to the will of the people, and that proper supervision of the system shall be established, a credit authority under the effective control of the government should be established for the purpose. The administration of the financial system could be left to the banks, providing this was subject to policy control by the people, through the government and the credit authority. (2) The major defect in the financial system
arises mainly from the manner in which capital goods production is financed,
causing a chronic and increasing shortage of purchasing power. Reference
back to the examination of this feature will show that the community
is obliged to surrender the purchasing power distributed to it in respect
of its total production in any period. (3) The monetary stringency imposed by an arbitrary restriction of the note issue is a denial of the purpose for which the monetary system exists--namely, to facilitate the operation of the economic system to provide goods and services as, when and where they are required. The monetary system should, therefore, merely reflect what is happening in the economic sphere. It should not control economic activity, but rather be controlled by it. (4) Provision for social dividends can be made from the fund of financial credits necessary to make good the general deficiency of purchasing power. Dividends expended in the purchase of ultimate commodities will automatically increase consumption. The price ratio for calculating the compensated price being:
an increase in consumption due to the issue of dividends will automatically result in a smaller discount, thus maintaining accuracy in the general adjustment. (5) Similarly, instead of reducing the purchasing
power of individuals by taxation and proceeding to increase purchasing
power by the above methods--drastic tax reductions can be granted at
the expense of smaller dividends and a smaller price discount. With
this is bound up the question of debt adjustment in a general scheme
to deal with the accumulated results of the defective financial system. In the final chapter specific recommendations are made. CHAPTER V. Democracy and Confederation Any approach to the social and constitutional problems which confront Canada must be dispassionate and directed towards ascertaining the root causes of our troubles if it is to yield a lasting settlement of present difficulties. Too often in the past have efforts to deal with similar problems been rendered abortive by petty political motives and the blind obstinacy of tradition. The issues which face the nation are too important, the responsibilities for the future of the Dominion are too great to permit of any sectional interest in Canada imperilling the heritage of its people. Today there is a wide and growing recognition that the troubles which beset us arise from fundamental causes, and that there must be a change. The preceding chapters provide evidence of the urgency of this change. A scientific approach to our social problems must, in the first instance, establish beyond any reasonable doubt the basic causes of our troubles, for unless these are removed the troubles will persist. Any mere superficial readjustments to deal with the symptoms of our ills, without removing the causes, can achieve nothing but persistence of these troubles. The causes will remain and continue to undermine our social structure. The problems of Alberta, of every other province, and of the Dominion as a whole, are essentially concerned with our social organization. They have to do with the relationships between individuals living in association within organized society. All organization is a science and social organization is no exception. A scientific investigation of the causes which operate in the acute social problems that assail our nation, should, therefore, proceed from an examination of the basic principles of social organization and their application to modern conditions in Canada. BASIS OF SOCIETY The primary consideration in regard to any organization should be its objective--the purpose for which it exists. Individuals enter and remain in association as an organized group, be it as a nation, or merely as an organization for gaining certain knowledge, because they believe that they can achieve that which they want more effectively in association than in isolation. This belief that in association individuals can get what they want, which would otherwise be impossible or more difficult for them to achieve, is inherent in the individuals who make up society, otherwise there would not be any society. It is a basic influence which has developed civilization. A "natural" social order is one which is organized to achieve the purpose of society--namely, to enable the individuals in association to get what they want in the most efficient manner possible. All history goes to show that to the extent individual members of any social group gain satisfaction in what they desire from their association with others, peaceful progress and harmony result; and, conversely, to the extent they are thwarted from gaining what they want from society, social unrest and turmoil threaten disintegration. Where no benefit accrues, or its extent vitally disappoints, individuals seek new associations. The belief inherent in society that its individual members in association can get what they want is the basis of the "credit" of the social group. This belief is the power which motivates every social activity. To the extent individuals realize this belief, the social organization is strengthened, and more efficient organization directed towards further satisfying individual wants is stimulated. On the other hand, any weakening of this belief because individual members of society are not getting what they want from their association with others, tends to destroy the efficiency of the organization and efforts directed towards the realization of individual desires are discouraged, and in the growing dissatisfaction, disintegration of society begins to occur. THE NATURE OF DEMOCRACY Social organization should exist to achieve
the purpose of society--namely, to provide arrangements whereby individuals
in association may get what they want in the most efficient manner for
all. Organization to this end must be governed by the two determining
factors of all organizations-namely Bound up with these considerations are three
main questions: Broadly speaking, there are two forms of organization,
democratic and centralized. The form of organization adopted determines
the point from which control shall operate. Under democratic organization
control is exercised by the individuals collectively comprising the
group and they assert their collective will on the administration. Under
centralized organization the individuals comprising the group submit
to control by the administrators whose will dominates them. To take a concrete example, a number of individuals may desire a bridge to enable them to freely cross a river and, therefore, they enter into association for the purpose of providing themselves with this facility. Now there can be do doubt as to the ability of everyone of them to decide whether or not the bridge shall be built. They are the greatest living authorities on the subject of what results they want. They also take the decision to co-operate in the undertaking; in other words, they freely enter into association with the others to get what they want. However, if each of them had to decide also on how the bridge should be built, the unity of purpose would soon be shattered by arguments on the methods to be employed. Everyone would have different ideas and possibly the one person who had a real knowledge of bridge building would have this view subjected to criticism and amendment by those who knew nothing about the technique, and the results would be disastrous to all. The obvious procedure to adopt in order to attain their objective would be for democracy to provide inducements by which the person who has the necessary knowledge of bridge building would undertake the task, the group holding him personally responsible for the results. Thereafter they would adopt the centralized form of organization, placing themselves under the administrator and taking instructions from him. Should he fail to produce the desired result, however, or should he bungle the work in the process, they should be able to remove him. The foregoing exalnple illustrates the strength and limitations of democratic organization, and the place which the alternative form of centralized organization should occupy in a natural social order--the social order which we know as democracy. The matter can be summarized thus: (2) All questions of adminsitration--that is how it shall be done or what methods shall be employed to gain the democratically decided results--should be determined under centralized organization by administrators who are equipped with the knowledge and who will be held responsible for results. (3) Control over administrators should be exercised democratically to the extent that if they do not produce the results desired they can be removed in favour of those who will. In a democracy every aspect of the social organization employed, and every insitution and other mechanism devised to enable society to fulfil its purpose should conform to these basic principles. CANADA AND DEMOCRACY In applying the foregoing examination of the principles which should govern democratically organized society to the social organization of Canada, we have to bear in mind that basically, Canada is a union of nine separate social groupings, each organized within clearly defined borders which separate each province. Just as the important unit of any social grouping is each individual, so the important unit in our federal union is each province. Just as it is impossible to have a healthy, satisfied and prosperous province unless the individuals which comprise its people are healthy, satisfied and prosperous, so it is impossible to build a progressive and prosperous Canada unless that is the condition of its component parts, the provinces. An examination of Canada's social organizations should, therefore, start with the individual in relation to the social grouping within the province, and proceed to the relationship of these provincial groups to each other in a federal union. The basis of social organization in each province is the inherent belief, that its individual citizens in association can get what they want--a result which would be impossible to them living in isolation. To the extent this belief is realized, the credit of the province is strengthened and its social organization functions vigorously to fulfil its purpose. To the extent the people are thwarted in realizing their wants, this belief is weakened--that is to say the credit of the province is weakened--and the social organization is jeopardized by disintegration. Similarly, the only basis on which a federal union of nine provinces can flourish is an inherent belief that in association with other provinces the individual citizens of each province can get what they want more effectively than if provinces operated in isolation. To the extent that this is realized, the credit of every province will be enhanced, and vigorous and harmonious co-operation ensured. Conversely, to the extent that this belief is weakened as a result of confederation, to that same extent will the credit of every province be impoverished and disintegration threaten the union. Thus it will be observed that the basis of the credit of the Dominion is the credit of each province. DOMINION-PROVINCIAL RELATIONS To ensure that the credit of each province and of the Dominion as a whole is enriched, and the resulting social power is applied to enable the various organizations which exist to fulfil the purpose of all social organization, the basic principles of democratic society must be observed. All policy--that is the results desired--must be decided democratically. Administration of this policy must be centrally controlled. In applying this to Dominion-Provincial relations in our federal union from the scientific aspect of "that is right which works best" we must first consider the matter as it affects each social grouping or province. Clearly, the people of each province must be sovereign in regard to policy as it affects them individually and collectively within their provincial borders. If this is not conceded then the basis of confederation is destroyed. However, when it comes to the question of administration of this democratically decided policy within each province, other considerations arise. The primary objective of confederation is that by close co-operation with other provinces, each province will gain what its people desire more efficiently than could be achieved otherwise. For example, in railway transport a more efficient service can be gained by every province through centralized Dominion administration of railways (provided it gives the people of each province the service they want), than nine separate provincial administrations could hope to achieve. Therefore, while it is clearly essential to a democratic Canada, that all questions of policy, i.e., the results desired should be democratically decided by the people of each province, so far as it concerns them individually and collectively, questions of administration or methods will fall under the jurisdiction of either the provincial authority or the Dominion authority established to implement democratic policies. In matters which are entirely provincial and which do not affect any other province, adminstration will be provincially controlled. However, in matters which are common to all provinces and in the administration of which Dominion-wide organization will yield greater efficiency, centralized Dominion administration should be employed to implement the policy--that is, to provide the result which has been decided by the people of each province. In the natural social order which we term democracy every organization, every institution and every social mechanism should exist to serve the individual. The sole purpose of government should be to implement the collective will of democracy in regard to the results it wants and to see that it is provided with mechanisms and organizations which will enable individuals to get what they want with the greatest degree of efficiency from their social environment. Thus, while it is a truism that the function of governments is to govern, that government is best which needs to govern least, for the more efficient the social organizations at the disposal of democracy the easier and more automatic will it be for individuals to get what they want in their association within society, without the intervention of governmental authority. The principles which should determine Provincial-Dominion relations can, therefore, be summarized thus: (a) All policy (i.e., results desired) should be decided democratically by the people of each province so far as it affects their lives within the province. (b) Policy should be decided democratically by the people of the entire Dominion when it concerns matters affecting the relationships of the Dominion with other parts of the world. (c) Jurisdiction over the administration of
democratically decided policy should be distributed as between provincial
governments and Dominon governments as follows: (d) Dominion jurisdiction over administration of matters affecting the relations of the union of the provinces as a whole with other parts of the world. BRITISH NORTH AMERICA ACT While the subject of social organization was not so thoroughly understood sixty years ago as it is today, the Fathers of Confederation in providing the basis for the association of provinces in the union which is Canada, showed great wisdom in the division of powers as between provincial and Dominion governments which were subsequently embodied in the B.N.A. Act. Broadly, and apart from the mistakes which have become apparent, Sections 91 and 92 of the B.N.A. Act conform to the principles which should govern Provincial-Dominion relations in a democratic Canada. Many of the difficulties which have arisen in this connection are due, very largely, to the interpretation which has been given to these sections of the Act, without due consideration to the fundamental rules which should have been observed in interpreting them. For example, provincial jurisdiction over civil and property rights under Section 91 recognizes the basic principle of democratic social organization that sovereign control of policy must belong to THE PEOPLE. The primary civil right of a democracy is its right to decide policy--that is to decide what results shall be provided by the social organizations which exist to serve its individual members. Similarly, if the principles of democratic social organization which emerge from the foregoing examination of the subject are borne in mind, no serious conflict need arise in the interpretation and application of the B.N.A. Act in its broad provisions as a basis of confederation. To the extent it contravenes the principles of democracy, no serious difficulty would arise in gaining general agreement as between all provinces for its amendment. Steps towards an early settlement of these difficulties would be rendered easier by a conference of all provinces without delay in order to clear up the constitutional muddle which exisits in the Dominion. CHAPTER VI. Recommendations for Social and Economic Reconstruction General: This requires that policy (in particular policy in the economic sphere), shall be decided by the people of the provinces concerned, except in regard to matters affecting the relations of the Dominion with other countries, in which case it should be decided by the people of all provinces collectively. At the present time the policy, i.e., the results required by the people of Alberta and of every other province, could be stated in general terms as a maximum of personal security and personal freedom. The policy being imposed on the people everywhere is the opposite to that which they desire and could be stated in general terms as insecurity and progressive loss of freedom through unnecessary poverty, debt and taxation. Control is centred in the banking system, by the operation of which a small group of alien financiers are able to impose their domination over the entire nation. In August, 1937, the Government of Alberta in
obedience to the demand of the people of the Province, passed legislation
designed to provide for effective control of policy in accordance with
the declared will of the electorate, without interfering with the administrative
function of the banks or the jurisdiction of the Dominion Government
in regard to administrative matters coming under Section 91 of The B.N.A.
Act, and without interfering with the primary civil right of policy
control in any other province. To the amazement of the people of Alberta, and, no doubt, to the equal amazement of people all over the Dominion, the Dominion Cabinet, without consulting the people of Alberta or the people of Canada as a whole, and without consulting even the representatives of the people of Canada, simply disallowed the legislation. This was the first concrete evidence which the Government of Alberta had that democracy in Canada was being denied. The subsequent treatment which the Province received
confirmed this view and has convinced the Government that only vigorous
and early action by the people of all provinces working together will
safeguard their rights from the attack which is being made on them.
It is further submitted that Canada will render the greatest service possible to humanity if, as the Government of Alberta contends, it will lead a povertystricken, debt-burdened, war-sickened world out of the toils of the financial tyranny which is threatening civilization. * * * (1) Policy Control: It is submitted that provincial Governments should
take early action to establish the sovereignty of their people within
the boundaries of their own province to control policy--i.e., to obtain
the results they desire--in respect of all economic and political arrangements
within their provinces, provided that the same right of the people of
any other province is not thereby subjected to interference. (2) Having established the statutory and constitutional
right of the people to control policy, the electorate in each province
should be given an opportunity, by practical means, to express in their
order of preference the definite results they want from the administration
of the affairs of their province, and the various institutions should
be instructed to implement this policy without delay. (3) Financial Adjustments: (4) Taxation: (5) Debts: (6) Confederation: It is the considered view of the Government
of Alberta that unless concerted action by all provinces is taken substantially
along the lines indicated above, the economic structure of the Dominion
and the fabric of Confederation will be imperilled. History shows that it is a human characteristic to resist change--even to the extent of adhering to the folly of a disastrous course of action. The universal preparation for a war which might plunge the world into a Dark Age from which it will emerge with difficulty, is evidence of this characteristic. From the world situation and the glaring anomalies in our economic system, it must be obvious to every thinking person that the present economic system has broken down. There is unquestionably a wide recognition that there must be a change--and a fundamental change. But a change to what? So-called communism, socialism, liberalism, conservatism, new deals, inflation, deflation, reflation, nazi-ism, fascism, dictatorship--all these have been tried, but the plight of the world continues to get worse as each day carries humanity towards the overwhelming disaster that must inevitably overtake a civilization based on a fundamentally unsound economic system. Democracy--the term by which we know the natural social order, in which the will of the people is supreme in all matters of policy--Democracy which means government in accordance with the results which the people want--Democracy in its true sense alone has not been tried. Fear of the unknown is still a deeply rooted
human characteristic and it may cause hesitancy on the part of provinces
to take the firm action which the gravity of the situation demands.
The Government of Alberta, on behalf of the Province, therefore unreservedly
offers to test the soundness of the economic proposals submitted in
this chapter. Alberta will undertake to put them into effect in the
Province without interfering with any other province in the Dominion.
With the co-operation of all provinces--to ensure non-interference with
Alberta--to demonstrate whether basically the proposals advocated are
sound and all which they are claimed to be. APPENDIX I. Various Statistical Tables TABLE 1.
TABLE 1. (Continued)
References-Page 839, C.Y.B., 1937
NOTE: Compiled by Dominion Bureau of
Statistics for years 1914-1929, and estimated by A. E. Ames & Co. for
1937 and 1938. Figures refer to outstanding obligations at the end of
the respective fiscal years. When obligations are guaranteed by both
the Provinces and the Dominion, the amount is included in the guaranteed
obligations of the Dominion. APPENDIX II. The Credit of Alberta Regulation Act 1937 (SECOND SESSION) CHAPTER 1. An Act to provide for the Regulation of the
Credit of the Province of Alberta. Repealed. [1937 (Third Session), Bill No.8., Sec. 9.] Preamble Short Title DEFINITIONS Definitions "Banker" "Business of Banking"
"Local Directorate" "Provincial Credit Commission" "Social Credit Board" "Licensing of Bankers" "Licensing of Banker's Employees" "Expiration of Licenses" "Undertaking by applicants for
licenses" "Supervision, revocation and cancellation
of licenses" "Appeal to Social Credit Board" "License fees" "in case of renewal of a suspended,
revoked or cancelled license" "Appointments and functions of
local Directorates" "Constitution thereof" "Dismissal by Board of its appointees" "Duration of office of members
of Local Directorate" "Vacancy in Local Directorate" "Remuneration of Members of Local
Directorate" "Carrying on buisness of banking
by unlicensed banker an offence" "Carrying on buisness of banking
or any function of banking by unlicensed employee an offence" "Incapacity of unlicensed banker
to commence or maintain actions" "Cessation of section by Order
in Council" "Prevelence of Act" "Construction of Act" "Regulation by Order in Council" "Coming into force of Act" INDEX
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