90 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



"A great calamity visited the city of New 

 Westminster in the disastrous conflagration in 

 September last. But the energies and courage 

 of her citizens rose to the emergency, and, en- 

 couraged by the sympathy and material assist- 

 ance of the people" of all parts of Canada, they 

 put forth such efforts as have already caused the 

 city to rise from its ashes. You will be asked to 

 pass legislation to put the civic finances on such 

 a stable basis as will maintain the high reputa- 

 tion of the royal city. 



" With a view to remove existing inequalities 

 in the present system of taxation, measures will 

 be submitted to you for the remission of that 

 part of the tax on personal property commonly 

 known as the mortgage tax, and for the repeal 

 of the law requiring men working in mines for 

 wages to hold a fi - ee miner's certificate. 



" Realizing the advantages to be derived from 

 an absolute security in . the titles to land and 

 from an easy and inexpensive system of trans- 

 fers of real-estate titles, my Government will lay 

 before you a bill to introduce into this province 

 what is known as the Torrens system of regis- 

 tration, under such arrangements as will make 

 its adoption both convenient and advantageous 

 to the owners of the property. 



" In order to open up the public domain for 

 settlement, while securing to the province the 

 full benefit which it should derive from such a 

 valuable asset, you will be asked to sanction cer- 

 tain changes in the land act. 



" For the better protection of miners in coal 

 mines, a bill will be laid before you prohibiting 

 the employment underground of Japanese in these 

 mines. 



" You will also be asked to consider a meas- 

 ure designed to afford to prospectors on lands 

 within the boundaries of the grants to railway 

 companies the same freedom to prospect for the 

 precious metals as is accorded to them on Crown 

 lands. 



" My Government has given much considera- 

 tion to the present financial position of the prov- 

 ince, and to the means by which important public 

 works can be carried out without imposing undue 

 burdens on the taxpayers; and you will be asked 

 to pass legislation to provide for the deficit in 

 the revenue for the last two years, and for obliga- 

 tions incurred under the authority of acts al- 

 ready on the statute books. Also to authorize 

 certain changes in the methods of dealing with 

 the provincial debt and in the management of 

 the finances, whereby it is anticipated that both 

 the credit of the province will be enhanced and 

 important economies be effected." 



Mr. Thomas Forster, who had been for eight 

 years a member of the Assembly, was elected 

 Speaker. In view of the closeness of the vote, 

 as between the Semlin ministry and possible Op- 

 position combinations, interest centered early in 

 the session upon the vacating of certain seats 

 through the trial of election petitions. The Gov- 

 ernment met the difficulty by introducing a bill 

 to the effect that no petition should be tried 

 during the current session, and that one member 

 in particular should be free to sit in the House 

 for a defined period. There could be no doubt 

 as to its unprecedented nature, and the Opposi- 

 tion at once proposed the following amendment: 



" That legislation in the direction of staying 

 the course of the administration of justice is 

 vicious in principle and is subversive of law and 

 order and good government, and is calculated to 

 bring the administration of justice into disrepute 

 and make the courts of law mere mandatories 

 of the political power that may be in the ascend- 



ency. It has even been opposed to proper prece- 

 dent to affect pending litigation, and therefore 

 be it resolved that interference with the trial of 

 an election petition, and the staying of the trial 

 thereof, is wrong in principle and unwarrantedly 

 trespasses upon the functions of the court, and 

 is a matter that ought not to be dealt with by 

 any bill." 



The amendment was, however, defeated on a 

 party division of 19 to 13. The election-petition 

 bill was eventually passed, and then one of the 

 most important measures of the session was dealt 

 with the alien mining law. The terms of the 

 bill were as follow: 



" 1. The act may be cited as the ' placer min- 

 ing act amendment act, 1899.' 



" 2. Section 3 of chapter 136 of the Revised Stat- 

 utes is hereby repealed, and the following sub- 

 'stituted therefor: 



" 3. ( 1 ) Every person who is not less than 

 eighteen years of age and is a British subject 

 shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges 

 of a free miner under this act, and shall be con- 

 sidered a free miner under this act upon taking 

 out a free miner's certificate, as long as such cer- 

 tificate remains in force. A free miner's certifi- 

 cate shall not be transferable. (2) No joint-stock 

 company or corporation shall be entitled to take 

 out a free miner's certificate under this act un- 

 less the same has been incorporated, and not 

 simply licensed or registered under the laws of 

 this province; and unless such company or cor- 

 poration is authorized to take out a miner's cer- 

 tificate by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, 

 such authorization may at any time be can- 

 celed, and in case of such cancelation such com- 

 pany or corporation shall not be entitled to take 

 out a free miner's certificate under this act, but 

 any free miner's certificate now in force shall 

 remain in force until its expiry. The word ' per- 

 son ' in this section shall include only such com- 

 panies or corporations aforesaid. (3) A miner's 

 certificate taken out by any person not author- 

 ized so to do by this section shall be null and 

 void. (4) This section shall not affect free miners' 

 certificates issued before the coming into force 

 of this section; and in case any person or cor- 

 poration not allowed under this section to take 

 out a miner's certificate has, prior to the coming 

 into force of this section, acquired any interest 

 in any claim under the provisions of the ' placer 

 mining act,' such license may be renewed from 

 time to time, but such renewed certificate shall 

 not entitle the holder thereof to hold or acquire 

 any interest in any claim under the said ' placer 

 mining act,' except such interest so acquired prior 

 to the coming into force of this section. (5) No 

 free miner, after the coming into force of this 

 section, shall hold any claim under said ' placer 

 mining act,' or any interest therein, as trustee 

 or otherwise, for any person who is not a British 

 subject or for any corporation not authorized to 

 take out a free miner's certificate as above pro- 

 vided." 



The measure was duly passed, and* it created 

 consternation among the American miners in the 

 province, and was the cause of vigorous protests 

 addressed to the governments at Ottawa, Wash- 

 ington, and London. 



The House sat for thirty- seven working days 

 altogether, and on the thirty-eighth day the 

 Lieutenant Governor came down to the House 

 and assented to 101 bills, which, including the 

 four previously so dealt with, made 105 bills in 

 thirty-seven days. 



One of the important measures was the act to 

 provide for the settlement of disputes as to min- 



