684 



ONTARIO. 



est decrease was under the heading of woods and 

 forests, where a decline of $345,954 was shown. 

 The total receipts as given by the Treasurer for 

 1898 were $3,647,353; the expenditures, $3,- 

 803,081. 



Minerals. The total value of mineral prodm 

 tion in 1891 was $4,705,673; in 1892, $5.374.139: 

 in 1893, $6,120,753; in 1894, $6.086,758: in 1 

 $5,170,138; in 1896, $5,235,003; and in 1898, 

 $2,464,239. In 1897 statistics of building mate- 

 rials were not collected, and for that year a com- 

 parison of total products can not be made. Gold 

 mining began in an uncertain way in Ontario in 

 1892, and although mines and mills have been 

 worked irregularly since then, only seven are 

 steady producers of bullion. During the three 

 years 1892-'93-'94 the production ranged from 

 $33776 to $36,900. In 1895 it rose to $50,781, in 

 1896 to $121,848, in 1897 to $190.244. and in 1898 

 to $275,078. In the first half of 1899 the value of 

 bullion produced was $224,995. 



The Hon. J. M. Gibson, Provincial Secretary, 

 explaining the Government's policy in regard to 

 charcoal iron smelting, etc., in March, 1899, said: 

 "The blast furnace at Hamilton was started in 

 1896, and in the three years it has produced 

 100,566 net tons of pig metal, valued at $1,172,696. 

 It employs about 130 men, and the amount of 

 wages paid in the three years has been $148,475. 

 Last year it produced 48,253 tons of pig metal, 

 valued at $530,788, and it paid for labor $61,475. 

 A blast furnace has been completed at Deseronto 

 for the production of charcoal iron, and all the 

 charcoal fuel to be used is made in the province. 

 A second charcoal furnace is to be erected this 

 year at Midland, which will begin with a capa- 

 city of 60 tons of pig metal a day. 



"Under the act of 1891 the price of mining 

 lands ranged from $2 to $4.50 an acre, and by the 

 act of 1892 the maximum price was reduced to 

 $3.50. In 1894, owing to the business depression, 

 the prices were further reduced to a range of 

 $1.50 to $3. The present buoyancy of trade and 

 business, with accompanying activity in mining 

 enterprise, appears to justify a small increase." 



Agriculture. The year* 1899 was a fairly 

 good one for the Ontario farmer. The production 

 was as follows: Fall wheat, 14,439,827 bushels; 

 spring wheat, 7,041,317 bushels; barley, 14,830,891 

 bushels; oats, 89,897,724 bushels; peas, 15,140,790 

 bushels; rye, 2,284,846 bushels; buckwheat, 

 2,203,299 bushels; beans, 651,000 bushels; pota- 

 toes, 19,933,366 bushels; mangel-wurzels, 20,898,- 

 387 bushels; carrots, 3,674,035 bushels; turnips, 

 57,878,390 bushels; corn (for husking), 21,673,234 

 bushels; hay, 3,498,705 tons; apples, 19.126,439 

 bushels; tobacco, 2,241,562 pounds. Estimating 

 the values at current prices, the total value was 

 $113,000,000. 



Liquor and Licenses. The ordinary licenses, 

 the beer and shop and wine licenses, issued in 

 1898 were 3,123 in number a slight reduction 

 upon the preceding year. The revenue from 

 them was $268,247 also a slight reduction. The 

 total raised by fines, etc., was $602,853. Legis- 

 lation was introduced during the session which 

 increased the fees and licenses generally, and was 

 expected to take $24,000 of revenue more from 

 distillers, $16,000 from brewers, and $65,000 from 

 license holders per annum. 



Education. The total amount expended upon 

 public schools in 1898 was $3,913,501 an increase 

 of $24,058. Of this sum, $350,457 was expended 

 for sites and buildings, $2,717,261 for teachers' 

 salaries, and $845,783 for all other purposes. The 

 number of registered pupils of all ages in the pub- 

 lic schools was 441,157, an increase for the year of 



ORANGE FREE STATE. 



55 : while the average attendance was 248,548, an 

 increase of 1,824. The number of teachers em- 

 ployed was 8,376, of whom 2,090 were men and 

 5,686 women. The number of pupils in the 

 Roman Catholic separate schools was 24,996, an 

 increase of 366. Upon high schools, the total 

 amount expended was $715,970, of which $532,837 

 was for teachers' salaries, $40,027 for sites and 

 buildings, and $130,512 for all other purposes. 

 At the night schools the total attendance was 

 1,406 and the average attendance 317. In 1872 

 486 high-school pupils when they finished their 

 high-school education entered mercantile life. 

 In 1897 the number had increased to 1,368. Simi- 

 larly 300 high-school pupils left the high school 

 for agricultural pursuits, and in 1897 1,153 pupils 

 pursued a similar course. 



, The free library system had been very success- 

 ful. In 1895, when the act regarding free libra- 

 ries was passed, there were only 12 such institu- 

 tions in the province. Now 103 reported, and 

 others have been established. The total number, 

 of public and free libraries for 1898 was 384. 



The Insane. The annual report showed the 

 insane population in 1898 to amount to 5,733 

 more than 700 in advance of any other year. The 

 average numbers between 1881) and 1898 had been 

 4,538. Though the population in tin- a>yluiu- i- 

 increasing, it seems probable that the number of 

 insane did not increase. Dr. C. K. Clarke, of 

 Kingston Asylum, in his report said : "There i- 

 a prevailing impression that insanity is steadily 

 increasing, whereas the generality of hospital 

 physicians are inclined to the belief that acute 

 insanity is not as common as it was some 

 ago. It is true that our hospitals for the in-aue 

 are crowded at all times, and that as I 

 commodation is provided patients are found to 

 lill the beds; but in the majority of instances 

 the applications are not for acuic ..!--. but for 

 persons who have long since pn .. I the curable 

 stage/' The marked feature of the report \\as 

 the large numl>er of patients cured in the season. 

 They averaged 33.04 per cent. In 1897 the aver- 

 age was 24.97 per cent., and the average of the 

 preceding eight years was 28.06. 



ORANGE FREE STATE, a republic in south- 

 ern Africa. The legislative body is called the 

 Volksraad, a single chamber of 60 members. 

 elected by adult male citizens for four years, half 

 being renewed every two years. The* qualifica- 

 tions for electors are possession of a freehold of 

 the value of 150, a leasehold at an annual 

 rental of 36, an income of 200, or personal 

 property worth 300. The President is elected 

 for five years. M. T. Steyn was elected President 

 of the republic on Feb. 19, 1896. The Executive 

 Council was composed in the beginning of ivi!) 

 of P. J. Blignaut, Government Secretary; H. F. 

 D. Papenfus, Landrost of Bloemfontein ; and G. 

 van Tender, J. Palmer, and A. Fischer, elected 

 by the Volksraad. 



Area and Population. The estimated area of 

 the Free State is 48,326 square miles. The popu- 

 lation at the census of 1890 was 207,503", of whom 

 77,716 were whites, divided into 40,571 males ,md 

 37,145 females, and 129,787 were colored, divided 

 into 67,791 males and 01.996 females. Bloem- 

 fontein, the capital, had 5.817 inhabitant- in 1^'.<-J. 

 Of the total white population 51.910 were born 

 in the Free State, 21,116 in Cape Colony. 1.<M2 in 

 the Transvaal, 869 in Natal. 50 in Griqualand 

 West, 2.549 in Europe, and 214 in other parts 

 of the world. 



Finances. The revenue in 1897 was 402.230, 

 and the expenditure 381,589. Of the revenue 

 162,929 came from customs, 53,975 from 



