ONTARIO. 



611 



publican Delegate in Congress and his masterful 

 fight for free homes, and we hereby declare that had 

 he been returned to Congress the free-homes meas- 

 ure would have been now enacted into law. We 

 hereby charge that the failure of said measure is 

 due to the incompetency of the Populist-Democratic 

 Delegate in Congress, and to the fact that his elec- 

 tion was taken as a declaration of the people of 

 Oklahoma against the measure. 



" We demand the opening at the earliest date 

 possible, of the Wichita, Kiowa, and Comanche 

 reservations. 



" We present to Congress, in Oklahoma, 300,000 

 intelligent and patriotic citizens, and in the Indian 

 .Territory as many more. We insist that we are 

 entitled to Statehood, either with or without the 

 Indian Territory, and we favor immediate State- 

 hood with such boundaries as Congress in its wis- 

 dom may provide. 



" The principles of the Republican party are 

 against trusts and combines of every character 

 detrimental to the best interests of the people. We 

 therefore condemn the trust existing in this Terri- 

 tory known as the Wheat Buyers' Association as 

 being contrary to the fundamental principles of the 

 Republican party, in so far as said association in- 

 terferes with the freest competition in the purchase 

 or sale of grain. 



" We demand the vigorous enforcement of the 

 criminal laws, with equal and just legal rights to 

 all, that lynchings and like outrages may be sup- 

 pressed. 



" We recognize the disadvantages to the people 

 of the Indian reservations where a court has been 

 established by a recent act of Congress, arising from 

 the fact that the juries for said court have to be 

 drawn from adjoining counties. We respectfully 

 urge upon Congress that the law establishing such 

 court be amended so as to provide for the drawing 

 of juries within the boundaries of the reservation, 

 for the trial of such cases as are within the jurisdic- 

 tion of said court." 



The Republican candidate was elected, the vote 

 standing : Flynn, Republican, 28,456 ; Keaton, Fu- 

 sion, 19,088 ; Hawkins, Populist 1,269. 



The Territorial Legislature will stand : Republic- 

 ans in Council 8, in House 17; Democrats in 

 Council 2, in House 3 ; Fusionists in Council 3, 

 in House 3 ; Populists in House 3. 



ONTARIO, a province of the Dominion of Can- 

 ada ; area. 220,000 square miles; population in 

 1891, 2,114,321. Capital, Toronto. 



Government and Politics. The Hon. A. S. 

 Hardy, who in 1897 had succeeded Sir Oliver Mowat 

 as Premier and Attorney-General, had to appeal to 

 the people for the first time, and opposed to him 

 was also a new leader of the Conservative party, 

 Mr. J. P. Whitney. The elections took place on 

 March 1. and it would be difficult to define in a few 

 words the opposing policies. They may perhaps 

 be summed up in the contention on one side that 

 the new Premier should be given a chance ; that 

 the Government of which this was a continuation 

 had been great and good ; and that Liberalism was 

 now triumphant everywhere and thoroughly loyal 

 to the empire. The Opposition claimed that many 

 years of office generated corruption, carelessness, 

 -id maladministration; that it was time for a 



lange ; and that things should be swept as only a 



aw broom could sweep them. The result was the 



ection of 48 Liberals and 46 Conservatives. Two 

 linisters, Messrs. Gibson and Dryden, were beaten, 



it were afterward re-elected for other constituen- 

 The new house included 29 fanners, 14 law- 



ers, 6 doctors, 5 journalists, and 6 mill owners. A 



rge number of election protests were at once filed 

 either side, and a miniature election took place 



in subsequent months, in which the party in power 

 naturally had an advantage and gained somewhat. 

 During the following June while several election 

 petitions were before the courts, the Opposition 

 discovered that there was some question as to the 

 right of poll constables to vote. They had done so 

 unchallenged for twenty years, but if their votes 

 could be thrown out it would unseat a large num- 

 ber of Liberal members and leave the Government 

 in a minority when the new House met. Without 

 awaiting this result, however, Mr. Hardy had the 

 Legislature summoned in special session, after pub- 

 lishing a long personal memorandum addressed to 

 the public and explaining his own position. 



On Aug. 3 Sir Oliver Mowat, the Lieutenant Gov- 

 ernor, opened the House with a speech from the 

 throne, in the course of which he said : 



" I rejoice on being able to congratulate you that 

 the province is being favored with another abun- 

 dant harvest, and that the prices of almost all the 

 products of the farm have been satisfactory to the 

 agriculturist. There has been no abatement in the 

 efforts of the Department of Agriculture to pro- 

 mote the welfare of the husbandmen through the 

 operations of the numerous agencies and organiza- 

 tions under its direction, and by the preparation 

 and wide circulation of bulletins and reports. The 

 practical and experimental work in connection with 

 the Agricultural College continues to afford much 

 valuable instruction and encouragement to those 

 who can personally investigate it, as is evidenced by 

 t he constantly increasing number of farmers who 

 continue to visit and inspect its operations, not less 

 than 30,000 having visited the college and farm 

 during the month of June last. It is gratifying to 

 learn that the work of the department in enforcing 

 the provisions of the act of last session with respect 

 to the spread of the San Jose scale, and in protect- 

 ing the orchards of the province from the destruc- 

 tive ravages of the pest, has been actively pursued, 

 and with good results. 



" It is also a subject for congratulation that the 

 trade and commerce of the province are constantly 

 increasing, and that agricultural, manufacturing, 

 and commercial enterprises are alike prosperous 

 and successful. Great activity still prevails in the 

 mining districts, and there is abundant evidence 

 that the mineral wealth of northern Ontario is be- 

 ing steadily developed. 



" It is gratifying to record the increasing inter- 

 est which is being taken in road and street improve- 

 ments throughout the province. Successful efforts 

 to bring about reform* are apparent in many dis- 

 tricts. The fullest information appears to be de- 

 sired by both urban and rural municipalities re- 

 garding this branch of public work, the importance 

 of which can not be overestimated. 



" Owing, I believe to the unsettled condition of 

 certain branches of trade in the adjoining republic, 

 arising out of the war with Spain, and to the duty 

 imposed by the tariff of that nation on lumber when 

 imported, *the lumber market has not been as active 

 as in former years. I am pleased to be able to state 

 that shipments to the British markets have greatly 

 increased, and that satisfactory prices have been 

 obtained. 



" The work of the commission appointed last 

 year to inquire into the practicability of preserving 

 and restoring the white pine upon lands in the 

 province not adapted for agricultural purposes or 

 for settlement, and whose preliminary report with 

 recommendations was presented last session, has 

 been continued during the year. The final report 

 of the commission has been prepared for distribu- 

 tion during the session; in that case a measure 

 supplementary of the forest reserves act of last 

 session may be submitted to your consideration. 



