QUEBEC, PROVINCE OF. 



707 



twenty churches have been helped by loans, 

 varying in amount from $300 to $1,500. 



The Society for Promoting Christianity among the 

 Jews (auxiliary to the Board of Missions) re- 

 ports steady and, on the whole, encouraging 

 progress. The society has missionaries at work 

 in seven of the large cities, as well as in a 

 number of populous towns. About $20,000 

 have been received by the Board of Managers, 

 and expended in paying missionaries, support- 

 ing schools, etc. There are five missionary 

 schools and five industrial schools, and over 

 250 of the parochial clergy co-operate in local 

 activities. The entire work reaches the Jews 

 in 254 cities and towns in the United States. 

 Of publications, 13,300 copies have been issued 

 during the year, and Bibles, Testaments, Script- 

 ure portions, and prayer-books have been cir- 

 culated in English, Hebrew, German, and other 

 languages. 



Balance in hand, Sept 1, 1SS6 $7,731 67 



Contributions, .specials, etc 12,378 92 



Total $20,105 59 



Expenditures for schools, salaries, publications, 



etc $11,121 40 



Keal estate account 1.187 24 



Balance to new account 7,846 95 



Total $20,105 59 



General Condition of Church Affairs, During the 

 year five of the bishops have died, viz., Bish- 

 op Alfred Lee, of Delaware, presiding bish- 

 op ; Bishop W. M. Green, of Mississippi ; 

 Bishop W. B. Stevens, of Pennsylvania; and 

 Bishop R. W. B. Elliott, missionary bishop of 

 Western Texas. Two presbyters have been 

 consecrated bishops, viz., E. S. Thomas, assist- 

 ant bishop of Kansas, and E. Talbot, mission- 

 ary bishop of Wyoming and Idaho. Bishop 

 W. F. Adams, formerly missionary bishop of 

 New Mexico, has accepted the episcopate of 

 the diocese of EastoD. Three are on the list 

 of retired bishops, viz., H. Southgate, C. C. 

 Penick, S. I. J. Schereschewsky. In addition 



to those above named, nearly sixty of the clergy 

 have died during the year. 



The important question of a more liberal 

 support of the clergy, and more generous and 

 considerate provision for aged and infirm serv- 

 ants of the Church's ministry, has been agi- 

 tated to a considerable extent ; but no special 

 result of moment has yet been reached. In 

 regard to the great lack of candidates for or- 

 ders, there is little or no improvement. The 

 bishops utter the same complaint as hereto- 

 fore. The greatly superior attractions of busi- 

 ness and other positions render it almost im- 

 possible to induce young men of ability and 

 character to consider the claims which the 

 ministry offers for their acceptance, and the 

 high honor of serving the Lord in preaching 

 his gospel. Hence, in view of the steady 

 passing away of the older clergy, and of the 

 vacancies that must necessarily be filled, the 

 prospect becomes alarming, and calls for vig- 

 orous effort and fervent prayer that the Lord 

 will send forth laborers into his harvest. The 

 Society for the Increase of the Ministry is do- 

 ing all that lies in its power, but it by no means 

 succeeds in meeting the grave difficulty of the 

 case. Numerous other societies (including a 

 large number of sisterhoods) are striving to 

 do good service to the cause of the Master and 

 his Church, and have accomplished much in 

 their respective fields of labor. 



The action taken by the bishops of the 

 Protestant Episcopal Church, in regard to a 

 reunion of Protestant Christendom in the 

 United States, has produced much discussion, 

 as looked at from the various standpoints of 

 Protestant denominations. The discussions 

 have done good, in bringing ont the senti- 

 ments and views of leading representative 

 men among the larger bodies, Presbyterians, 

 Baptists, Methodists, etc. No definite result 

 has been reached thus far. 



PSYCHICAL BESEABCH SOCIETIES. See MIND- 

 READING. 



Q 



QUEBEC, PROVINCE OF. Government. The 



Lieutenant-Governor is L. F. R. Masson. The 

 Executive Council consists of: Premier and 

 Attorney-General, H. Mercier; Commissioner 

 of Crown Lands, Pierre Garneau; Treasurer, 

 Joseph Shehyn ; Commissioner of Agriculture 

 and Public Works, James McShane ; Provincial 

 Secretary, C. A. E. Gagnon ; Solicitor- General, 

 George Duhamel ; without portfolio, D. A. 

 Ross and A. Turcotte. 



Finances. The gross public debt of the prov- 

 ince on June 30, 1885, was $18,871,592, with 

 a-si'ts amounting to $13,833,403. During the 

 session of 1887 the Legislature passed an act to 

 consolidate the floating debt, which amounts 

 to $3,763,434.32, and to issue a new loan of 

 three and a half million dollars at 4 per cent. 



The floating debt has been largely increased 

 by the putting into force of an act passed in 

 1886, authorizing the conversion of land-sub- 

 sidies granted to certain railways into cash- 

 subsidies. 



Commerce. The following table shows the 

 imports and exports of the province for a pe- 

 riod of five years: 



