DOMINION OF CANADA. 



140 



of the province; and the privileges of coloniza- 

 ties li.iv>- boon much extended. 

 I progress has been made in railways in 

 T.'ivnt provinces constituting the Domin- 

 ln 1 850 there were not more than 55 

 in all. According to the latest returns, 

 than 20 lines are in operation, in whi-li 

 have been invested $160,471,190, and the corn- 

 put dl annual earnings of which exceed $12,- 

 000,000. New linos are also being projected 

 in all parts of the Dominion, and a Pacific 

 Uailway, to extend across the continent and 

 unite the two oceans, is confidently looked for- 

 to. With the view of promoting Euro- 

 iimni^ration, an able pamphlet has been 

 published by order of the Government for cir- 

 i-iihition in Europe^giving a clear and compre- 

 hensive view of the educational, social, political, 

 and financial features of the Province, with a 

 fair statement as to its soil and climate. In the 

 appendix to this pamphlet is a table of exports, 

 showing that for the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1809, 



The value of Products exported was $23,54*5.051 



To vvhlcti was added, for Coin and Dalllon. . . . 1,907.790 



Articles not Products of the Province 1,90,121 



aed short rcturnB 74!),303 



Total $28,223,268 



A somewhat vexed question has arisen be- 

 tween the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario 

 respecting the apportionment, under the new 

 system, of the debt of the former Provinces 

 of Canada, which consisted only of these two 

 Provinces. It was enacted in section 142 of 

 the British North-American (Confederation) 

 Act of 1867, that " the division and adjustment 

 of the debts, audits, liabilities, properties, and 

 assets of Upper Canada and Lower Canada 

 shall be referred to the arbitrament of three 

 arbitrators." The provision as to this impor- 

 tant matter went no further ; no rule was laid 

 down, or mode prescribed for the guidance of 

 the arbitrators ; and almost immediately did 

 counsel on either side set up irreconcilable pre- 

 tensions. It would be tedious, as well as to 

 little purpose in an article like this, to enter into 

 detail as to these differences, or to follow at 

 any length the discussion which arose. The 

 chief cause of difficulty seems to be the ques- 

 tion whether the financial state of the respec- 

 tive Provinces at the time of the union of 1841, 

 of Upper and Lower Canada, should now be 

 taken into account; the counsel for Quebec 

 contending that any division of the surplus 

 debt of the late Province on the basis of pop- 

 ulation, whether that of 1861 or 1867, without 

 doing so, would be grossly unjust. They 

 showed that the debt of Upper Canada, when 

 she entered the Union in 1841, was $5,925,779, 

 while that of Lower Canada was only $60,996, 

 and further^ that, whereas Upper Canada was 

 at that time on the verge of bankruptcy, its 

 annual revenues not being more than $312,000, 

 the charge for interest on its debt, $260,000, 

 and the permanent expenses of its government, 

 $222,000, leaving an annual deficit of $168,000, 



Lower Canada had at ite credit $250,302, which, 

 when reduced by the amount of the debt, $60,- 

 996, left at command the sum of $189,800. 

 This view of the case the counsel for Ontario 

 would not entertain, and contended that the 

 arbitrators had no power to enter into the 

 debts or credits of the two Provinces at the 

 time of their union in 1841. On the 9th of 

 July last a majority of the arbitrators rendered 

 an interlocutory judgment upon this and other 

 points adverse to Quebec, and the arbitrator 

 for that province thereupon resigned. Not- 

 withstanding this, the other two arbitrators 

 continued their labors, and finally rendered an 

 award. All proceedings subsequent to the 

 resignation of their own arbitrator are, of 

 course, repudiated by the Quebec government, 

 who are, it is said, about to invoke the inter- 

 ference of the imperial authorities. Apart 

 from this difficulty, the political horizon of the 

 Dominion may be said to be cloudless, while 

 of material prosperity and social order within 

 its limits the best accounts can be rendered. 

 In the trade and navigation tables presented 

 to the Parliament at Ottawa during the last 

 session, we have the latest returns of imports 

 and exports to the end of the fiscal year 1869. 

 The value of exports for that year was $60,- 

 474,781, against $57,557,888 for the previous 

 year. The imports amounted to $70,415.165. 

 The value of goods entered into consumption 

 was $67,402,170. The amount of duty col- 

 lected was $8,298.99. The total trade of the 

 Dominion, imports and exports, amounted to 

 $130,889,946 ; the total receipts from customs, 

 excise, post-office, public works, etc., $15,378,- 

 178; payments, $12,900,574. Much increase 

 in wealth is shown by bank returns and the 

 extent of circulation of Government notes. 

 The business of the chartered banks increased 

 from $14,792,044 in July, 1869, to $17,742,095 

 in October, 1870. The Government circula- 

 tion rose in the same period from $4, 792,000 to 

 $7,850,334. The increase in the post-office 

 savings-banks was nearly one hundred per 

 cent. The paid-up capital of the chartered 

 banks steadily increased, month by month, 

 from $29,801,043 in July, 1869, to $32,094,076 

 in October, 1870. The increase in deposits in 

 the same period was from $37,229,484 to $48,- 

 412,905; in discounts, from $50,620,505 to 

 $70,466,325. Consequent upon the United 

 States ceasing to make specie payments, the 

 Dominion markets were flooded with silver 

 coins to an extent that was at length felt to be 

 a serious evil, and was popularly denominated 

 " a nuisance." Under the policy of Sir Francis 

 Hincks, by which these coins have been de- 

 monetized, not less than $9,250,000 worth of 

 them have been exported from the Dominion 

 during the past year, thus making way for the 

 circulation to a similar extent of Government 

 notes of the smaller denominations. It is ex- 

 pected that the establishment of a Dominion 

 mint will soon be another result of the quasi in- 

 dependence now enjoyed by the Canadians. 



