DOMINION OF CANADA. 



223 



Excellency the Governor-General, submitting 

 as a basis of admission into the Union not only 

 the several advantages offered to the other 

 Provinces, but also a proposition for reliev- 

 ing the inhabitants from a burdensome and 

 vexatious land tenure, arising from the fact, as 

 stated by the report, "that the lands of the 

 colony had been granted by the Imperial Gov- 

 ernment in large blocks, and chiefly to persons 

 resident abroad, from whom many of the set- 

 tlers can only obtain land on lease instead of 

 by purchase, as in the other British North 

 American colonies." The mode of relief is 

 thus stated : " That, in the event of the island 

 becoming part of the Union, the Government 

 of the Dominion will endeavor to secure for 

 the island from the Imperial Government fair 

 compensation for the loss of Crown lands ; that, 

 should the Dominion Government fail in their 

 efforts to secure such compensation, they will 

 undertake to raise by loan, guaranteed by the 

 Imperial Government, or upon their own se- 

 curities should such a guarantee be refused, 

 $800,000, and pay the same to the island gov- 

 ernment, as a compensation for the loss of such 

 Crown lands, this sum to be in addition to the 

 other sums mentioned in the preceding propo- 

 sals ; that the Dominion Government will also 

 use their influence to secure such legislation as 

 will enable the government of the island to pur- 

 chase the land now held in large blocks, upon 

 terms just and equitable to all parties con- 

 cerned." 



It is generally felt that the freedom with 

 which a class of writers in England have, of 

 late, discussed the question of a peaceful sev- 

 erance of the British colonies from the parent 

 state has had certain effect in retarding the 

 completion of the Dominion. A sentence from 

 one of them Mr. Dilke, a member of the Im- 

 perial Parliament in speaking of the peculiar 

 position of British Columbia, is noteworthy : 

 " For purposes of reenforcement, immigration, 

 and supply, at a distance of not less than 

 twenty thousand miles from home, the Pacific 

 colonies can scarcely be considered strong in 

 their allegiance to the Crown." The friends 

 of Confederation are well pleased that dis- 

 content has ceased in Nova Scotia ; but many 

 able men are of opinion that peace was pro- 

 cured at no less a cost than a slight shock to 

 the Constitution. The terms of reconciliation 

 agreed to by Mr. Howe, and adopted by the 

 Federal Parliament, included an annual sub- 

 sidy of $80,000. for ten years, to the hitherto 

 recalcitrant Province: the constitutional act, 

 however, states explicitly the conditions upon 

 which each Province is to enter the Union, and, 

 as no express power is given to the local Par- 

 liaments, or to either of them, to make altera- 

 tions, it is contended that the change in favor 

 of Nova Scotia contains the elements of a 

 dangerous precedent. Nor is this the only 

 intimation the Canadians have received that 

 the form of trouble known as "State rights" 

 is inevitable under this new system of govern- 



ment. There has been already more than one 

 case of "disallowance" by the Federal author- 

 ities of acts passed by the inferior Legislatures, 

 and hence it may be presumed, from the 

 public announcement we have just read, that 

 in the next session of the Federal Parliament a 

 law will be passed authorizing the establish- 

 ment of a Superior or Supreme Court for the 

 Dominion. 



Socially and materially Canada may be said 

 to be a prosperous country. The public journals 

 told of cases of gross crime committed during 

 the past year, but comparatively it is a moral 

 country. Nowhere do the clergy of all denom- 

 inations work more faithfully, with less acri- 

 mony toward each other, or with better general 

 results ; and education, now universally ad- 

 mitted to be the appointed handmaid of reli- 

 gion, is nobly provided for. According to the 

 last official report, there were in the Province 

 of Ontario 4,406 common schools, of which 

 3,912 are entirely free, while in the remaining 

 594 the highest charge is 25 cents per month. 

 The expenditure stated in this report $1,473,- 

 188 shows an increase on that of the previous 

 year of $85,955. There are also 106 grammar- 

 schools, where nearly 6,000 pupils are grounded 

 in Latin, Greek and French; arithmetic, al- 

 gebra, and Euclid ; ancient and modern history; 

 the elements of natural history, natural phi- 

 losophy, and geology; physiology, chemistry, 

 book-keeping, drawing, and vocal music. There 

 is a Normal School at Toronto, in which 300 

 teachers are annually trained ; and, established 

 in various parts of the Province, are 28 private 

 schools and academies, and 16 colleges, in- 

 cluding 5 universities. In 1868 the number of 

 college students was 1,931 ; and, besides fees 

 of $53,000, the institutions had a collective in- 

 come, from legislative and other sources, of 

 $159,000. The latest official accounts published 

 show that in the Province of Quebec there 

 were 3,902 elementary schools, in which nearly 

 215,000 pupils were being taught reading, 

 writing, simple and compound arithmetic, 

 book-keeping, geography, history, French and 

 English grammar ; three normal schools ; two 

 universities, one Catholic and one Protestant, 

 and several minor colleges, the aggregate 

 revenue of which, irrespective of fees, was 

 computed to exceed $200,000 per annum. In 

 the other provinces of the Dominion the pro- 

 visions for education are known to be propor- 

 tionately extensive and efficient. 



The first financial year of the Dominion 

 ended on the 30th of June, 1868. According 

 to the public accounts of this year, submitted 

 to Parliament in May, 1869 (and then for the 

 first time published), the " ordinary revenue " 

 was $13,716,786.72 ; " ordinary expenditure," 

 $13,366,490.55. Of the revenue the large 

 figure of $8,624,318.42 was derived from cus- 

 toms duties. The assets of the Dominion are 

 shown to be $93,518,129.12. The liabilities, 

 $94,434,443.74. The first annual statement 

 of the trade and navigation returns of the Do- 



