DOMINION OF CANADA. 



221 



ince, an act to provide for the drainage of low 

 lands, and a bill relating to electoral lists. 



The Legislature of the Province of Quebec 

 was opened by Governor Robitaille, May 28th. 

 The entire line of the Quebec, Montreal, Otta- 

 wa and Occidental Railway has passed into the 

 hands of the Provincial Government. The 

 cost of building the Provincial Railway has 

 consumed the consolidated railway fund and a 

 considerable sum beyond. The liabilities in- 

 curred in this and other public works have 

 been partly funded and converted into a loan, 

 which has been successfully negotiated in the 

 Paris market. This loan of $4,000,000, bearing 

 five per cent, interest, was disposed of at two 

 per cent, below par. The Government brought 

 forward several measures imposing taxes on 

 licenses, mining privileges, the public offices, 

 etc., the object of which was to increase the 

 revenue without resorting to direct taxation, 

 which is regarded with great aversion in the 

 Canadian provinces. Steps were also taken to 

 somewhat reduce the cost of the civil service. 

 The new loan had increased the debt of the 

 province to $11,000,000, and an additional loan 

 was yet to be raised which would make it $15,- 

 000,000. The principal part of the large debt 

 of Quebec, which presents a striking contrast 

 to the handsome surplus of Ontario, is owing 

 to the larger subsidies granted in Quebec to 

 railways, and the expenses incurred in con- 

 structing public institutions and local improve- 

 ments, which, in the other province, are borne 

 chiefly by the municipalities. Of the cost of con- 

 struction of the twenty-three railways, aided in 

 Ontario, with a total* milease of 1,357 miles, 

 which amounted to about $24,000,000, the sub- 

 sidies granted by the Legislature amounted to 

 less than $3,000,000; the municipalities aided 

 them to the extent of $7,000,000, and private 

 capital furnished $14,000,000. In Quebec, on 

 the other hand, there were twelve roads built, 

 with a total length of 877 miles. The total 

 cost was about $20,000,000, one half of which 

 went into the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and 

 Occidental Railway, now in the hands of the 

 Government. Of the total amount, nearly half 

 was paid by the Government, $7,000,000 by 

 municipalities, and only $7,000,000 by private 

 capitalists. A proposed means of extricating 

 the province from its financial difficulties is to 

 transfer the North Shore Railway to the Do- 

 minion Government. 



The Ontario Legislature was prorogued on 

 March 5th, after a two months' session. The 

 measures passed embraced the consolidation of 

 the superior courts of law and equity, altera- 

 tions in the jurisdiction and practice of the 

 Division Courts, the readjustment of the rights 

 of lumberers and settlers on free-grant lands, 

 and the abolition of priority among execution 

 creditors. The jurisdiction of - the Division 

 Courts was extended to claims on written evi- 

 dence of liability up to $200, instead of $100 

 as before, for the settlement of which judgment 

 is given by the Court upon the written vouch- 



ers, without the allowance of law costs. The 

 game-protection law was rendered much more 

 stringent by numerous amendments. This meas- 

 ure excited strong opposition in the legal pro- 

 fession. The law had the intended effect, 

 transferring nearly two thirds of the cases 

 which were formerly brought in the County 

 Courts to the Division Court, where they are 

 more speedily and inexpensively settled. A 

 needed act was passed, exempting the goods of 

 a lodger from an execution taken out by the 

 house-owner against the lessee for rent. An 

 act was passed with reference to the granting 

 of bonuses by municipalities for the construc- 

 tion of railways, making the expressed consent 

 of a majority of all the rate-payers necessary 

 to secure a bonus by-law. An enactment 

 changes the respective rights of lumberers and 

 settlers on free-grant lands. By the former 

 law the licensed lumberer was obliged to va- 

 cate the standing timber to the settler after five 

 years. The new act abolishes the five years' 

 limit, and in return the settler is allowed one 

 third of the Crown dues paid after the issue of 

 his patent. 



The revenue of the province for the year 

 1879 amounted to $2,250,269, of which $1,333,- 

 569 came from the subsidy, etc., and $457,340 

 from woods and forests and public lands. The 

 expenditures amounted to $2,285,282. Only a 

 few more miles remain to be completed of the 

 railways to which subsidies have been granted. 

 Deducting all liabilities on account of these, 

 and on other accounts, and the deficit for the 

 year, there remains a surplus fund of $4,309,027. 



An Agricultural Commission was appointed, 

 which visited the different districts of the prov- 

 ince, and collected a large mass of valuable in- 

 formation upon the state of agriculture and the 

 best approved methods of farming. 



The Nova Scotia Legislature was prorogued 

 by Lieutenant-Governor Archibald, after au- 

 thorizing the Government to raise a loan of 

 $500,000. The estimated revenue for 1880 was 

 $490,240,000, and the estimated expenditure 

 $486,798,000. The Nova Scotia coal-mining 

 industry suffered an increasing depression in 

 1879, according to the report of the Commis- 

 sioner of Mines, in spite of the protective duty 

 of 50 cents per ton. Some experimental ship- 

 ments of coal were made to Montreal before 

 the general revival of trade ; but this was only 

 possible with unusually low freight- charges, 

 and was not repeated. The sales in 1879 were 

 688,824 tons, a decrease of 4,883 tons as com- 

 pared with 1878. The number of men and 

 boys employed in the mines was 3,034. The 

 total out-put was 788,273 tons. There were 

 40 gold-mines in operation in the province, and 

 28 quartz-mills, crushing 159,346 tons of quartz. 

 The total yield of gold during the year was 18,- 

 801 ounces, an average yield per ton of 17 pen- 

 nyweights 8 grains. The average product per 

 man employed was $2.34 per day. In the 

 Montague district the product reached $6.13 

 per man. 



