The work of the Canadian Red Cross Society included the building and equipping of auxiliary hospitals to those of the Canadian Army Medical Corps; providing of extra and emergency stores of all kinds, recreation huts, ambulances and lorries, drugs, serums and surgical equipment calculated to make hospitals more efficient; the looking after the comfort of patients in hospitals providing recreation and entertainment to the wounded, and dispatching regularly to every Canadian prisoner parcels of food, as well as clothes, books and other necessaries: The Canadian Red Cross expended on goods for prisoners in 1917 nearly $600,000. In all the Canadian Red Cross distributed since the beginning of the war to November 23, 1918, $7,631,100. The approximate total of voluntary contributions from Canada for war purposes was over $90,000,000. The following figures, quoted from tables issued by the Department of Public Information at Ottawa, show the exports in certain Canadian commodities, having a direct bearing on the war for the last three fiscal years before the war (1912-13-14), and for the last fiscal year (1918); and illustrates the increase, during this period, in the value of these articles exported: VALUES Average for 1912-1913-1914 1918 Foodstuffs $143,133,374 $617,515,690 Clothing, metals, leather, etc. 45,822,717 215,873,357 ------------ ------------ Total $188,956,091 $833,389,047 As practically all of the increase of food and other materials went to Great Britain, France and Italy, the extent of Canada’s effort in upholding the allied cause is clearly evident and was by no means a small one. The trade of Canada for 1914 was one billion dollars; for the fiscal year of 1917-18 it was two and one-half billion dollars. Approximately 60,000,000 shells were made in Canada during the war. Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities a shell committee was formed in Canada to really act as an agent for the British war office in placing contracts. The first shells were shipped in December, 1914, and by the end of May, 1915, approximately 400 establishments were manufacturing shells in Canada. By November, 1915, orders had been placed by the Imperial Government to the value of $300,000,000, and an Imperial Munitions Board, replacing the shell committee, was formed, directly responsible to the Imperial Ministry of Munitions. During the war period Canada purchased from her bank savings $1,669,381,000 of Canadian war loans. Estimates of expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1919, demonstrated the thoroughness with which Canada went to war. They follow: Expenditure Expenditure Total in Canada. Overseas. Expenditures.