ONTARIO. 





this Legislature which specially depend f 

 upon the support of the fanning classes an- flour- 

 ishing. 



The pi-n.-iT farm established in western A 

 ma promises l" prove highly successful. Tlie new 

 dairy schools established in eastern and western 

 .really improved the equipment of 

 the province for dairy instruction. Experiments 

 in fruit growing and orchard spraying have' been 

 successfully conducted during ihe past year. 



"The northwestern part of the province con- 

 tinues to receive the attention of prospectors and 

 miners, and gold-bearing ores have been discovered 

 in that region over an area of S.nixi -(iiare miles, 

 ral stamp mills have been erected in the dis- 

 tricts of Ihe Lake of Ihe Woods, Rainy Lake, and 

 Seine river. 



There has been no marked improvement during 

 the past year in the condition of the lumber trade. 

 While the sales and prices in the English markets 

 have been fairly satisfactory, the market for sawed 

 lumber in the United States has been in a dep: 

 condition. 



For several years the brewers and distillers of 

 the province have disputed the right of the pro- 

 vincial Legislature to charge them with 1: 

 fees. To settle the question of authority, a test 

 was at their instance submitted to the Court of 

 Appeal, and judgment has been given in favor of 

 the province. The brewers and distillers have ap- 

 pealed from this judgment to the Privy Council." 



The House adjourned on April 7. after consider- 

 able legislation dealing with county and civil 

 eminent, county courts, and the wages of work- 

 ingmen. public charities, the construction of elec- 

 tric and other railways, the protection of game, and 

 the improvement of education and agriculture. 

 The bills passed included the following: 



To make further provision for the payment of 

 succession duties in certain ca~ 



To amend the public lands act. 



To authorize the Commissioners of the Queen 

 Victoria Niagara Falls Park to grant certain lands 

 to the Clifton Suspension Bridge Company. 



To make further provision respecting mines and 

 mining. 



Revising and consolidating the acts respecting 

 the registration of births, marriages, and deaths. 



-peeling the estates of insolvent deceased per- 

 sons. 



Respecting the quieting of titles. 



As to certain proceedings under th<- act respect- 

 ing assignments and preferences by insolvent per- 

 sons. 



Respecting bills of sale and chattel tnortgages. 



Respecting liens of mechanics, wage earners, and 

 others. 



To extend the woodman's lien for wages act. 



For better protection of certain classes of work- 

 men. 



To consolidate the acts respecting solemnization 

 of marriage. 



Relating to dower in certain a 



To amend the act to facilitate the conveyance of 

 real estate by married women. 



Relating to the law of insurance. 



Respecting building societies. 



Relating to the Sank Ste. Marie and Hudson Bay 

 Railway. 



To amend certain acts relating to the ( 

 Bav Ship Canal and Power Aqueduct Company. 



Respecting tax sales in the unorganized dis- 

 tricts. 



To improve the laws respecting public libraries. 



Revising and consolidating ihe acts to encourage 

 the planting and growing of trees. 



Respecling the inspection of fruit trees. 



To amend the net to prevent the profanation of 

 the Lord's Day. 



To provide for the inspection of meat and milk 

 supplies of cities and towns. 



make further provisions for the protection of 

 game. 



;solidating and revising the laws re-p.-cting 

 the Education Department. 



Revising certain matters in the separate-schools 

 act. 



During r .il important resolutions 



were \ a-snl. One dealing with the Man; 

 school question, moved by Sir olivet- Mowat. de- 

 clared thai, as education under the act of fed, ra- 

 tion was given into the conlrol of the provi: 

 and that as the Judicial Committee of the Imperial 

 Privy Council had declared the abolition of the 

 separate schools to be within the jurisdiction of 

 Manitoba, no remedial legislation in behalf of the 

 Manitoba Catholics should be attempted by the 

 Dominion Parliament until aflcr the most thorough 

 investigation. At the same time, it was admitted 

 in the resolution that as the Judicial Commitlee 

 had declared lhal the Manitoba Catholics really had 

 ground for complaint, it might be ultimately the 

 duty of the Federal power to take action. The dis- 

 cussion in the Legislature turned on the fact that 

 this school question had already been examined 

 and re-examined during five years of controversy, 

 and thai, as the Opposition claimed, it was now 

 time for the Dominion lo take action. The resolu- 

 tion j assed by the usual party majority. Another 

 motion, moved by Sir O. Mowat and seconded by 

 Mr. Marter. who'was then the Opposition leader, 

 was carried unanimously by a standing vole, and 

 amid ihe singing of 'God Save ihe Queen." It 

 was ihis : 



" To the Quefn's Most Excellent Majesty : Most 

 gracious sovereign, we. your Majesty's dutiful and 

 loyal subjects, the Legislative Assembly of the 

 Province of Onlario. in Parliament assembled, de- 

 sire, in view of the recent events in relation to the 

 territorial rights of Great Britain in South America 

 and elsewhere, to assure your Majesty of the un- 

 alterable loyally and devolion of the people of On- 

 tario lo your Majesty's person and crown, and to 

 the empire over which your Majesty presides; 

 and that in case of any trouble affecting the inter- 

 ests of the empire, no sacrifice which the circum- 

 stances might demand would be considered too 

 great for the people of this province should they be 

 called upon lo repel invasion or to defend the in- 

 legrily of ihe British Empire." 



A resolution proposed by Mr. Bronson and car- 

 ried was as follows : 



That ihis House would view with approval, and 

 as worthy of encouragement, any movement toward 

 the organization of voluntary societies in ihe larger 

 cilies of lire province, having for their object the 

 giving of such assistance to the unemployed as 

 would contribute toward making them self-support- 

 ing, by seltling them upon the unoccupied lands of 

 the province or other lands within the province.'' 



Agriculture. According to official reports, ihe 

 crops of Ontario in 1896 were satisfactory. The 

 production of spring wheat showed a decline in 

 quantity, while apples formed a phenomenal crop, 

 and the yield of honey was unusually great. There 

 was a surplus of farm laborers, and wages were 

 lower as a result of the farmers trying to do with- 

 out help and relying upon improved machinery. 

 Harvest hands received from 75 cents to 1 a day. 

 and from | 50 a month. The following are 



ihe figures of crop production in 1806: Fall wheat, 

 14,516,088 bushels ; spring whea'. ':. <'". 7-"">7 bushels : 

 barley. 10.:',n:'..091 bushel- Z 974,508 bushels ; 



rye, 2.353.091 bushels: "'.'1.932 bushels: 



