696 



ONTARIO. 



OREGON. 



1881 to 181,220, or at the rate of 88'4 per cent. 

 Ottawa, the Dominion capital, had enlarged its 

 population during the decade at the rate of 41 

 per cent. Nearly all the other cities, towns, and 

 villages show a large increase in population in 

 proportion to the rural districts. 



Legislative, The legislative session, which 

 was opened on Feb. 11, 1891, was the first ses- 

 sion of the seventh Legislative Assembly of On- 

 tario. The provincial general election which 

 produced this House was a strictly party con- 

 flict, yet the issues were definite and distinct. 

 The principal contention of the Opposition 

 sometimes called the Conservative or Tory party, 

 led by Mr. W. R. Meredith, was in favor of re- 

 form of the educational institutions of the prov- 

 ince and with especial view to the abolition of sep- 

 arate schools, or at least the sustentation of sep- 

 arate schools as a part of the common-school sys- 

 tem of the province. In Ontario the Roman 

 Catholics have the special privilege of maintain- 

 ing their schools separate and apart from those of 

 other religious denominations, or from the ordi- 

 ary public schools. Protestants en joy alike priv- 

 ilege in the province of Quebec, but in the latter 

 province Roman Catholicism is a state church, 

 and the schools which it sustains avowedly teach 

 Roman Catholic religious tenets. The recent 

 canvass in Ontario on these points was able and 

 vigorous, but the efforts of the advocates of es- 

 sentially free schools were in vain. As was shown 

 during the ensuing session, the Mowat adminis- 

 tration was, in a full House of 92 members, usually 

 sustained by a majority of about 20 votes. In his 

 speech at the opening of the legislative session of 

 1891 Lieut.-Gov. Campbell complimented the 

 House on the advance made " toward a settlement 

 of most of the long-pending differences between 

 the province and the Dominion " ; upon " the 

 increasing interest which was taken in im- 

 proved methods of agriculture " : in the work 

 done in "promoting the public health"; in 

 the " subject of prison reform " ; and in that of 

 the " fish and game laws." Among other matters 

 to which he called attention he stated thus : " It 

 having recently been ascertained beyond doubt 

 that the province possesses immense deposits of 

 nickel, a metal which is likely to be of great 

 economic use and value in the immediate future, 

 my advisers deemed the time opportune for mak- 

 ing some changes in the laws relating to the sale 

 of mining lands, and a part of the districts of Al- 

 gomannd Nipissing, in and near the nickel-bear- 

 ing region, was withdrawn from sale and location 

 until you could be consulted. 1 commend to your 

 attention a measure respecting our mining which 

 is to be submitted for your consideration." The 

 result of this intimation was the passing of im- 

 portant amendments to the " General Mining 

 act," setting forth the prices of crown lands to 

 be appropriated for mining purposes. The dis- 

 tricts specially indicated for such appropriations 

 are Algoma, Thunder Bay, and Nipissing, which 

 are known to abound in silver, nickel, and cop- 

 per, and the prices range from $2 to $4.50 an 

 acre, according to location. The grantee of any 

 mining location shall, during the seven years im- 

 mediately following the date of his patent, ex- 

 pend in opening up his mines $4 an acre if his 

 patent exceeds 160 acres, and $5 an acre if his 

 area is less than 160 acres ; and in default of such 



expenditure his lands shall revert to the Crown. 

 All ores and minerals mined upon such lands 

 shall be subject to a royalty, if of silver, nickel, 

 or nickel and copper, 3 per cent. All other ores, 

 except iron, shall be subject to such royalty as 

 shall be from time to time imposed by order in 

 council not exceeding 3 per cent., and iron ore 

 not exceeding 2 per cent. No royalty is to be 

 collected until seven years after the date of the 

 patent or lease, except as to those mines known 

 to be rich in nickel; and as to these, until four 

 years. Instead of granting mining lands in fee 

 simple, the same may be leased for ten years ; 

 and such leases may, upon stipulated conditions, 

 be renewed for further terms of ten and twenty 

 years. The lessee may, at any time during 

 his leasehold tenure, become the purchaser of 

 the lands upon certain conditions. The other 

 more important measures passed during the ses- 

 sion were an act making certain improvements 

 in the election laws: a series of acts consolidat- 

 ing, revising, and amending the laws respecting 

 the education department, the public-schools acts, 

 the act respecting truancy and compulsory school 

 attendance, the high-schools act, and acts respect- 

 ing industrial schools and the establishment of 

 mining schools; and an act securing a lien to 

 workmen on saw-logs. The financial affairs of 

 the province were found to be in a satisfactory 

 condition, and the receipts of revenue from all 

 sources considerably exceeded the general ex- 

 penditure. 



OREGON, a Pacific Coast State, admitted to 

 the Union Feb. 14, 1859; area, 96,030 square 

 miles. The population, according to each de- 

 cennial census since admission, was 52,465 in 

 1860; 90,923 in 1870 ; 174,768 in 1880: and 313,- 

 767 in 1890. Capital, Salem. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Sylvester 

 Pennoyer, Democrat ; Secretary of State, Audi- 

 tor, and Insurance Commissioner, George W. 

 McBride, Republican ; Treasurer, Philip Mets- 

 chau ; Attorney-General (an office created by 

 the Legislature of this year), George E. Cham- 

 berlain, appointed May 20; Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, E. B. McElroy; Railroad 

 Commissioners, J. H. Faull, George W. Colvig, 

 and Robert Clow; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, Reuben S. Strahan ; Associate Justices, 

 William P. Lord and Robert S. Bean. 



Finances. The balance in all funds of the 

 State treasury on Jan. 12, 1891, was $233,144.29, 

 of which the general fund balance was $47,- 

 664.71. The receipts of this fund for the year 

 were not equal to the demands against it, so that 

 before October the balance had been wiped out, 

 and the State Treasurer was unable to pay 

 warrants. This result was produced largely by 

 the action of the Legislature in making greatly 

 increased appropriations for the year. The 

 actual payments from the general fund for the 

 year amounted to $508,580.49, while the receipts, 

 including the balance of $47,664.71, were slightly 

 in excess of these figures, but there remained 

 outstanding at the close of the year unpaid 

 warrants amounting to about $166,000. 



" The total taxable property of the State for 

 1891 was assessed at $114.077,788. against $101,- 

 593,341 for 1890. The tax rate for State pur- 

 poses in 1891 was 4 mills for the general fund, 



