MANITOBA. 



MARYLAND. 



569 



prejudicial effects except in a few instances, 

 which would be remedied as the means of 

 transport from the older provinces improved. 

 The delegates asked for an extension of the 

 boundaries of Manitoba, chiefly with a view 

 to enable the province to extend its railway 

 system to Hudson Bay. The Government de- 

 clined to grant the proposed enlargement, 

 which would add about 180,000 square miles 

 to the already large province, and would be 

 unfavorably regarded by the new districts of 

 the Northwest as well as by the older prov- 

 inces. The Government undertook to compel 

 the two companies chartered by the Canadian 

 Parliament for the construction of railways 

 from Manitoba to Hudson Bay to amalgamate, 

 and to offer them, on condition of making 

 provisions in Manitoba for the early construc- 

 tion of the railway, and against pooling or 

 amalgamating with other railways and against 

 excessive freight-charges, to ask Parliament to 

 convert the sale that it was intended to have 

 made to them of 1,708,000 acres of land in 

 Manitoba at one dollar an acre, and 4,480,000 

 outside the province at half a dollar an acre, 

 into a free gift. 



Lately there has been a continuous agitation 

 in the province for better terms. Messrs. Mur- 

 ray and Norquay having been delegated by the 

 Legislature of Manitoba to urge upon the Do- 

 minion Government a reconsideration of the 

 above-outlined compromise, suggested the fol- 

 lowing modifications : That the Dominion pay 

 the province $100,000 a year in lieu of lands; 

 that the debt capital, in consideration of the 

 above, be allowed on a population of 125,000 

 instead of 150,000 ; and that the province waive 

 its claim to reimbursement by the Dominion of 

 costs incurred in the government of the dis- 

 puted territory, and the reference of the ques- 

 tion of the settlement of the boundary between 

 Ontario and Manitoba to the Judicial Commit- 

 tee of the Privy Council. These modifications 

 were accepted by the Dominion Government, 

 and the agreement thus modified was ratified 

 by Parliament, on condition that the Legisla- 

 ture of Manitoba should at its next session ac- 

 cept it as a full settlement of all questions in 

 dispute up to Jan. 10, 1885. 



The " better terms " proved very unsatisfac- 

 tory to the Farmers' Union. A convention 

 was held at Winnipeg on March 4. The Bill 

 of Rights, adopted in 1883, was reaffirmed, 

 and violent speeches were made. Mr. Nor- 

 quay being asked to attend, declined, but ex- 

 pressed his willingness to confer with a com- 

 mittee appointed by the convention. This the 

 convention declined. The " better-terms bar- 

 gain" was vigorously denounced, and some of 

 the farmers advocated the secession of Mani- 

 toba from the Canadian Confederation. Reso- 

 lutions were passed, censuring Mr. Norquay, 

 demanding a redistribution of seats in the 

 Provincial Legislature, the introduction of the 

 ballot, the extension of the Manitoba South- 

 western Railway, the maintenance of the ex- 



isting wheat grades ; and resolving, in the event 

 of the Legislature accepting the u better-terms 

 bargain," to call another convention to con- 

 demn the Legislature. The Legislature, not- 

 withstanding this, ratified the bargain. 



MARYLAND. State Government. The follow- 

 ing were the State officers during the year: 

 Governor, Robert M. McLane, succeeded by 

 Henry Lloyd, Democrats ; Secretary of State, 

 Robert B. Milligan ; Attorney - General, 

 Charles B. Roberts; Comptroller, J. Frank 

 Turner ; Treasurer, Barnes Campton, succeed- 

 ed by John S. Gittings; Tax Commissioner, 

 Levin Woolford ; Insurance Commissioner, 

 Jesse K. Hines; Commissioner of the Land- 

 Office, J. Thomas Scharf ; Commissioner of La- 

 bor Statistics, Thomas C. Weeks; Secretary 

 of the Board of Education, M. A. Newell. Ju- 

 diciary, Court of Appeals : Chief Judge, Rich- 

 ard H. Alvey ; Associate Judges, L. T. H. Ir- 

 ving, John M. Robinson, George Yellott, Oliver 

 Miller, John Ritchie, Frederick Stone, and 

 William S. Bryan. Governor McLane, having 

 been appointed United States Minister to 

 France, resigned the governorship, and on the 

 27th of March, in pursuance of the Constitu- 

 tion, the President of the Senate entered upon 

 the discharge of the duties of the office. He 

 is to act until the Legislature convenes in 1886. 



Finances. The Comptroller's report for the 

 year ending Sept. 30, 1884, shows that the to- 

 tal receipts from all sources amounted to $3,- 

 729,576.15 ; balance in the treasury, Sept. 30, 

 1883, $982,183.52, making the amount in the 

 treasury for the year, $4,711,759.67. But of 

 this amount there was received on account 

 of defense redemption loan, and the premium 

 upon the same, $1,686,496.22. The total dis- 

 bursements during 1884 were $3,874,761.28. 

 Of this aggregate, the sum of $1,999,086.66 

 was money expended in part redemption of 

 the old defense loan ; the further sura of 

 $117,794.94 was for expenses of the Legislature, 

 and $71,280 was invested in bonds for the 

 sinking fund for the defense redemption loan, 

 leaving the sum of $1,686,509.68 as the net 

 ordinary disbursements for the year 1884. For 

 the year ending Sept. 30, 1885, the total re- 

 ceipts from all sources amounted to $2,112,- 

 405.61. Balance in treasury Sept. 30, 1884, 

 $837,088.39, making the total amount in the 

 treasury for the year $2,949,494. The total 

 disbursements for the year were $2,202,086.67 ; 

 leaving a balance on Sept. 30, 1885, of $747,- 

 407.33. The gross outstanding debt of the 

 State has been reduced in two years by nearly 

 $300,000. On Sept. 30, 1883, it was $11,269,- 

 822.89. It is now $10,970,363.34. The net 

 debt is $6,451,563.97. 



Comparison of the assessed value of property 

 for State levy in 1885 with that of 1877 shows 

 a decrease of $5,195,884, the levy for 1885 

 being $473,452,144, while that for 1877 was 

 $478,648,028. " There are," says the Governor 

 in his message to the Legislature of 1886, "at 

 least $200,000,000 of capital secured by mort- 



