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ian Branch Plants Gilt-Edged Investment In Which U. S. Manufacturers Are Offered Food for i Thought--Advantages Which Ensure Profitable Oper. . ation -- Abundance of Raw . Materials, Satisfactory Labor Conditions, Availability of Power, Low Tra 1 By FLOYD S. CHAMBERS Af In The Nation's Business, Official Publication of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. . ANADA is now a ves! thoug! amounts of American 'and British capital for invest- t. It welcomes the oppor- ty of investment in branch t organizations, and when @ Canadian owns stock in one of these industries he views it 48 a Canadian industry even though control may rest in the United States. The Canadian welcomes the "he large in. nation, ¢ penetration of Americans. L] ct that Americans have $3,100,000, invested in this country, repre- senting a mortgage of 12 per cent on the total national wealth of the coun- it) gives him no concern whatever. ven if the American manufacturer establishes his plant in Canada with out the investment of a single dollar of Catadian capital he is assured of welcome, ut the Canadian investment in- Juste, from the standpoint of pub- ¢ity and the winning of goodwill, is worthy of consideration, is Excellent Wage rates in Canada are very lit- American Wage scales. uetionn of the workmen will be nd t6 fully equal that of American Jorkmn and labor relations will be on 6 be excellent, here are some factors in produc- én edsts, however, that are distinct- favérable in Canada. One is that , To any industry that uses large amount of power Canada of- Jor épportunities. Power is cheap da, because 70 per cent. of the i it is still drawing! motive power of the entire nation is Sleetric Jones and 97 per cent. of the elect ea energy of Canada is pro- uced from water power. Transportation costs are cheap in Canada , The average freight revenue per ton mile of Canadian railroads is probably the lowest in the world; less than one cent. The fact that Canada offers an abundant supply of easily available raw materials of practically every description, being far from the point of depletion, is also important. "At what exact point does it be- come profitable to establish a branch plant in Canada?" An American asked me that ques- tion, The answer must be general because the specific answer is differ- ent with each industry, But my gen- eral answer is this: It hecomes profit- able for the American industrialist to buy or erect a branch plant in Canada and set up a strictly Canadian sales organigation when he reaches any of these milestones in the devel- opment of his Canadian trade; When his sales in Canada reach the point that production of the nec- essary amount of goods can profit- ably be concentrated in one plant; When he finds that his attempt to get into the 450,000,000 market of the ritish Empire is being hampered hy tariffs that are more favorable to British manufacturers than to Ame- rican manufacturers: hen he determines that the Cana- dian or British people are showing a consumer's preference to British manufactured goods in his line and he decides that the best way to meet that obstacle is to put himself in a osition to stamp his goods "British ade for British Trade," or "Cana- PLANT OF CENTRAL SPRING COMPANY, WHICH RUNS NIGHT AND DAY dian Made for Canadian Trade," just as many of his competitors are do- ng x When he finds that his American oods have to be changed to meet the requirements of the Canadian or British markets and he has to put in new machinery and equipment in any event to meet those requirements ; When he finds that the Canadian market requires closer study and cul- tivation than absentee treatment can give it, Those are the milestones, Many American manufacturers have not reached them in their Canadian or British Empire trade. But in the next few years many of them are going to anticipate their arrival eventually at one of these milestones, and by putting up their plants in Canada in the near future, will start to paint in a background of consumer preference and public goodwill, A great city, whose image dwells on the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome represents conquest; faith hovers around Jeru- salem; and Athens embodies the pre- eminent quality of the antique world- art.--Disraeli. Dixon Companies Expand Rapidly Their Operations Have Figured Prominently in Oshawa's Building Program With a business that is growing monthly, the Dixon Coal Compahy and the Dixon Gravel and Sand Company, which are associated companies with one personnel! at the head, are illustrating the ex- pansion that is possible when the members of a family join forces and enter business with the ideals of quality and service as their in- spiration. In six years the staff of the company has increased to 67 men, wtih over $115,000 of an an- nual payroll, while the investment of the company is estimated as over $200,000, Three gravel pits, totalling 44 acres, are among the holdings of the company, and the sand and gravel division is a rapidly increas- ing department of the business. They have 15 trucks steadily at work hauling sand and gravel, with two teams engaged exclusively in "stripping" the surface soil from the pit as the large steam shovel of drag-line hopper eats farther and farther into the bank, Incidentally, stripping of the pits alone is an estimated expense of $4,000 that has to be met in the gravel busi- ness, says Mr, Elmer Dixon, It is an interesting tour to make, of the pits where the operation, that might ordinarily be termed prosaic, of preparing gravel and sand for building purposes is be- ing carried on, But the first pit reached provides interest, as the large Erie steam shovel takes per- haps four bites out of the earth to fill a five-ton truck. This shovel is ®apable of lifting 1,000 cubic vards, or 1,250 tons, of gravel per day out of the earth. At the next pit is seen a modern gasoline load- er, that is capable of loading about 200 yards, or 250 tons, of gravel in a day. But in the third pit, where sand as well as gravel is secured, is a $30,000 plant in operation. First comes the drag line, which oper- ates on a double cable and brings half a ton of gravel at each trip, to. the stone crusher. This hopper, says Mr. Dixon, can bring up more material than 15 teams working steadily. From the end of the drag line, the material is hoisted inte the stone crusher, then up a con- tinuous hopper line to the separas tion, where it passes over sieves that separate it into six qualities, from sand to coarse gravel. 'These then go down chutes, to be load- ed on trucks as required. Since they have been operating in Oshawa, the Dixon firm have supplied material for most of the city's larger buildings, including the General Motors additions, city schools, and also the paving and sidewalk operations of the Stand- ard Paving Company and the city. But the fuel end of the husiness is also a major division. The com- pany handles the exclusive contract for General Motors wood, and Is alto local agent for Jeddo coal and | Time-Honored Record of Robson Leather Company a more distinguished his- torical connection than the Robson Leather Company Ltd. It was early in 1800 that Governor suggested that a tannery should be estab- lished in Oshawa and to Jona- than Bartlett is extended the credit for action in establishing the plant prior to 1830, Inter- esting historical sketches could be given between that year and 1904 at which time the present Company was formed. At the present time the Company manufactures upper leather for shoes, including chrome patent leather un- der the trade mark "Black B: N° industry in Oshawa has eauty" and all varieties of leathers used in the manufacture of the upper part of shoes. Leather for the soles of shoes and staple leathers are not made by the Robson Company. Hides used in the tannery come from Java, India and China while a small percentage are obtained from South America and South Africa. The leather made by the Rebson Leather Company is shipped to manufacturers of boots and shoes throughout Can- ada, the United States and Great Britain. By-products are sold to makers of glue or fertilizer and scraps are sent to button factories where they are used as covering. As the trade has warranted it, ad- ditions have been made to the plant which last vear had a capacity of one thousand hides a day. The present executive officers of the Company are: President, Charles Robson; Sec'y-Treas, H. P. Schell; Superintendent, A. E. Barton; Sales Manager, G. M. Jacobs, Solvay coke, which are finding an increasing sale, Hardwood and softwood slabs and cordwood are also handled, as well as Standard white and grey lime, Portland St. Mary's cement, Keene Cement, Paristone, Asbestoline roofing, and other building material, Last fall the firm constructed at 318 Albert street, the new office building with garage in the rear. The offices are attractively finished, with every convenience, and com- prise a private office for the part- ners of the firm and cuter and in- ner staff offices. In !°e garage the firm handles the r "tir work on their own trucks thus keeping them on the road for the maxi- mum time possible. Six trucks and ten horses are used in the fuel division of the business and it is the intention of the company to increase their stable accommoda- tion 'so that 16 animals may be housed. New trucks are also on order and will be added to the fleet of fuel delivery vehicles as soon as they arrive. Previous to 1919, Mr. R. W. Dix- on, senior member of the firm, was engaged in the milling business, having built up the Oshawa Flour Mills which he eventually sold to Messrs. Hogg and Little, In 1922 Mr, Dixon with his sea Elmer as partner began the present busines: the first yard being located at Court and Barrie streets. In De- cember of 1924 Ernest Dixon, who had formerly been engaged as a bond salesman in New York, was taken into partnership and shortly afterwards the enlarged company bought the coal and wood business formerly conducted by G. B, C. Sharpe, at 313 Albert street. At this time the offices were moved to the new location and from then on both yards have been used. Since April, 1926, the company has handled the General Motors wood contract, Dixon and Sons rated their business assets at bare- ly $8,000 when starting, but now their estimated investment is over $200,000. In 1925 for the con- venience of their customers an up- town office was opened at 35 8im- coe street north, next door to Lob- law's. Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends re dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak approv- ing cheering words while their ears can hear them and while their hearts can be thrilled by them, --Henry Ward Beecher, Pedlar's Fire-proof Products for Modern Building The value of a building depends to such a large degree on the materials used in its construction that it is always real economy, to use the best obtainable, Materials must be durable, attractive and fire resistant, Pedlar's Metal-Built Products offer the very latest improvements in construction materials. 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Here are some of the metal products we manufacture-- gs, Metal Roofing and Siding, Toncan Metal Culverts, Steelcrete Reinforcing, etc, Write for THE PEDLAR PEOPLE LIMITED OSHAWA ONT.,, MONTREAL, AMHERST, OTTAWA, TORONTO, LONDON, WINNIPEG, REGINA, VANCOUVER. HEAD OFFICE BRANCHES