DOMINION OF CANADA. 



265 



the railways aro getting a steadily increasing 

 slum- uf the grain triulo. The quantity of grain 

 that passed through theWVllaim Canal for perls 

 in Ontario la>t year was 8,942 tons, and through 

 tin- -ante canal from one port in the United 

 Slates to another 201,540 tons. 



Trade and Commerce. The following is a 

 statement of the exports and imports of Canada 

 for the periods indicated : 



Of the imports for the fiscal year 1892-'93 the 

 value of dutiable goods was $77,878,091 ; of free 

 goods, $51,696,177; and the customs duty col- 

 lected, $21,161,710.93. 



In dealing with the United States the balance 

 of trade has been against Canada. Taking food 

 articles alone, Canada during 1892 imported of 

 these from the United States $16,855,054, and 

 exported $5,079,615. During the past five years 

 the exports to Great Britain have increased (in 

 round numbers) from $40,000.000 to over $65,- 

 000,000. During the same period the tonnage 

 of vessels on the Great Lakes has risen from 15,- 

 000,000 to 18,500,000, and the tonnage of the 

 coasting-trade vessels from 18,000,000 to 25,000,- 

 000. The entire number of vessels now en- 

 gaged in this trade is 7,639. 



Insurance. Since 1888 the amount of life in- 

 surance in Canada has increased from $211,000,- 

 000 to nearly $280,000,000. In the spring of 1893 

 the Superintendent of Insurance submitted to the 

 Hon. George E. Foster, Minister of Finance, his 

 abstract of the insurance business in Canada for 

 the year ending Dec. 31, 1892. From this state- 

 ment it appears that the total amount of policies 

 in existence in the regular life companies oper- 

 ating in the country was almost $280,000,000, of 

 which amount $155.000,000 were carried by the 

 native home companies. The new business 

 transacted during the year amounted to $45,- 

 000,000, of which $26,000,000 was secured by 

 Canadian companies. The total assets of the 

 latter at the close of the year were nearly $26,- 

 000,000. 



Unclaimed Balances. The annual blue 

 book, giving a list of unclaimed balances and 

 dividends remaining unpaid in the chartered 

 banks of Canada for five years prior to Jan. 1, 

 1893, was published in the spring. In it the 

 amount of the balances at the close of 1891 

 is given as $457,357, and at the close of 1892 

 as $427,931. The list is curious. While it 

 discloses balances of $5,000 in one case, and 

 many over $1,000, one man is credited with a 

 balance of 1 cent. The late Sir John A. Mac- 

 donald is credited with an unclaimed balance of 

 20 cents in the Toronto branch of the Bank of 

 Montreal. The bulk of the unclaimed money is 

 in the Province of Quebec, to whose credit $344,- 

 220 is placed, while Ontario has onlv $4(').70(i. 



Post-Office Savings Banks. 'The Post-Of- 

 fice Savings Banks had the following sums on 

 deposit for the years indicated : 1890-'91, $21,- 

 738,648; 1891~'92, $22,298,401; 1892-'93, $24,- 

 153,193. 



In 1891 the Government reduced the rate of 

 interest mi deposits in the Post-office Savings 

 Banks from 4 per cent, to 8$ percent., which 

 tended to reduce the deposits temporarily. Since 

 1888 the deposits in the chartered Government 

 and special savings banks have increased from 

 $182,000,000 to $239,(X)0,000 nearly. 



Fisheries. The total value of the fisheries 

 of the Dominion for 1892 was $18,941,171. In 

 the maritime provinces the catch fell short of 

 that of 1891 by over $1,000,000, but this was 

 more than compensated for by the large increase 

 of the inland fisheries of the Northwest Terri- 

 tories and Ontario. The gulf division of the 

 province of Quebec was the only deep-sea fish- 

 ing province actually showing an increase over 

 the take of the previous year. The following is 

 the value of the most important products of the 

 fisheries for the year: Cod, $4,063,458 ; salmon, 

 $2,242,847; herring, $2,035,630; lobsters, $1,- 

 991,829; white fish, $1,498,523 ; mackerel, $1,- 

 346,977; trout, $711,112; seals, $633,119: had- 

 dock, $586,524 ; hake, $392,191 ; fish oil, $359,- 

 904; halibut, $275,207; smelts, $235,958; pike, 

 $224,253; pollack, $222,882 ; pickerel, $188,573; 

 and oysters, $167,659. The lobster yield for 

 1892 was less than that of the year before by 

 $260,000, which was doubtless due to exhaustion 

 of certain localities by overfishing. During the 

 year first mentioned 626 canneries were in oper- 

 ation on the littoral of Canadian seas, using 

 768,476 traps and other plant valued at $1,284,- 

 821. The pack amounted to 12,524,498 pound 

 cans, besides 6,012 tons disposed of fresh or 

 shipped alive, representing a drain of about 80,- 

 000,000 of these crustaceans from Canadian 

 waters during a single season. 



During 1892 63.678 men were employed in 

 the Canadian fisheries, and the total amount of 

 capital invested in the industry was $7,647,835. 

 Altogether, 1,000 schooners and steam tugs, of 

 37,200 aggregate tonnage, and 30,500 boats were 

 used in prosecuting the fishing in that year. 



To prevent violation of the fishery laws the 

 Government of Canada has a fishery protection 

 fleet of 8 vessels, which cost for maintenance 

 and repairs about $100,000 a year. There are 

 also fish-breeding establishments in various parts 

 of the country, lobster hatcheries, and beds for 

 oyster culture, which cost the Government over 

 $59,000 for 1893. 



Agriculture. The vast majority of the popu- 

 lation of Canada is engaged in farming opera- 

 tions; but, though crops generally have been 

 good, during recent years the industry has not 

 been profitable, in consequence of the low prices 

 for farm produce. Manitoba possesses the most 

 productive wheat areas in the Dominion, but the 

 appearance of early frosts at intervals of a few 

 years, which greatly injure the wheat crop, ren- 

 ders its production somewhat precarious. Last 

 year such a misfortune befell the farmers of this 

 province, and much of the injured grain was un- 

 fit for other use than fodder. To add to their 

 hardships, the railways, which had been built 

 largely by grants of public money and public 

 lands, charged as much per bushel for transport- 

 ing the damaged grain as for the carriage of that 

 which commanded a full market price. 



The season of 1893 was productive not only 

 in Manitoba but in Ontario and throughout the 



