286 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



course to the river Mississippi." ^ It is claimed 

 that, technically, the Mississippi includes the 

 Missouri and its tributaries, and that the stream 

 referred to is the first Mississippi waters crossed 

 by that "due west" line. This contention, as 

 well as the following, was advanced rather to 

 illustrate that Ontario had good grounds for 

 more extended claims than she was making. 

 The " Rocky Mountain " claim finds support 

 in the facts that the Canadians traversed and 

 traded with the entire district to the Rockies 

 long before the Hudson Bay Company's men 

 reached Lake Winnipeg. As much of the evi- 

 dence in support of this western boundary is ap- 

 plicable to Ontario's claim for extended north- 

 ern bounds, it may be well to combine the two, 

 and state the entire case both for the extreme 

 western and the extreme northern boundaries. 

 Ontario laid claim to all the territory that had 

 formerly belonged to the French as Canada. 

 By the " Constitutional Act " of 1791, the Par- 

 liament of Great Britain divided Quebec into 

 Upper and Lower Canada. Upper Canada was 

 defined as follows: 



To commence at a stone boundary on the north 

 bank of Lake St. Francis (an expansion of the St. 

 Lawrence), at the cove west of Points au Bodet, in 

 the limit between the township of Lancaster and the 

 Seigneurie of New Longueuil, running along the said 

 limit in the direction of north 34 degrees west, to the 

 westernmost angle of the said Seigneurie of New 

 Longueuil ; thence along the northwestern boundary 

 of the Seigneurie of Vaudreuil running north 25 de- 

 grees east, until it strikes Ottawa river ; to ascend the 

 said river into Lake Temiscamingue, and from the 

 head of the said lake by a line drawn duo north until 

 it strikes the boundary-line of Hudson Bay, including 

 all the territory to the westward and southward of the 

 said line to the utmost extent of the country com- 

 monly called or known by the name of Canada. 



The official recognition given by the Im- 

 perial Parliament of Great Britain to the 

 boundaries of Ontario in the " Quebec Act," 

 1774; the Constitutional Act, 1791; the treaty 

 of Paris, 1783, and subsequent treaties, all 

 show conclusively that Canada was under- 

 stood to extend far north of Lake of the 

 Woods, and as far west as the source of the 

 Mississippi. The southern boundary of the 

 company's territories is definitely stated to be 

 north of Lake of the Woods. These and many 

 hundreds of minor facts are the arguments ad- 

 vanced in support of the various claims. The 

 settlement of the question has confirmed to 

 Ontario a tract of 100,000 square miles more 

 than her opponents wished her to get. 



Algoma. The territory awarded to Ontario 

 forms part of the District of Algoma. This 

 district, extending from the Georgian Bay (at 

 the meridian of the most westerly mouth of 

 the French river) to the northwestern angle 

 of Lake of the Woods, is not specially adapted 

 for farming. Its southern slope, toward Lakes 

 Superior and Huron, is rooky. The Lauren- 

 tian and Huronian plateaus extend along its 

 entire length from east to west. But on these 

 plateaus are occasionally found tracts of land 

 well adapted for farming, and varying in size 



from 200 to 600 square miles. North of the 

 Laurentian plateau, and sloping toward James 

 Bay, are immense tracts well adapted for agri- 

 culture and grazing. But the intrinsic value 

 of the territory is found in its gigantic forests 

 and in its inexhaustible mining districts. For 

 some years, very rich mines of silver and cop- 

 per have been in operation on the north shores 

 of Lakes Superior and Huron ; while gold in 

 paying quantities is found in the Lake of the 

 Woods district. The capitalists forming the 

 mining companies are almost wholly citizens 

 of the United States, chiefly of New York, Bos- 

 ton, and Chicago. 



The Canadian Pacific Railway traverses the 

 entire length of the territory; and although it 

 is but a few years since the first survey was 

 made, there are already many thriving villages 

 along the route. North of the plateau, toward 

 James Bay, there is likelihood of a large popu- 

 lation in the near future. Already railways 

 are projected from various points in Ontario to 

 James Bay, and it seems certain that at no 

 distant date another outlet to Europe will be 

 at the disposal of the farmers and merchants 

 of Ontario, Manitoba, and the whole North- 

 west of Canada. This route, via Hudson Bay, 

 presents few difficulties, and many advantages, 

 that are not met with in the established lines 

 of travel. 



Veto-Power. Another question, of great in- 

 terest to the provinces of Canada, is the power 

 possessed by the Government of Canada to dis- 

 allow acts passed by the Legislative Assemblies 

 of the provinces. By the British North Amer- 

 ica Act, 1867, the power of disallowing acts 

 passed by the Provincial Legislatures was con- 

 ferred on the Governor-General in Council, 

 viz., on the Government or Ministry of the 

 Federal Parliament. It is a power that has 

 rarely been exercised, and it is a disputed ques- 

 tion, at this stage in the history of the confed- 

 eration, whether the Federal Government has, 

 or is entitled to have, authority to veto or dis- 

 allow acts passed by the provinces, concerning 

 matters entirely within the jurisdiction of the 

 provinces. At all events, the power of dis- 

 allowing provincial acts has been sparingly ex- 

 ercised; for, of nearly 7,000 acts passed since 

 1867, only about thirty have been disallowed. 

 Many of those disallowed have not been fur- 

 ther contested or repassed ; but one in particu- 

 lar, known as " The Streams Bill," was passed 

 and repassed by the Legislature of Ontario, to 

 be disallowed and again disallowed by the 

 Executive of Canada, and to be again repassed 

 by the Ontario Legislature. 



The case giving rise to the contest was 

 caused by, or arose out of, a former statute of 

 Ontario, giving lumberers the right to run tim- 

 ber, saw-logs, etc., down "floatable" streams. 

 A lumberer named McLaren owned limits on 

 both sides of the Mississippi a small river 

 flowing northeasterly through part of Ontario, 

 into Ottawa river. At a certain point on 

 the river, in his limits, the rocks, bowlders, 



