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THE DAILY BRITISH WhiG. ee -- ---- WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20, 1022. | | The Oil Question. {| Toronto, Dec. 13.-- (To the Edi- tor) a letter in your issue of November 3rd from a B. A, Aykroyd, charging | or, The Vancouver Imperial Oil Limited with endeayor- | RITE Moffats Limited, Wes- ton, Ont., for free booklet, explaining the new patented flat rate and meter combination Elec- ing to obtain a monopoly of the pros- pective oil lands of Western Canada, and to this end suppressing import- tric Water Seater, It gives Jon BR A ant information regarding the resvlia hot water day and night, an \ of drilling an ofl well at Fabayan, reserve of thirty gallons always on \ \ fre wllen Wort J Wolas ugh. has 2 very-ow sont. The fact is that a number of peo- ! ; a' ple living in the vicinity of the Faba- OR (yan weil, and particularly Richard ! {Aykroyd, president of the Wain- Electric Water The Public Utility Hydro Shop Phone 844 | wright Board of Trade, who has evid- jently communicated his views to Mr. 268 Princess 8t., Kingston, Ont. Aykroyd of Kingston, were for a time [honestly convinced that we had {reached a considerable deposit of | Letters and articles making the de- | fnite statement that a petroleum re- iservoir had been encountered were |inserted in many western and some eastern papers, despite an official | statement by us that we had not {found ol. On the strength of these {letters and articles a number of leases | were sold. Although we were honest- ly attempting to find oil, there was | never any actudl evidence of a com- | mercial deposit of petroleum, and we |have now abandoned the dmiling. There is a considerable flow of gas from the hole which will be utilized by local parties, A BUSINESS MAN'S LUNCH courtevus service and a menu for those of the most discrimi- nating taste will assure you of a pleasant noon-day lunch. We have made a specialty of the business men's lunch. At the noon heur, drop in at Tho Victoria .Cafe. Our quick, THE VICTORIA CAF \ JEWLY LEE, Manager. 854 KING STREET In these circumstances I addressed TELEPHONE 762. a letter to the editor of the Vancou- ver Sun and to the Calgary Herald, Ee ---- | endeavoring to give the people of the DAINTY CAFE nl royi"s letter has probably misled 4 number of your readers, I am ventur- (ing to enclose you a copy, with the The place where dining out is truly a delight suggestion that you might publish it in whole or in part, as your judgmen: dictates. | I believe I am safe in saying that [Wwe do not hold one-twentieth of tho petroleum leases held in Western Canada, but we are the only large company engaged in testing tha' vast area, and we are now at the end of four years of fruitless and rather dis couraging work and large capital ex- penditure. It is not in the public in- terest that we should proclaim our failures, such as the hole at Fabayan proved to be, and we have been sub- PRINCESS ST, OPPOSITE BIBBY'S fe 'The American Bible Society is pre- [the Scriptures written largely in the paring during the present year to [new national phonetic script of bring out some 2,000,000 coples of |China, BULL THE FINEST QUALITY CIGAR GENERAL CIGAR CO. LIMITED CONTROLLED & OPERATED BY IMPERIAL TOBACCO CO. OF CANADA LIMITED ca ~ GOOD FURNITURE ~~ For Christmas Solid Walnut Living Room and Chester- field Table, period designs--$25.00 - Walnut Reading Chairs in Tapestry and Velours .. .......$16.00 to $50.00 One good thing Furniture Store when you are consider- ing Christmas is that whatever you buy here is a perma- nent joy to anybody who receives it. abo Gift Suggestions: Spinet Desks-- vr eee. $65, $85 Secretaries-- -. $12.50 to $110 Lamp Shades-- . $9.50 to $40.00 Card Tables . . $5.00 Toy Sets, 3 pieces . . .. .$ Rockers .......... $2404 High Chairs . . .$2.50, $10.5 ShooFlys . . .. $2.50. § 3.00 Doll Carriages $3.00 to $13.00 ROBT. J. REID + Ambulance Service. 22 Years of Good Furniture. Phone 577. * Davenport Tables. Occasional Tables. \ End Tables. Gate Leg Tables. Nest of Tables. | petroleum in the Fabayan drilling. | Letters to the Editor | My attention has been called to ! { | | | | | | | assistance, the drilling enterprises of , Prospector could not demand as a (trom a fleld owned and controlled Jected to attack by your correspond- { ent because we failed to assist in pro- | notion of another Calgary boom which might have proved much mora +o$ | disastrous than the first. Yours very truly, C. 0. STILLMAN, Presiden:. | -- Toronto, Oct. 27.-- (To the Eart- | Sun, Vancouver, { has been good | a copy of the | B.C.): Someone enough to send me Sun of Friday, October 20th, con- taining an article by one nuward T. | Mitchell on the Imperia] Off drilling | operations at Irma in Alberta, ang | an editorial based upon this articld, | Since both editorial and article aro | fantastically at 'variance with the | facts, I am setting down certain in- | formation which may be enlighten. | ing to your, readers. i Canada consumes in six days all of | thé petroleum it produces in a year, The discovery of a domestic source of supply would mean: 1.--An appreciation in the value | of Canadian national securities and | in our credit generally; | 2.--A material and immediate in- crease In population; | + = A stimulus to agriculture ! and industry generally; ! 4.--The attraction of new capital | Canada in great volume; b6.--A considerable augmentation | of the national revenues through | royalties on petroleum production; | 6.--A potential profit on_the pro- | duction and sale of petroleum to | Imperial 011 Limited, and to an | other companies engaging in this industry, In these circumstances is the | search for a Canadian supply of | petroleum to be discouraged, or is it a patriotic duty to harass and im- pede a sincere effort to make Canada | self-supporting in this vital natura} | resource? Is Imperial 011, Limited, | performing a national service or 1s | it, as your editorial suggests, en- deavoring to filch an asset of great | value from the people of this cone. | try. { The first comprehensive effort and the first outlay of capital on a large scale in an endeavor to find petrol- eum in Canada has been that of Im- perial Ofl, Limited, a Canadian | company, with six thousand share- holders in Canada. It has to date' expended a sum in excess of three | million dollars in a systematic pet- roleum drilling campaign which has extended from the forty-ninth para lel to practieally the Arctic Circle, and which has covered a dozen wide- ly separated areas in the western country. Around these areas thous- ands of leases are held by individ- uals or syndicates awaiting the re- sult of our tests. In entering, upon this campaign, Imperial Oil, Limited, made no bar- gain with either Federal or Pro- vinclal Governments, nor did it seek or accept any special treatment or concession. : We asked nothing from the government which the poorest to right. We accepted the terms and conditions as to rentals of govern- ment-owned lands, royalties upon al] petroleum produced, and every re- striction and regulation which had existed in the laws , of Canada for years. Can the editor of the Sun think of any other development of a natural resource . which not only has been carried on without govern- ment assistance or subsidy and which has been from the beginning & source of revenue to the national treasury? Imperial Oil, Limited, asked for no monopoly--another company did. It sought and would have obtained, but for the opposition of the people of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the exclusive right to drill for ofl over a term of years in practically all the potential producing areas of the Northwest Territories and Western Provinces. Being denied this, that company refused to take an even chance with other petroleum enter- prises, and invested Jts capital, not in the Canadian west but in the more profitable and assured flelds of California, from which vantage point it is now shipping petroleum pro- ducts to compete with those of our refinery at loco. Our crude petrol- eum manufactured at foco comes and operated by a Can ization In Peru. » Imperial 0il, Limited, has now been conducting its exploration cam- paign for five years, and to date it has not been successful in producing a commercial supply of petroleum. Every step of its operation has been closely checked by the Dominion and Provincial government. The log of its wells has supplied a wealth of geological data to the Department of the Interior. Our operations are con- stantly under the scrutiny of govern- ment engineers, : Imperial Ol, Limited, has not proclaimed that its operations have 80 far been unsuccessful because it was not in the national interest to do 80. If and when we meet with Success, as we confidently hope to do, we will lose mo time in inform- ing the public of the exact facts, and we think that then we shall be entitled to due credit as ploneers in the production of a most vital com- modity In this country. We have en- couraged, by the loan of equipment, by the freest access to the geological data gathered by our own technical staff, and in some cases by financial adian organ- local groups engaged in a legitimate and serious effort to find petroleum. We have offered to co-operate with any of the large world companies willing to come into this country and invest capital upon the same terms as those under which we operate. So far we are the only world company drilling for oil in Canada, although very large company fs now vigor- engaged in similar | tal brings fn an ofl field there will | be no lack of competition amd no! [hestitancy on the part of compan'es | which are now vaunting their pat- | riotism and their British affiliations to reap the benefits of our enter- | prise. You refer to a monopoly of the Alberta fields. Thus far for us it. has been a monopoly of great fipan< cial risk, of arduous labor and of splendid effort and self-sacrifice, | upon the part of our organization. Whatever the outcome may be, the | chief gainer must be the country at large. We have already paid hund- reds of thousands of dollars to the government in rentals. If we find oll the government royalty is fixed at the level prevailing in the most | prolific flelds in the world. | As to the Irma-Fabayan-Wain. | wright field, the situation is just as | it was described In the official an- nouncement of the company. In the drilligg a pocket ot 8as was encoun- tered, accompanied by a heavy black | substance which was blown out of the hole by the force of the gas and i which thus gave the appearance of | an oll gusher. It was not, however, | a situation which gave us the slight. est encouragement. The episode | could have been capitalized and the | surrounding leases sold to promo- | tion companies at handsome figures, but this would have been a dishonest | proceeding. Whatever the Irma weil | may prove to. be in the future, and | at greater depth, it does not now | contain any promise of a commer- | clal production of petroleum. The | coincidence of the existence in one spot of a gas pocket and a substanca which is, according te the best geo- logical opinion, the worthless resid- | lum of a deposit from which the val- | uable constituents have long since | migrated, might have been used for | the basis of another Calgary boom, but in declining to allow this episode to be exploited, the company acted | in the best interest of the commun- ity. IShe provincial analyst of Al- berta did not pronounce this sub- stance 'heavy oil of good quality," nor was it "actually used by the farmers of the locality," and the proposed construction of a refinery at Calgary has absolutely no relation to the Irma well. Wa hope that this plant may some day refine Canadian oil, but it is being constructed sole- ly as an adjunet to our manufactur- ing system, of which the Ioco refin- ery is the western link. I have no brief to defend Stand- ard Oil Company, but since you havo | mentioned that organization, may | ask you to read a bit of war history that has just been disclosed through the publication 'since his death of a letter written by Lord Northcliffe to a friend in England !n August of 1917. Lord Northcliffe was then in the United States as a special and confidential agent of the British government. The letter, which was of a confidential character and which would never have seen the light but for Lord Northcliffe's un- timely death, Sppeass in the October number of the orld"s Work, and fn it the British Commissioner wrote: "In great privacy let me tell you of an enormous responsibility that was placed on my shoulders one mid- night, in the form of a desperate cable from A. J. B. (Earl Balfour) as to the immediate putting' of our fleet out of action owing to dn ap- parently suddenly discovered shovt. age of oil. I had only been here a few days, but long enough to know that such fuel is already scare here. I knew that that cable, if disclosed, would cause a jump In the oil as had never been known. I was up bright and early, I can assure you. A little cautious pussyfooting as to the oil fuel situation brought no comfort --great demand, small supply--no- thing doing. I read and re-read that telegram, and finally called up the Standard Oil head man. We met, New stocks of select grades from the best mills in Quebec and New Brunswick. ALLAN LUMBER CO. VICTORIA STREET, "Phone 1042. We are offering a number of Connecticut Phone Head Sets, 8000 ohm at $6.00. These are high-grade and worth $8.00. Radio and Electric supplies of all kinds. Complete sets in- Halliday Electric Co. PHONE 94. 'CORNER KING AND PRINCESS STS. LN There's A Difference This Christmas Last year, no 'doubt, ders of "listening In" to concertsfrom far away places, afraid Radio was a passing fad. Whereas by this time you probably realize Radto ds playing a very important part in the home lives of people in this country ag well as abroad. Its value in bringing lectures, health instruction, educational talks, sermons and the many items of the world's lat est condensed news to say nothing of the high class operas, eto, will many times repay you for the small expense of inetalling one. Having had several years' you heard of Radio and the many won- but were experience usther with the most complete line of the latest and most standardised parts, and being able to give our individual attention to this line, enables us to 8lve you unexcelled service, and goods that are sold on the basis of "Money back if not satisfactory." : CANADA RADIO STORES 20034 Princess 8 ne le Radie . The Only Exclusively Radio _Sup ply, House Between Toronto and ont real. RADIO SETS COMPLETE AND READY TO SHIP If your dealer cannot supply you write our nearest office. Made in Canada Canadian Westinghouse Company, Lim Hamilton, Ontario District Office: Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Fort William, Ottawa, Halifax. | sal 1 z ' Distributors. PERKINS ELECTRIC LIMITED MONTREAL TORONTO 347 Bleury St. 11 Temperance St. WINNIPEG 217 McDermott Ave. v QUT THT HHT TTT TITY PASTEURIZATION FILLS A NEED--THE and I gave him the cable to read, de- spite its "Most Urgent Most Secret" inscription. He read it slowly twice, gave it back to me, saying "If it can be done, it will he done." I said no- thing whatever about price. Those people started In right there, and oil is pouring across the Atlantic with giant strides, and at a lower price than we have averaged over here. They could have squeezed mil- lions out of our trouble If they had chosen When I thanked them, they merely remarked, "It's our war as well as yours." I can imagine the panic at No. 10 Downing Street if they had known that I had disclos- ed that cable to the oll controllers." The above has nothing to do with the Alberta situation but it is signi- ficant of the attitude of the British people to the American petroleum industry--an attitude which is little understood in this country. dn conclusion may I say that as a Canadian my greatest ambition is to find a petroleum reserve for my own country, and if it is not our fortune to find it we hope and expect that it will be found by someone. The task Is big enough for all who are will- ing to engage in it, 'and surely be- cause we alone have essayed it on a large scale, and because we have sone from Coutts to Fort Norman with Canadian capital and Canadian men, is not evidence that our mo- tives are ulterior or that we have anything but the best interest of the country at heart. Thankigg your for the insertion of this letter, I am, Yours truly, --(8gd.) C. O STILLMAN. President, Imperial Of, Limi'eg Hood's \ Best : SEP rata. vegeta | Ma, osy to take. 350, vg ULTIMATE SAFEGUARD All Our Milk is Thoroughly Pasteurized. * PRICE'S DAIRY QOL THAT For Christmas !! | Ice Cream Bricks -- frozen pudding, Tutti-Frutti, Macaroon, Maple Walnut, Vanilla and Strawberry, Neapolitan, Grapenut, Orange and Vanilla, and any as- sortment to suit customers. See our assortment of fancy boxes. Prices moderate. | John Hicks, a former resident do) Belleville, passed away at the rest dence of his. daughter, Mrs. Laing Montreal. Deceased was aged sigh ty-four years. rh Mrs. John Burniston, a resident of Brockviile for sixty-five years, passed away Sunday at the residence of her son-in-law, Fred Mott, Fairfield, aged years, seveuty-five