NOVA SCOTIA. 



571 



$5,000,000. This company was formed for the 

 purpose of manufacturing coke and gas from 

 Nova Scotia slack coal. The works are nearing 

 completion, and are taking a moderate quantity 

 of coal from our mines at the present time. About 

 the 1st of April the company will begin the con- 

 sumption of Nova Scotia coal at the rate of about 

 750,000 tons a year. To meet this increased out- 

 put, the Dominion Coal Company is continuing 

 its work in Cape Breton through the present 

 winter season with practically the same vigor 

 with which it prosecuted the work during the 

 summer season. This, you will admit, is an en- 

 tirely new phase of coal mining in the country of 

 Cape Breton. The great difficulty in the past 

 with these mines was the short period during 

 which mining was carried on, leaving so many 

 men idle through the long and hard winter. It 

 could not be expected that matters would be on 

 an entirely satisfactory basis until this great 

 difficulty was overcome. You will probably, 

 therefore, be glad to know that this difficulty 

 has been overcome, and that the miners of Cape 

 Breton have a much better future than they could 

 possibly have had under anything less than the 

 development brought about by the Dominion Coal 

 Company or an institution of similar character, 

 prosecuted with the same energy. 



" Since the formation of the Dominion Coal 

 Company 1 have given my entire time and energy 

 to further its best interests, and am desirous of 

 further developing its business and putting it on 

 such a basis that the company and the mining 

 interests shall be independent of all governments 

 and tariffs, excepting the Government of Nova 

 Scotia and the Parliament of Canada, under 

 whose jurisdiction it is, and who must always 

 be interested in the success and advancement of 

 the company. Within the last year experiments 

 on a working scale have proved what hitherto 

 was unknown and even denied namely, that the 

 coal of our mines was suitable for the manufac- 

 ture of metallurgical coke. Coincident with this 

 has been the discovery of the existence of a 

 cheaply mined ore, easily brought to Cape Breton, 

 where limestone abounds, making the conditions 

 for the manufacture of pig iron and steel most 

 favorable. Access by sea facilitates the importa- 

 tion of foreign ore, and there is therefore found 

 in connection with our mines all the conditions for 

 a successful iron-making industry namely, raw 

 materials close at hand and water transportation 

 to the markets of the world." 



Mr. Whitney submitted a proposal that the 

 Legislature of Nova Scotia should take power 

 to itself, by order in Council or by an act of Par- 

 liament, to remit the whole royalty on all coal 

 used in the manufacture (or in connection there- 

 with) of iron and steel in the county of Cape 

 Breton to any company that would begin active 

 operations on or about the 1st of August next, 

 and continuously and actively prosecute its work, 

 making an expenditure on the whole enterprise 

 which shall be not less than $3,000,000. In great 

 measure the proposals were accepted, and on 

 March 15 Mr. G. H. Murray, the Premier, intro- 

 duced legislation in a speech explaining that the 

 bill authorized the Governor in Council to refund 

 half of the royalty paid on coal used within the 

 province of Nova Scotia in the making of iron 

 and steel to any company that might be organized 

 and begin operations within twelve months from 

 the 1st of August next, and also should within 

 two years of said date have erected within the 

 province of Nova Scotia a plant at a cost of not 

 less than $3,000,000 for the manufacture of iron 

 and steel. The second clause of the bill stated 



that this refund of royalty should not be for a 

 longer period than eight years. The third clause 

 enabled the Governor in Council to make regula- 

 tions for ascertaining the amount of coal con- 

 sumed by any company. The fourth clause of the 

 bill provided against a possible criticism or ob- 

 jection which might be raised in respect to the 

 lessening of the revenue which the province now 

 enjoyed. Members of the house would recollect, 

 explained Mr. Murray, that in the contract with 

 the Dominion Coal Company it was provided that 

 the minimum amount of royalty to be paid by 

 this company in any one year was fixed, and it 

 was felt advisable to have it clearly understood 

 that this contract should not be weakened in 

 any sense by a rebate. It was consequently pro- 

 vided that any coal on which a royalty had been 

 refunded under this act should not be counted 

 as part of the minimum output of coal required 

 by the Dominion Coal Company. 



Finances. On Feb. 20 Mr. Murray, Premier 

 and provincial Treasurer, presented his annual 

 report to the house. He began by stating that 

 he had estimated a small surplus of $3,000, which 

 had actually amounted to $6,630.25. The expendi- 

 ture was $849,330.45, and the receipts $855,960.70. 

 The money to the credit of the province at Ot- 

 tawa was $1,056,133.49, which bore interest at 

 5 per cent. The interest on this and the allow- 

 ance under the British North America act in 1898 

 amounted to $432,807.10. The Mines Department 

 had yielded $277,870.74, against $270,387 the year 

 before, or an increase of about $7,000. The fig- 

 ures of revenue derived from coal since 1870 

 showed the following increases: 1870, $71,575.28; 

 1880, $70,548.51; 1885, $119,294.77; 1890, $168,- 

 644.62; 1898, $277,870.74. This showed an in- 

 crease of more than $200,000 in less than thirty 

 years, and in less than ten years the increase had 

 been considerably more than $100,000. The Pre- 

 mier spent some time in combating the view that 

 it was the protective clause of the (Conservative) 

 Dominion policy that had brought pronounced 

 growth to the provincial coal industry. He was 

 not prepared, however, to say that protection had 

 not accomplished some good for Nova Scotia coal, 

 but he held that it was the legislation of Nova 

 Scotia itself that had been the great stimulant 

 to the revenues from coal. Up to 1885, he said, 

 the royalty had been 9.7 cents a ton on round 

 coal," slack being free, but in that year the royalty 

 was fixed at 7^ cents on all coal. In 1892 the 

 royalty was raised to 10 cents, and in 1893 the 

 royalty on all coal raised by the Dominion Coal 

 Company had been fixed at 124 cents, while that 

 paid by other companies was left at 10 cents. 

 Since 1893 there had been mined 11,533,777 tons, 

 which at the pftsent rate of royalty gave $1,291,- 

 810.66. If this quantity had paid merely the old 

 rate of 7 cents, all that would have been re- 

 ceived was $864,333.25. Thus provincial legisla- 

 tion in five years had added $427,477.41. 



In speaking of the succession duties, the Pre- 

 mier admitted that legacies for religious and 

 charitable purposes should be exempt from the 

 tax. The estimated revenue from this source for 

 1898 had been $45.000. The amount received was 

 $13,161.87 more than the estimate. The chief 

 sources of revenue during the year were the in- 

 terest and allowance from Ottawa, $432,807 ; mar- 

 riage license fees, $6.783; succession duties, $58,- 

 161; Crown lands, $20,386; Hospital for Insane, 

 $41,539; and the Victoria General Hospital, $7,- 

 ,348. With some small miscellaneous items these 

 make a total revenue of $855,960.70. 



The expenditure on current account in 1898 

 was $4,368 less than the year before. The figures 



