September, the Cement Company stated that the price of cement had already been reduced and that they "were working upon the idea of increasing consumption by lowering prices rather than by curtailing production and obtaining higher prices." The figures already quoted from the Montreal Herald were described as official and accurate and on Nov. 1st a reduction was put into operation all over Canada averaging, it was said, 7 per cent. Speaking in Winnipeg on Dec. 7th Mr. F. P. Jones stated that the higher prices in that place were due to local causes and freight rates. An echo of Sir Sandford Fleming's charge was heard on Dec. 22nd when the Bank of Montreal took an action in the Courts against that gentleman and his associates in the Exshaw Company for $85,000.

Meanwhile, and with distinct bearings upon some phases of this situation, the Combines Investigation Act of 1910 was being tested and one important case brought before the Courts. It was that of the United Shoe Machinery Co. of Canada with headquarters at Quebec and said to be a corporation organized under the laws of New Jersey and managed from Boston, Mass., with combine or restrictive contracts employed in Canada. Four boot and shoe manufacturing concerns in Quebec were specified, and one in Lévis, as included. An application had been made to Mr. Justice L. J. Cannon in Quebec on Nov. 10, 1910, and an order issued on Feb. 25, 1911, directing the establishment of a Board of Investigation. The Judge in his statement said: "I am satisfied that there is reasonable ground for believing that a Combine exists with regard to the manufacture and sale of machinery for manufacturing boots and shoes, which has operated to the detriment of consumers and producers. The said Combine affects prices as follows:

It compels all manufacturers of boots and shoes having contracts with the Company or requiring any one of their machines to obtain all their machinery from it, also to buy from the Company certain supplies used in the manufacture of boots and shoes. It prevents them from buying machinery that would do the same or better work from other manufacturers or dealers and in a like manner restricts their purchase of supplies. It thus places them at the mercy of the Company as regards prices for machinery and supplies, increases the cost of their machinery and supplies, and this increases the cost of the manufactured article-boots and shoes. By thus increasing the cost of manufacture, the price to the consumer is thereby increased on all the principal lines of boots and shoes. The said Combine also restricts competition in machinery used in the manufacture of boots and shoes, as it destroys the market for all other manufacturers of and dealers in such machinery, who are unable to make sales to boot and shoe manufacturers. It prevents the establishment of Canadian industry in the making of such machinery and keeps the whole of such business in the hands of the Company, and it stifles all incentive to invention or improvement in machines.

On Mch. 23rd the Company filed a petition in the Superior Court of Montreal for the prohibition of this Board of Investiga

tion (Hon. C. Laurendeau, W. J. White, K.C., and J. C. Walsh) on the ground of lack of jurisdiction and illegality. A. Geoffrion, K.C., on behalf of the Dominion Government opposed this contention and, on Apl. 1, Mr. Justice A. A. Bruneau gave judgment in favour of the Petition. In July the Judicial Committee in London dismissed the application of the United Shoe Co. which had, meanwhile, been made for the right to appeal against Mr. Justice Cannon's judgment directing an investigation. A further extension of Judge Bruneau's prohibition lapsed on Sept. 15 and the Inquiry then proceeded and continued up to the close of the

year.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of 1911, the Union Bank of Canada, with its paid-up capital of $3,315,000, absorbed the United Empire Bank, established by George P. Reid in 1906, with a paid-up capital of $559,523, total liabilities of $3,321,571, and total assets of $3,881,095. The year closed with a still more important consolidation and one which preceded some remarkable developments along the same line in 1912. The Canadian Bank of Commerce by an agreement with the Eastern Townships Bank which was ratified by the Shareholders of both institutions joined their forces in December. The former Bank had been organized in 1859 with headquarters at Sherbrooke, Que., and a local mission which, as the years passed, had developed into a national position with branches all over Canada. William Farwell had been General Manager for 41 years and President since 1902. This arrangement put the Commerce away in the lead as the second largest Bank in Canada, gave it a total of 330 branches and established it strongly in the Province of Quebec where it had been weakest. The Eastern Townships brought with it, also, $3,000,000 of paid-up capital, $2,400,000 of Reserve Fund, $3,100,000 of Circulation, $19,500,000 of Deposits and Current Loans of $19,385,000. The total Assets of the two institutions were $210,861,000 and the Deposits $165,475,000.

There was, of course, public criticism of this amalgamation and in the West fears were expressed of a coming Banking monopoly. The Winnipeg Telegram of Dec. 23rd put the matter this way: "It would be absurd to reflect on a Banking amalgamation as if it were a designed conspiracy to bring such a state of affairs about. Everybody knows the high character of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and of the Eastern Townships Bank, and the standing as citizens of their leading spirits. But they are servants of a process which they do not and cannot control, whose operation contains elements of danger to the country." As to industrial Mergers the Montreal Chronicle sounded a note of alarm (May 12) while much was said in the Elections by the Liberals as to Trusts in Canada and by the Conservatives as to still greater Trusts in the United States. The New York Journal of Commerce early in the year declared that combinations in the

United States were slowly losing ground while the New York Financial Post in July described Canada as going through a process of which the Republic had a violent attack in 1899-1902 and which had not been cured by the 46 industrial mergers which had failed or required desperate measures of preservation in 1903-4.

Public Incidents of the Year-Legal.

Jan. 5. Mr. Justice Bruneau, Montreal, in a case involving the attendance of Arthur Lortie, M.P., lays down the British principle that no member of Parliament can be compelled to attend Court while Parliament is sitting.

Apl. 10.-The Montreal Star expresses itself editorially in favour of limiting the right of appeal to the Imperial Judicial Committee. June 13.-Lord Macnaghtan delivers a judgment of the Judicial Committee in London which declares that the ownership of land on the banks of a navigable stream does not include exclusive fishing rights.

June 16.-C. D. Sheldon, the financial "fakir" who obtained large sums of Montreal money on a promise of 40 and 50 per cent. a month, is sentenced by Mr. Justice Langelier to five years in the Penitentiary. Oct. 29.-On a verdict of manslaughter in the case of Farquhar McRae charged with killing William Shaw on July 1st Mr. Justice Sutherland condemns him to the Penitentiary for life. In view of the extraordinary character of the case much surprise is expressed at the severity of the sentence.

Nov. 21. Mr. Justice Riddell, in Toronto, sentences Edward Wilkie to 10 years in the Penitentiary for beating his wife to death when intoxicated. Nov. 29. Mr. Justice Riddell, in Toronto, sentences Roy Brintnell to 7 months in the common gaol for speeding in a motor which killed Mrs. E. Salter. The maximum punishment was 2 years. Dec. 6. Chief Justice E. L. Wetmore of the Saskatchewan Supreme Court severely condemns a Jury at Moose Jaw for acquitting a prisoner charged with attempted burglary and whose guilt seemed clear. He points out that of 10 criminal cases before the Court only 3 had resulted in conviction.

Dec. 22. In a written judgment upon an appeal case by a man named Zuber before the Divisional Court at Toronto Mr. Justice W. R. Riddell says: "This case discloses the most disgusting mass of perjury it has been my ill-fortune to meet in 30 years' experience. The fountains of justice are too often polluted with falsehood and a lesson should be taught offenders that they cannot perjure themselves with impunity in an affidavit." Dec. 28.-The Ontario Bar Association discuss the question of a Divorce Court, and approve the principle but can come to no uniform conclusion as to the grounds upon which Divorce should be granted.

Dec. 29.-The suit of the Indians of Two Mountains involving records dating back to 1717 and the ownership of the Seigneury of that name held by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, Montreal, is dismissed by Mr. Justice Carroll of the Court of King's Bench. Dec. 31.-During the year A. J. Brown, K.c., is elected Batonnier of the Bar of Montreal, J. A. M. Aikins, K.C., President of the Manitoba Bar Association, and W. C. Mikel, K.C., of Belleville, President of the Ontario Bar Association.

Dec. 31.-The following appointments are made to the Bench of Canada or the Provinces during 1911:

Judicial District.. Manitoba

Judge, County Court,

......Frederick Stone.

...George Paterson.

Kings and Albert.. N. Brunswick. Wilfrid Burwell Jonah.

Puisne Judge of the

Superior Court .Quebec.

Master of the Rolls

.......

.John Malcolm McDougall, K.C.

in Chancery... .P. E. Island... Hon. Francis Longworth Has

zard, K.C.

Public Incidents of the Year-Sociological.

Jan. 10.-The Moral and Social Reform Council of New Brunswick pass Resolutions asking for inspection of liquor sold in licensed places, for the Provincial regulation of moving picture shows and the censoring of films, for an amendment to the Criminal Code prohibiting the exhibition of an unlawful act in a moving picture.

Feb. 22. In the Senate Hon. J. N. Kirchoffer states the total number of Canadian Divorces granted since 1868 at 160 with 145 others granted in the Provincial Courts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia.

Mar. 31. For the fiscal year 1910-11 there was Excise duty in Canada upon 585,935,000 cigarettes-of which only 2,138,000 were of an expensive kind-as compared with 356,756,000 in the year 1908-9.

Mar. 31. For the fiscal year ending at this date the average population of the Penitentiaries of Canada was 1,834 with 334 released under the Parole system and 10 per cent. composed of lads under 20 years of age; 1,004 were born in Canada, 229 in the United States, 297 in Great Britain, and the rest scattering. July 8.-The Toronto Globe editorially asks if bravery is becoming uncommon and answers the question as follows: "Several London men, the victims of either cowardice or too much liquor, perhaps of both, stood by a few days ago while two boys were drowned in a pond. When the wharf at the King Edward Park, near Montreal, collapsed men in the crowd thrown into the water scrambled to safety leaving women beneath them in the water. In certain recent drowning accidents in the vicinity of Toronto it has not been established that every effort was made by the men who were rescued to save their women companions who were drowned. But the most significant of recent signs of the times is the story of the collapse of the pier at Queen's Park, Aylmer, Quebec, on Thursday night. There, fifty per

sons were thrown into the water, and the bulk of the people were rescued by three men while many others stood around."

Sept. 14.-The New Westminster Branch of the Bank of Montreal is broken into by burglars and robbed of $200,000; no trace is found of the men.

Sept. 26.-The Moral and Social Reform Council of Toronto pass Resolutions demanding Legislation against race-track betting; the complete suppression of immoral resorts and the refusal of bail in cases of social crime; power to search for obscene literature to be given constables and the possession of such obscene literature to be a crime; the amelioration of conditions in lodging houses of low standard.

Oct. 23.-At the Dominion W.C.T.U. Conference held in Sherbrooke, Que., Mrs. A. A. Gordon states that 1,500 young girls disappeared from sight and knowledge in Canada during the past year as victims of the White Slave traffic-with Chicago as a central point.

Nov. 4. The Toronto Monetary Times states that in 4 years 8,718 persons have been killed in Canada by accident and 27,992 injured -of the former 2,049 were killed by steam railways and 7,344 injured; 301 killed by Electric Railways and 8,296 injured; 5,296 killed in industrial accidents and 10,444 injured; 1,072 killed in Fires and 1,908 injured.

Nov. 29. In the Senate Sir Richard Scott states that according to the Cenus returns of 81,000 persons born in Canada, in one year, 21,828 died before they had lived a year.

Dec. 10.-In Toronto the Rev. Father Vaughan denounces Race suicide. "If it continues to increase for the next 25 years as it has for the past quarter century the deaths will outnumber the births, and nations will choke themselves to death. It is a pest that is beginning to lift its head and do bad work in Ontario. It is a question of phenomenal importance, not only to the moralist but even to the sanitarian. It is an outrage upon the laws of nature, and her laws may not be outraged with impunity."

Dec. 29.-At a meeting of Y.M.C.A. delegates from all over Canada it is decided to establish the Canadian system of Associations as a national one independent of United States affiliations and New York control.

Dec. 31.-During the year the Young Men's Christian Associations of Canada make remarkable progress. The property held in Ontario and Quebec was estimated at $2,500,000; in the West there were said to be 15 Associations with 10,000 members; at New Westminster, B.C., a new building costing $47,000 was erected; at Lethbridge, Alta., and Cranbrook, B.C., new buildings were opened; at Saskatoon $110,000 was raised for a new building and $26,000 for a Y.W.C.A. with subscriptions of $5,000 each from J. F. Cairns, T. A. Blain, Mr. and Mrs. F. Engen, A. R. Fletcher, C. A. Gillespie, Hon. A. P. McNab and W. C. Sutherland, M.L.A.; at Brantford $117,000 was subscribed for a similar purpose in three days-to which the Massey-Harris firm and members contributed $24,000 and the Cockshutt family $22,500; at Guelph $67,000 was raised in six days for a new building with $5,000 subscriptions from W. E. Buckingham, J. W. Lyon, Miss Forbes, W. E. Cutler and Lord Strathcona; at Galt $50,000 was obtained-J. W. Woods, A. R. Goldie and Lord Strathcona each contributing $5,000; at Halifax $150,000 was asked and there were 23 contributors to a new local building at $1,000 each with $10,000 from Lord Strath