20, NO. 4
prince George Bettered Financial Position Slightly During the Year
Deilakhi Redemption'.^f^aking^jhe^t surplus earned
THURSDAY, JANTTARY 28, 1937
Five Cent-
Alberta s of Bonds Complicated the
Local Situation BONDED "DEBT #59,603
,� L,* Power and Waterworks �/fiCe administration of'$320 brought Light craUng charges to $5,402 and the
Produced Oood surpluses net operating profit to $9 234. Prom
n .rincr the Year lh>- f'eure debenture interest of $1,810
During tne x e�u sinking fund charges of $1,558 were
r PYaseoj cdty treasurer, has taken, leaving the earned surplus for
lor the year $6,06.11.
Waterworks revenues for the year were $17,215. which less discounts became $14,620, and with the addition of 517 for connection fees, brought cut a net revenue of $14,637. The operafng charges were .shown at S5.081. and with
,�
'prepared his
statement of the city's nmnal operations for the year 1936, ;U -n to the municipal audi-
^identally has furnished l;'^p ' cT the same to the mayor and
There is a wealth these statements
of in- if one
to extract it, but the one [ which has come on capital account the
me the city
u'l
li.u-.rmen. ic.-nation h
Sliest to understand, and which holds men lest interest for members of council, is that of "Cash Re-tuid Expenditures." This, as its
�le implies; deals with revenues received during the year, as distinct tn revenues earned, with money ac-tuallv paid into the municipal treas-,',-v ' Like all statements of the kind � �balances to the cent, showing $118,-n-> .as having been received and the lame amount as having been paid out. Of the money received $73,304 is shown - , having been received,from current revenue .sources, and $45,668 from non--I'vcnue soures. Of the former, under the head of land tax collections the "ini of $30,641 is disclosed. Provincial '.�ovemment grants account for $22,636. made up of motor traffic $2,718 school ippchers1 salaries $7,864, and relief $12,-053! The light and power service is credited with a surplus of $5,721. the waterworks service with a. surplus of $5 294 trade licences are credited with SiO3(l' and police court fines $667. Pees i�nd special taxes are credited with $2 822 and miscellaneous with $1,484. V The chief of other cash receipts are accounts receivable at $18,088, bank loan Si0.000 and $16,263 under the head cf tax arrears, which with smaller [terns make up the- total revenue from non-revenue sources of $45,668.
0:: the face -of this statement the city improved its financial position by more than $3000 as the bank Joan; of $10,000 replaces a former loan of $13,000, and provision was made out of current revenue for a cash expenditure of $1,382.91 on account of weigh icales. The city would have made an tvtn more favorable showing but for the default on the part of the province of Alberta in the redemption of $24000 in Alberta bonds carried by the city
a sinking fund Investment. Incidentally the default of Alberta on its bond obligation forced the city to do
ie high- financing. The Alberta Donds had been favored by the city as a slnkn'j; fund investment by reason of the fact they carried interest at 6 per cent, and .matured at a time when their proceeds co-uld be used for the itu'rement cf maturing Prince George times, When the Aibena bonds m.i-..Uircd redemption of the same .was de-ff.'uHed. md the financing program of ine Gity : f Prince George was dislo-f;?'ed. The trouble was adjusted by trfecting a loan from the bank, supple-nentcbd with the use of func'-; whirl> �1"<1 accumulated in the mun'cipal finking fund account. The Alberta bonds arc being enrried in the sinking fund investment account at the'r lac? vrtivie. nlthough the interest rate tin t-'em !\ns been cut by 2:v, <; , and the $y is cut the difference between thf reduced interest paid on the bonds and '> cc.st of the lo.in f:-cm the bank. In-?iflentalty the bone1.-; are no longer lvc'-h their fa.?e value on the market. a!)d :t is difficult to .cay what the city vil. br> able to realize en them. If the nty wore forced to throw the Alberta ^nds upon the market, at the present !mp it would'admittedly take a heavy �'� but as it has been decided to carry ': t 's impossible to say just what mate less will b?. ;>' oplc are interested in know-
, vlvu the bonded indobtodnrss
ineir city J5. A-> at Dr-cember 31. ^ it was shown at $120,000. This
�'" (I bonds in the 'sum of �-i000 provincial government on ac-
the year at $5,866. While this is very satisfactory the showing for the water service is not as good as appears at first sight since for a number of years the service .showed a deficit on operation wh-'ch was met out of current revenues, but with the redemption
Local Scots Pay JPrince GeorgWBoard of Trade Held
Honor to Memory of Robert Burns
Annual Meeting Wednesday Night
President S. J. Watson is Very George, with -<
James Travis Proposed the Toast
to the Immortal Memory in j TIMBER an Able Manner
Optimistic in Outlook in His Annual Address
AN ENJOYABLE EVENING
Dinner Followed by Concert and Exhibition of Scottish Dances in Costume
a result with which you were all familiar. Faced with adverse weather, with wa.shed-out roads which kepL hundreds away,'the. board never.-� thelftv, put on an excellent show and fAAn C?n2e thl'0;i�'i with a surplus of almost ^^1 5?00.00. This sum. howeevr, represents
i. o^j it j M . c , , ! l�e amount contributed'by .the mer-Coard Mad JNeat, Surplus from chants and public-spirited citizens to
the Dominion Day Celebran a r��lp.Viv�i tim-i can tx
in operation will soon wipe these deficits out.
The redemption of the $19,000 debentures maturing on January 3rd was effected through an additional loan of $6000 from the city bankers. Of the total issue the city was carrying $9,500 of the debentures as a s'nking fund investment, and with $3,500 in the mu-nic'pal sinking fund, the loan of $6000 from the bank provided sufficient for redemption. It had beer contemplated to effect redemption of these debentures with the $9000 worth of Alberta bonds carried as a sinking fund investment, but when default was marie by the prov'nee of Alberta the city , had to make a shift to secure redemp- j tion of the Prince George bonds. j
The city has no further maturities to take care of until November 1st 1939, when the advance of $2000 made by the provincial government on account? of rel:ef has to be taken care of. and in 1940 there is a like advance or account of relief and sidewalks debentures of $12,000 to be provided for.
While sinkinsr fund requirements in connection with the debenture d?bt �'�orp met. during the year 193fi. the fund at the end of the year was shown fo be short $6 052. but as the sinking fund investments earned a .surplus of SI 507 over the amortized fierure the net -shortage in the sinking fund account was reduced to $4,545.
The present net cost of unemployment relief to the city is figured at $4,488.82.
The statement will probably be dis-aisscd at the next meeting of trre city council.
-------------o-------------
The members of the local St. Andrews and Caledonian Society and Heir friends to the number of 250 gathered in the Commodore Hall on Monday in observance of the 178th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns.
tion Despite Bad Weather
President S. J. Wauson submitted hLs annual report at the meeting of the tnnce George board of trade which followed a dinner at 7 o'clock in the Prince George hotel Wednesday evening. On the whole the report took an optimistic vein. The president said he had been fortunate in that during his occupancy of the office of president the board had closed the year with a
Ohio Flood Now Threatens All Cities in Valley
Estimated 500,000 Families are Driven from the Homes in the Low-Lying Lands
LIGHT AND POWER OrF
"J? Ju
ven
uirof unemployment rel;ef disbuf.se-^�- Since this date, however, the uorfrt rotilT(l $19000 in water and rdn h"ht c]cbpr>ture^ which matur-^jWar.uary 3rd .so that the bonded
*if!ift es^ cf t'1c c>ty vvadi"cd ( -ui noo. Auainst this there is $53.-rount sinkimr fund investment ac-'� "lfl--Kin $59,603 a.s nt "T""nt. date.
v2 � m"niclmi lit'lities. light md le ^n^\ waterworks, made n credit-
� tv>� ,'.''.n2' ^nr ^n^ yrnr. Revenue
'inn
to Issue for Boiling of All Drinking Water
nf the r'-^dit of
Discounts fi-om oavrnpnt nmounttH to ^63 nd^e-d for ronntH1-the not l-pyenu" of the ser-
not
Fr^m
of
of ^
of
iKing
n $1
charg-es of
$2 800 were
\V;i� hinptrn, Jan. 27�Tin- dani-rgc cceii1 ioned by the flood of trie Ohir and Mississippi rivers is now cif'mated at S4,00(),00i),000. One r�-illinn perp!r have born rendered homeless for the present, and thcu-ymd<-- of pT on<; h|vo died throujrh drowniiiifr cr illness rcsullinp from exposure. The irrentrst number rf deaths are s'id to have been due tn �xprsure. Tl^c waters cf the Ohir> liver i^iiehed tliev peri's today nt Cincinnati ."nd Loufsrville and with erldrr we-ather predicted it fa bf-Tf-v-i t**ev will be/rin to subside. In the fear that the levers along the Missis-ippi frcm Ca^ro to New Or-Tern- wouH prove unequal to h* H-ineen the most ^f.7r.>trriiq in 'he history of the t'rifeil Stattt?.
Cincinnati. Jan. io�This city, and i the entire region alone the Ohio nver nS far sni'lth as Cairn. :s facing the Treated iloii.l disoMer in :ts history: 71ir Qhio -M "sRverjl prim- has reached an all-ti'mo Ki'h "ho 'vaters arn still rifihg ond no hope .s hold out for an early ribnte-vMT. W thin this area f-t f/n^ti1s" nnye beoii rjocrted and th? flood sweeping over tha ww Unds has rendered 500 000 families liomelca^ for the time.' To r.-id to the horrors i>t the iit;'.nt-on there have corne reports (Continued on Page Six)
The evening opened with an excellent > substantial surplus, and in that 1936 dinner served by the ladies of the ! had been the first year in which any
! real improvement had been noted in I business conditions since 1930. ! During the year there had been an | Increase of ten per cent in the volume j of the lumber business, the chief in-I dustry of the district. Wh!le substan-i tial the increase was less than had j been hoped for at the beginning of the i year, but it was worthy of note most j of the improvement came in the latter ; part of the year, and the increased | volume ;s being carried into the pre-' sent year. Part of the gain in' the ; volume of lumber shipments had re-. .suited from the longshoremen's strike 1 r,n the Pacific coast, which prevented ; U. S. mills from moving -shipments by '� water to the Atlant'c co.ist, but the ! greater part of the.improvement is be-| lieved to be due to the-world-wide in-i crease in commodity prices and the de-| mand for primary products. The p:e-j.sent outlook for* 1937 is for the best i year in the district's lumber business j since 1930. with employment offerine for every competent logger and sawmill man.
This general rise in commodity prices will help the fanners, although to date l'vestock prices have not advanced sufficiently to give them adequate returns. The prices for hay and grain have advanced substantially, and while the clover seed output suffered from kT-ing during the winter of 1935-36 thr price realized for the crop offerine wac good, and clover seed production i' I destined to become a very profitable ; crop for thn farmers of the distr'ct.
during the year the ncricultural I committee, of the board had Investitrat-� rd the complaint from farmers' insri-I tute.s in the matter of prices paid bv merchants for live ��took, in the mntter of weights and in the matter nf )�nport'>tion.s of AlbPrta meat.s bv the 'umbor Industry to the detriment or Ircal producers. In so far as weights nre roncerned the installation of new "�.lies by the city of Prince George doubtless had furnished the solution. In the matter of tlie securine of the district market by local producers of meats, the fhiding of tho committee had been that thi-s problem could best br- pplved by the,securing cf a small abattoir and cooiin? plant in Prince r.f-�'.�'.� o. through the oneration of which local producers could maintain a continuous supply for local butchers and sawmill operators. The board, by the way is continuing its efforts to recure the abattoir and cooling plant. Mining activity in the district south ->f the citv and in thr> Omlneca was "ustniried throughout the year. It had nut the town of Vanderhoof barV: on he map. and put thousands of dol-'ars :n circulation in Prince George n the purcha�3e of sunuli'es and the 'ecurin-g of services. The Barkerville Envelopment al�o contributed largely to
strated a celebration through at little or no cost to the community and to considerable benefit to Prince George bus'ness. Out of the money realized in the celebration $350 was spent on a pamphlet descript've of the district, and on advertis'ng during the Jubilee celebration in Vancouver
There is on hand $450.00 as a backlog for the next year's celebration should the board decide to carry on the show. Should th's decision be reached last year's contributors will probably not be called upon for more than half the amount they contributed for the 19P8 celebration.
In cor. -.luding President Watson thanked tne members of the council and of the several committees for their co-operat'on throughout the year. He wished the incoming officers the best of success, and expressed the hope when they gathered for their next annual meeting they would be even mom prosperous and l.appy than they were at present.
W. R. MUNRO IS NAMED PRESIDENT OF PRINCE BOARD OF TRADE
Women's As^oc'ation of Knox church. Afier this there was a program of vocal and in-strumental numbers, recitations and speeches, some excellent Scottish dancing in costume, and the evening was rounded out with general dancing until one o'clock in the morning. It was an evening which all present seemed to enjoy. The dinner opened with the offering of the Selkirk grace by Rev. Norman J. Crees, afier which Dave Praser; president of the society, showed how ah efficient chairman should conduct a gathering I of the kind, with a flow cf humor that i kept the company in high spirits. Aftrr J the toast to the king had been duly i honored he found himself down on the ! lorn! i program for an address of welcome. i It was bref but to the point. He wel-' coined everybody, and went en to say all would be welcomed at the monthly dances held by the society�nfter they had purchased their tickets.
The haggis was piped in with due i ceremony. It was carrie-d by George I Docherty. with Dave Ross leading the | way w'th the pipes, and Charlie Gow j bringing up the rear ond bearing a j formidable cutlass which doubtless had seen service in the buccaneer days of j Henry Morgan. Deposited on the table
Fear of Typhoid Causes Order j 'teaming hot John Mallis delivered the
' customary address to it. in the
y in the course
i of which he informed the company a.s 1 to what was intuit.
The vocal numbers on the program
i included songs by Mrs. R. A. Harlow
� "Caller Herrin" and "Robin Ada:r:"
j ~onp'5 by Mrs. K. Matheson. �'St?.r O'
i Rabbie Burns" end "A Highland Lad
; \Tv Love Wa" Born;" and the songs
; "Annie Laurie" and "WT a Hundred
; Pipers'' bv Mrs. A. Hutchison. M:-�"
r'T7 Pnwcett contributed violin selec-
t'o'ns "Ronni" Dcon" and "Flow Gently
S\veet Afton" and W. R. Munro an ex-
ol]*"* reading of "The Pipes of Troon."
The Toa-? t^ thr� Laps'ies
The toast to the lassies was proposer'
bv Han*y Bowman who was roce'vod
"ir.li pprlhnsp r- he ro"e to make ii
rIa, put himself, at ease with his audi-
l.ce. He not only ccnal'iered it an
�'��onor tn pi"opoce fucha t^ast, but p'
'hs same time modestly expressed h'V
onv'rtion the committee could not have* made a better choice than in. en-'rustinjr the matter to him. As to the 'n^t he could triithfullv !say in proposing it. that his heart was in thr �iTht place, but further than tlvs h-^id not think he'could -safely go. A' a matter of fact he confe?sod to hav'nc �^ade an intimate study of the ladie -or the Dast twenty years, from wha might almost be tenned the apr^ o discretion; and :t mi^ht be set dou-*o their credit that he knew as littl; ^bont them at. the end of the tw^nt-ve?.rs as he had at"the baeinhln^bth'5 'han thJ'~ he wa? prepafed to conr?dr 'hot in some utter!V unexplained wa* �hev peeined to const'tute sn ind:.c nen.^ible part in.tlio man'c life, a co" viction he s'li'i which apneared to \y r->'Dr^d bv most of thp yoim? men c' Prince Genrere of maiTiae:eablf� ai-oiect during 1936 than in pnv year :nce the h'ehway was undertaken nd pjovincial officink express confidence* a graveJlpd h'qrhwsy � will b" "VPHable, by spr'ng as far as Hansard ��h-ieh will*'-tie in ino-f of the produc-'rsf ntrll's in the district with Prince
The board was also active during the �_e?r in Feek'ng n.n air-mnil -service with fort \fcl-eod. Pinlav Porks. Fort Gra-wme nnd other northern points. R?n:d 'evelonment in air-mail sen-ices make? I evident thr board should strive to i'eve' Prince Georfre. established r-~ n rk In tho air-mail services.�An Al-py-aTj pir-ma'l service is an earlv jkk-, �ibilty. and an Asian mail service via 'o-then> B. C. Jpmb�rs bemg secured at the hiatier Ate than were secured in the prevous �^v pt the lower figure. During the vear the board demon-'rqt^'l i^ usefulness by takine over the management of the annual Dominion Day celebration in Prince
Vice-President W. R. Munro was advanced lo tiie oifiw^ oi pi-osi:i-3nt ?.d uu j annual meeting of Hie Kmcs u-e-.-ge board of ti'ade on We'Jnesday evening to succeed the retiring rfcu.uont o. u. Watson. W". L. Hughes was elected first vice-'presiUer.i, and Karl Anderson second vice-president. J. O. WMso.x was re-elected to the offices o: secre-tary-ti"casurer. The following wcie elected as members of the coimcu of the board: Messrs. S. J. Watson, A.'. B. Moffat, Hai-i-y Bowman, G. B. Williams, Alfred Miller, R. W. Alwaid, 1.
B. Guest. James Trav.ij uni A. f. c^l-dexson.
A number, of Interesting acljit.s>t.-:. featured'the nicet'ng. P. E. Wilson, K.
C, gave ?, vory informative' talk on the fedeial government's plan of providing loans without endcrbement security for the improvement of homes of the borrowers. He explained the provisions ol the plan and commended it .strongly to all who contemplated home improvements.
James Travis, district agricultliKsjt. made ;.n cptim'.stic speech on the agricultural outlook In the Prince George and surrounding districts dealing especially with the development in the livestock and dairying industries. In connect on with the development which had come in the dairying industry thr speaker gave much credit to Alfred Miller, proprietor of the Interior Creamery for the marked increase shown in the production of dairy products Mr. Travis commented upon the success which had attended th< provincial Government's efforts tr-stamp out. the warble fly, wh'cb once- ii �"�'! a r-.-'-'nnlfi oocn.sions much dim-age to beef producers and dairymen Tha agricultural department had given -FiMcial intention to the Pineview dls-tv>t rtur'.n'a the pa.5; ve?t. and he wn' confident had succeeded in eradieatinr the pest. He said special attention tr. ! rnft'e in � the other distr'cts will bf1 given during the ensuing year. The rffimr.s and members.of tho local hor-ticulti'rni , sp"ietv vcyp waiTnlv 00^-niended for their activities during thr* year^-in seeking to create an interest in floral culture, nnd thp beautifica-t'on rf thf citv of Prnce GeorTe. Mr Travis -3aifl the'immediate outlook for agriculture in the district is morr � ��owis'riir than it. has been for sora^ time, as tho heavv snow blanket wil .r.-ir. {r, protect nlant life dur'ng the winter and provide ample moisiurc In
v. v GreiR". di(-tri"t forc-'ter. wa; � nthusiastic over the 'mproved outloov-<�,.. t),o forost industry. Duvin�r lf>3f �'-��> riitnnt of th? district STWmills n?> ,-r..M.j-,it^ri<' �7=n nnn in value orar. � ,nrj.rn\p OI- 37 nr>r rent "Over the value fo- the yenr 1935 The demand J.s stil1 '�;ro"i- nncj i-.o .--aid h� ronfidentlv ex pected the output for 1937 to excer to enl"'-"t the support of the i-^t-H in th" Hvjp public l'HratA" ;1<">" l^^'n1? sts.rt'ed in tho o:tv. His rmi^ �iv~ �(�pfnrrM tn the finance'cvnimittee
�\ vof-p of. �thapkr>f>Hr>T tr\ Qhovlps fT. ^V*ison^er -iiwcrpr of th� Prince George hotel rr,. <�oii'r+.r>.