510 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



maintenance and repairs of public roads and 

 bridges, $259,971.10; equity - court deposits, 

 $8,167.10; miscellaneous, $15,625.69. The gross 

 debt of the province was $2,752,296.58; net 

 debt, $2,183,563.42. The gross debt is repre- 

 sented by bonds bearing 6 per cent., $768,000 ; 

 bearing 4| per cent, $280,000 ; bearing 4 per cent, 

 $1,579,000. 



Education. The Chief Superintendent of 

 Education, in his annual report, shows the num- 

 ber of schools in operation in 1893 to be 1,624, 

 an increase of 29 over 1892 ; and the number of 

 pupils in attendance, 69,470, an increase of 561 

 over' 1892. The number of teachers is shown to 

 be 1,702, being about 30 in excess of 1892. The 

 whole cost of education is $421,383.60 borne by 

 the Government, $148,444.77; provided by di- 

 rect taxation, $272,938.83. 



NEWFOUNDLAND, a British colony com- 

 prising an island of that name and the coast of 

 Labrador; area of the island, 40,200 square 

 miles. Capital, St. John's. The census of 1891 

 gave the population as 202,040, of whom 4,106 

 are resident on Labrador. The same census 

 gave the number of sailing vessels engaged in 

 the fisheries, from 20 to 60 tons, as being 1,410 ; 

 of sailing vessels, from 60 tons upward, 271 ; 

 boats, 4 to 30 quintals, 19,312 ; boats, 30 quintals 

 and upward, 1,140 ; nets and seines, 32,995 ; cod 

 traps, 2,541 ; population engaged in the fisher- 

 ies, 53,502. 



Sir Robert Pinsent, D. C. L., one of the judges 

 of the Supreme Court, died in April, 1893, and 

 has been succeeded by Sir James Winter. 



A general election took place on Nov. 6, 1893. 

 The Government, of which Sir William White- 

 way is Premier, were sustained, his supporters 

 numbering 24 and the Opposition 12. 



Legislation. The following were the more 

 important acts passed in the session of 1893 : 



Making provision for the appointment of a council 

 of higher education, for holding of examinations 

 and the awarding of prizes and diplomas and scholar- 

 ships. This council is to consist of 23 members ; the 

 superintendents of education and head masters of 

 colleges are members ex ojflicio. 



Constituting a department of fisheries. It ap- 

 points a commissioner of fisheries having direction 

 of the department and the administration of all laws 

 relating to sea and inland fisheries. A fisheries 

 board is appointed by the Governor in Council, of 

 which the commissioner is president, and such board 

 is to elect an executive committee, of which the com- 

 missioner is one, at its annual meeting. This board 

 is to make inquiries into all matters relating to the 

 fisheries, and to make rules and regulations for the 

 fisheries of the colony. 



To regulate the practice of medicine and surgery, 

 providing for the appointment of a medical board, 

 two from the St. John's Medical Society, two from 

 the Conception Bay Medical Society, and three by 

 the Governor in Qouncil. The secretary shall keep a 

 list of all licensed practitioners in Newfoundland, no 

 man being permitted to practice medicine without a 

 license from the board. 



To regulate the practice of dentistry and dental 

 surgery. 



Providing for the granting of licenses to foreign 

 fishing vessels for purchase of bait, ice, seines, lines, 

 and supplies for fishery and for the shipping or 

 crews. If any vessel is found to have purchased bait, 

 ice, or outfit, or shipped a crew without license, such 

 vessel shall be forfeited. Foreign vessels may enter 

 any port in the colony to obtain license, application 



for such license to be made to the customs office, the 

 fee being $1.50 a tou. 



To^provide for the establishment and maintenance 

 of a fire department. 



Three acts relating to the construction of the North- 

 ern and Western Eailway provide for the transference 

 by the Government of the contract for the Hall's Bay 

 Railway from Messrs. Keid & Middleton to R. G. 

 Reid, and for changing the form of debentures ac- 

 cordingly ; the issue of debentures under this 'con- 

 tract not to exceed 937,500. 



The revenue and road acts, and others relating to 

 matters of minor importance, such as that to prevent 

 the killing of seals on Sunday, and the act authoriz- 

 ing the raising of a loan of $100,000 at 4 per cent., for 

 the construction of branch lines of railway. 



Fisheries. The number of vessels engaged 

 in the Banks cod fishery was 100 ; their tonnage 

 6,270 tons: the number of men employed was 

 1,392; the codfish caught, 90,467 quintals; 

 average catch per man, 65 quintals; average 

 catch per schooner, 905 quintals. Cod fishing is 

 also carried on around the shores of the island 

 and on the Atlantic coast of Labrador. In 1892 

 (the latest date for which returns are available), 

 the export of dried codfish, according to the cus- 

 toms list of exports, was 795,549 quintals, 183,- 

 000 pounds of boneless codfish, and 1,145 quin- 

 tals of green codfish. Owing to the destruction 

 of documents in the great fire of July 8, 1892, 

 these returns are imperfect, and there are no re- 

 turns of exports direct from Labrador. In fact, 

 only the exports of half the year are represented 

 in these returns. The export of cod oil was 

 2,707 tuns, and of cod-liver oil 1,530 gallons. 

 The export of seal oil was 5,301 tuns, value 

 $397,575. The export of herrings in 1892 was 64.- 

 448 barrels. The export of lobsters was 32,506 

 cases, value $260,048. Export of salmon was 

 1,951 tierces, value $36,525. Total value of the 

 Newfoundland fisheries in 1892, $4,564,340. 



In 1893, at the Dildo Hatchery, Trinity Bay, 

 there were collected during the season 309,- 

 000,000 cod ova ; and of these, 201,435,000 were 

 hatcHed and the young fry planted in a good 

 condition in the'bay. Thus 65 per cent, of the 

 ova collected were hatched, being an increase of 

 15 per cent, compared with the yield of 1891. 

 In four years the total number of ova hatched 

 and planted at Dildo Hatchery was as follows : 

 1890, 17,000,000; 1891, 39,650.000; 1892, 165,- 

 254.000; 1893,201,435,000; total, 423,439,000. 



The number of stations at which floating in- 

 cubators for lobsters were operated in 1893 was 

 23. The number of lobsters from which ova 

 were obtained was 26,036, which yielded a col- 

 lection of 602,244,000, out of which 86 per cent, 

 were hatched and planted. Adding to this 1,005,- 

 000 hatched at Dildo, the total is 518,258,000 

 hatched and planted in 1893. The total num- 

 ber of lobsters hatched during the last four years 

 has been 1,909,656,000. 



Twenty-two steam vessels were engaged in 

 the seal fishery in 1893, having a tonnage of 

 6,934 tons; the crews numbered 4,962. The 

 number of seals taken was 129,061 ; average 

 catch per steamer, 5,870. In 1892 the number of 

 seals taken was 348,624, being an average of 17,- 

 431 seals per steamer. The seal fishery of 1893 

 was one of the poorest on record. 



Finances. In 1892 the value of the imports 

 was $5,012,877 ; of exports, $5,651,116; the rev- 



