NORTH AMERICA. 



white races of European origin, we must note the 

 large African population, originally imported as 

 slaves, and the various half-breeds resulting from 

 the intermixture of the white and the negro, or the 

 white and the Indian, e. g, the Mulatto of the 

 States, and the Mestizo of Mexico. 



Politically, the original settlements have under- 

 gone many mutations : most of them have declared 



themselves independent, and adopted republican 

 governments; some have changed masters; and 

 only a few remain in unaltered connection with 

 the mother-country. The following table exhibits 

 the existing political divisions of the continent 

 of North America, with their areas and popula- 

 tion, according to the most recent available 

 authorities : 



Such are the existing divisions or governments, 

 the physical, political, social, and industrial 

 features of which (omitting Danish America, as 

 not of sufficient importance to merit special notice) 

 we shall now endeavour to describe, as fully as 

 our narrow limits will allow. 



BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 



comprehends the colonies of Canada, New Bruns- 

 wick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward 

 Island, Newfoundland, the Red River Settlement, 

 or Manitoba, with the rest of the territories once 

 belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, and 

 British Columbia, including Vancouver's Island. 

 The whole of these, with the exception of New- 

 foundland, are now politically confederated, and 

 form the ' Dominion of Canada.' Formerly, they 

 were separate and independent colonies. Now, 

 they are ' provinces ' of a great state, embracing 

 half a continent, and send representatives to an 

 imperial parliament, which assembles at Ottawa 

 in Upper Canada, though their local legislatures 

 are still preserved for provincial purposes. 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



The act by which provision was made for their 

 confederation passed the British parliament in 

 1867. It orders that the constitution of the 

 Dominion shall be ' similar in principle to that of 

 the United Kingdom,' that the executive authority 

 shall be vested in the sovereign of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, and carried on in her name by a 

 governor-general and privy-council ; and that 

 the legislative power shall be exercised by a 

 parliament of two houses, called the 'Senate' 

 and the ' House of Commons.' The members of 

 the Senate are nominated for life by summons of 



the governor-general, under the Great Seal of 

 Canada, and are 78 in number 24 from the 

 province of Ontario, 22 from Quebec, 12 from 

 Nova Scotia, 12 from New Brunswick, 2 from 

 Manitoba, 3 from British Columbia, and 3 from 

 Prince Edward Island. A property qualifica- 

 tion of 4000 dollars is required to make a person 

 eligible for the office of senator. The ' House of 

 Commons ' is elected by the people for five years, 

 at the rate of i representative for every 17,000 of 

 the population. According to the census returns 

 of 1 88 1, it consisted of 213 members 93 for On- 

 tario, 65 for Quebec, 21 for Nova Scotia, 16 for 

 New Brunswick, 5 for Manitoba, 6 for British 

 Columbia, and 7 for Prince Edward Island. The 

 constituencies vary in the different provinces. An 

 urban voter in Ontario and Quebec must be the 

 owner or tenant of real property of the assessed 

 value of 300 dollars, or of the yearly value of 30 

 dollars ; a rural voter, of property assessed at 200 

 dollars, or of the yearly value of 20 dollars. In 

 New Brunswick, a man cannot vote unless he 

 has real property worth 100 dollars, or an annual 

 income of 400 dollars ; in Nova Scotia, the limi- 

 tation is a little higher. Voting is open in every 

 province except in New Brunswick. 



Church and Education. There is no state 

 church in the Dominion, or anywhere in British 

 North America. Certain portions of territory in 

 Canada Proper were originally set apart as 

 clergy reserves, for the support of the Protestant 

 religion, and the proceeds were given chiefly to 

 the Church of England, with a small pittance to 

 the clergy connected with the Church of Scotland. 

 But these ' reserves ' have now been secularised. 

 The Church of England, in the Dominion, is 

 governed by 9 bishops ; the Roman Catholic 

 Church, by 4 archbishops and 14 bishops ; and 

 the Presbyterian Church of Canada, by annual 



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