BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROVINCE OP. 



BULGARIA. 



65 



sources of the province, whether the fisheries, lum- 

 ber, mineral, or agricultural ; that during the first 

 six months of the present year over 7,000 Japanese 

 alone have landed on our shores, a number of 

 whom, however, are said to have crossed to the 

 United States; that out of a total population of 

 say 200,000, or about 40,000 working white men, 

 we have a probable Mongolian working population 

 of 20,000. That the above proportion is continu- 

 ally being changed by a constant influx of these 

 undesirable people and white immigration is de- 

 terred by dread of competition with them; and 

 that the well-known low conditions of life under 

 which the Mongolians live render it impossible for 

 white men, with their higher standard of living, 

 to compete successfully." 



It was therefore proposed that the Dominion 

 Government should legislate along lines similar to 

 the Natal immigration act, which it was under- 

 stood the imperial authorities did not consider 

 hostile to Japan. Nothing, however, was done 

 except in the appointment of a royal commission 

 to investigate alleged grievances, composed of R. C. 

 Clute, Q. C., of Toronto; Ralph Smith, M. P. P.; 

 and Daniel J. Munn, of British Columbia. It was 

 natural that in the ensuing Federal elections 

 strong ground should be taken against the Do- 

 minion Government upon this point and upon the 

 clause in a telegram from Sir Wilfi'id Laurier in 

 1896. declaring that if he succeeded then, " the 

 views of the Liberals in the west will prevail with 

 me " regarding Chinese immigration. 



The South African War. Like all the prov- 

 inces, British Columbia took an intense interest in 

 this conflict. On Jan. 4 the speech from the 

 throne, for which the Semlin Government was re- 

 sponsible, had declared with pride that the number 

 of volunteers from the province in the various con- 

 tingents had greatly exceeded those which imperial 

 official arrangements made it possible to accept. 

 The House had also passed a unanimous resolution 

 offering a further contingent of mounted men, 

 with expenses paid to Halifax. A large gathering 

 in Victoria a few days later declared in favor of 

 the Dominion Government's raising and equipping 

 an armed force of 10,000 men for service whenever 

 desired or needed by the Imperial Government. 

 The latter proposition was approved by other 

 Canadian cities. The legislative suggestion fell 

 through, owing to the local political turmoil that 

 almost immediately developed. 



Mining. On Aug. 28 the Hon. C. H. Mackin- 

 tosh, chairman of the company, declared that there 

 were 2,000,000 tons of gold ore in sight in the Le 

 Roi mine alone. Despite labor troubles in the 

 mining districts, the estimated production for 

 British Columbia in 1900 was $12,000,000, against 

 $4,000,000 in 1899. In the latter year the general 

 mineral development had included a production 

 of gold place t r and lode to the value of $4,202,- 

 473; silver, $1,663,708; copper, $1,351,453; lead, 

 $873,870; coal, $3,8-82,396; coke, etc., $376,655. 

 Many drawbacks existed during 1899 and were 

 continued into 1900. The kibor deadlock in what 

 was the most productive of the camps kept the 

 rich deposits and immense fixed capital there un- 

 fruitful for the whole year. Another drawback 

 felt by many of the camps was the handicap on 

 home smelting. The Canadian and American 

 tariffs worked together in favor of the American 

 smelting industry, and American railway com- 

 panies whose lines penetrate into southern British 

 Columbia co-operated to give works across the line 

 the preference. The development of the Atlin and 

 Boundary districts was very marked in 1900, and 

 one of the most important legislative enactments 

 of the year was the removal, in February, of the 

 VOL. XL. 5 A 



disabilities under which American miners had 

 labored in those districts. 



BULGARIA, a principality in eastern Europe 

 under the suzerainty of Turkey, created an auton- 

 omous tributary principality by the Treaty of Ber- 

 lin, signed July 13, 1878. Eastern Roumelia, which 

 was created an autonomous province at the same 

 time, in 1885 proclaimed its union with Bulgaria 

 after expelling the Christian governor appointed 

 by the Sultan, and has since been administered as 

 a part of the principality, the Prince holding the 

 title of Governor General by appointment of the 

 Sultan of Turkey. The legislative body in Bul- 

 garia is a single chamber called the Sobranje, con- 

 taining 157 members, 1 to 20,000 of population, 

 elected for five years by universal manhood suf- 

 frage. 



The reigning Prince of Bulgaria is Ferdinand, 

 Duke of Saxony, born Feb. 26, 1861, the youngest 

 son of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and of 

 Princess Clementine, a daughter of Louis Philippe, 

 King of the French. The heir to the throne is 

 Prince Boris, born Jan. 30, 1894. The Cabinet at 

 the beginning of 1900 was composed of the follow- 

 ing members: President of the Council and Min- 

 ister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, T. Ivant- 

 choff ; Minister of Finance, M. Teneff ; Minister of 

 Justice, P. Pecheff; Minister of the Interior, Dr. 

 V. Radoslavoff; Minister of Public Instruction, 

 Dr. Vachoff ; Minister of War, Col. S. Pafrikoff; 

 Minister of Communications, T. Toncheff; Min- 

 ister of Commerce and Agriculture, G. D. Nacho- 

 vich. 



Area and Population. The area of Bulgaria 

 proper is 24,380 square miles, and that of Eastern 

 Roumelia, or South Bulgaria, is 13,700 square 

 miles. The population of the entire principality 

 in 1893 was 3,310,713, divided into 1,690,626 males 

 and 1,620,087 females. Of the total number, 2,606,- 

 786 were Greek Orthodox, 643,258 Mohammedans, 

 28,307 Israelites, 22,617 Roman Catholics, 6,643 

 Armenians, 2,384 Protestants, and 718 undefined. 

 The number of marriages in 1897 was 29,227, 

 against 29,199 in 1896; of births, 149,631, against 

 143.255; of deaths, 90,134, against 84,076; excess 

 of births, 59,497, against 59,179. Sofia, the cap- 

 ital, had 46,593 inhabitants at the census of 

 1893; Philippopolis, capital of Eastern Roumelia, 

 41,068. 



Finances. The revenue for 1899 was estimated 

 in the budget at 84,097,195 francs, and expenditure 

 at 84,035,514 francs. Of the revenue, 33,941,000 

 francs were derived from direct taxes and 31,- 

 951,000 francs from indirect taxes. Of the ex- 

 penditure, 20,931,146 francs were required for in- 

 terest and sinking fund of the debt, 22,623,224 

 francs for the army, 7,860,501 francs for' the in- 

 terior, 7,548,555 francs for public instruction, and 

 6,731,693 francs for public works. 



The public debt in 1899 consisted of 40,071,000 

 francs outstanding of the railroad loan of 1888, 

 25,970,000 francs of the 6-per-cent. loan of 1889, 

 125,857,000 francs of the loan of 1892. and 9,700.000 

 francs unpaid of the Russian occupation debt ; 

 total, 201,958,000 francs, not including the Eastern 

 Roumelian tribute, which is 2,951.000 francs a 

 year, nor the Bulgarian tribute and share of the 

 Turkish debt, which have never been demanded or 

 determined according to the provision in the Berlin 

 Treaty. In June, 1899, the Sobranje authorized 

 the Government to convert and consolidate the 

 entire national debt and to issue a new loan of 

 260,000,000 francs bearing 5 per cent, interest for 

 this purpose. 



The Army and Navy. The Bulgarian army 

 consists of 24 regiments of infantry of 2 battalions 

 each and 12 reserve battalions; 3 regiments of 



