130 



CANADA, DOMINION OF. 



Trade and Commerce. The imports for the 

 year ending June 30, 1885, amounted to $108,- 

 941,486, and the exports to $89,238,361, a 

 decrease in the former of $7,455,557, and in 

 the latter of $2,168,135, as compared with the 

 former year. The foreign trade was distrbuted 

 as follows : 



Fishery Statistics. The total value of the 

 catch for the year ending Dec. 31, 1885, was 

 $17,722,973, being $43,431 less than in 1884. 

 There was an increase in the value of the cod 

 and lobster catches, and a decrease in the value 

 of the herring and mackerel. These fonr are, 

 in the order given, the principal produce of the 

 Canadian fisheries. The values were as fol- 

 low : Cod, $4,536,731, against $4,302,454 in 

 1884; lobsters (preserved), $2,463,780, against 

 $2,259,892 in 1884 ; herring (pickled), $1,997,- 

 901, against $2,029,430 in 1884 ; mackerel 

 (pickled), $1,448,137, against $1,798,487 in 

 1884. The export of fish, the produce of Can- 

 ada, for the year ending June 30, 1885, was 

 $7,960,001, against $8,591,654 for 1884. The 

 fisheries gave employment to 59,493 men, 1,177 

 vessels and steam-tugs, of a total tonnage of 

 48,728, and 28,472 boats. About $7,000,000 of 

 capital is invested in the business. 



Legislation. One of the most important acts 

 of the session of the Dominion Parliament in 

 1886 was the Northwest Territories Represen- 

 tation Act. The act makes the provisional 

 districts of Saskatchewan and Alberta elector- 

 al districts, returning one member each to the 

 Canadian House of Commons, and divides the 

 provisional district of Assiniboia into two elect- 

 oral districts, each returning one member. To 

 render this act valid, the Imperial Parliament 

 passed the British North America Act, 1886, 

 authorizing the Parliament of Canada, from 

 time to time, to make provision for the repre- 

 sentation in the Senate and House of Commons 

 of Canada, or in either of them, of any Terri- 

 tories that for the time being form part of the 

 Dominion but are not included in any province 

 thereof. The act is made retroactive, so as to 

 sanction the act passed by the Canadian Par- 

 liament. There are now three British North 

 America Acts of the Imperial Parliament 

 i. e., of 1867, 1871, and 1886. By the Dominion 

 Act the electoral franchise in the Northwest 



territories is conferred upon every bona-Jide 

 male resident and householder, of adult age, 

 who is not an alien or an Indian, and who ha* 

 resided in the electoral district twelve months 

 before the issue of the writ of election. Voting 

 is to be open, not, as in the provinces, by bal- 

 lot. Voters may be required to swear, not 

 only as to their identity qualifications or dis- 

 qualifications, but also that they have not been 

 bribed. 



Mr. Charlton's bill, to punish seduction and 

 like offenses, and to make further provision 

 for the protection of women and girls, passed 

 in previous sessions by the House of Commons, 

 but thrown out by the Senate, became a law this 

 year. The act makes it a misdemeanor, pun- 

 ishable by two years' imprisonment in a peni- 

 tentiary, or for a less term in any other place 

 of confinement, to commit any of the following 

 offenses : To seduce or attempt to seduce any 

 girl, of previously chaste character, between 

 the ages of twelve and sixteen years. To have 

 or to attempt to have carnal knowledge of any 

 female idiot or imbecile woman or girl, under 

 circumstances that do not amount to rape. To 

 procure or assist in procuring a feigned mar- 

 riage. Being over twenty- one years of age, to 

 seduce under promise of marriage any unmar- 

 ried female of previously chaste character un- 

 der eighteen years of age. Having the control 

 of any premises, to induce or knowingly suffer 

 any girl between the ages of twelve and six- 

 teen years to be upon such premises for the 

 purpose of being unlawfully known by any 

 man. If such girl is under the age of twelve 

 years, the owner of the house is guilty of fel- 

 ony, and liable to ten years' imprisonment. It 

 is a sufficient defense to this section to show 

 that the accused had reasonable cause to be- 

 lieve the girl to be above the age of sixteen 

 years. No person can be convicted of any 

 offense under the act upon the evidence of one 

 witness, unless that witness is corroborated in 

 some material particular by evidence impli- 

 cating the accused. A defendant is a compe- 

 tent witness in his own behalf upon any charge 

 under the act; and no prosecution can be be- 

 gun after the expiration of one year from the 

 time of committing the offense. 



Politics. The government of Sir John Mac- 

 donald met Parliament this session amid the 

 greatest uncertainty as to its fate. By the de- 

 fection of a large but then uncertain number 

 of the Quebec Bleus (hitherto the stanchest 

 section of the Conservative party), on account 

 of the execution of Louis Kiel, Sir John's 

 great majority had been seriously impaired ; but 

 upon a vote of censure with reference to tho 

 execution it was mere matter for speculation 

 to what extent the votes of the bolters would 

 be set off by the support of English Liberals. 

 On March 25, at 2.30 A. M , after a long and 

 exciting debate, a vote was taken on Mr. Lan- 

 dry's motion : 



That this House feels it its duty to express its deep 

 regret that the sentence of death passed upon Louis 



