QUEBEC. 



663 



Q 



QUEBEC, a province of the Dominion of Can- 

 ada ; area, 228,900 square miles ; population in 1891, 

 1,488,535. Capital, Quebec. 



Government and Politics. The Marehand 

 Government, which assumed office after the gen- 

 eral elections of May, 1897, has an excellent record, 

 upon the whole. Faults there have been of course, 

 and the Conservative Opposition have bitterly con- 

 tested certain vacant seats notably in December, 

 1898. when four seats were vacant at once. But 

 the Government has been fairly sustained. At a 

 banquet given to the Hon. P. G. Marehand in Mon- 

 treal, on Jan. 26, 1898, he announced his policy as 

 being one of economy and the re-establishment of 

 the much-disturbed finances of the province. This 

 principle seems to have been consistently carried 

 out. On Nov. 23, 1897, the first session of the ninth 

 Legislature was opened by Sir J. A. Chapleau, 

 Lieutenant Governor, with a speech from the 

 throne, in which he said : 



" You have reason to rejoice that the Dispenser 

 of all good has been pleased to grant this province 

 a bountiful harvest, and that the produce of our 

 agricultural industry has found favor on foreign 

 markets, which leads us to hope for ever-increasing 

 remunerative prices in the future. This is for all 

 the assurance of prosperity. 



" You will be called upon to give your assent to 

 measures of the highest importance. Among these 

 a new law on public instruction occupies the first 

 place. It contains important changes in the old 

 law, without other innovations, however, than those 

 necessitated by the requirements of the hour. 

 Fully alive to the responsibility that devolves upon 

 it as regards everything connected with the welfare 

 and progress of the province, the Government can 

 not fail to evince an interest in so important a 

 question as that of education. Thus the bill that 

 will be submitted to you contains a provision for 

 the creation of a Ministry of Public Instruction, 

 the working whereof will not entail additional ex- 

 pense, for the number of ministers will remain the 

 same as at present. 



"Agriculture and colonization have already re- 

 ceived the most careful attention from my Govern- 

 ment, and such attention will continue to be given. 

 It is but proper that we should take advantage of 

 the tide of .colonization flowing toward our arable, 

 lands and attract our energetic and patriotic set- 

 tlers to the newly opened townships. 



"My Government has also, undertaken the mis- 

 sion of improving municipal roads, and it will spare 

 no effort to give a continual and increasing impetus 

 to that policy which is destined to produce the most 

 beneficial results and to increase the welfare and 

 wealth of our population. 



"I am pleased to observe the new vigor that 

 seems to be manifested by our manufacturing in- 

 dustries. The immense water powers scattered 

 throughout the province and that have remained 

 undeveloped for so many years are beginning to be 

 utilized. Thanks to them, new industries have 

 been established and have already produced excel- 

 lent results. 



" My Government, on assuming power, was com- 

 pelled to fulfill obligations undertaken by the late 

 Administration, and for which no provision was 

 made in the budget of the last fiscal year. The re- 

 sult of the obligations thus contracted has been a 

 considerable deficit and the creation of a floating 

 debt which makes it necessary for the Government 



to have recourse to a new loan in order to consoli- 

 date it. 



"By an act of Parliament of the tTnited King- 

 dom of Great Britain and Ireland entitled ' An 

 Act respecting the establishment of provinces in the 

 Dominion of Canada,' it was enacted that the Par- 

 liament of Canada might from time to time, with 

 the consent of the Legislature of the province, in- 

 crease, diminish, or otherwise alter the limits of 

 such province, upon such terms and conditions as 

 might be agreed upon by the Legislature of such 

 province. The late Government passed an order in 

 Council accepting the description of the northern 

 limits of the province offered by the Federal au- 

 thorities. This order in Council was considered by 

 the Federal Government as insufficient to fully sat- 

 isfy the requirements of the law in this matter. 

 You will be called upon to pass an act whereby the 

 province will consent to accept the limits thus de- 

 termined, so that the Parliament of Canada may 

 definitely establish them. This legislation is re- 

 quired to give effect to the agreement and to enable 

 the Federal power by definite legislation to place on 

 record the acknowledgment of the rights of the 

 province. You will be happy to learn that by tin- 

 passing of that act, the area of the province of 

 Quebec will be increased by 67,499,950 acres of 

 land." 



The Hon. Horace Archambault was elected Speak- 

 er of the Legislative Council, and the Hon. Jules 

 Tessier Speaker of the Assembly. The Legislature 

 adjourned on Jan. 15, 1898. The proposed school 

 legislation was perhaps the "most important matter 

 of the session. A bill was introduced by the Hon. 

 J. E. Robideux on Dec. 13, and was widely dis- 

 cussed. The central feature was to be the appoint- 

 ment of a Minister of Education (as in Ontario a 

 member of the Government and necessarily a polit- 

 ical partisan) in place of the existing non-partisan 

 chief superintendent. The measure eventually 

 passed the Assembly, but was thrown out in the 

 Council. The following statement explains the 

 political situation from two standpoints in Decem- 

 ber, 1898 : 



1. The Liberal View. The Conservatives prom- 

 ised, on taking office in December, 1891, that there 

 would be no new loans. They kept their promise 

 by floating the Taillon loan, which replaced an in- 

 debtedness of $3,860,000 by $5,332,976. The bonds 

 were sold at 77 without tender. This was in 1893. 

 In 1894 there was another loan of $2.920,000. In 

 1896 there was another loan of $3,017,333. Mr. 

 Marehand on taking office found that his predeces- 

 sor's extravagance necessitated a further loan of 

 $700,000. The Conservatives on taking office prom- 

 ised there would be no new taxes. They imposed a 

 tax on real estate transfers, licenses were imposed 

 on manufacturers and traders, succession duties 

 were levied, direct taxes were laid on professional 

 men. and municipalities were subjected to a variety 

 of new charges. In all, nearly two millions of new 

 taxes were collected by them". The Conservatives 

 promised on taking office that there would be no 

 new railway subsidies. They kept this promise by 

 withdrawing subsidies from new lines and giving 

 them to old lines to the amount of $963,000. By 

 extending lapsed subsidies to the amount of $1.486,- 

 507. they paid in five years for railway subsidies 

 $5,286,920. And in that time only 416 miles had 

 been added to the system in Quebec. The Conserv- 

 atives on taking office promised there would be no 



