BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROVINCE OF. 



87 



Creek district to the coast; of a railway to the 

 northern end of Vancouver island; and of a rail- 

 way in Canadian territory from the coast to the 

 northern boundary of the province. The indus- 

 tries of the province, 1 am happy to state, are in 

 a prosperous condition. During the recess com- 

 missions were issued for inquiries into the con- 

 duct and general administration of the Asylum 

 for the Insane; the rights of settlers on the Es- 

 quimalt and Nanaimo Railway land belt; and the 

 adjustment of mining claims in the newly or- 

 ganized Porcupine district, and lull reports of the 

 commissioners in each case will be laid before 

 you. 



" Provision was made by you at the last ses- 

 sion of the Legislature for the appointment of 

 a commission to inquire into the working of the 

 mining acts, and much preliminary information 

 has been obtained by the Department of Mines 

 in anticipation of the commission being used; but 

 it having been announced that the Dominion 

 Government also intended issuing a commission 

 with respect to our mineral resources, a postpone- 

 ment was deemed desirable in order to ascertain 

 to what extent these commissions might be able 

 to cooperate to the advantage of the province. 

 Amendments will be introduced to perfect, as far 

 as possible, existing mining laws. The act regu- 

 lating immigration, passed at last session, has 

 come into efi'ect, and the necessary machinery for 

 its enforcement has been put into operation. A 

 delegation, consisting of my First Minister, and 

 the Honorable the Attorney-General, recently pro- 

 ceeded to Ottawa to lay before the Dominion Gov- 

 ernment the claims of British Columbia to in- 

 creased recognition in the matter of railway devel- 

 opment, and in other respects, and to arrive at a 

 settlement of certain matters requiring adjust- 

 ment between the two governments. The report 

 of the delegation will be laid before you." 



The Hon. J. P. Booth acted as Speaker, and 

 when the House was prorogued on May 11 the 

 following acts among others of minor impor- 

 tance were assented to in the King's name: 



To authorize grants of land to British Columbia 

 volunteers serving in the South African war. 



To amend the extra-provincial investment and 

 loan societies act, 1900. 



To amend the land registry act amendment 

 act. 



To amend the placer mining act and amending 

 acts. 



To extend the provisions of the Canadian con- 

 tingent exemption act, 1900. 



Respecting the maintenance of wives deserted 

 by their husbands. 



To amend the succession duty act. 



To provide for the collection of a tax on per- 

 sons. 



To amend the inspection of metalliferous mines 

 act and amending act. 



To amend the absconding debtors act. 



To amend the summary convictions act. 



To amend the trustees and executors act. 



For the protection and reformation of neglected 

 and dependent children. 



To amend the coal-mines regulation act. 



To incorporate the Lake Bennett Railway 

 Company. 



To incorporate the Queen Charlotte Islands 

 Railway Company. 



To incorporate the Kamloops and Atlin Rail- 

 way Company. 



To incorporate the Coast-Kootenay Railway 

 Company, Limited. 



To incorporate the Comox and Cape Scott Rail- 

 way Company. 



To incorporate the Victoria Terminal Railway 

 and Ferry Company. 



To incorporate the Imperial Pacific Railway 

 Company. 



To incorporate the District Power and Tele- 

 phone Company. 



To incorporate the Midway and Vernon Rail- 

 way Company. 



To incorporate the Kootenay Central Railway 

 Company. 



To incorporate the Vancouver and Grand Forks 

 Railway Company. 



To incorporate the Yale Northern Railway 

 Company. 



To amend the British Columbia immigration 

 act, 1900. 



Respecting assignments for the benefit of cred- 

 itors. 



To authorize a loan of $5,000,000 for aiding the 

 construction of railways and other important pub- 

 lic works. 



To amend the drainage, diking, and irrigation 

 act. 



Respecting the manufacture of wood-pulp and 

 paper. 



On Sept. 3 Dunsmuir a Conservative in Do- 

 minion politics, elected to the Legislature and 

 made Premier through opposition to the policy of 

 Joseph Martin, the Radical leader threw a bomb 

 into the political arena by accepting the resigna- 

 tion of Mr. J. H. Turner, Minister of Finance, and 

 appointing the Hon. John C. Brown Provincial 

 Secretary and Minister of Education. Mr. James 

 D. Prentice was transferred from this latter de- 

 partment to that vacated by Mr. Turner. Mr. 

 Brown had been a devoted follower of Martin, an 

 opponent of Dunsmuir until very lately, and a 

 Radical of the most strenuous type. Mr. Mc- 

 Bride, Minister of Mines, at once resigned his post, 

 and the papers of the province with very few ex- 

 ceptions denounced the action of the Premier 

 and the assumed change of policy toward what 

 was popularly termed " Martinism." The defense 

 made by the Colonist, the chief Government or- 

 gan, was that the representation of both parties 

 in the provincial Cabinet was desirable; that Mr. 

 Brown himself was a good administrator and 

 would make an excellent minister, and that he 

 now had complete confidence in the policy of the 

 Premier. When the new minister went back for 

 election to his constituency of New Westminster 

 he was met with violent opposition, and on Sept. 

 18, after a prolonged contest, he was defeated by 

 Thomas Gifford by 52 votes. On Oct. 4 his re- 

 tirement was announced, and the office was there- 

 after left vacant for some time, although Messrs. 

 H. D. Helmcken, K. C., and R. F. Green were 

 understood to have been offered Cabinet places. 

 The Opposition papers declared that the Govern- 

 ment was tottering, and loudly urged the Premier 

 to resign, but the latter, on *Oct. 10, announced 

 that he still had a large majority in the House, 

 and intended to remain in office. He met with a 

 great personal misfortune about this time, when 

 a fire in his coal-mines involved a loss of about 

 $1,000,000. 



Relations with the Dominion. On March 

 15 a report was submitted to the House by the 

 Premier and the Hon. D. M. Eberts concerning 

 their mission to Ottawa in January and February. 

 In the documents thus published and in the dis- 

 cussions referred to,, Mr. Dunsmuir had pressed 

 strongly upon the Dominion Government the 

 claims of British Columbia in various important 

 matters the necessity of checking Chinese and 

 Japanese immigration; the right of the province 

 to a greater share of the revenues arising from 



