NEW BRUNSWICK. 



I For the further encouragement of agriculture. 

 To grant aid toward holding a provincial exhibi- 

 tion. 



To encourage visits of tourists and sportsmen to 

 the province. 



In further amendment of chap. Ixv of the Con- 

 solidated Statutes, of " Schools." 



To incorporate the Provincial Coal Company. 



To amend the game law. 



To authorize the city of Fredericton to issue de- 



mtures for certain purposes. 



To amend the law respecting the administration 

 )f trusts and the liability of trustees. 



To consolidate and amend the public-health act 



id amendments thereof. 



To incorporate the Primitive Baptist denomina- 

 ion of New Brunswick. 



To amend the law relating to rates and taxes 



iroughout the province. 



Finances. On Oct. 81, 1897, the debt of the prov- 

 ice was $3,058,957, chiefly in provincial debentures 

 it 4 per cent, interest. About $600,000, however, 

 at 6 per cent. The assets were Crown lands 

 lumbering 7,000,000 acres, and public buildings 

 ralued at $400,000. 



The revenue for the fiscal year 1897 was $953,- 

 590, of which the main items were as follows : Do- 

 linion subsidies, $488,550 ; territorial revenues, 

 5180,126 ; taxes on incorporated companies, $22,- 

 T47; liquor licenses, $20,267; proceeds of sale of 

 lebentures, $117,000. 



The expenditures were chiefly as follows : Admin- 

 stration of justice, $17,617.16; agriculture, $19,- 

 36.84; contingencies, $15,038.63; education, $208,- 

 027; executive Government, $81,278.03; interest 

 (not chargeable to special funds), $121,783.1 1 ; Legis- 

 lature, $20,953.20; Lunatic Asylum, $41,863; public 

 works, $195,800 ; permanent bridges, $100.000 ; re- 

 lemptiori debentures, $37,000. 



Agriculture. In this year a department of the 



>vernment devoted to agriculture was established. 

 J asture during the season was good; the production 

 oats was not sufficient for home consumption; 

 ic barley crop was small; buckwheat and peas, so 

 ir as grown, were clearly profitable ; potatoes were 



failure, and turnips were below the average; beets, 

 langles, and carrots were a valuable yield where 



>wn. Fruit-growing showed a slow but steady 

 growth. Cold-storage warehouses were established 

 in the chief cities and towns of the province, and 

 agricultural education was largely promoted. The 

 dairy exhibit at the annual St. John Exhibition 

 (Sept. 14, 1898) was most successful. There were 7 

 butter factories in working order in 1897, or 2 

 fewer than in the previous year. There were 49 

 cheese factories, producing $99,655 worth of cheese. 

 The total export of dairv produce was valued at 

 $37,839. 



Education. At the University of New Bruns- 

 wick there were 68 students in attendance in De- 

 cember, 1897. The total number of schools at the 

 (dose of 1897 grammar, superior, and common 

 was 1,737, and the provincial grant was $161,445, 

 of which $155,078 went to the common schools. 

 The following are the official statistics of the com- 

 mon or public schools for the year ending June 30, 

 1897: Schools, 1,737; pupils in attendance at schools, 

 61,908 ; new pupils in attendance this term at 

 schools in operation both terms, 7,479 ; new pupils 

 in attendance this term at schools not in operation 

 the previous term, 2,089 ; total number of different 

 pupils in attendance at schools within the year, 

 66,917. 



Miscellaneous. One of the most important pub- 

 lic bodies in the province is the St. John Board of 

 Trade. During the year it took an active part in 

 public matters, and its report, published on Dec. 10, 

 VOL. xxxvin. 31 A 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



481 



1898, shows influence strongly exerted in behalf of 

 St. John as a winter port for Dominion lines of 

 steamers, for the proper stamping of weights and 

 dates on parcels for export, for the encouragement 

 of trade with the Bahamas, for an imperial subsidy 

 to a dry dock in the port of St. John, for the local 

 establishment of various industries, for the im- 

 provement of harbor facilities at Montreal, for 

 further lighthouses and lifeboat stations, and for 

 the protection of provincial interests at the Quebec 

 International Conference. In November, 1898. a 

 great storm occurred, which did much damage along 

 the coasts. Late in September Sir John C. Allen, 

 for many years Chief Justice of the province, died. 



NEWFOUNDLAND, a North American British 

 colony; area, 42,200 square miles; population, 

 210,000. Capital, St. John's. 



Sir Herbert Murray's term of office as Governor 

 expired last year. His successor is Lieut.-Col. Sir 

 Henry E. McCallum, R. E. ( K. C. M. G. 



Finances. The funded debt of the colony is 

 $16,485,760, the greater part of which was incurred 

 in 'railway construction and other public works. 

 The imports for 1896-'97 were, in value, $5,938,336 ; 

 the exports, $4,925,789. The revenue for 1896-'97 

 amounted to $1,610,788. The public accounts for 

 1898 will not be published for sometime. The total 

 amount of the grant for education is $154,438. The 

 relief of the poor, including lunatics, paupers, and 

 sick, cost in 1896-'97 $178,441. The interest on 

 the public debt, funded and floating, is $606,017. 



The New Railway. The legislative session of 

 1898 will be memorable for the number and impor- 

 tance of the acts passed which will have far-reach- 

 ing results on the fortunes of the colony. The 

 most important of these acts is that which provides 

 for the maintenance and operation of the New- 

 foundland railway. The transinsular portion of 

 this line, completed from St. John's to Port-au- 

 Basque (550 miles), was opened in July. The ob- 

 ject of this railway is to open up the interior for 

 settlement and industrial enterprises, and- at the 

 same time to provide a means of rapid communica- 

 tion between the island and the continent. It runs 

 through the most fertile lands, and supplies facili- 

 ties for working the mineral deposits and coal beds, 

 and for turning the valuable forests to profitable ac- 

 count. Its completion marks an ei'a in the history 

 of the colony. Hitherto the people were mainly 

 dependent on the fisheries; now farming, mining, 

 lumbering, and pulp making will employ increas- 

 ingly large numbers of the population.' A swift 

 steamer, the " Bruce," plies between Port-au- 

 Basque and Sydney, Cape Breton, making the pas- 

 sage in six hours. Under favorable conditions it 

 is possible to reach Montreal from St. John's in 

 sixty-four hours and Boston in seventy-three hours. 

 The railway is admirably built, and the cars are 

 equal in equipment to those on the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway. Last year showed a large increase in the 

 number of tourists, travelers, and sportsmen visit- 

 ing the island, while the freight and passenger 

 traffic is developing at a satisfactory rate. 



It must be remembered, however, that the 

 greater portion of this railway runs through an al- 

 most uninhabited country, so that a long time may 

 elapse before such a line will pay its working ex- 

 penses. The annual loss of operating it will prob- 

 ably exceed $200,000. The line was built by the 

 Government and paid for by colonial bonds bear- 

 ing interest at 3|- per cent. 



Robert G. Reid, contractor, of Montreal, who had 

 built the greater part of the railway, made an offer 

 for its operation which proved to be so acceptable 

 that the Legislature closed with it by an over- 

 whelming majority, and their action was approved 

 bv the constituencies. In the act which authorized 



I 



