PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



hearers included, the aggregate is given as 315,182. 

 Increase is shown in all these items, that of min- 

 isters being 28, and that of communicants, 2,346. 

 The total contributions of church members were 

 284,180, giving an average of 1 16s. 44d. per 

 member, and an increase of 37,815 over the con- 

 tributions of 1898. The contributions for foreign 

 missions had been 9,680. The mission in India 

 returned 355 chapels and preaching stations, 28 

 ministers, 52 preachers, 4,237 communicants (an 

 increase of 641), 3,573 candidates, 6,182 children 

 (a total in the churches of 13,992), 18,587 hearers, 

 and 4,872 of contributions by the native mem- 

 bers. The report showed that on the Khama hills 

 in India the natives in the churches were sending 

 out missionaries, and the question of putting the 

 churches on a self-supporting basis had been con- 

 sidered. The native churches had established a 

 home missionary fund, in aid of which they were 

 making a centenary collection. A report was also 

 made of the mission in Brittany. The book room 

 had become a source of financial profit. Nearly 

 40,000 had been contributed toward the proposed 

 centenary fund of 100,000. 



The General Assembly met at Llanberis, Wales, 

 June 19. The Rev. Thomas Roberts, moderator- 

 elect for .1900, having died since his election, the 

 Rev. J. J. Roberts, of Portmadoc, was chosen mod- 

 erator. A report was presented concerning the 

 work done by the connection among Welshmen 

 in London and the large towns of England and 

 Scotland, and in the United States and Canada. 

 Resolutions were adopted calling attention to the 

 difficulty experienced in obtaining for the soldiers 

 in service the privilege of worshiping in the non- 

 conformist way. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, a province of 

 the Dominion of Canada; area, 2,133 square 

 miles; population in 1891, 109,088. 



Government and Politics. The political year 

 in this little island province of the Dominion was 

 very stormy. It began with the ministry of the 

 Hon. D. 1'arquharson, a continuation of the 

 Liberal Government of the Hon. F. Peters (which 

 had originally won at the polls, and had been re- 

 organized because Mr. Peters had removed to 

 British Columbia), holding office by a majority 

 of two. The other members of his ministry were 

 Hon. Angus McMillan, Provincial Treasurer; 

 Hon. James R. McLean, Commissioner of Public 

 Works; Hon. I). A. MacKinnon, Attorney-Gen- 

 eral; and Messrs. J. W. Richards, Benjamin 

 Rogers, A. McLaughlin, Peter Sinclair, and Peter 

 McNutt without office or portfolio. Mr. Mac- 

 Kinnon, against all British and Canadian consti- 

 tutional precedents, had held his office of At- 

 torney-General, and continued to do so during 

 the session, without a seat in the Assembly. He 

 had been defeated in December, 1899, on appoint- 

 ment to that office, by A. P. Prowse, while an- 

 other Conservative in a similar by-election had 

 also won a seat. On May 8 the Legislature was 

 opened in due form by Lieut.-Gov. P. A. Macln- 

 tyre, and it was adjourned on June 9 after a ses- 

 sion in which the legislation attempted or ef- 

 fected was slight and the dominant feature was 

 party contention. Of the majority of two pos- 

 sosed by tin- Government, one was Mr. Peters, 

 who had not yet resigned liis seat, though living 

 3,000 miles away. The other was lost by Mr. 

 Wise, who had been originally elected as a Lib- 

 eral, repudiating the P'ar<|uharson Government 

 and resigning his sent before the Assembly met, 

 with a view to having his position approved by 

 his constituency. He declared that his resigna- 

 tion was handed to the Speaker on a distinct 

 understanding with the Government that the 



election would be held at once. Even without 

 such an understanding, however, the unwritten 

 constitution and permanent practice is to hold 

 such an election within a short time. But the 

 Government received the resignation, refused to 

 hold the election during the session of the As- 

 sembly, and for a time held office by the casting 

 vote of the Speaker. Finally it obtained the sup- 

 port of a Conservative member named Pineau. 

 An exciting matter was an attempt by Mr. Wise 

 to withdraw a resignation which he said had been 

 given under false pretenses on the part of the 

 Government, and to take his seat. Had he done 

 so, the Government would have been beaten. 

 They therefore expelled him from the House on 

 the casting vote of the Speaker. In July, 1900, 

 Mr. Wise was defeated by a large majority. 



Finances. The receipts of the province for 

 the year ending June 30, 1899, were $282,678. and 

 its expenses $276,789. The former amount in- 

 cluded the Dominion subsidy of $181,932. the 

 provincial land tax of $30,136, and the sale of 

 debentures for $17,089. The expenditures included 

 $125,531 for education, $20,108 for the insane 

 asylum, $19,076 for interest on the debt, $1.~>.S74 

 as subsidies to ferries and steamers, $32,583 on 

 roads and bridges, and $15,317 on the administra- 

 tion of justice. The gross debt of the island was 

 given in 1899 as $500,000. 



Prohibition. The only legislative measure of 

 importance marking the year was a prohibition 

 bill similar in many respects to that of Manitoba. 

 It was introduced by Premier Farquharson as a 

 Government measure, and, after some criticism. 

 was finally approved by the Opposition and car- 

 ried. It prohibits the retail sale of liquor except 

 for sacramental, medical, scientific, or mechanical 

 purposes, under rigid restrictions. Wholesale 

 trade is also prohibited except to physicians and 

 druggists, and for consumption outside the prov- 

 ince. It will go into effect on June 5, 1901. The 

 penalties for unlawful sale are $100 or three 

 months in jail for first offense; $200 or four 

 months in jail for second offense: six months in 

 jail, without the option of a fine, for the third 

 and subsequent offenses. Provision is made for 

 appointment of inspectors to enforce the act. and 

 for one or more venders for the city of Charlotte- 

 town and for each county electing to come under 

 the influence of the act. The fines are to go into 

 the provincial treasury excepting those collected 

 in Charlottetown, one third of which will go into 

 the city. No appeal is possible from any convic- 

 tion or judgment rendered in the ordinary courts. 

 Where the prosecutor is other than one of 

 inspectors provided by the act, such prosec 

 is to receive one fourth of the fines collected. 



Agriculture. In 1898 there were 44,70:i .HK- 

 in wheat, with a product of 596,761 bushel >: 7 .">!> I 

 acres in barley, with 147,880 bushels: 123.H24 

 acres in oats, with 2.922,522 bushels: 43,521 acres 

 in potatoes, with 7,071.308 bushels; 4,411 acre- in 

 turnips, with 2.005.453 bushels. There were a No 

 84,460 bushels of buckwheat and an estimated 

 product of 150,000 tons of hay. The live stock in 

 the island in 1898 included 44,000 horses, lld.nud 

 cattle, 176,800 sheep, and 51,000 swine. 



Education. The number of schools in 18!)!t w:i* 

 582; teachers, 582; enrolled pupils, 21,r>:>n : aver- 

 age attendance, 12,941. The Government expendi- 

 ture was $125,531. and the school board (loc 

 expenditure $31.537. 



Prince Edward Island Railway. This c 

 factor in provincial transportation runs t 

 whole length of the island, 154J miles, and 

 a total mileage of 211. Its earnings in IS'.i'.i were 

 .tMC.5.012. its working expenses $218,053, its deficit 



111 IS. 







