630 



NOVA SCOTIA: 



them a majority of 18 in the House. This was 

 an indication of a gain by the Conservative 

 party that was even more marked in the ensuing 

 Dominion election. 



Finances. The revenue of the province, by 

 last official statement (January, 1890), is $713,- 

 941; expenditure chargeable to revenue, $668,- 

 774; leaving a surplus at the opening of the 

 year of $45,167. 



Trade. The imports of Nova Scotia for the 

 fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, were valued at 

 $9,803,588, an increase of $103,491 over 1889; 

 the exports at $9,468,409, an increase of $636,- 

 128 over 1889. Thus the total trade of the 

 province with all countries, except the other 

 Canadian provinces, amounted to $19,271,997, 

 an increase over the previous year of $739,619. 

 The following table illustrates the growth of 

 Nova Scotia's foreign trade : 



The trade of the province is chiefly with Great 

 Britain and the United States. The imports 

 from Great Britain in 1890 were valued at $4,189,- 

 957, and exports to the same country at $2,598,- 

 490. The imports from the United States in 

 1890 were valued at $2,984,805, and exports to 

 that country at $2,936,658. 



The arrivals of shipping from sea at the 

 various ports of Nova Scotia during 1890 num- 

 bered 6,315 vessels, 1,670,527 tons; clearances, 

 6,038 vessels, 1,610,855 tons. These figures do 

 not include vessels in the coasting business. 



Legislation. The principal acts passed by 

 the Legislature in the session of 1890 were as 

 follow ; 



To borrow an additional sum of $300,000 for the 

 construction and repairs of roads and bridges. 



To provide a tribunal of arbitration in disputes be- 

 tween coal-mine owners and their employes. 



To enable the Government to refer constitutional 

 and other provincial questions to the Supreme Court 

 of the province for an opinion subject to appeal as in 

 case of judgment in action. 



Altering and amending the laws relating to im- 

 prisonment for debt. 



Making important amendments in the married- 

 woman's property act. 



Amending the municipal assessment act of 1888, 

 but not touching the important principles of the act. 



Railways. The new Cape Breton division of 

 the Intercolonial Railway (built and owned by 

 the Dominion Government) was completed in 

 1890, though not formally opened for traffic till 

 the first week in January, 1891. The Cape 

 Breton Railway runs from Point Tupper on the 

 Strait of Canso (opposite the terminus of the 

 Intercolonial Railway, Eastern Extension, at 

 Port Mulgrave, on the mainland) 78 miles to a 

 point near Leatche's Creek, from which 2 ex- 

 tensions branch one 5 miles to the town of 

 North Sydney, the other 13 miles to the town of 

 Sydney with a connecting line, about a mile 

 long, giving communication with the Inter- 

 national Coal Company's Railway beyond North 



Sydney. Thus that important industry is 

 brought into direct line with the Government 

 railway system. The same advantage is afforded 

 to the coal mines of Sydney. The total length 

 of the new railway line in Cape Breton is 98 

 miles, with a bridge across Grand Narrows, 

 which bridge alone cost about $1,000,000. Com- 

 munication between the terminus at Point Tup- 

 per, on Cape Breton Island, and the railway on 

 the mainland at Port Mulgrave is kept up by a 

 ferry across the Strait of Canso. 



The Oxford and New Glasgow Railway is 

 another part of the Intercolonial Railway, built 

 by the Government and opened in 1890. It runs 

 from Oxford, in Cumberland County, to Pictou 

 Town, in Pictou County, 69 miles. 



The Cornwallis Valley Railway is fourteen 

 miles long, built by a company with a Govern- 

 ment subsidy. It connects the Windsor and 

 Annapolis Railway at Kentville with Kingsport. 



The Digby and Annapolis Railway, though 

 noi yet opened, was practically finished in 1890. 

 It was built by the Dominion Government, and 

 is to be part of the Western Counties Railway, 

 connecting that line with the Windsor and An- 

 napolis Railway, and thus connecting Yarmouth 

 and Digby with the railway system of the con- 

 tinent. The gap between Digby and Annapolis, 

 which is filled by this new line, was only eighteen 

 miles ; but owing to the large amount of bridg- 

 ing was very expensive, costing $30,000 a mile. 

 It will be opened early in 1891. 



Ship Railway. This remarkable undertak- 

 ing, whereby loaded vessels are to be conveyed 

 across the isthmus between Chignecto Bay and 

 Northumberland Strait, connecting the Bay of 

 Fundy with the Gulf of St. Lawrence, has made 

 such progress that it will be opened by July 1,1891. 



Mines. The yield of gold in Nova Scotia for 

 1889 (the latest official report) was 26,155 ounces, 

 an increase of 3,748 ounces compared with the 

 previous year; coal raised, 1,756.279 tons, a de- 

 crease of 19,b49 tons; coke made, 35,565 tons, 

 an increase of 5,637 tons ; gypsum exported, 

 147,344, an increase of 21,544 tons. Of the coal 

 raised, 29,986 tons were shipped to the United 

 States, nearly 25,000 tons of which was slack 

 coal. The gold mines showed a yield of 17 

 pennyweight 22 grains per ton of 2,000 pounds, 

 or $2.22 a day per man employed. The total 

 value of the year's gold produced was $500,000. 



Valuation of Property. The official state- 

 ment of assessors' valuation of property for 1890 

 shows that in Nova Scotia to be valued at $79,- 

 888,239, of which $31,991,962 represents the as- 

 sessment in cities and towns and $47,896,277 the 

 property outside of incorporated towns. But 

 these figures do not represent the full value of 

 property in Nova Scotia, because church and 

 school property, lands, buildings, railways, and 

 other public works owned by the imperial, pro- 

 vincial, or Dominion governments, as well as the 

 property owned by towns and municipalities, are 

 not included in the valuation, and certain in- 

 dustries are specially exempt from taxation, and 

 are therefore not placed on the assessment roll. 

 Shipping property, too, is, by act of Parliament, 

 only assessed at half its actual value. The full 

 value of property in Nova Scotia, including that 

 exempted as above stated, must be considerably 

 over 200,000,000. 



