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Statistics of [xpenditure and Consumption in Canada.

By prof. JOHN DAVIDSON, M. A., Phil. D.,

FREDERICTON, N. B.

From the Transactions of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science,
Vol. X, Session iSgS-gg.

» .

IMB'i, f'«ii.'fwjjf.>^fm>'mmmffs^n..wm im^ii***m','>^Wrir^ll}'IVf-W

."»

I. — Statistics of Expenditure and Consumption in Canada,
— By Pkofessor John Davidson, M. A., Phil. D.,

Fredericton, N. B.

(Read Nov. Uth, 189S.)

The ultimate test of a nation's prosperity is the quantity and
quality of the goods it contains. Other tests are relative and
indicate business activity rather than national welfare. All
wealth is produced to be consumed, and the whole process of
production is carried on for the benetit of the consumer. For
him there is seedtime and harvest ; for him the factories and
the stores are run ; for him railroad and steamship lines operate,
and banks conduct their business. It is conceivable that the
volume of business may be lar<je within a nation which yet is
poor and relatively unprosperous. Increased activity does not
always mean increased welfare ; and that community alone is
rich and prosperous at whose command this activity places a
large stock of consumable goods ; and the most satisfactory evi-
dence of this command is provided by the statistics of the
consumption of the community. That is direct evidence ; all
other evidence is indirect and presumptive.

Unfortunately, direct evidence is not always available. We
depend for information almost entirely upon government bureaus
and departments ; and these are concerned chiefly with their owa

PROC. & Trans. N. S. Inst. Sci., Vol, X. Trans.— A.

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

affairs. They collect fii^ures of exports and imports because of
the obvious bearinrj of such fio'iires upon the collection of a
revenue ; and in some cases provide us with information regard-
ing^ the industry carried on within the country because certain
articles of manufacture are subject to internal revenue duties.
Where there is no question of collecting revenue, tlie information
afforded us is not usually carefully collected. We know more
accurately what is imported than what is exported : we know
better how much beer is consumed than we do how much meat
or grain is consumed ; how much tobacco Ijetter than how
much clothing. The interest of the government is nuiinly
in the collection of revenue. An enlightened government may
make provision for the collection of other statistics ; it maj'
establish labor bureaus and agiicultui'al depai'tments ; it n)ay
publish banking returns and railroad earnings : but since the
interest of these things is not so immediately practical, the infor-
mation affor(]ed is apt to be meagre and to cease, short of the
point of completeness. For instance, the main industry in
Canada is agriculture ; but we know less of the output of our
farms than we do of the output of our breweries. Ontario and
Manitoba collect elaborate agricultural statistics ; but in the other
provinces the gathering of iiiformation is perfunctorily performed
or not performed at all ; ami, consequently, we cannot even use
what information we have, because statistics of interprovincial
trade are lacking. In tlie census years, elaborate returns are
made ; but even here there are gaps in our information, and too
much of what is set down depends on the memory of the private
citizen; which is not a scientific instrument. In Canada there is
an additional difficulty in the way of obtaining adequate con-
sumption statistics. Nearly half of om* population is dependent
on agriculture. In time, and with organization, we may learn
the amount of eggs and potatoes, nnlk and meat and vegetables,
maple sugar and cordwood marketed ; but it will always be next
to impossible to ascertain how much of these commodities the
autonomous producer uses in his own consumption. Private
investigation may step in to make up for the deficiencies of

CONSUMI'TION IN CANADA — DAVIDSOX.

governmental machinery ; but until the coinnmnity is so far
educated that there is a statistical or economic association in
every parish, we can hardly hope for the fullest information.
Consumption is in its nature a private concern, and man will
require to be much more methodical than he is at present before
we can present anything- like a picture of the consumption of a
people. At the present time we arecoinpelled to use what infor-
mation we have as an indication of the complete result ; and
rreneializing from the experience of individuals, treat the con-
sumption ut certain articles, for which the (Tovernment provides
statistics which may be relied upon, as representing the wdiole.

It is necessary first to shew in what proportions the people
of Canada expend their incomes, because otherwise we should
not be able to estimate the importance of the results obtainable
for the consumption of specific articles. If the total expenditure
of a people on food amounts to no more than fifty per cent, of
its income, an increase in the consumption of cofiee will mean a
less increase '>f prosperity then it does for a people which spends
seventy per cent, of its income on food. In the latter case it
means that the people are rising fiom the lowest class, where the
necessaries of life absorb the greatest part of the income, to a
condition where other considerations are becoming important; in
the former case it may mean a change in the form of consump-
tion only. This aspect of "the question has some immediate
practical importance. In the discussion of the financial aspects
of prohibition, little attention has been paid to the fact that not
all the expenditure of the Canadian citizen is on taxable goods.
Prohibitioni.sts claim that the fifty million dollars annually spent
upon intoxicants will necessarily be spent on other articles, and
that the o-overnment need not confuse the issue by dark sugges-
tions of direct taxation; for consumption will not be reduced, but
simply changed. But, though the .same amount will still be spent,
it does not follow that it will be spent in such a way as will
provide a revenue. In so far as it is spent on food, there would
be an increased consumption of food-stuflis on which, while the
consumer may be paying a tax in the shape of enhanced prices,

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

due to protection, the rifovernment may realize little or no
reve \ue ; while in so far as it is spent on education or on better
house accommodation, the government would gain nothing what-
ever to make up for the revenue from the taxes on beer and
spirits. No doubt, there would be increased expenditure on
clothing ; but the percentage of income spent in Canada is but
17 ; and the tax is already as heavy as it can be to be productive
of revenue. Probably seventy-five per cent, of the changed con-
sumption would yield no revenue whatever.

The investigation of expenditures has been carried so far that
certain empirical laws have been established. It may <e in to
some that the forms of expenditure are so much a matter of indi-
vidual taste and caprice that no general conclusion can be
established ; but, after all, the differences among men are not
very great. The fundamental necessities of life are the same for
all, and caprice does not enter in till the dominant wants have
been satisfied ; and by taking a large number of instances, the
effects of individual caprice may be eliminated and an average
set down. The first fairly complete investigation in this sphere
was made by Engel, and subsequent investigation has served to
establish his conclusions more firmly.

These are : — That the greater the income, the smaller the
relative percentage of outlay for subsistence ;

That the percentage of outlay for clothing is approximately
the same, whatever the income ;

That the percentage of the outlay for rent and for fuel and
light is invariably the same, whatever the income ;

That as the income increases in amount, the percentage of
outlay for sundries becomes greater.

We are fortunately able to present results for Canada, which
may be compared with the statistical data brought forward by
Engel and other investigators. The Ontario Bureau of Statistics
during several years presented statistics on the expenditure of
the working classes in certain cities of Ontario ; and in countries

CONSUMPTION IN CANAliA— DAVIDSON.

like Canada.wbere there are few extremes of wealth and poverty *
the results thus established may he accepted as tolerably
accurate for the whole Dominion. Local variations there must,
of course, always be. Rent is higher and fuel dearer in the
towns than in the country; while in the country food probably,
and clothing certainly, on the whole, are dearer than in the
cities. The figures cover a period of four years, and their accur-
acy has been tested by the statistician and verified by comparisons.
The statistics of five of the more important towns in Ontario
have been selected by the writer for further analysis and
calculation, and the results are set forth in the tables on the next
page.

When these tables, which are extracted from the Bureau
Reports, are reduced to percentages and expressed in terms of
the number of day's labor necessary to command the various
ooods enumerated, we get the results in a form which permits
comparison with other countries. The results in this form are
contained in the tallies on p. 7.

'Compare the sections of this paper dealing with house accommodation later for
on enquiry into the existence of extremes of wealth in Canada.

STATISTICS OF EXPRNDITUKE AND

KarniiiKH.

Day's labour
ill yi'ur.

Kent.

Kucl.

City ok Hamilton.

Clothing,
p«r heatl.

Food,
per head.

1880
18H7
^88
1889
Average,

$4 »1>
415
417
418
424.7

210
2:11
2:{()
214
231

$70
81

$41
41

lis

$10.15
12.89

]:^.4:{
1:^.89

45.7(»
47.74

:i8.05

City ok Kingston.

1880
1887
1888
1889
Average.

$409

45:i

482
379
440

293
2(5(5
280
244
271

$70
70
70

42
41
31

$18.12
12.91
18 92
22.28

City ok London.

$43.90
'43! if)"

49.63

1880

$425

270

$73

1887

421

265

1888

4:^

208

1889

431

244

(50

Average.

428

2(51

$40
40
40
37

$17.(50
15.58
18.59
15.91

City ok Ottawa.

$4.5.03
50.:-»)
47.31
46.54

1880

$52:^

1887

:^5

1888

1889

440

v^erage.

403

188(5

487

1887

480

1888

520

1889

474

Average.

492

305

223
228

$ 81

110

$34
32
37

City ok TcmoNTo.

272

$ 92

246

112

270

121

2(52

110

203

$40
41
45
89

$21.90
1()..52
13.14
11.94

$:i5.40
30.55

35.15

$23.96 I $54.32

10.93 I 47.92

15.87 45.62

16.67 50.89

CONSUMITION IN CANADA— DAVIDSON.

lul.

DATS

OF Laiior ^wkmsary to Pkocurk

Pkroint

AORH OK INCOMB Kxi'RNDIH ON

ciothiiitr

C\oth\ag

Kent.

Fuel.

. »"-T.

Food.

Rtiit.

Fuel.

per

Food.

Minilv. '

Family.

Hamilton.

im]

'.m

128

i'7

1HS7

2:i

.S5

124

' 19

i 1'"'

IHHS

4.-)

1 '^^

128

1 f\

1H81)

.52

•Al

108

1 15

Aver.

44.5

21.2

3(J

118.2

: 15.7

KlN(>HTON.

1H8(J

124 i

1887

;r>

....

1888

2:{

105

1881)

127 1

A ver.

42.5

22.5

47.7

118.6

15.5

18.2

44.3

Ottaw.

1880

128

1887

.5:i

10(i

1888

.^2

:i4

124

5;^

1889

(54

1(K)

Aver.

42.2

115.5

19.2

7.5

15.7

47.7

Loxuoj

1886

5^1

141

18S7

141

1888

.58

107

im)

180

.53

Aver.

42.7

22.5

49.7

12{).7

1(5.2

8.7

18.2

46.5

TORONT

1886

.58

148

1
20

1887

.8(5

107

1888

124

1889

2:^

Aver.

117

16.2

49.7

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

■! !

\\ (

For purpo.ses of compaii.son, however, the corresponding
figure.s and percentages for the whole number of towns taken
together, and for the whole province, are more useful ; and suit
our purpose of international comparison better : —

Province of Ontario.

Earnings.

Days of
Lfibor.

Rent.

Fuel.

Clothing

per

Head.

Food per
Head.

1886
1887
1888
1889
Aver.

$451
449
479
467
462

270
257
269
272
267

$76
82
77
81

$40

37
41

$20.8:^
15.85
17.41
17.10

$42.:^0
44.37
42.76
44.14

Days Labor Necessary to Procitre

Percentages of Income Expended on

1886
1887
1888
1889
Aver.

Rent.

1
Fuel. 1

Clothing

per
Family.

Food per
Family.

Rent.

Fuel.

Clothing

per
Family.

Food per
Family.

45
45
41
47
44.5

24
22
20
23
22.2

57
41
46
46
47.5

115

122

105

17
18
16
17
17

8
8
7.7

8.8
8.1

21
16
18
17
18

33
35
43
44
39

The average of the averages of the five cities above may be
placed beside the provincial average (taken from returns made
by artisans in the smaller towns and villages) : —

Earnings.

Days La-
bor ill
year.

Percentages Expended on

Rent

Fuel.

Clothing

per
Family.

Food

per

Family.

City average, 1886-89
Prov. average, 1886-89

$451
462

256
267

18.4
17

8.3
8.1

47.8
39.

The results thus obtained are in substantial agreement with
the results established under greatly varying conditions in

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

Europe and America, as the followinpf tabular comparison shews.
The table is taken in part from Schon berg's Handbuch and in
part from U. S. Labor Repoi ts : —

Percentages on

Great Britain.

Prussia.

Ontario.
39.0

Massachusetts.

Illinois.

Food'

.51.36

.50.00

49.28

41.38

Clothing

18.12

18.00

18.0

15.94

21.00

Rent

13.48

12.00

19.74

17.42

Fuel

3. .50

5.00

8.1

4.»)

5.63

Sundrie.s. ..

13.54

1,5.00

18.9

10.73

14.57

These percentages are all calculated from working-class
family budgets, except in the case of Prussia, where a family of
intermediate class was taken to give gross incomes of something
like the same amount. The i ial measure of well-being probably
consists, at least for men of the same race, in the amount which
may be expended on the vague class of sundries ; and in this
comparison, Canada comes out well. The shewing would not
have been so favorable had we taken the average of the five
cities, for then it would have been 8.5 percent of the income only.

The question of the value of these returns is almost settled
by the large degree of correspondence between independently
reached results ; but the Provincial Statistician. Mr. Blue, was
at the trouble to meet the objection that, to say nothing of the
conclusions based on them, the figures themselves were untrust-
worthy, by carefully examining the food expenditures of various
public institutions. The force of the objection is that while most
householders can tell how much they spend on rent and fuel, and
perhaps also on clothing, they can make a rough estimate only
of the household expenditure on food. Mr. Blue went into the
matter exhaustively and examined the food accounts of colleges,
Bsylums, military barracks, etc., and embodied his conclusions in
A paper read before the American Public Health Association, and
reprinted in the Ontario Bureau of Statistics Report, 1886, in
which he says : —

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

" Now let US see how the cost of food, as computed from the
working men's returns, compares with its cost in the schools and
colleges and public institutions. At the average of summer and
winter returns in these, it is $44.17 {,'per cap.) ; at the prison's
rate it is $.S5.51 ; at the asylum rate it is S47.12 ; at the infantry-
school rate it is $54.75 ; at the college winter rate it is $59. .
. . . The working man's average, $47.67 per cap., is therefore
something more than a probable one ; it is well verified by sta-
tistics gatliered from other souroes, and I am disposed to think
that the cost of living is better known and more accurately
gauged in the families of the working classes than in the families
of any other class in the community." ....

We are jnstifiad, therefore, in accepting the average budget
based on these returns as represbntntive of the actual expendi-
ture of some hundreds of working men throughout Ontario. It
is true, no doubt, that men capable of intelligently making such
returns arc likely to spend their incomes more rationally than
others of their class : but the extravagances and waste of the less
prudent and thrifty in part offset each other, and must for the
rest be neglected. We may assume, therefore, that in the Prov-
ince of Ontario 39.0 per cent, is expended on food, 18.0 percent,
on clothing, 8.1 per cent, on fuel, and 17 per cent, on rent ; or if
we take the average of the 4 year averages of the five important
towns as our standard, 47.8 per cent, on food, 17 per cent, on
clothing, 18.4 per cent, on rent, and 8.3 per cent, on fuel.

These percentages are not without meaning even as an indi-
cation of absolute well-being. The smaller the percentage
expended on food and subsistence the larger the total provision
for the wants of our nature. Here and there an individual may
be found who stints himself of the imperious necessities of life
to obtain some coveted comfort or luxury ; but the great majority
satisfy the lower wants first and rise to the higher if sufficient
provision is made. Conset[uentl3^ the smaller percentage in
Canada expended on food is an indication of a higher well-being.
But it is necessary to investigate still further to find the degree
of well-being and to present quantities rather than percentages.

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

What value does the average Canadian receive in food, house
accommodation, fuel and clothinn^ for the percentages of income
thus expended ? This is not a question of prices, but of weights
and measures. Prices are of importance only as they indicate
whether an increased or decreased consumption of any article is
due to a change in price or to an increased command over the
goods of life. The increased consumption of tea and sugar, for
instance, is due to the fall in price ; but the increase 1 consump-
tion of coffee, in so far as it is not simply a transfer of taste from
one article to another, shows an extending margin of consumption.
An increase of consumption due to a fall in the price of an
article does not necessarily mean that the cilizens are better off.
Their real wages and incomes have risen but their money wages
nT\y be constant ; but an increased use of an article whose price
has not fallen indicates an increase of money wages and a more
extended command over the floods of life.

It is not possible, unfortunately, to enter into a detailed
examination of the absolute values received in each class of
expenditure. In the case of rent and food, we are able to present
some of the more important items ; but fuel and clothing
remain indefinite.

The item of fuel is the only one which takes a higher per-
centage in Canada than in any other country. The cause is not
an enhanced price, but the fact that a larger (juantity must be
used. The amount of fuel consumed per head of the population
is unascertainable. Fiom the mining statistics and the tables of
trade and commerce, we can estimate how much coal, bituminous
and anthracite, is used ; but how many of the people of Canada
use coal? Probably the majority of the population do not use
it in any form ; even in industry coal is not always used ; and it
is in the larger cities only that coal is used exclusively. The
quantity of wood consumed as fuel is not ascertainable ; and since
the quantity varies according to the house and according to the
habits of the individual, no estimates, even approximately cor-
rect, can be made.

STATISTICS OF EXPEXDITURE AND

i' M

'i !

f i

Whether, under the head of fuel, lighting is also included, as
it usually is in the statistics of other countries, is not stated ; but
the omission is not of serious importance, becauso we are unable
to discover how much the individual spends and what value he
receives for his expenditure. The three chief illuminants, gas,
electricity, and oil, are being used in increasing quantities. The
Census Reports of 1891 give figures for the production of gas
and electric lighting works ; but there has been a very great
extension in the use of electric lighting since 1891, and possibly
some increase in the use of gas also ; and figures taken from the
Census Reports would give a wrong impression. It is interesting
to note that in spite of the increase in the use of these methods
of lighting, the consumption of petroleum is increasing steadily
year by year. The urban population of Canada (those residing
in towns and villages of more than l,oOO inhabitants) has
increased from 912 984 in 1881 to 1,390,910 in 1891 ; or from 21.1
per cent, to 28.77 per cent, of the population of the Dominion ;
and the number of towns of more than 3,000 inhabitants which
may be taken as the minimum for which gas or electric lighting
is provided, has increased from 08 to 94. Gas lighting held its
own during the decade 1881-1891, and electric lighting was prac-
tically introduced in the decade (in 1881 there were two men
employed in electric lighting works ; in 1891 there were 1,190;)
yet the consumption of petroleum increased per capita more than
fift\' per cent., although there was no corresponding decrease in
the retail price. In 1882 the consumption was 2.0 galls, per
head, in 1891 it was 3.2 gall ., and in 1896 3.1 galls, (a decrease
from 3.5 galls, in 1894 and 1895). The increased use of the more
primitive illuminant, alongside of the development of the more
modern methods, shews a real increase in well-being in the
community.

The expenditure on clothing must remain in the obscurity of
percentages. It might be possible, by help of the Census
Reports and the trade tables to determine how much cloth and
clothing was manufactured or imported in the year 1891 ; but it
is not possible to shew how much was consumed. Trade tables

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA— DAVIDSON.

d, as
but

able
he

The

gas

are trustworthy only when they extend over a nunnberof years^
and speculative influences can be discounted. An alteration in
the tariff, for instance, may affect the imports for a given year,
as it did in the case of sugar, and strictly an average of several
j'ears ought to be taken. The census year is no more likelj' to
escape such fluctuations than any other year ; and it might be
seiiously misleading to take the manufacture and importation of
textiles as typical. Moreover, there has not as yet been estab-
lished in the matter of clothing any standard of consumption as
has, in a measure, been done in the case of food. Caprice and
local climatic causes have here an undue influence. All we can
say is that in Canada the average family spends on the average
$83.79 on clothing, the family expenditure in the United States
being $112.23 ; in Great Britain, $80.59 ; in Germany, $57.21 ;
in France, $72 60; in Belgium, $84.61 ; in Switzerland, $65.38*.

The statistics available for the further analysis of the expen-
diture on rent are not sufficient for the purposes of comparison
either of classes or of different periods. With the exception of
some interesting sociological studios of a portion of the city of
Montreal by Aid. Ames of that city,t we have the Census Reports
alone to rely on ; and the Census Reports of 1881 offer but a
very meagre amount of information. The Ontario tables quoted
above shew that on the average in the province of Ontario the
respectable working classes spend 17% of their income in rent.
Since there is comparatively little class distinction in Canada, we
might, perhaps, assume that 17% represents the proportion spent
by the average Canadian on house rent. In the city below the
hill in Montreal rental absorbs, according to Mr. Ames, 18% of
the earnings : — " For families of the real industrial class 16 per
cent, is a fair average. . . It is among the well-to-do and the
very poor that rental is permitted to absorb fiom 20 to 25 per
cent, of the earning.s." The City Below the Hill, p. 40). Mr.

"■U. S. Commissioner of Labor. Report 1891, Vol. II., pp. 8G4-5.

t (1) The City Below the H 11 : privately printed. (2) Incomes. Wages and Rents in
Montreal (U. S. Department of Labor, Rnlletin 14, Jan. 1?48) ; and a lectnre on House
Accommodation which I have been privileged to see in manuscript.

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

'i i

Ames, in a letter in answer to some queries made, has further
explained that the last sentence refers only to families with an
annual incoine of ^1000 or less. " My experience, he adds, has
gone to prove that rental consumes from one-Hfth to one-third of
the income of the very poor. Then the proportion <fro\vs jiriadu-
ally less as we reach tln^ classes where the family income runs
from SH.OO to S12.00 per ue(k. Those families receivinjr from
SI 2.00 to i?15.00 seem to pay a smaller proportion of income as
rent, hut classes receivin<:j horn -Si 5.00 to .S20.00 seem to grow
nmhitious and desire to move into larger quarters. I am of the
opinion, although I have no facts to suhstantiate it, that if we
were to take classes receiving annually $1000 a yea'- and over,
we would find the rental proportionately diminishing tlie higher
we ('•o" Thus, Mr. Ames's results hardly hear out Engtd's law,
that the percentage expended on rent is invarirhly the same
whatever the income ; and it appears necessary to modify the
law, at least, if we admit subdivisions of the working classes.
The proportion is highest for the very poor, varying frf)m 25 to
80 per cent. ; for the ' real industrial ' classes it falls to 1(5 per
cent. ; and then rises to 25 per cent, for highl}'^ skilled mechanics,
and then gradually falls for families whose income exceeds one
thousand dollars.

Before we go on to enquire what sort of accommodation is
ohtained for this expenditure of income it is necessary to verify
the assumption made in last paragraph that there is compara-
tively little distinction of classes in Canada. In a sense this is
an ohvious fact, a matter of ordinary remark by every observer.
While there are few in Canada who are very wealthy, there are
probably as few who are in actual distress. The Census Report,
1801, enables us to verify to aceitain extent this common obser-
vation. For each census district we have given, in a .series of
tables, the number of houses ami the number of rooms in each
house. It would be obviously impossible, having regard to the
limits of time and space, to analyze the returns for the whole
Dominion ; and since in the country districts there is little differ-
ence of class, it is necessary onh' to examine the returns for the

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

larger towns. In the large towns, if anywhere, we shall find
distinctions of class appearing. The first of the following tables
is taken directly from the Census Reports ; the second is based
on it and expresses the same facts in terms of percentages which
have been calculated : —

City.

I'opula-
tioii . ■

Total

No of

Houses.

No. OK MorsKs WITH Rooais

(J-IO I 11-15

Vancouver

i:^7(H)

Winnipeg.

2Ju<(.)

St. John ,

K):«5

I'jilifax..

:^S195

Toronto .

14 1()2H

Loudon .

222S1

Kingston .

li)2l«

Hamilton..

17245

Montreal ..

182095

Quebec .. .

mom I

Ottawa . . .

•.mm 1

2231
454:^

51 SI
25810
4:?17
4725
0221

0557

1401

1
8i

()|

:{7

15:}

4'-!
I7I

148
2!H)
1:55

()H
ISl

54
148

ItlOO

470

150

104 :«i
•ACu 702:
4()7 72:1
120 147
752 2480
128 VM,
445 700
270 870
4(572 7815
827 1508:
240 Olli

22:{
.504
740
52:-!

775

708
1770

a:i25

701
1025

102:^1

2Hoo;

2{«)()j

:a5l I

17070'

2(5(«:

2H07
.5500
10782
•.i:m
:il85

81
102

1012
52!)

1740
223
240
488

2542
054

583 i

Over

I 15.

7!)

339

108

451

100

051

440

140

The populations are taken from Table TI. N'ol. 1. Ceu> is Report, 1S!)1.

CiTV.

Vancotiver
Winnipeg.
St. John. . .
Halifax . . .
Toronto. . .
London . .
Kingston .
Hamilton..
Montreal .
Quebec . .
Ottawa . . .

(5.1
.5.(5
(5.0
7,4
5.5
5.1
4.0
5.1
5.7
7.5
5.6

I'KHtKNT.MiH OK TOT.M. NlMliKli OK HOISES WITU liOOMS

I I'ersons 1
I to a ]'
House, i

i(5.2 (5.
0.7 (5.
i().02.
10. 1 1,
lo.l
0.11.

!o.7 1.
o.olo.

'0.4(5.

0.5:5.
'0.2'2,

ti-la U 15,

Overt 4 and | 10 and

8.71
S.Oi
7.0;
2. 1!
2.0
2.0,
3.1
3.0|
14.0i
O.J)
3.7'

14.8;

15.4

10.0

8.0

0.0

10.0

10.4

0.4

24.4

18.1

13.8

1().0|

45.8

1.0;

13.0

50.8

3.5

11.1

15.1

1.5.2

10.0

04.(Sl

10.2

11.0

(5(5.1

0.7|

17.0

00.2

5.1

1(5.+

50.7

5.0

10.2

(51.7

5.2

' 10.4

33. 7 i

8.01

i 0.5

40.5!

11.4i

' 15.0

53.1'

8.8

1,1

1.0
L7
5.1

1.8.

1.2!
1.0
2.0
5.2
2.1

les

more.

30.3
30.0
19.9
12.2
13.2
14.2
22.3
13.1
45.0
34.2
19.0

3.2

5,2

20.3

12.3

8.4

(5.9

(5.2

0.2

10.0

1(5.0

10.9

With the exception of four cities, Vancouver, Montreal, Que-
bec and St. John, more than half of the population live in houses
containing from 6 to 10 rooms ; in the case of Toronto the per-
centage rises to 66 per cent; while in three others, Halifax,
London and Hamilton, the percentage exceeds GO. Those cities

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

i- i

which shew a low percentage of houses containino; 6 to 10 rooms,
per house (which gives souiething more than the standard
nccomujodation of one room one person) shew generally a high
percentage of houses of four rooms or less, and also of houses of
more than 10 rooms. Thus, in Montreal, 45.6 of the houses are
oi 4 rooms and less ; Quebec, St. John, Vancouver, Winnipeg and
Ottawa, also give high percentages of liouses of rather less than
the standard accommodation ; and with the exception of Van-
couver and Winnipeg, where the poor accommodation is, as we
shall see, due to the newness of the cities, the same towns shew
a high percentage of large houses of more than ten rooms.
Montreal has a percentage of 10.0 ; Quebec, 16.6 ; Ottawa, 10.9 ;
and St. John, the astonishing percentage of 20.3. Halifax is the
only other city where the percentage of large houses reache.s
double figures. If we combine the results of the last table and
recognize three classes of hou.ses only, those of 4 rooms or less,
those of 5 to 10 rooms, and those with more than ten, we .shall
see at a glance where the conditions are extreme and where the
.arithmetical average expre.sses the truth of the situation : —

4 rooms or less.

Vancouver
AVinnipeg .
St. John . . .
Halifax . . .
Toronto . . .
London . .
Kingston .
Hamilton .
Montreal. . .
Quebec . . . .
()ttawa

5 to 10 rooms.

19,
12

i;i

14,
22.

i:i

45,
'M.
11).

55.8
6:^8
56.2
64.6
78.0
78.1
67.1
80.9
44.1
50.0
68.7

More than 10 room,s.

3.2

5.2

20.3

12.3

8.4

6.9

6.2

10.0

16.6

10.9

It appears, therefore, that class distinctions are marked in
three or four towns only: in St. John, Montreal, and Quebec,
and possibly in Ottawa ; that the three best hou.sed towns where
there are few extremes of wealth and poverty, are Toronto,
London and Hamilton — which, with Kingston and Ottawa,

m ■

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

where also the conditions do not show violent extremes, are
the five towns selected from the Ontario Bureau of Statistics
Reports for detailed analybis. It is probable that the very large
percenta(:;e of large houses in St. Jchn is an indication, not of a
larjre wealthy class, but of lack of nrudence and foiesijjht in the
inhabitants in the years which follov^ed the great fire. We
might therefore conclude that in two towns only, Quebec and
Montreal, do the extremes of wealth and poverty show them-
selves ; and that the average condition is also the condition of
the great majority of the inhabitants of Canada. We might,
perhaps, also conclude that the average income obtained from the
returns made to the Ontario Bureau is not far below the average
inconie in Canada. Mr. Ames shows that in the district he has
investigated there is a weekly average income of SlO.20 per
family, an average monthly rental of $8.73 per family, or 18 per
cent, of the family income, and an accommodation of 5.02 rooms
per family (U. &. Bulletin of Labor, p. 44 . The average weekly
income of the towns in Ontario is nearly S9.00, of which 17 per
cent, is expended on rent in places where rents must be much
lower than they are in industrial districts of Montreal, and where
accordingly better accommodation will be given for the money.
We may readily infer that the returns have been made by the
occupants of houses of 7 or 8 rooms ; and an overwhelming pro-
portion of the inhabitants of the towns, of which an analysis of
the house accommodation has been made above, occupy houses
containing from 5 to 10 rooms. Since, according to Engel, and
according also to the best canons of local taxation, the expendi-
ture on house rent is the best indication of income, we might be
safe in concluding that the average income set down above is the
average for Canada ; but at the best the conclusion is problematic
and based on a series of assumptions and inferences from data
which are themselves only approximately correct.

The main question is the actual accommodation obtained fon.

.'I I

ii.
ii

ii!

?i!ru

t.n..)i i

STATISTfCS OF EXPENDITURE AND

the expenfliture, The best test, perhaps, would be the cubic feet
of air space obtained for a given rent.*

But statistics arc lacking in Canada to determine the actual
space received in return for the payment made. There may be
more actual air space in a log cabin or a dug out of one room in
the North- West and British Columbia than in a three or four
roomed house in a back tenement in Montreal ; and the general
sanitary conditions are without doubt superior. Mr. Ames has
taken the provision of water closets as his test, and shews how
a smaller house with sanitary conveniences may rent for as much
as a larger without them. But his investigation was confined to
a section of Montreal only. For the rest of the city, and for the
Dominion as a whole, we must rest content with a less satisfac-
tory test, viz., the number of rooms, the material of construc-
tion, the number of stories, the number of families in each
house, and the number of persons to a house and to a room.

The average house in Canada is constructed of wood, is of
one story, or a story and a half, contains probably from 5 to 10
rooms, more likely 5 than 10, and accommodates under its roof
1.08 families, or 5.6 persons, and thus gives the standard accom-
modation — one room one person. The standard of accommodation
is rising. In 18S1 there were 1.10 families under each roof and
5.8 persons. The one story house seems to be going out of
fashion, for while 39 per cent, of all the inhabited houses are one
story buildings, more than 50 per cent. (23,227 out of 40,000
classifie<l) of the uninhabited houses are of one story onlj', and
33 per cent, only (2,704 out of 8,077 enumerated) of the houses
under construction. (Census Bulletin, No. (J). It is, nioreover,
a well recognized fact that the sanitarj^ conveniences are being
improved. So that we may conclude that the people of Canada
are receiving better value for their money, or that through
increased prosperity they are able to spend a larger ab.solute
amount in house rent though, perhaps, the percentage of their
expenditure on house rent is decreasing.

'The poor probably viay more for rent, according to tliis .standard, than the rich
It has been found by comparison in Vienna that in a house in one of the slum districts
each cubic metro of air si)ace cost ;i fl. 21 kr , while in a house in the most fashionable
RiuKstrassc. and on the tirst tioor, the cubic metre cost 2 fl. 85 kr. only. (Scliiinbcrg's
Haiulbuch, I . p. 700.)

It •■.

t
f

CONSUMPTION' IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

cubic feet

the actual
re irmy be
e room in
!e or four
le general
\nies has
ews how
• as much
)nfine<i to
(i for the
sntisfac-
construc-
in each
)om.

)od, is of
» 5 to 10
its roof
1 accom-
jodation
oof and
out of
are one
46,000
•y. and
houses
►reover,
» beinjj
'anada
h rough
:>solute
their

the rich
districts
lionablc
i>ii berg's

Wooden houses constitute 81.0 per cent, of the total number ;
brick houses 15.34«, and stone houses 3.1. The brick and stone
houses are probably mainly in the larger cities and occupied by
the wealthier classes. Thirty-nine per cent, of the total houses
inhabited are of one story, while 43 per cent, of the wooden
houses are of that humble size, and 1!) per cent, and 20 per cent,
only of the brick and stone houses fail to reacii the dignity of a
second story or even of an additional half story. The story and
a half and two story buildings are 57 per cent, of the whole, but
60 per cent, of the stone and 67 per cent, of the brick houses
are of these dimensions. Of the houses which have three stories
or more 14,211, or .59 per cent., are brick, 4,658, or 19 per cent,
are stone, and 5,746 only, or 22 per cent, are of wood.

The Census Reports do not enable us to discover whether
there is a larger number of rooms or of stories in a stone or brick
house then in a wooden house. Probably, the advantage in size
is in favor of the stone and brick houses ; but there is no definite
information on the subject, and we must rest content witli the
statement given in the Census Report, 1891 (Vol. IV'., Table A.,
pp. 378, 379) of the percentage of houses of dili'erent sizes in the
several provinces of the Dominion : —

Perckntages ok HoisEs WITH Rooms

Ok Hoi ses with
Stokiks—

1
2.9

2
8.0

3
11.0

«M0
48.8

U-15
5.(5

Over
1.5.

1.2

. 1

Canada

1.5.8 12.2

(«.5! :«.o

2.5 0.4

Br. (Johimbia . .

21.1

i:^.{j

10.2 18.5111.4

25.9

2.0

l.()

72.4 2<J.8

1.2 0.1

Manitoba . . .

12.0

20.2

17.8 17.0 10.1,21.4

1.8, {).()' rry.i) 42.1

0.8 0.2

N. Brunswick . .

2.1

8.7

9.8 14.1111.0 48 2

8.2 1.7! 79.9 10.7

8.0 0.4

Nova Scotia

1.0

5.4

8.4

15.4 i 12.9

50.2

5.8; 0.9,85.7 12 7

1.5 0.1

Ontario

1.2

5.1

7.9

18.8! 12.7

52.8

6.8, 1.2' 52.4 45.1

2.4 0.1

P. E. Island . . .

0.0

7.8

9.7

10.4:12.8

45.7

0.5

1.7 80.8:17.7; 1.4 0.1

Quebec

H.7

10.9

10.2

20.2 11.7

81.2

4.7

1.8 09.8:25.9' 8.4! 0.9

The Territories.

19.5

24.3

10.7

18.8 8.1

14.1

1.8

0.7 00.9 :«).5j 0.5j 0.1

The house accommodation aiforded varies from province to
province. The largest percentage of brick houses occurs in
Ontario, the smallest in Nova Scotia, where 99.4 of the houses
are built of wood. The largest percentage, though not the

STATISTICS OF KXPKNIJITURK AND

• M H ;!

greatest absolute number of stone houses, are found in the prov-
ince of Quebec, the smallest, 0.1 per cent., in British Columbia,
Kevv Biunswick, and Prince Kdward Island. The proportion of
liouses of one story only is greatest in the Maritime Provinces,
where Nova Scotia heads the list with fS5.7 per cent., and Prince
Edward Island and New Brunswick follow with 80.8 per cent,
and 70.9 per cent. Manitoba and Ontario show the largest
percentages of two story houses, while Quebec and New Brun-
swick show the highest percentages of three storied dwellings.
Quebec contains 7Ji per cent, of all the 4-storied building.s in
Canada : and twice as high a percentage of the buildings in the
province are of that height or higher as in any other province.
Quebec and the North-West Territories have highest average
number of person.s under one roof (6.0), the Maritime Provinces
coming next, and British Columbia giving the low number of 4.9'
But British Columbia is the piovince where the largest number
of one-roomed houses exist. Twenty-one per cent, of the hou.ses
there have one room only, and 58.4 per cent, have four rooms or
le.ss. In Manitoba, which stands next to British Colunjbia in the
number of persons to the house (5.2), 12,0 per cent, of the houses
are one roomed, and 6G.5 per cent, have four or les.s. Prince
Edward Island, on the other hand, which crowds 5.9 people under
every roof, sees that they have some room under it, for le.ss than
one per cent. (0.9) of her houses are of one room, and 65.3 of her
houses have more than four rooms.

These facts are collected in the following table : —
Comparison of Housk Accommodation in the Provinces.

Canada

British Columbia..

Manitoba

New Brunswick. . .

Nova Scotia .

Ontario

Pr. Edward, Island

Quebec —

The Territories. .

Stone
Houses.

8.0
0.1
0.9
0.1
0.2
3.3
0.1
5.0
1.0

nritk

Wooden

One

House.s.

Houses.

room.

15.4

81.5

2.9

2.8

97.0

21.1

3.7

95.2

12.0

1.6

98.2

2.4

0.3

99.4

1.0

21.1

75.5

1.2

0.4

99.5

0.9

17.8

77.1

3.7

1.0

96.0

19.5

4 rooms or
less.

37.7
58.4
66.5
35.3
32.2
27.5
34.7
50.0
73.8

Persons

under one

roof.

5.6
4.9
5.2
5.8
5.7
5.2
5.9
6.0
6.0

CON8UMl»TION IN CANADA— DAVIDSON.

From these figures it is possible to construct an index number
which shall express the relative house accommodation of the
various provinces more readily than the actual fi(,'ures. .There
are four possible tests within our reach : — The material of which
the dwelling is constructed, the nuinber of rooms it contains, the
number of stories in it, and the numbor of people who inhabit
it. But these are obviously not all ot equal importance. The
number of rooms is of much <rreater importance than the number
of stories, A house of five rooms with only one story is lietter
than a house of three or four rooms with a story and a half or
two stories ; and for many purposes it is indifferent whether the
house is built of wood or of stone, or brick. The material out of
which a house is built is determined sometimes l)y tiie relative
cheapness of materials on the spot and sometimes by municipal
rerjulations about a fire district. But from the fi^nires quoted
above, it is evident that a stone or brick house is at least more
fashionable than a wooden house ; and in the slum districts of
our cities the worst houses are built of wood. We must allow
some importance to these two considerations ; but not by any
means as much as to the others. If to the two taken touether
we allow half us much importance as to each of the others, taken
separately, we will not, perhaps, exa!jftj;erate its importance : but
in case of error, the index number will be stated, both inclr 'inir
and excluding these minor considerations. The figures quoted
above are taken negatively, i. e., instead of saying how many
houses have four rooms or less, we calculate on the number of
houses which have more than four rooms; but this is a matter
of arithmetical detail. The average for Canada is expressed as
100 in the cases of the number of houses containing more than
four rooms and of the number of persons in each house, and by
50 in the case of the two minor considerations : —

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

I I

Canada . . .
Brit. Columbia
Manitoba .
N. Bnmswick.
Nova Scotia
Ontario . . .
P. E. Island
Quebec ...
Territories. .

% of houses
with more
than four
rooms.

Index No.

/of persons
to house.

62.3

100

5.6 .

41.6

66.7

4.9

as. 5

53 7

5.2

64.7

102.2

5.8

67.8

107.2

5.7

72.5

116.3

5 2

65.3

104.8

5.9

50.0

80.2

6.0

26.2

420

6.0

100

114.6

107.6
96.4
98.4

107.6
94.9
93.3
9:^.3

X O

jisc'c

36.5
27.6
40.1
20.1
14.3
47.6
19.2
30.2
33.1

c
a

18.5
2.4
4.8
1.8
0.6

24.5
0.5

22.9
4.0

19.6

33.7

16.1

10.6

ft5.7

13.8

51.2

28.1

The index of relative house accommodation of the provinces
would be therefore according as we did or did not include the
minor considerations expressed in the first or in tl - second
column below : —

Two Considerations.

Four Considerations.

1 - .

Canada

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Nova Scotin

Ontario . .

Prince Edward Island . .

Quebec

Territories

200

181.3

i61.3 •

198.6

205.6

223.9

199.7

173.5

135.3

250

199.9

195.0

214.7

216.2

289.6

213.5

224.7

imA

The inclusion of the minor con.siderations reduces the rank
of all the Maritime Provinces, and raises Quebec from one of the
lowest to the second place, and still further increases the lead of
the Province of Ontario. In all probability the index number
depending on the two considerations alone gives the fairest
representation of relative housing in the various provinces.

Though the item of food continues, whatever the income, to
absorb the largest share of individual and national income, our
information on this point is far from being complete. Practically
we may say that so far as the foodstuffs consumed in Canada are
produced in Canada we have no adequate information. Esti~

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

mates have been made of the consumption of wheat and potatoes ;
but too much reliance should not be placed upon them. The
consumption of meat might be approximately estimated after an
elaborate calculation, taking into account exports and imports
and annual mortality among farm stock ; but to give the esti-
mate even a semblance of accuracy we require to have at least as
complete an enumeration of the stock in the country during
successive years as we have for the isolated census years. Of
the consumption of fish and game, of butter and eggs, and milk
and cheese and vegetables, we have no means whatever of form-
ing an estimate ; and it is doubtful whether such an estimate
can be formed so long as 45 per cent, of the population are
engaged in, or dependent on, agriculture. The only accurate
statistics we have of the consumption of food are those relating
to articles not produced in Canada at all, or produced under such
conditions that the whole industry is under the constant super-
vision of the government. We can tell how much tea and sugar
and coffee, how much beer and spirits and tobacco, how much wine
and dried fruit is consumed in Canada ; and it is fortunate that
these are the articles, the large consumption of which indicates
prosperity. We are not concerned with the ethical question
whether the consumption of spirits is right or wrong. As a
matter of fact, and many a Finance Minister has had to confess
it with chastened sorrow, an increased consumption of intoxi-
cants is a sign of incieasing prosperity.

Bread stuffs and meats are for English speaking people
necessities, and a diminution in the quantity would indicate, or
at least might indicate, increasing prosperity. The poorer a
nation or a family is the iaiger the pioportion of its income it
spends on bread and potatoes.* This is one of the established

Prof. LcxiH, in his artiile on Consumption, Selibnberg's Handbuch I., fifl" «.(iuotes
tlie following estiniiito of the distribution of expenditure on food by various classes :—

Krpcnfliturcon Food.
((! persons) 2,17.') marks
4 X)orsons) 1,28.5 •'

(588 "

\m "

395 "

Bread.
14.y

in.c.

31.3
38.7
39.4

Potatoes.

4.1

2.4

4.8
10.3
15.9

Meat.
26. .1
29
17.0
U.ti
3.0

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

conclusions of the theory of consumption ; and it stands to reason
that the more of the luxuries of the table a family consumes the
less need has it for the grosser necessaries. But this conclusion
must be taken to apply to percentages rather than to absolute
amounts ; for where the great majority of the population are in
the condition of working class people, prosperity may show itself
both in a decreasing percentage and in an increasing absolute
amount. With a better use of the consumption power at their
command, probably the working classes in America would come
to consume less of the grosser necessaries of bread and potatoes
and meat, and rise to a higher conception of well-being than
mere profusion. The large consMjnption of bread stuffs in the
exporting countries i-» due to profusion rather than to a low
standard of living. It exists alongside of a large consumption
of the comforts and commoner luxuries of the table.

Speaking in general terms, Europeans eat more bread and
potatoes than Americans. Australians consume more meat and
less bread and potatoes than either the Americans or the Euro-
peans. In Canada the consumption both of bread and potatoes
is, according to statistics, high, probably much too high, consi<ler-
U}(f the standard of living common in the community. In the
Statistical Year Book for 1891 the average consumption, calcu-
lated by deducting the net exports and the estimated amount
retained for seed from the estimated crop during the 10 years,
1881-1891, is given as 6.75 bushels per head : —

Consumption' Pkr Head, in BuanELS.

1881

6.48

1884

8.96

1888

6.02

1882

8.19

1885

7.41

1889

5.38

1883

6.10

1886

5.70

18tK)

6.60

1887

Q.m

But the authors of this estimate do not themselves place
much reliance on it ; and if it were accurate, one would almost
be justified in inferring that in the lean years Canada was on

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVJDSON.

Xhe verge of starvation ; for the consumption varies more than
three bushels and a half. The probability is, as the authors
suggest, that the crop estimates are by no means accurate. In
'the following year, in 1892, this estimate is dropped, and a com-
parative estimate of the consumption of wheat per head in various
•countries gives Canada an average consumption of 5.5 bushels per
liead, which is continued clown till 1895, the last year in v;hich
this comparative estimate appears. The estimate continr.es to be
put forward as an approximation only ; but no reason is ottered
for the reduction from 6.75 to 5.5 bushels.

The consumption of potatoes may be estimated in the same
Way for the single year 1891, the census year. This gives an
average consumption of 10 bushels per head, or about 600 pounds
— undoubtedly, by comparison with other nations which have a
similar or a lower standard of living, an excessive estimate. If
the estimates framed annually by the Statistical Bureaus of
Ontario and Manitoba are scarcely trustworthy, the casual esti-
mates of a census enumerator, or of the farmer be questions, are
still less likely to be trustworthy ; and all such estimates are
liable to err on the side of excess.

Mr, Mulhall gives the annual consumption of meat in Canada
at 90 lbs. per head, as compared with 109 lbs. in the United
Kingdom, 150 lbs. in the United States, and 276 lbs. in Australia ;
but imagination fails to suggest the source from which such an
estimate can be made for Canada.

The statistics at our disposal regarding the consumption of
certain typical comforts and luxuries, is as full as occasion
requires, and as accurate as returns made at the customs or to the
internal revenue officers usually are. The list might be made
indefinitely long, but we contine ourselves to such as are typical
and in fairly common use, — sugar and tea and coffee, wine and
beer, and spirits and tobacco. Dried fruit we shall also include,
selecting that rather than green fruit, the extension in the use of
which is one of the best siyns of a prosperous consumption,
because, in the case of green fruits, we have estimates of value
only which can be used, while the quantity of dried fruits can

: i

29 STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

be more readily estimated in a single one of the tables of wei<vhts
and measures. The tables from which the per capita consumption
of suf^ar, tea. coffee and dried fruit has been calculated, were
compiled from the Annual Sessional Papers on Trade and Com-
merce ; the per capita consumption of beer, spirits, etc., is the
calculation of the inland revenue officials, and may be found in
Statistical Year Book for the current year.*

The consumption of these articles is recogn'zed as one of the
best tests of the prosperity of a country. The middle classes
everywhere are well provided with the comforts and decencies of
life, in which class these articles are placed, although sugar is
rapidly becoming a nece.ssary of life ; and an extension of the
consumption of these goods means that the working classes are
consuming more, the middle class, it being presumed already,
using as much as they desire. In a country like Canada, where as
we have seen there are few extremes of wealth, an increased
consumption means that the whole body of the people are con-
suming more.

An increased consumption of any article may mean one of
three things, — (1) it may result from a fall in price, which enables
the people to consume more without spending more ; (2) it may
mean a rise in the average income, which enables the people to
spend more on one article than they have been doing, without
curtailing their consumption of other articles; (3) it may mean
.simply that the form of consumption has changed and that the
well-being of society is the same, or but slightly increased. In
all probability, the increased use of cccoa, from the value
of S44.,240 in ISSOf to $158,849 in 1896 has been due to a
mere change in the form of consumption ; and the addition of
this amount to the consiumption of the community probably does
not indicate a corresponding increase of spending power. The
increase in the use of sugar and tea is due, not to increased

*I take this oijportiiiiity of acknowledging my indcbtcdnesH to tlie Dominion
Statistician, Mr. George .lolinson, whose work I have freely used in the preparation of
this paper.

tAverage of three years.

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA— DAVIDSON.

spending power, but almost entirely to a fall in price. The per
capita consumption of 1896, 47 lbs. of sugar and 4.4 lbs. of tea>
cost no more than the 2C lbs. of sugar and the 2.7 lbs. of tea in
the year 1880. The increased use of tobacco, of coffee, and the
but slightly decreased consumption of spirits, in spite of a large
rise in price, indicate a larger spending power. An attempt has
been made in the third of the following tables to indicate how
far the increased consumption is due to a fall in prices, the price.'j
being taken from a table of Montreal prices given in the Statisti-
cal Year Book of 1806.

Consumption Pkk Capita ok Certain Articles in Canada.

Tea

Coffee

Su^ar

Dried 1

Beer

.Spirits

Wine

Tobae-

Cigars
(No)

(lbs)

(lbs.)

(lbs,)

Fniits(lbs).

(gals.)

(gals )

(gals.)

co(lbs)-

1880

2.7

0.40

2.25

0.71

0.08

1.94

1881

3.8

.3.0

2.29

0.92

0.10

2.03

1882

4.3

0.71

3.4

2 75

1.01

0.12

2 15

1883

4.0

0.60

5.0

2.88

1.09

0.13

2.28

1884

3 8

0.53

5.2

2.92

1.00

2 48

1885

4.0

4.1

2.64

1 13

0.11

2.62

1886

4.9

0.85

3.6

2.84

071

Oil

2.05

1887

0.41

4.2

3.08

0.75

2.06

1888

0.60

4.5

.3.25

0.64

0.09

2.09

18S9

0.66

4.6

3.26

0.10

2 15

1890

3.8

0.66

4.7

.3..%

0.88

0.10

2 14

1891

3.7

0.69

4.S

3 79

0.74

0.11

2 29

1892

4.4

0.73

4.7

.3. ,52

0.70

0.10

2.29

1893

3 6

077

4.4

3.48

0.09

2.31

1894

4.1

.5.3

3.72

0.74

0.09

2.26

1895

4.0

0.72

5 2

3 47

0.67

0.09

2.16

1896

4.4

0.70

5.6

3 53

O.07

2.12

These tables are sufficiently clear to explain theuKselves ; but
it should be observed that for some rea.son the year 1880, which
has been cho.sen as starting point, is an exceptional year of low
con.sumption, as we .shall see more clearly when we come to
present an Index No. of consumption ; and it has the additional
disadvantage of being the year of high prices in sugar, which
was then 20 per cent, higher tlian in 1875, and higher than it baa
been since.

STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND

It would be interestinjy to compare the consumption of the
different provinces; but there are no statistics available for such
a comparison. Mr. Johnson, in his Graphic Statistics of Canada
(1886) has shewn the relative provincial consumption of wine and
beer, and spirits and tobacco, in a i^raphic form ; and from his
repre.sentation we learn that on the average of 19 years to 1886,
«ach inhabitant of Ontario drank 1. 11 gals, of spirits, 0.4 gals, of
wine, and 8.2 gals, of beer, and smoked 1.8 lbs. of tobacco ; and
so on for the other provinces as in the accompanying table: —

Pek Capita CoN,«<rMPTioN According to Provinces.

. Pro v.

.Spirits (gal.>

Beer (gal.)

Wine (gal )

Tobacco (lbs.)

Ontario

1.11
1.6S

3 2
19

0.4
0.28

1.8
2.4

Quebec

New Brniiawick .

0.66

2.17

Nova Scotia

O.fl.S

0.7

P. E Island

0.0-2

0.46

0.03

1.4

Manitoba

1.7

0.06

2 6

Brit Columbia . .

1.45

3 77

0.62

In all proliability this proportion holds in 1898 as in 1886;
and Mr. Johnson's conclusions are still true : —

" Ontdiio drinks nearly three times more beer than spirits ;
Quebec, nearly as much spiiits as beer ; New Brunswick, more
spirits than beer ; Xova Scotia, more beer than spirits ; Prince
Edward Island, more spirits than beer ; and Manitoba and British
Columbia, more beer than spirits," p. 86. To which we might
add that, according to this shewing. Prince Eilward Island and
New Brunswick are the most temperate of the provinces.*

*The consumption of s))irits in the Maritime Provinces and in Quobeci'^ probably
greatly untlerestimatod. The figures above slicw only the consumption on wliichduty
was paid ; but tliere lias always been a large amount smuggled into these provinces
from St. Pierre which exists ))ractically as an entrepot for smuggling. Probably lo/lOths
of the imports of the island are smuggbMl into Canada and Newfoundland. In 188-5 the
amount intended to be smngglcd exceeded that proportion. It is said that half the
spirits and tobacco consumed in Quebec pays tio duly. Since 1890 the import trade of
St. Pierre has fallen oOjjer cent, in consciiuence of the increased activity of the Cana-
dian revenue cruisers preventing the us\ial exports.

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

It is, unfortunately, not possible to compare the quantities
consumed of the articles enumerated with their retail prices ta
ascertain exactly the relation betvA'een prices and consun)ption.
Where prices have fallen, it is generally assiimed that the whole-
sale prices have fallen further and more rapidly than retail prices,
though, in the case of suoar, all but the very poorest who may
buy in very small quantities have benefitted to the full extent of
the fall. Where prices have. risen, retail prices may have risen
higher than wholesale, or not so far, uccordinir to ciicumstances.
Tobacco has probably risen higher in retail price than in whole-
sale ; but the dealers in ciixarettes last vear were not able to raise
prices to follow the wholesale price. The following comparison,
however, is with Montreal wholesale prices as stated in the
Statistical Year Book. 1896:—

CoSSUMrXUlN AND PRICES.

Coffee

.Srci

AK.

Tobacco.

SiTKITS.

- •/ 1

— ■/

« X

.«£

c£ 1

c£

.£ —

.|S

YEAK

^ »

"■w - 1

'^. r.

■^— J

O.'C

^^ i

Q.rS

PL'S

fts'

5 ^

•" s

STee

C "

S 2 '

c 1

S a

C O

rr ■"*

CC .

tT*

C ^

f" *^

s b.

ii u

1880

Oft

c 2

27 cts.

lOicts

2.7

1.94

54 cts

0.71

§1 50

1881

.47

lo'

3.8

2 03

ooi

0.92

1.60

1882

.71

4.3

2.15

57 i

1.01

1.60

1883

2.28

47'

1.09

1.60

1884

.53

3.8

2,48

•.3i

1 IK)

1.60

1885

.94

4.0

2.62

1.13

1.67

1886

.85

4.9

2.05

0.71

1 81

1887

.41

3.8

2.06

1 81

188.S

3.7

2.09

1 81

1889

.66

3 6

2.15

.)1

0.73

1.83

1890

.66

3 8

2.14

■)1

0.88

1.84

1S91

.69

1 3.7

2 29

53^

0.74

2.48

1892

.73

4.\

i *•*

2.29

C70

2 88

1893

.77

^-h

3.6

38i

2.31

544

0.74

2 53

1894

; 4.1

384

2.26

53^

0.74

2 51

1895

.72

4.0

1 35i

2.16

2 51

1896

.70

4?t

4.4

1
1

33^

2.12

0.62

2 68

■\

30 STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURB AND

From this table it appears that though the price of coffee has
not declined the consumption has increased 80 per cent., shewing
at once an increased desire for coffee and a larger spending power
in the community. Tliis is probably a real increase in the con-
sumption of the nation and not a transfer of taste ; for cocoa and
tea, the substitutes for coffee, have also been consumed in
increased amounts, and there has been no such diminution of
consumption of alcoholie drinks, for which coffee may be regarded
as a substitute, as would set free such an amount of consuming
power as would purchase the additional quantity of coffee. On
the contrary, although the consumption of spirits has declined
somewhat (18 per cent, since 1880), more is being spent on spirits
to-day per head than in 1880. The price has increased 78 per
cent., and had the consumption moved downwards at the same
rate as the piice moved upwards, the quantity used in 1896
should have been 44 per cent, less than in 1880. The decrease,
instead of shewing a diminution of consumption power, indicates
either an increase of money to spend or a growing desire on the
part of the people for spirits such as would lead them to transfer
their taste to alcohol fioni some other article. In face of the
temperance sentiment of the country, it is improbable that the
desire has increased, and we may safely conclude that the relation
between consumption and prices of spirits indicates increased
consumption power. The slight increase in the consumption of
tobacco (11 per cent.), in spite of a rise in price, points to the
same conclusion, viz , that the nation is growing more prosperous
and has a larger income to expend. On the other hand, the
increased consumption of tea and sugar justify no such con- |

elusion. They, of course, indicate a higher level of general well-
being, but not an increased consumpcion power on the part of the
community. They afford no evidence against such an increase
of income ; they simply do not afford any evidence in its favor.
The consumption of sugar has increased almost in the same rates
as the price has declined. The consumption of 1895 has risen 168
per cent.; the price has declined (1S95 price) 62 per cent. The
consumption has ri.sen just 5 per cent, more than the decline of

CONSUMPTION IN CANADA — DAVIDSON.

price warranted — if the community was to continue to spend the
same money per head in 1805 as in 1880. Tea, however has not
increased so much as the price has declined. The consumption
is 48 per cent, greater than in 1880, hut the 1895 price is 35 per
cent, lower than the 1880 price. To preserve the same expendi-
ture of income on this article the con.sumption should have ri.sen
54 per cent., or 6 per cent, more than it has risen.

From this comparison of consumption and prices it is evident
that there has been not only an increase of well-being due to the
larger quantity of these commodities used, but an increase of
consumption power as well, and judging fiom the instances
before us, an increa.se of consumption power of considerable
extent. We can carry the investigation a little further, to find
out, so far as figures can tell us, how far the well-being of the
community has increased. The most obvious method of esti-
mating this increase is by constructing an index number for
consumption. Into the problem whether a permanent index
number of consumption is possible, it is not necessary to enter;
the following attempt is intended only as a method of illustra-
tion, not as an indication of cause. It is the more important to
state this liinitation, as the year 1880 was, as the table shews, a
year of very low consumption — a fact which was not apparent to
the writer till this calculation, the last made for this paper, was
made. So long as the result is not used by politicians for
partisan purposes, and is regarded merely as a summary of the
earlier table, it does not matter much which year is taken.

The method of construction was to take the seven articles —
tea, coffee, sugar, dried fruits, spirits, beer and tobacco — as typical
of the consumption power of the community, and to take the
quantity consumed per head in 1880 in each case as equal to 100
--the sum 700 being taken as the index number of the consump-
tion of that year. The articles are, of course, not all equally
important, and therefore it must be repeated that the index
number is intended for purposes of illustration only : —

32 STATISTICS OF EXPENDITURE AND CONSUMPTION— DAVIDSON.

r* I

Index Numbkr of Consumption in Canada.

Year.

1880

Tea.
100

Cotfct).

Sugar.

Dried Frultn.

Spirits,

Tobacco.

1
Boer.

100

T'l Index
Number.

100

lOO

700

1881

140

117

119

159

129

106

101

871

1882

159

177

115

178

142

113

122

1006

1883

148

150

130

210

153

120

128

1039

1884

140

132

146

273

141

131

129

1092

1885

148

235

163

215

159

1.37

117

1174

1886

181

212

146

189

100

107

128

1071

1887

14(»

102

163

221

105

1(18

136

975

1888

137

150

163

23'3

110

144

1030

1889

133

165

180

242

109

113

144

1086

1890

140

1«5

134

247

124

112

149

1071

1891

137

172

153

252

104

120

168

1106

1892

1(52

, ir2

261

247

120

156

1226

1893

133

192

231

104

124

• 154

1130

1894

151

175

234

278

104

118

l(i-2

1222

1895

148

180

268

273

1 94

113

154

1231

1896

167

175

180

294

! 87

111

155

1169

The year 1880 is evi(iently not an average year, an<3 there
were probably trade infiu^nees at work inducing a small
importation. And it is to be r ^marked that the figures on which
these index numbers are originally based are figures of trade
and not of consumption. In order to attain something like strict
accuracy by eliminating the effects of anticipatory importations
to avoid a threatened tax, and such like influences visible in
all trade returns, it would be necessary to make the consumption
for each year the average of a period of three or four years —
thus the figures for 1886 would be the average of 1884, 1885
and 1880 ; the figures for 1887 the average of 1885. 1886, 1887.
But such exactitude would be tedious, and the process might be
liable to the objection that it sought to attain a greater degree
of accuracy than the nature of the subject admits.

Within the limits set down this index number illustrates the
steady growth of the national prosperity and well-being— a
movement not uniform or without backward steps— but none the
less indicating that the command the nation has over the material
sources of satisfaction has increased.