BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



91 



ing claims in the Bennett lake and Atlin lake 

 mining divisions. On account of uncertainty as 

 to the boundary between British Columbia and 

 the Northwest Territories, and on account of the 

 manner in which the recorder's office in the Ben- 

 nett lake and Atlin lake mining division was 

 conducted under the late Government, disputes 

 had arisen as to the ownership of placer mining 

 claims in those mining divisions. It was desir- 

 able that such disputes should be settled in a 

 summary and inexpensive manner, and therefore 

 the Government introduced the " Bennett-Atlin 

 commission act, 1899." 



Another important act, introduced by the Chief 

 Commissioner of Lands and Works, provided for 

 construction of roads and imposing tolls for the 

 use of them. It is cited as the " development 

 toll roads act, 1899," and under it the Lieuten- 

 ant Governor in Council may, out of moneys bor- 

 rowed for that purpose, construct public roads 

 in any part of the province, to be known as de- 

 velopment toll roads. 



Another, and a very much needed change, was 

 the amendment to the land act, which sought to 

 prevent speculators from getting hold of valu- 

 able portions of the province. The " land act 

 amendment act, 1899," provides among other 

 things that every person desiring to purchase un- 

 surveyed, unoccupied, and unpreserved Crown 

 lands shall place at one angle or corner of the 

 land to be applied for a stake or post, to be 

 known as the initial post, and upon such initial 

 post he shall inscribe his name and the angle 

 represented thereby. The applicant shall give 

 one month's notice of his intended application 

 to purchase by a notice inserted, at the expense 

 of the applicant, in the British Columbia Ga- 

 zette and in any newspaper circulating in the dis- 

 trict wherein such land lies. Such notice shall 

 not include a greater area than 640 acres, and 

 shall be dated, and state the name of the appli- 

 cant, the locality, boundaries, and extent of the 

 land applied for, and shall be posted in a con- 

 spicuous place on the land sought to be acquired 

 and in the Government office, if any, in the dis- 

 trict. The applicant shall also forthwith make 

 an application (in duplicate) to the Chief Com- 

 missioner of Lands and Works to purchase the 

 said land, and in such application shall describe, 

 as accurately as possible, the location of the land, 

 especially with reference to any rivers, streams, 

 lakes, or other waters, and the applicant shall 

 also state the purpose for which he requires the 

 land. 



It shall be the duty of the surveyor to classify 

 the lands so surveyed as timber lands, first-class, 

 second-class, or third-class lands, and he shall 

 make full and accurate field notes of his survey, 

 and vipon completion of the survey shall file the 

 notes and a report of his survey in the office of 

 the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, ac- 

 companied by a statutory declaration verifying 

 the notes, and showing the area of first-class, 

 second-class, or third-class lands embraced in 

 such survey; and such declaration shall also state 

 whether in his opinion any of said land, and if 

 so what, is likely to be required for the purpose 

 of a town site or fishing station, and whether 

 the granting of such land, or any of it, would 

 prevent or hamper the development of any ad- 

 joining natural resources. The minimum price 

 for the first-class lands shall be $5 an acre; that 

 of second-class lands $2.50 an acre; and that of 

 the third-class lands $1 an acre. Provided, how- 

 ever, that the Chief Commissioner may for any 

 reason increase the price of any lands above these 

 prices. 



The clause of the old act referring to reserves 

 was amended so that the Lieutenant Governor in 

 Council may at any time, by published notice 

 signed by the Chief Commissioner of Lands and 

 Works, reserve any lands not lawfully held by 

 pre-emption, purchase, lease, or Crown grant for 

 the purpose of conveying them to the Dominion 

 Government in trust, for the use and benefit of 

 the Indians, and may also similarly reserve any 

 such lands for railway purposes or for such other 

 purposes as may be deemed advisable. 



The first session of the Eighth Parliament ad- 

 journed on March 2, after the following bills, 

 among others, had been assented to in the Queen's 

 name: 



To amend the police and prisons regulation act. 

 To reduce the number of grand jurors. 

 To incorporate several railway companies. 

 Respecting the registration of real property. 

 To amend the small debts act. 

 To amend the master and servant act. 

 To amend the provincial elections act. 

 To incorporate the Chartered Commercial Com- 

 pany of Vancouver. 



To incorporate the Big Bend Transportation 

 Company, Limited. 



To amend the escheats act, 1898. 

 To amend the Constitution act. 

 Respecting the Department of Mines. 

 Respecting the Department of Lands and 

 Works. 



To extend the rights of the Crown to prospect 

 for minerals on railway lands to all free miners. 

 Respecting liquor licenses. 

 To amend the succession-duty act. 

 To amend the assessment act. 

 To amend the revenue-tax act. 

 To amend the inspection of metalliferous mines 

 act. 



To amend the mineral act. 



An act to provide for the settlement of disputes 

 as to mining claims in the Bennett lake and Atlin 

 lake mining divisions. 



To amend the liquor traffic regulation act. 

 To amend further the placer-mining act. 

 To borrow $2,800,000 for certain purposes. 

 To amend the farmers'-institutes and co-opera- 

 tion act. 



In February a most complicated controversy 

 took place as to jurisdiction between the pro- 

 vincial Government and the city of Vancouver, in 

 connection with the leasing by the first named of 

 Deadman's island, in Vancouver harbor, to an 

 American manufacturer for sawmill purposes. 

 The policy of the matter was also bitterly de- 

 nounced in the city. During the same month 

 the hottest by-election contest ever held in Vic- 

 toria resulted in the return of the late Premier, 

 J. II. Turner, and two supporters. About the 

 same time the correspondence between the Gov- 

 ernment and Messrs. Mackenzie and Mann, re- 

 fusing to carry out a contract authorized by the 

 late Government for the construction of the Pen- 

 ticton Railway, caused much angry comment and 

 controversy. 



Late in June Joseph Martin, the Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, spoke at a banquet in Rossland, and used 

 language so gross as to be only excusable from 

 a cause which he did not advance. It appears 

 to have been the culmination of a series of cir- 

 cumstances which made it impossible for him to 

 remain longer in the ministry, and on July 3 Mr. 

 Semlin requested his resignation, which, after pro- 

 test and a sustained effort to hold his place, even 

 by upsetting the Government and trying to form 

 a new one, was finally given, and he was replaced 

 as Attorney-General by Alexander Henderson. 



