MANITOBA. 



473 



Finances. On April 1 Mr. D. H. McMillan, 

 provincial treasurer, reviewed the finances in his 

 budget speech, of which the following are the 

 essential portions: 



" The ordinary revenue for 1898 was $936,- 

 603.31; that is the largest revenue we have ever 

 received. The increase is mainly shown in one 

 item of Dominion Government subsidy. We se- 

 cured the settlement of an old claim against 

 the Dominion Government; it was for the con- 

 struction of the Parliament buildings and Gov- 

 ernment House, and had been in dispute since 

 1886. At various times efforts had been made 

 to secure a settlement; the late Hon. Mr. Nor- 

 quay pressed the claim, and Hon. Dr. Harrison 

 went to Ottawa and pressed it as leader of the 

 Government, but they could never get the late 

 Dominion Government to take it up. As soon as 

 this Government came into office we laid the claim 

 before them; it was admitted to be just, a bill 

 was put through the house authorizing the Gov- 

 ernment to settle, $267,026.45 was placed to the 

 credit of the capital account of the province, and 

 interest for the past thirteen years was paid in 

 cash, $231,306.94. So the province is $498,333.37 

 in round figures, half a million dollars better off 

 than a year ago. This is one of the benefits the 

 province has derived from the change of govern- 

 ment at Ottawa. The increased capital will give 

 a yearly subsidy of $13,351.32, as we are entitled 

 to receive and will receive 5 per cent, interest. 

 Another item was the advance asked for of $200,- 

 000 on school lands; in this there was a very 

 large disappointment. All we received from this 

 source last year was $7,000 or $8,000 interest 

 on school-lands funds. Over half a million dol- 

 lars is credited to the provinces from the pro- 

 ceeds of sale of school lands. This is our money, 

 and we are entitled to administer not only the 

 money but the lands. The grants for school 

 purposes are increasing so rapidly, while the rev- 

 enue is almost stationary, that we consider the 

 time has arrived when we should participate in 

 the benefit from this large sum. The value of 

 the lands is estimated at about $15,000,000. We 

 represented the matter to the Dominion Gov- 

 ernment, pointing out that the grants to schools 

 since we came into office had increased from 

 $65,000 to $200,000 in one year, and that it was 

 necessary to continue the grants in order to en- 

 able the people to maintain the schools; also 

 that all we had received from the school-lands 

 fund was $83,000. The Government decided that 

 it was to the interest of the province to give a 

 portion of the money. A bill was introduced by 

 the Minister of Finance to advance $300,000; it 

 passed the House of Commons, but it was bowled 

 out by the Senate. 



" Our receipts from provincial lands were $22,- 

 146.23. We have a regularly established land de- 

 partment now. Of course, we have only swamp 

 lands. There were sold last year 25,967 acres, at 

 prices ranging from $2 to $8, averaging $3.41 per 

 acre. 



" The expenditure for 1898 was $836,160.23. Of 

 this, $81,036.30 was spent for civil government, 

 less than in any year since 1891; for administra- 

 tion of justice, $68,528.04, an increase of expendi- 

 ture, for the reason that the population had 

 increased and the criminal work was also increas- 

 ing. In cash grants there was expended $293,- 

 853.52. Of course, the largest part was grants 

 to schools, $205,867.81; there were also agricul- 

 tural grants, $20,749.64 namely, for electoral 

 division agricultural societies $13,865.14, Winni- 

 peg Industrial Exhibition Association $3,500, 

 Western Agricultural and Arts Association 



$2,000, farmers' institutes, dairy and other asso- 

 ciations $1,384.50; charitable grants, $33,254.56; 

 general hospitals Winnipeg $15, 150. 30, St. Boni- 

 face $10,303.93, Brandon $4,8H2.31, Monlen 

 $1,288.12; Salvation Army Rescue Home, $250; 

 Women's Home, $250; Children's Home, $500; 

 St. Boniface Orphanage, $500; Prisoner's Aid As- 

 sociation, $125; public works and aid to mu- 

 nicipalities, $26,570.76; cash grants to munici- 

 palities, $33,281.51; expended on colonization, 

 roads, and bridges, $26,570.76; maintenance of 

 public institutions, $95,396.81; maintenance of 

 courthouses, jails, legislative buildings, etc., $19,- 

 303.56; total Public Works Department expendi- 

 ture, $190,236.19. Agricultural Department ex- 

 penditure and dairy instruction, $6,929.03; dis- 

 eases of animals, $3,655.65; noxious weeds 

 inspection, $1,619.39; other agricultural expendi- 

 ture, $2,663.99. For immigration there was ex- 

 pended $20,682.40. The advantages derived from 

 this expenditure are very evident. We see a larger 

 immigration set in this year than we have ever 

 had. The efforts of the department have been 

 very successful in the past year in Ontario and 

 in the states south of the boundary line. 



" In the estimates there are only little changes. 

 Three hundred thousand dollars is estimated on 

 account of school lands, and something more from 

 swamp lands. We estimate to spend $50,000 

 more in grants to public schools, making $250,- 

 000 for this year. All the other cash grants, 

 which have always been large under this Gov- 

 ernment, will be increased again. It is certainly 

 to be hoped that we shall succeed in securing the 

 assistance asked for from the Federal Govern- 

 ment a portion of the school-lands fund. The 

 large grants can not be continued unless we de- 

 rive some benefit from the large asset set apart 

 for this purpose. Only 15 to 20 cents per child 

 has been received, while the grants amount to 

 $4 or $5 a child." 



General Progress. On April 1 the Attorney- 

 General, the Hon. J. D. Cameron, reported to 

 the Legislature important figures of municipal 

 and general progress. The following is a sum- 

 mary _of his statement : 



Population of rural municipalities, unorgan- 

 ized districts, etc., 161,635; cities, towns, and vil- 

 lages, 68,246; total population of the province, 

 229,881. Number of acres in rural municipali- 

 ties, 13,798,750; acres under cultivation, 2,824,- 

 929; acres wooded, 1,159,806; number of horses, 

 98,303; number of cattle, 219,743; number of 

 sheep, 29,566; number of pigs, 66,565. Assess- 

 ment, real and personal, in rural municipalities, 

 $43,134,980; in cities, etc., $31,455,619. 



Taxes for municipal purposes in rural munici- 

 palities, $289,901.44; taxes for school purposes, 

 $323,148.70; debenture purposes, $42,536.62; dis- 

 trict and county, $48,949.58; municipal purposes, 

 cities, etc., $405,755.98; school purposes, cities, 

 etc., $158,834; debenture purposes, cities, etc., 

 $20,817.21;. district and county purposes, cities, 

 etc., $15,486.05. Total taxes imposed in 1898, 

 rural municipalities, $704,536.43. Assets, rural 

 municipalities, $1,226,647.26; liabilities, rural mu- 

 nicipalities, $772,548.23; assets, cities, towns, and 

 villages, $989,600.47 ; liabilities, cities, towns, and 

 villages, $1,124,439.01; debenture indebtedness, 

 rural municipalities, $484,535 ; debenture indebted- 

 ness, cities, etc., $4,561,023.12. 



Number of rural municipalities in the province, 

 74; cities, 2; towns, 11; villages, 6. Rural schools 

 in operation, 1,002; estimated number of school 

 children in rural districts, 40,129; in cities, towns, 

 and villages, 8,812. Amount of annual Govern- 

 ment grant to rural schools, $130,000; grants and 



