678 



QUEBEC. 



To amend the act respecting the pensions of pub- 

 lic officers. 



To amend the law respecting agriculture and 

 colonization, with reference to farmers' clubs. 



To incorporate the town of St. Louis. 



To incorporate the Canada Protective Benefit 

 Association. 



To amend the law concerning exemptions from 

 taxation. 



To amend the license law. 



To amend the law respecting duties on successions. 



To amend the act respecting vital statistics. 



The House was prorogued on Dec. 21, with the 

 following speech from the Lieutenant Governor: 



"Your election legislation, based on the laws 

 now in force in the United Kingdom, will assure 

 more independence on the part of the electors in 

 voting and give the courts more efficient means for 

 the suppression of corrupt practices. 



" Agricultural progress, which has attained such 

 development through the encouragement you have 

 given it, has again been the object of your consid- 

 eration. I trust that it will continue to receive the 

 attention of the Legislature and be the most promi- 

 nent feature of the policy of my Government. 



"-I regret that the present resources of the prov- 

 ince did not permit my Government to grant the 

 applications for railway subsidies which were sub- 

 mitted to it. I hope, however, that it will find 

 means to protect those undertakings which, if aban- 

 doned, would cause a serious loss to the province. 



" Through its policy of economy my Government 

 has been enabled to do away with certain taxes, and 

 I have no doubt that if the same policy be prudent- 

 ly carried out other taxes will before long be re- 

 moved. 



" The financial situation of the province is im- 

 proving in a marked manner, and I am convinced 

 that, with renewed vigilance, my Government will 

 succeed in maintaining the credit of the province." 

 Political. Like all the other provinces. Quebec 

 vras stirred up during the year by the Manitoba 

 school question. The great majority of the people, 

 being Roman Catholics, were more interested than 

 the others, though, as was shown in the Dominion 

 elections, they did not believe the Conservatives 

 would do more for their coreligionists in Manitoba 

 than the Liberals. The hierarchy of the Church, 

 however, did their utmost to arouse public opinion 

 in favor of the remedial bill by which Sir Charles 

 Tapper proposed to restore separate schools in the 

 northern province, and Cardinal Taschereau headed 

 a memorial signed by the Catholic bishops of Que- 

 bec and Canada, which demanded a redress of the 

 grievances of the Manitoba minority, supported re- 

 ligious control of the schools, and by implication 

 urged Parliament to pass the remedial legislation it 

 was then considering. During the ensuing elections 

 in 1896 the clergy strongly aided the Conservative 

 party ; but, to the surprise of the politicians, the 

 people of Quebec supported by a large majority the 

 present Premier of Canada, Mr. Laurier. Local 

 politics were very quiet, and the only ripple on the 

 surface was a financial dispute between Mr. Taillon 

 and his Treasurer, Mr. Hall, which resulted in the 

 resignation of the latter. 



Finances. Mr. Taillon delivered his budget 

 speech on Nov. 20, 1895. The general statement 

 for the year ending June 30 showed receipts amount- 

 ing to $11.459,818.44, and expenditures aggregating 

 $11.126,281.03. The ordinary receipts, including 

 loans, etc., amounted to $4,343,971 : and the ordi- 

 nary expenditure to $4,506.0;!;}, leaving a deficit of 

 $162,661. The direct taxes in Quebec are rather 

 heavy upon certain interests, because of the inabil- 

 ity of the average inhabitant, the French Canadian 

 peasant to stand taxation of any kind apart from the 



taxes connected with the maintenance of his Church. 

 During 1895 the tax on commercial corporations 

 was $22,000 more than in the previous year, and 

 that on successions or property left by will was 

 $12,000 more. There was a decrease in the tax on 

 law stamps and transfers of real estate. These four 

 impositions on commerce and banking, and property 

 held almost entirely by the English-speaking popu- 

 lation, and including the taxes on manufacturing 

 and trading licenses, amounted to $817,000. For 

 1896-'97 Mr. Taillon estimated the revenue at s .[.- 

 107,699, and announced the nonlevy of the manu- 

 factures and business licenses, which had proved so 

 unpopular. The estimated expenditure was $4,- 

 235.15; but this calculation excluded the large and 

 important item of railway subsidies, aggregating 

 $700,290. There was consequently an expected defi- 

 cit of over $800,000. 



The attention of the House was then drawn to 

 the fact that the Mercier administration had left in 

 1892 a consolidated debt of $25,000,000, a floating 

 debt of $8,000,000, and a chronic deficit between 

 ordinary revenue and expenditure of $1,700,000. 

 Hence the necessary imposition of some very un- 

 popular taxes and a regime of rigid economy. 

 The deficits, Mr. Taillon pointed out, in the three 

 following years amounted only to $414,000, all told, 

 while the debt had been consolidated and put into 

 a form involving the payment of lower interest, a 

 gradual reduction of the total, and increased finan- 

 cial credit for the province. 



Provincial Arbitration. When the old prov- 

 ince of Canada including Ontario and Quebec 

 joined the maritime provinces in 1867 and formed 

 themselves into the federated Dominion of Canada, 

 some complicated questions arose out of the assump- 

 tion of provincial liabilities by the new central au- 

 thority. Arbitrators were appointed, and an award 

 WHS made in 1870, against which Quebec protested, 

 and winch finally went to the imperial Privy Coun- 

 cil. Under the terms of a partial settlement in 1878, 

 Quebec got $500,000, and another sum of $125,000 

 in 1879. Then came an adjustment of the yearly 

 subsidies paid by the Dominion to the province. 

 Further complications arose, and interminable dis- 

 cussions and correspondence, until in 1890 fresh ar- 

 bitrators of high judicial standing were appointed, 

 and awards were made in 1893-'94 on various im- 

 portant points. Others still remain unsettled, not- 

 ably that of the Dominion claims against the prov- 

 inces on account of large annuities paid to certain 

 Indian tribes which it was alleged that the prov- 

 inces should have paid. Ontario refused to accept 

 the final award, and appealed to the Supreme Court 

 and thence to the imperial Privy Council. Other 

 Indian claims in which Quebec is interested have 

 still to be dealt with. 



Agriculture. The agricultural interests of Que- 

 bec are not advancing rapidly, although the succes- 

 sive governments of the province have done all 

 that is possible, the main difficulty being a minute 

 subdivision of the land among the people, which 

 may be good for market gardening, but is unsuited 

 to farming on any large scale. Farmers' clubs and 

 agricultural societies and papers are doing good in 

 the remedying of old-fashioned methods, while the 

 encouragement given to dairying is producing good 

 results. In 1891 there were 114 creameries and 568 

 cheeseries. In 1895 there were 302 creameries and 

 1,417 cheeseries. In 1890 the production of butter 

 and cheese was about $3,000,000, and in 1894 it 

 amounted to $7,500,000. During 1895 the produc- 

 tion of butter was trebled. Farm schools for boys 

 and girls have been established in some places ; a 

 commission was sent to Denmark to study butter 

 making, with good results ; and some money has 

 been spent on road improvement, and a consider- 



