594 



ONTARIO. 



has been prominent in Canadian public life for 

 many years. He entered the Dominion Parlia- 

 ment in 1870, and was a member of that body until 

 appointed to his present office, and was Speaker 

 of the House in 1883-'86. He commanded 

 the Wimbledon Rifle Team in 1876, was a com- 

 missioner at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 

 London, in 1886, and was knighted in 1893. 

 The following extracts from the Lieutenant- 

 Governor's opening address include its chief 

 points of interest : 



It is to me a source of historical interest to remem- 

 ber that I am addressing the Legislative Assembly of 

 this province in the first year of the second century 

 of the existence of representative government in 

 Canada. The progress of events from the first Par- 

 liament, opened by Gov. Simcoe, at Niagara, in 1792, 

 to the opening of this Parliament to-day, shows what 

 great strides have been made toward the develop- 

 ment of tlie country and the enlargement of the privi- 

 leges ot citizenship under the Constitution given to us 

 by the Imperial Parliament. 



It affords me pleasure to state that the harvest of 

 the past year, while not so abundant as that of 1891, 

 was still a satisfactory one. The general awakening 

 of agriculturists in the province to the importance ot 

 the dairy industry and its more extended develop- 

 ment is apparent from the increasing number of 

 creameries and cheese factories established during 

 the year. 



The salutary efi'ect of the Insurance Corporations' 

 act of last session have already been distinctly seen. 

 A firm administration of the act has excluded fro;n 

 Ontario numerous fraudulent or speculative societies 

 that professed to secure to persons of small means 

 large sums in the form of endowment on life insur- 

 ance. 



The active work of the session was in the di- 

 rection of modifying existing legislation rather 

 than in passing new enactments. Private legis- 

 lation comprised about half the work. Drug- 

 gists, architects, embalmers, and milkmen were 

 refused the special privileges which they sought, 

 and a bill requiring the examination of railway 

 engineers, conductors, and brakemen was with- 

 drawn, owing to the feeling of opposition to it 

 in the Legislature. Charitable organizations, 

 which heretofore have found their sphere of use- 

 fulness narrowed by a lack of authority, have 

 been empowered to enforce the acceptance of 

 their benevolent acts. 



The agitation for decentralizing the courts 

 led the Legislature to extend to local judges the 

 power to hear arguments on injunction proceed- 

 ings with the consent of both parties, and judges 

 were also empowered to enforce their orders 

 when acting as arbitrators or in other semi- 

 judicial capacities. Sheriffs were empowered to 

 seize and sell mortgages, and the lien law was so 

 amended as to prevent employers of labor from 

 depriving workmen of their w'ages. The season 

 for hunting deer was extended five days, and 

 now exists from Oct. 20 to Nov. 15 ; the number 

 of ducks that may be killed by one sportsman 

 has been increased to 400, and any foreigner who 

 has paid the license fee may now export 50 ducks. 

 The system of minority representation adopted 

 for the city of Toronto has been discredited, both 

 because it had the appearance of securing party 

 advantage and on account of the by-elections. 



The question of prohibition was extensively 

 discussed, and attained greater prominence 

 owing to the fact of its being practically adopted 



as a plank in the political platform by Sir Wil- 

 liam R. Meredith and the Conservative Opposi- 

 tion, of which he is the leader. The outcome of 

 the discussion was the final adoption of a reso- 

 lution that the subject be submitted to the peo- 

 ple at the municipal elections in January, 18'J4. 



Not the least important act of the session was 

 the one providing for the establishment of a 

 large national park of 1,466 square miles in 

 the Nipissing district. It is to be at once a sani- 

 tarium, a game and fish preserve, and a forest 

 reservation. The acts of the session of greatest 

 general interest not referred to in the above 

 resume are : 



To incorporate the Pembroke Southern Kailway 

 Company. 



To incorporate the Sudbury and Nipissing Rail- 

 way Company. 



To incorporate the Lake Superior and Algoma 

 Colonization Kailway Company. 



Respecting the Sault Ste. Marie and Hudson's Bay 

 Railway Company. 



To extend the time of vesting of estates in heirs 

 and devisees. 



To incorporate the Strathroy and Western Counties 

 Kailway Company. 



For the relief of loan companies incorporated out of 

 Ontario. 



Respecting the erection of a lunatic asylum at 

 Brockville. 



The following cash bonuses were voted to 

 railways : 



To the Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa Kailway 

 Company, $45,000 ; to the Kingston, Napanee and 

 Western Railway Company, for extension of the road 

 to iron-ore deposits near the village of Tweed, $90,- 

 000 ; and to tne Central Counties Kailway Company, 



The following were the most important grants 

 made for the year ending Dec. 31, 1893 : 



To defray the expenses of the Executive Council 

 and the Attorney-General's office, $26,650 ; to defray 

 the expenses of legislation, $121,700 ; to defray the ex- 

 penses of the Supreme Court of Judicature, $56,750 ; to 

 defray the expenses of miscellaneous criminal and 

 civil justice, $320,334 ; to defray expenses of public and 

 separate schools, $242,197, ; to collegiate institutes 

 and high schools, $100,000 ; inspection of normal, 

 high, model, public, and .separate schools, $58,300; 

 normal and model schools, Ottawa and Toronto, 

 $50,980 ; superannuated public and high school teach- 

 ers, $61.300 ; maintenance of the insane and repairs 

 to buildings, $645,577 ; hospitals and charities, $64,- 

 582; in aid of agriculture, $176,837 ; institutions for 

 the deaf and dumb and blind, $97,936 ; to defray the 

 expenses of the Crown Lands Department, $183,909. 



To meet these and other sums voted, Parliament 

 granted out of the consolidated revenue fund of 

 the province $3,651,789.65. 



Finances. The total receipts for the year 

 ending Dec. 31, 1892, were $4,662,921.57, 'and 

 the total expenditure for the same year was 

 $4,068,951.68. The revenue of Ontario for the 

 year ending Dec. 31, 1893, was estimated by the 

 Treasurer at $4,030,572.80, and the expenditure 

 at $3.559,185. 



Education. Objections have been urged 

 against changes made in books used in the 

 schools, notably in the history of England, from 

 which certain passages, claimed to be offensive 

 to Roman Catholics, were eliminated. Similar 

 objections were made against the selected Bible 

 readings issued some time ago by the Depart- 



