NOVA SCOTIA. 



537 



I desire to avail myself of your advice in a matter 

 of immediate, bnponklUM, tad therefore have MIIII- 

 iiNweil you t<> meet at uri earlier date, than uxuul. 

 While toe present roielition of Ini.sincsrf throughout 

 the province is not satisfm-tory, there arc indications 

 to justify tin- expectation of an curly improvement. 

 One of the mMl important items in tin- revenue that 

 of receipts from mines ami minerals fell considerably 

 short of the estimates last year, partly on account of 

 diminished mini HIT operations, and partly owing to 

 the largo quantity or coal which came under the 

 enuetment exempting current contracts from the in- 

 eivused royalty. During the past year, for the nn*t 

 time since the union of the provinces, an issue of 

 Nova Scotia Government debentures wan oilered in 

 the London money market. It is gratifying to know 

 that these securities were promptly taken up, and the 

 credit of the province fully established in England. 

 I have leurncu with pleasure of the recent completion 

 of the new railway trom Eureka to Sunny Brae, built 

 under contract with my Government, and of the 

 opening, in connection therewith, at the new village 

 of Ferona, of extensive works for the development of 

 the iron deposits of Pictou County. 



I have much gratification in informing you that, en- 

 couraged by the provisions of the Mines and Mineral 

 act or last session, capitalists have come forward to 

 undertake extensive coal-mining operations. I invite 

 your most careful consideration to a bill which will 

 be submitted to you to confirm the arrangements 

 which my Government has made witli the parties 

 who have undertaken this very important work. 



Chief among the measures of the session was 

 one for further encouragement of coal mining 

 in the province. Since the passing of that act 

 there has been a marked improvement in this in- 

 dustry, and the railway to Louisburg, soon to 

 be completed, will lead to extensive coal mining 

 in Cape Breton. Several measures were passed 

 relating to the railways between Halifax and 

 Yarmouth, which will probably lead to an early 

 settlement of the claims of the province and sev- 

 eral municipalities against one of the roads, and 

 to the consolidation of the whole line. An act 

 was also passed changing the fiscal year. It now 

 begins on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30, so that 

 reports for 1893 of the various departments of 

 the Government will only be for nine months. 

 An act passed for the collection of debts will 

 afford a more simple and inexpensive method of 

 collection. Altogether 211 bills were passed dur- 

 ing the session, the ones of most public impor- 

 tance, in addition to those already mentioned, 

 being the following : 



To incorporate the Provincial Manganese Company. 

 For the incorporation of Congregational churches. 

 To incorporate the Coast Railway Company. 

 Several acts to incorporate coal and iron companies. 

 To incorporate the Nova Scptia Timber Company. 

 To incorporate the Aeadia Land Companv. 

 To incorporate the Atlantic and Inland Railway 

 Company. 



Finances. The expenditure of the province 

 for the year ending Dec. 31, 1892, amounted to 

 $H22,461.82 ; the revenue to $769.975.42 ; liabili- 

 ties, $3,138,751.50; assets, $1,506,619.07; and the 

 net debt to $1,632,142.43. 



Assessed Values. The assessed value of real 

 estate, personal property, and income for the 

 cities and towns of the province for last year 

 was $40,495.175, and for tno municipalities $43,- 

 534.476. The assessed values are usually on a 

 basis of half the actual value. 



Education. The number of schools in opera- 

 tion in the province last year was 2,281 ; number 



i-f pupils enrolled, 102,586; teacher* employed. 

 2,340, including 1,691 women. The average 

 salary for male teachers of the first claw ww 

 15; for female teachers, $295.77. The ex- 

 penditure by the Provincial (iovernment formib- 

 lic ' Incut ion last year was $216,429.73, and local 

 expenditure $530,145. 12. 



Minerals. The product of the principal min- 

 erals of the province for 1892, compared with 

 1891, was as follows: 



The sale of coal for 1892 amounted to 1,752,- 

 934 tons, of which 623,978 tons were home sales, 

 746.037 tons sold to the Province of Quebec, and 

 13.s's:{ tons to the United States. The revenue 

 derived by the province last year from royalty 

 on minerals- and fees in connection therewith 

 was about $171,000. 



Insane. The number of patients admitted to 

 the Nova Scotia Hospital for the insane during 

 last year was: Females, 57: males, 44. And the 

 total of all patients in the hospital for the year 

 was: Females, 170; males, 184. During the year 

 42 patient* were discharged as cured. 



Fisheries. The fishing industry is the most 

 valuable of the province, the product for 1892 

 being estimated at $6.340,724, and for 1891 at 

 $7,011,300. The decrease in the product for 

 1892, compared with the preceding year, was 

 largely made up by the shortage in the mackerel 

 fishing, which had fallen off over $700,000 from 

 the value of the catch for the year before. The 

 catch of lobsters also fell sho'rt of that of the 

 previous year by over $150,000; but cod, had- 

 dock, pollack, and hake fisheries showed an im- 

 provement. The following is the value of the 

 principal products of the fisheries for last year: 

 Salmon. $86,368; mackerel, $694,416; herring, 

 $705,784; cod, $2.526.406; haddock, $494,957; 

 hake, $184,573 ; pollack, $174,045 ; halibut, $156,- 

 055 ; lobsters, $945,278 ; fish oil, $90,078. 



Railways. The gross earnings of the rail- 

 ways of the province for which returns were re- 

 ceived last year wen-: Windsor and Annapolis 

 Railway, $316.687; \\Vstern Counties, $104,643; 

 Cumberland Coal and Railway Company, $61,- 

 203 ; International. Cape Breton, $23,463 ; Mac- 

 can & Joggins, $20,217; Nova Scotia Central, 

 $43.256. The number of miles of railway open 

 in the Province last year was 362, an increase of 

 14 over tlie mileage of the year before. This 

 enumeration is limited to provincial railways. 

 Altogether there are about 560 miles of railway 

 in the province. 



The work of constructing a new railway, to be 

 known as the Stewiacke Valley and LanMOwne, 

 was recently begun, the province granting a sub- 

 sidy of $3,200 per mile. 



Manufactures. The following are close ap- 

 proximations of the manufactures of the prov- 

 ince for 1893: Number of establishments, 10,- 

 873; capital invested, $20,907,614: number of 

 employees, 37.065 ; wni:es paid, $7,550,092 ; 

 value of products, $32,577,:554. 



