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ONTARIO. 



ONTARIO, a province of the Dominion of 

 Canada; area, 222,000 square miles; population 

 in 1901, 2,180,881. Capital Toronto. 



Government. With the opening of the year 

 the Liberal Government entered upon the thirti- 

 eth year of its continuous existence, under differ- 

 ent heads and with many individual changes. 

 On Jan. 1, 1901, it was composed as follows: 

 Prime Minister and Treasurer, George W. Ross; 

 Attorney-General, John M. Gibson; Commissioner 

 of Crown Lands, Elihu J. Davis; Commissioner 

 of Public Works, F. R. Latchfordj Provincial 

 Secretary, J. R. Stratton; Minister of Education, 

 Richard Harcourt; Minister of Agriculture, John 

 Dryden; ministers without portfolio, James T. 

 Garrow, William Harty. 



The session of the Legislature was opened 

 on Feb. 6 by Lieut.-Gov. Sir Oliver Mowat, 

 G. C. M. G., with a speech from the throne, of 

 which the following are the important passages: 



" The valor displayed by the Canadian soldiers 

 engaged in the South African War has reflected 

 the highest honor upon Canada, and entitles them 

 to some token of your appreciation. To this end, 

 a bill will be submitted for your consideration 

 authorizing the Crown Lands Department to set 

 aside certain townships in the unorganized dis- 

 tricts permitting every volunteer enrolled in the 

 Province who served in South Africa to choose 

 60 acres to be held upon the most favorable con- 

 ditions compatible with the settlement of the pub- 

 lic domain and the development of the district. 

 Provision will also be made for the recognition of 

 the survivors of the volunteer militia who were 

 actually engaged in defensive service on the fron- 

 tier during 1866. 



" The agricultural classes during the past year 

 have enjoyed unusual prosperity. Improved meth- 

 ods of farming and a more thoughtful application 

 oi the principles of sound husbandry, with the 

 general adoption of cold storage by dairymen and 

 fruit-growers, have greatly contributed to this 

 happy condition of affairs. It has been found, by 

 various tests conducted by the Department of Ag- 

 riculture, that the soil and climate of Ontario are 

 admirably adapted for the growth of sugar-beets. 

 You will be asked to consider whether farmers 

 should not be encouraged to give such special at- 

 tention to beet-raising as will justify the estab- 

 lishment of factories for the production of beet- 

 root sugar by granting such aid for this purpose 

 as may be deemed expedient. 



" The lumber-trade is in a prosperous condition, 

 and the revenue from woods and forests continues 

 buoyant, employment being abundant and wages 

 high. The continued investment of capital in the 

 erection of sawmills affords satisfactory evidence 

 of the wisdom of requiring that logs cut on the 

 Crown domain shall be sawn in our own country. 

 The preservation of our forest wealth continues to 

 engage the attention of my Government, and the 

 recent setting apart of a large forest reserve in 

 the pine region surrounding Lake Temagaming 

 marks another step in this direction. The increas- 

 ing flow of population to New Ontario is a matter 

 of congratulation. 



" I congratulate you on the great expansion of 

 the mineral industry. The manufacture of pig 

 iron in the province is now firmly established and 

 is materially aided by the discovery of large bodies 

 of conveniently situated hematite ore in the 

 Michipicoten region. The making of the first 

 open-hearth steel in the province and the estab- 

 lishment on the upper lakes of the first line of 

 steamers to carry the ore from our own mines to 

 the smelters of our own province are events signifi- 

 cant of substantial progress. Nickel and copper 



mining is more active than at any previous time, 

 and it is gratifying to know that additional 

 works for treatment of these ores are being 

 erected in different parts of the province. Acting 

 on the authority given to the Government by the 

 appropriation made for exploring that part of the 

 province lying toward Hudson Bay, exploration 

 parties spent the greater part of the summer in 

 investigating the agricultural, forest, and min- 

 eral resources of the several districts assigned 

 to them. 



" During the past year extensive alterations 

 have been undertaken in connection with the 

 buildings at Cobourg to meet the urgent demand 

 for additional accommodation for the insane. 

 These alterations are well advanced, and will, I 

 trust, be completed before the close of the current 

 year. 



" Measures will be submitted for aiding in the 

 improvement of public highways; for the encour- 

 agement of the trade in dressed meat for the Eu- 

 ropean market; for abolishing tolls on public high- 

 ways and bridges; for further encouraging tech- 

 nical education; and for consolidating the laws 

 with respect to public and high schools and to 

 liquor licenses." 



The house was prorogued on April 15. The fol- 

 lowing were among the acts passed : 



To provide for the appropriation of certain lands 

 for the volunteers who served in South Africa and 

 the volunteer militia who served on the frontier 

 in 1866: 



To amend the succession duties act. 



Respecting the encouragement of the sugar-beet 

 industry. 



Respecting summary convictions. 



To amend the registry act. 



To amend the land titles act. 



Amending the sawlog driving act. 



To amend " an act respecting the licensing of 

 extraprovincial corporations." 



To facilitate the purchase of toll-roads by mu- 

 nicipalities. 



Respecting sanitary regulations in unorganized 

 territories. 



Further to improve the factories act. 



To amend the Ontario shops regulation act. 



To amend the Ontario fisheries act, 1900. 



To consolidate the debenture debt of the city 

 of Guelph. 



To incorporate the city of Woodstock and for 

 other purposes. 



To incorporate the Chippewa and Niagara Falls 

 Electric Railway Company. 



To incorporate the Essex and Kent Radial Rail- 

 way Company. 



To incorporate the London, Aylmer and North 

 Shore Electric Railway Company. 



To incorporate the Magnetewan River Railway 

 Company. 



To incorporate the Niagara District, Welland- 

 port and Dunnville Electric Railway Company. 



To incorporate the Norwood and Apsley Rail- 

 way Company. 



To incorporate the Windsor, Essex and Lake 

 Shore Rapid Railway Company. 



Finances. On Feb. 21 the Hon. G. W. Ross de- 

 livered his budget speech. The assets of the prov- 

 ince on Dec. 31, 1901, were described as follow: 

 Direct investments, $251,243.60; funds held by the 

 Dominion in behalf of the province, and upon 

 which interest at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum 

 is payable, $4,758,135.15; common-school fund 

 held by the Dominion on behalf of the provinces 

 of Ontario and Quebec, and upon which interest 

 is payable at the rate of 5 per cent., and divisible 

 as between the province in ratio of last decen- 



