The results of the seventh census of population in Canada, taken as of June 1, 1931, are comprised in 14 octavo volumes, of which all except the final volume of maps and graphs and certain monographs to be included in the two volumes of census monographs, have been issued. The present review is confined to the population census proper, including, however, the topics of gainful occupations, earnings, and unemployment; on the other hand, agriculture, merchandising and services, and institutions are omitted. In other words, the present review is limited to volumes I-VII, together with those monographs included in volumes XII and XIII which treat the topics of these seven volumes, so far as the monographs themselves have been issued. The advantage of considering the monographs in connection with the corresponding topics of the census itself is obvious, since the detailed analytical treatment of the former helps to throw into clear light the census findings and adds materially to the value of the results.

An outline of the contents of the several volumes may help to give perspective to the whole subject. Volume I contains, in addition to the administrative summary of the work of the census, a brief analysis and comment on each of the major subjects covered by the census, together with a selection of tables on all topics; the text covering 344 pages and the tables 1,177 pages. Volumes II-VII are devoted to tabular matter; volume II to population figures for local subdivisions, with details by sex, age, etc., for these areas; volume III to age classifications; volume IV to “cross classifications,” e.g. birthplace with racial origin, literacy, religion, etc.; volume V to wage-earners, earnings, families, and housing; volume VI to unemployment; and volume VII to occupation and industry.

The Australian Loan Council is a unique body. Established in 1928-9 as a part of the Financial Agreement, after the opinion had become widespread that the credit of the whole of Australia, under existing conditions, could never be much higher than that of its weakest state, the Loan Council was given full legislative and constitutional status as the body which was to handle all borrowing by Commonwealth and state governments, except borrowing for temporary purposes or by the Commonwealth for purposes of defence. Against its decisions there is no appeal because the Council is not directly responsible to any one Parliament or electorate. “If,” as Mr. Forgan Smith of Queensland has complained, “any Premier agrees [at a meeting of the Loan Council] to a line of policy from which his State Parliament dissents, all that this Parliament can do is, by means of a vote of no confidence, to remove him from office. Nevertheless the decision of the Loan Council would stand.” It is more than probable that nobody foresaw the extent to which, in the depression, the Loan Council might “be made the instrument of forcing upon the Commonwealth and the States a common policy involving the very details of their internal administration.”

Reduction of deficits. The first evidence of the powers of the Loan Council came in April, 1931, when Australia was fumbling for a proper policy to stem depression. On the initiative of the Council the so-called Copland Committee was appointed and on the basis of the report of this Committee the “Premiers' plan” was drawn up, which aimed, through a variety of measures, at a prompt balancing of budgets. These were long steps forward, but the question as to what could be done to keep governments in line still had to be answered, and here again the Loan Council had an important role. Early in 1932 New South Wales defaulted on its debt, and then approached the Loan Council for additional authority to borrow.

It is well recognized that the imposition of a tax on a commodity will produce certain changes in its production and consumption, and in particular, that the primary incidence of a commodity tax is a function of the elasticities of the relevant supply and revenue curves at the point of intersection. This study attempts to add to the precision, and to extend the usefulness, of the elasticity concept in economic theory, with particular reference to the taxing of commodities. The effect of commodity taxes in restricting business activity (and consumption) is of increasing economic significance. To facilitate the analysis of these effects, the term “Elasticity of the Market” is introduced. It measures the change in the quantity produced and sold, for a given vertical change in the supply curve, or in the revenue curve, or in both. Within the limits of the assumptions given, it is possible to determine from the elasticity of the market, the effect of a change in tax rates on the tax revenues, and the point of maximum fiscal revenue. The conditions of monopoly and competition offer a number of interesting comparisons, not only in the economic effects of commodity taxes, but also for general economic theory.

Dalton proposes that a commodity tax is divided between buyers and sellers in the ratio of the elasticity of supply to the elasticity of demand.