710 



QUEBEC, PROVINCE OF. 



Of publications 35,556 copies have been issued, 

 and Bibles, Testaments, Scripture portions, 

 and prayer-books have been distributed in the 

 English, German, and Hebrew tongues. Bal- 

 ance in hand (Sept. 1, 1887), $7,846.95 ; con- 

 tributions, specials, etc., $12,188.43; total, 

 $20,035.38. Expenditures for schools, salaries, 

 publications, etc., $12,752.52; real-estate ac- 

 count, $518.20 ; balance to new account, 

 $6,764.66 ; total, $20,035.38. 



Changes in the Clergy. During the year four 

 of the bishops have died, viz., Bishop Edward 



R. "Welles, of Milwaukee, Bishop J. H. H. 

 Brown, of Fond du Lac, Bishop S. S. Harris, 

 of Michigan, and Bishop G. K. Dunlop, Mis- 

 sionary Bishop of New Mexico and Arizona. 

 Three presbyters have been consecrated bish- 

 ops, viz., J. S. Johnston, Missionary Bishop of 

 Western Texas; A. Leonard, Missionary Bish- 

 op of Nevada and Utah ; and L. Coleman, 

 Bishop of Delaware. Three are on the list of 

 retired bishops, viz., H. Southgate, C. C. 

 Penick, and S. I. J. Schereschewsky. Over 

 seventy of the clergy died in 1888. 



Q 



QUEBEC, PROVINCE OF. Finances. The Treas- 

 urer of the province, in his budget speech on 

 June 18, 1888, shortly before the close of the 

 fiscal year, announced that the ordinary re- 

 ceipts up to April 1 amounted to $3,024,981.65, 

 and the ordinary expenses to $2,259,960.14. 



An act was passed authorizing the Govern- 

 ment to issue debentures bearing interest at 

 not more than 4 per cent, to the amount of 

 the whole existing debt of the province. As 

 the act left the creditors of the province no op- 

 tion but to accept the lower rate of interest or 

 to terminate their debentures, it was severely 

 criticised in London as well as in Canada, as 

 amounting to a partial repudiation of the prov- 

 ince's liability to its creditors. Presumably in 

 deference to freely expressed public opinion, 

 the Government refrained from carrying out 

 the scheme of conversion. 



District Magistrates Act. This act, of little im- 

 portance in itself, gave rise to no little public 

 excitement through being disallowed by the 

 Dominion Government as ultra vires of the 

 Quebec Legislature. The purport of the act 

 was to abolish the Circuit Court of Montreal 

 and substitute therefor a court with practically 

 the same jurisdiction, to be called the District 

 Magistrates Court. Under the British North 

 America Act, the provincial legislatures en- 

 joy the power to make laws in relation to the 

 administration of justice in the province, in- 

 cluding the Constitution, maintenance, and or- 

 ganization of provincial courts both of civil 

 and criminal jurisdiction ; but the appointment 

 of judges to the superior, district, and county 

 courts in each province appertains to the Gov- 

 ernor-General in Council. The appointment 

 of magistrates rests with the provincial gov- 

 ernments. Consequently, the practical effect 

 of the act was simply to change the name of 

 the court and of its presiding officer, and to 

 confer upon the Quebec Government the power 

 of appointing that presiding officer, which 

 power of appointment is by the British North 

 America act of the Imperial Parliament ex- 

 pressly conferred upon the Dominion Govern- 

 ment. The Quebec Government appointed two 

 district magistrates under the act, and the 

 friends of the local government, in mass meet- 



ing assembled, protested against the disallow- 

 ance as an unwarrantable interference with 

 provincial rights. Some justification for the 

 Quebec Legislature straining the interpreta- 

 tion of the British North America Act in or- 

 der to authorize the appointment of the judges 

 by the Provincial Government, is to be found 

 in the persistent neglect of the Dominion 

 Government to appoint new judges, although 

 the work in the courts was notoriously in ar- 

 rears. 



The Jesuits' Estates Settlement An act passed 

 by the Legislature during the session of 1888, 

 destined to arouse considerable dissension 

 throughout the Dominion, was the act re- 

 specting the settlement of the Jesuits' estates. 

 At the time of the suppression of the Society 

 of Jesus throughout the world by the Pope in 

 1774, the Jesuits owned large estates in Can- 

 ada, which had been bestowed upon them 

 chiefly for educational purposes. According 

 to a schedule made in 1787, their properties 

 included: 1, Six superficial arpents, on which 

 the Quebec college and church are erected, 

 given for the instruction of the inhabitants ; 2, 

 the two Lorettes or Seigniory of St. Gabriel ; 

 3, the peninsula of Lavacherie ; 4, Sillery, near 

 Cape Rouge; 5, Belair; 6, Cap de la Magde- 

 laine, near Three Rivers; 7, Batiscan; 8, the 

 Island of St. Christophe, near Three Rivers; 9, 

 Laprairie de la Magdelaine; 10, a piece of 

 ground at St. Nicholas; 11, eleven arpents of 

 ground at Pointe Levis; 12, the Isle of Reanx, 

 below the Island of Orleans; 13, six arpents 

 at Tadousac; 1"4, the Fief Pacherigny, near 

 Three Rivers; 15, another lot at' the same 

 place; 16, a remnant of ground extending to a 

 small river near Lake St. Peter; 17, a number 

 of lots in Quebec city, now built upon, and 

 many used as public streets; 18, the ground 

 used by the church and mission house of Mon- 

 treal, etc. Altogether the Jesuits owned 48,- 

 000 acres in the district of Montreal. 439,000 

 in the district of Three Rivers, and 129,500 in 

 the district of Quebec valued at from $2,000,- 

 000 to $3,000,000. In 1791 the society was 

 suppressed as a body corporate by King 

 George III, and all its lands were declared to 

 be vested in the crown. Provision was made 



