568 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



surveys to be held on each vessel : 1. When in full 

 frame ; 2. When planking (except deck) is completed ; 

 3. When vessel is completed. Certificate to be given 

 by Lloyd's surveyor on linal survey. 



An act amending a previous " Act for the construc- 

 tion and equipment of a line of railway toward 

 Hall's Bay, etc.," authorizes the Government to pur- 

 chase the Newfoundland Kailwav, and to raise by 

 loan such sum of money as may be necessary there- 

 for. It further provides the form of bond to be given 

 under the provisions of the amended act. 



An act amending a previous " Act for the registra- 

 tion of births, marriages, and deaths," appoints, as 

 registering officers all clergymen and other persons 

 who are legally entitled to baptize, celebrate marriages, 

 or perform funeral services in the colony and having 

 charge of a mission or congregation. It also provides 

 that no burial shall take place without a certifi- 

 cate. 



An act to provide for the improvement of education 

 authorizes the Governor in Council to appoint a 

 a board of nine commissioners, of whom three shall be 

 members of the Church of Kome, three shall be mem- 

 bers of the Church of England, two shall be members 

 of the Methodist Church, and one Presbyterian. It 

 also defines their powers and duties in connection 

 with the improvement of the educational system of 

 the colony. Since this act was passed by the Legisla- 

 ture the Church of England Synod and the Metho- 

 dist Conference objected to its provisions, and the 

 commissioners have not yet been nominated by the 

 Governor in Council. The Legislature, last ses- 

 sion, voted the sum of $20,000, to be paid annually 

 for increasing the salaries of teachers of board schools 

 throughout the colony, which was distributed for the 

 first time in 1891. 



The act to amend " the Fisheries Commission act" 

 provides for the promulgation of the rules and regula- 

 tions of the commission oy resolution of both branches 

 of the Legislature and publication in the " Koyal 

 Gazette," and declares that nothing in the rules 

 made shall affect the treaty rights on the coast of this 

 colony of any state or power in amity with Her 

 Majesty. 



"The Newfoundland French Treaties act of 1891" 

 makes provision for carrying into effect engagements 

 with France respecting fisheries in Newfoundland. 

 After reciting articles from the various treaties affect- 

 ing the fisheries, from that of Utrecht (1713) to that 

 of Paris (1815), the act declares that all orders given 

 by Her Majesty to the Governor of Newfoundland, or 

 any officer or officers on that station, which she or 

 they deem necessary to fulfill the purposes of said 

 treaties and agreements, or " any acts done by said 

 Governor or officer or officers in pursuance of such 

 orders and instructions as aforesaid, shall be lawful, 

 and no action, suit, or other proceeding shall bo 

 brought or maintained in respect of the same." The 

 act also recites the terms of the agreement or modus 

 Vivendi of 1890 between Her Britannic Majesty and 

 the Government of the republic of France, in virtue 

 of which the differences which had arisen in connec- 

 tion with the catching and canning of lobsters on the 

 treaty shore of Newfoundland were to be submitted 

 to a commission of arbitration, and declares that all 

 orders or instructions issued by Her Majesty to the 

 Governor or officer or officers " which she or they 

 deem, necessary for enforcing said modus vivendi dur- 

 ing the fishing season of 1891, or any continuation 

 thereof, pending the arbitration aforesaid, and all acts 

 done by said Governor or officers in pursuance of such 

 orders shall be lawful, and no action, suit, or other 

 proceeding shall be maintained in respect to the 

 same " ; and that " persons refusing to obey the lawful 

 orders from Her Majesty's officers shall be liable to a 

 fine of $-200." 



The act to amend the " Crown Lands act of 1884" 

 provides that when any person desires to obtain a 

 lease of mineral land he shall mark the land by four 

 boundary posts or cairns, the extent of inclosed land 

 not to exceed one square mile ; and that as soon as 



possible he shall apply to the Surveyor-General for a 

 license and deposit a fee of $^0, the first notice filed 

 to give priority of claim. The first license shall be for 

 a year ; a fee f $30 shall entitle to extension for another 

 year : and a further sum of $50 to an extension for 

 another year. At any time a party may apply for a 

 lease (under the usual conditions), depositing with 

 his application $25. Owners of mills arc not to per- 

 mit sawdust or refuse to be introduced into bays or 

 creeks, under a penalty of $100 for each often.su. 



The act to amend the " Crown Lands act of 1 890 " 

 renders less onerous the conditions under which the 

 timber land may be held for the establishment of 

 wood-pulp industry. It provides that the license fee 

 per mile of land, payable each twenty-five years, 

 shall be $20 instead of $30 ; and that the exp'endi- 

 ture on buildings and machinery shall be $l,OuO per 

 mile of land, instead of $3,000 ; also removes all re- 

 strictions on removal of machinery or buildings, and 

 repeals provision as to planting of trees to replace 

 those cut down. 



The act to provide for the holding of an industrial 

 exhibition in St. John's in 1892 directs the appoint- 

 ment of a commission to superintend operations, and 

 appropriates $2,000 for the exhibition. 



The act amending "the Temperance act of 1889" 

 provides for prohibition or the repeal of prohibition 

 in any district where a majority of the voters poll in 

 favor of such prohibition or repeal of prohibition. 



The act to amend '' the Act relating to the preser- 

 vation of game and deer" provides that the close 

 time for caribou shall end on Sept. 15 instead of Oct. 

 1 ; that persons who have ptarmigan in their posses- 

 sion on Jan. 12 may offer them for sale till Jan. ^ ; 

 and also extends the close time for trout, etc., from 

 Dec. 1 to Feb. 1 succeeding. 



The act amending " the St. John's Municipal act " 

 makes the term of the Council's office three years 

 instead of two, and makes every male British subject 

 residing in the town and paving any municipal as- 

 sessment a voter. It also gives plenary powers to 

 Council regarding all matters affecting the health and 

 safety of the inhabitants, the establishment of mar- 

 kets, the care and construction of streets, and the 

 management of the fire department. It also gives 

 Council authority to impose a " business tax " on 

 distillers, brokers, railway and steamboat companies, 

 proprietors of billiard rooms, peddlers, carters, insur- 

 ance companies, banks, gas companies, telegraph, 

 telephone, and electric-light companies doing business 

 in St. John's. 



The Fisheries. The most valuable and im- 

 portant of the fisheries is the cod fishery, which 

 is carried on upon the banks, the shores of the 

 island, and the Atlantic coast of Labrador, which 

 is under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. In 

 1890 the export of codfish (inclusive of Labrador) 

 was 1,040,916 quintals, the value being $3,986,- 

 898. Of this quantity 266,622 quintals -were ex- 

 ported from Labrador, the value being $693,217. 

 In addition 142,000 pounds of boneless codfish 

 were exported value, $6,390. Of cod oil 3,195 

 tuns were exported in 1890, and of refined cod- 

 liver oil 5,440 gallons. The total value of the 

 exports of the cod fishery of 1890 was $4,238,- 

 556. It is estimated that 150,000 quintals of cod- 

 fish are consumed in the island. 



The following figures show the number of seals 

 taken in the years named : In 1887, 230,555 ; in 

 1888, 286,464 ; in 1889, 207,084 ; in 1890, 220,321 ; 

 in 1891, 343,503. The number of men engaged 

 in the seal fishery in 1891 was 4,284 ; of steamers, 

 19, having a tonnage of 5,947 tons. 



In 1890 the export of lobsters was 69,344 cases ; 

 value, $520,078. 



The quantity of herring exported in 1890 was 

 107,063 barrels ; value, $278,847. 



