220 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



the Welland Canal, 27 miles in length. To 

 the head of the St. Lawrence ure 160 miles of 

 free navigation across Lake Ontario, and then 

 66f down the St. Lawrence. The route then 

 passes for 7f miles through the Galop Canal, 

 then down the river for 4J- miles, through the 

 Rapide Plat Canal for 4 miles, and in the natu- 

 ral bed of the river again for 10^ miles, through 

 Farran's Point canal mile long back into the 

 river, which it follows for 5 miles, to enter the 

 Cornwall Canal. This is 11$- miles in length, 

 after which comes a stretch of free navigation 

 through the Lake of St. Francis for 32 miles, 

 and then the Beauharnais Canal, llf miles 

 long, a free course over the Lake of St. Louis 

 for 15J miles, and the Lachine Canal, 8 miles 

 long, which leads into Montreal. The expendi- 

 tures on canals up to the beginning of 1880 

 were, $4,699,248 on the Lachine Canal, $412,- 

 916 on the Cornwall Canal, and $10,233,320 

 on the Welland Canal. 



The report of the Minister of Education for 

 the year 1878 gives as the expenditure for pub- 

 lic schools in Ontario $2,889,347, a decrease 

 from the previous year's expenses of $184,142 ; 

 the total number of children of school age, five 

 to sixteen years old, was 492,360, a decrease 

 of 2,444 ; the number attending school was 

 467,433 within the school age, and 21,582 of 

 other ages; the average attendance was 224,- 

 588. The number of schools was 4,990, of 

 teachers 6,473, 3,060 male and 3,413 female. 

 There were 177 Roman Catholic separate 

 schools, with an average attendance of 13,172 

 pupils, an increase of 623. 



The report of the Minister of Justice for 1879 

 shows a marked increase in the number of con- 

 victions over those of the preceding year. The 

 total number of convicts in the penitentiaries 

 was 1,159 on June 30, 1878 ; during the next 

 twelve months, 568 were received under fresh 

 sentences, and 1,318 remained in confinement 

 on June 30, 1879 an increase of 159. "Want 

 of employment is assigned as the principal cause 

 for the continued increase of criminals. The 

 sanitary condition of the prisons is as good as 

 could be desired, only eight deaths having oc- 

 curred during the year. J. G. Moylan, Inspector 

 of Prisons, in his report, defends the employment 

 of prisoners and the teaching of useful trades 

 in the reformatories, saying that convicts 

 should be instructed in order that they may 

 earn an honest living after their release ; that 

 they could with propriety be employed upon 

 articles used in the public service; that the de- 

 sire among them is strong to learn trades, and 

 permission to be taught is held out as the re- 

 ward for good conduct ; that the competition 

 of convict with free labor is not noticeable, ex- 

 cept when a large number of prisoners are sud- 

 denly engaged upon a branch of manufacture 

 employing a limited number of hands, as an 

 instance of which he cites the employment of 

 convicts in New York State in the hatting 

 trade ; that many convicts maintain themselves 

 before conviction, and that, in the cases of 



such, their productive labor in prison can not 

 disarrange the labor market ; and that it is in 

 the interest of the whole social body that con- 

 victs should be made to reimburse by their 

 labor the expense caused by their punishment. 



The paid-up capital of the chartered banks 

 in April was $60,558,822 ; notes in circulation, 

 $19,864,343 ; total liabilities, $106,005,581 ; as- 

 sets, $179,551,651. 



The deposits in the Post-Office Savings-Bank 

 show a gratifying rate of increase. By the 

 terms of the law, no depositor is permitted to 

 place more than $300 in the bank in any one 

 year, or to increase the amount of his deposits 

 beyond $1,000. In the year ending June 30, 

 1880, the total amount on deposit was $3,945,- 

 669, the highest total of any year since the es- 

 tablishment of the system, and $740,000 more 

 than the next highest, which occurred in 1873. 

 The amount on deposit in the fiscal year 1879 

 was only $3,105,051. The number of deposit- 

 ors had increased from 27,445 in 1879 to 31,- 

 365 in 1880; the average amount standing to 

 the credit of each depositor was $125.80. The 

 annual interest allowed is four per cent. The 

 cost of maintaining the bank since its founda- 

 tion in 1868, during which period nearly $23,- 

 000,000 have been received on deposit, has been 

 one half of one per cent, upon the balance in 

 the hands of the Government. 



The Superintendent of Insurance reports that 

 there are 63 active companies, with deposits in 

 the hands of the Receiver-General amounting 

 to $6,479,092. The fire-risks covered aggre- 

 gate $407,357.985, of which Canadian com- 

 panies have taken $265,799,425. The average 

 rate of premium charged in 1879 was $10.51 

 on $1,000 of risk ; the average losses paid on 

 the same, $5.42. Owing to competition, the 

 percentage of the amount received for premi- 

 ums paid out for losses rose from 54 per cent, 

 in 1878 to 66 per cent, in 1879. The life-risks 

 covered aggregated $86,273,702, 38 per cent, 

 in Canadian, 39 per cent, in American, and 22 

 per cent, in British companies. The deaths 

 were 6'94 per thousand a low rate. The in- 

 surance paid was $50 on every $100 of premi- 

 um ; 11 per cent, of the policies were for- 

 feited by lapse. 



In the speech from the throne, at the open- 

 ing of the Legislative Assembly of British Co- 

 lumbia, April 5th, the Lieutenant-Governor ex- 

 pressed satisfaction at the commencement of 

 the Columbia Division of the Pacific Railway, 

 and stated that demands had been made upon 

 the Dominion Government for the construc- 

 tion of the section from Esquimalt to Nanai- 

 mo, and also for a subsidy toward the comple- 

 tion of the Graving Dock at Victoria, but with- 

 out success. He requested that measures be 

 taken to restrict Chinese immigration. 



The Parliament of the Province of Manitoba 

 met January 2d. Lieutenant-Governor Cau- 

 chon delivered the speech from the throne. 

 Among the measures were an act to complete 

 municipal organization throughout the prov- 





