PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



737 



inquiry that had been made into the state of ele- 

 mentary and secondary education throughout 

 Wales, and embodied a complaint that many 

 nonconformist children were compelled to attend 

 Church of England schools. The committee on 

 spiritual provision for expatriated Welshmen rec- 

 ommended that something practical be done in 

 regard to London and South Africa. A grant 

 was accorded for sending a minister to the Trans- 

 vaal, to work among the Welsh there, under the 

 auspices of the South African Presbyterian 

 Church. Four new Welsh churches had been built 

 in London, but the monthly meeting considered 

 itself unable to cope with the many thousands of 

 neglected Welsh people there. A grant was voted 

 for this work. A request was directed to be sent 

 to the justices in Cardiff that they do not grant 

 .a license to sell intoxicating drinks in connection 

 with the Eisteddfod. The report of the "for- 

 ward movement " showed that the year's collec- 

 tions had amounted to 3,304, being 600 in 

 excess of those of the previous year. At a meet- 

 ing held in behalf of this cause, on the eve of the 

 opening of the meeting of the Assembly, the sec- 

 retary, the Rev. Lewis Ellis, said that though it 

 had been only eight years since the enterprise was 

 started, 30 or 40 new congregations had been 

 formed, 30 halls built, and 20,000 people had as- 

 sembled to hear the Gospel, of whom 2,000 were 

 now regular church members. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, a province of 

 the Dominion of Canada ; area, 2,133 square miles; 

 population in 1891, 109,088. Capital, Charlotte- 

 town. 



Government and Politics. Lieut.-Gov. How- 

 Ian was succeeded by the Hon. P. A. Maclntyre 

 and a new provincial ministry, or rather a re- 

 organization of the former Liberal Government 

 was effected under the Hon. D. Farquharson as 

 Premier ; Angus McMillan as Provincial Secretary, 

 Treasurer, and Commissioner of Public Lands; 

 J. R. McLean as Commissioner of Public Works; 

 H. C. McDonald, and afterward D. A. McKinnon, 

 as Attorney-General; and J. W. Richards, Benja- 

 min Rogers, Anthony McLaughlin, and Peter Sin- 

 clair as members without portfolio. The second 

 session of the Legislature, from April 17 to May 

 19, 1899, was unimportant. The following were 

 the only measures passed which need be men- 

 tioned : 



Respecting fisheries and rights of fishing. 



To provide for the construction of a wing to the 

 Hospital for the Insane. 



To amend the public schools act of 1877. 



Respecting tuberculosis in cattle. 



To amend an act to regulate the registry of 

 deeds. 



Respecting dower. 



To amend an act respecting assignments for 

 the benefit of creditors. 



To amend an act relating to life insurance. 



To incorporate the Prince Edward Island Dairy 

 Association. 



Respecting the profession of medicine and sur- 

 gery. 



In December, 1899, Attorney-General McKin- 

 non and another Government candidate were 

 beaten in by-elections, and the ministry was left 

 in a minority in the Assembly whenever it should 

 meet again. * 



Finances. In 1898 the expenditure amounted 

 to $301,699.75, the provincial loans paid off to 

 $14,246.50, and the receipts to $277,458. The re- 

 ceipts included the Dominion subsidy, $181,952; 

 public lands, $14,273; provincial land 'tax, 

 $30.084; debentures sold, $18,094; miscellaneous, 

 $33,055. 



VOL. xxxix. 47 A 



Education. The annual report of the public 

 schools for 1898 showed 21,852 pupils enrolled, 

 against 22,478 in 1888, and an average attendance 

 of 13,377, against 12,248 in 18SS. The expendi- 

 ture in 1898 was as follows: Total amount ex- 

 pended by Government, $129,817; statutory al- 

 lowance to teachers, $112,037; supplements to 

 teachers, $5,425; Prince of Wales College and 

 Normal School, $5,153; supplements paid to 

 teachers by trustees, $9,278; expenditure for 

 school buildings, $5,327; contingent expenses of 

 school boards, $18,527; total, $163,032. 



Industries. The following facts are from the 

 report of President Horace Hassard at the an- 

 nual meeting, early in 1899, of the Charlottetown 

 Board of Trade. The direct steamship service 

 asked for by the board was inaugurated by the 

 steamship Lake Winnipeg in September last, and 

 she made a second trip in November, and after 

 that the Canadian Steamship Company were in- 

 duced to send the Gaspesia, which sailed hence 

 on Dec. 25. From the port of Charlottetown and 

 outports the foreign shipments during the year 

 aggregated $1,073,496, while the imports made a 

 total of $417,440, paying duties of $121,016.92. 

 From Summerside and outports the shipments of 

 the year were $251,551. The imports at Summer- 

 side and its outports aggregated $59,829, of which 

 $30,960 were dutiable and $28,869 free. The du- 

 ties collected were $10,944. The total exports for 

 the island were $1,325,047, and the dutiable im- 

 ports $296,775, paying $131,960.92 in duties. The. 

 free imports were $180,494. 



The wheat crop largely failed; oats were light 

 in yield and quantity; potatoes were a short 

 crop, but hay was abundant and excellent. 

 Praise was accorded the Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 tion for the interest taken in securing apples 

 for shipment. In regard to the dairying industry, 

 it was asserted that in handling milk, raising 

 fodder of the right kinds, feeding and caring for 

 stock, etc., the advance since 1892 had been enor- 

 mous. Thirty-four factories made cheese in 1898, 

 and 15 made butter also, and in addition there 

 were 6 creameries. The output was estimated at 

 46,000 boxes of cheese, while 14 butter factories 

 showed 172 tons of butter. The number of cases 

 of lobsters packed was 42,112. The oyster catch 

 amounted to 29,800 barrels; mackerel, 3,149J bar- 

 rels, valued at $44,037; codfish, haddock, and 

 hake were plentiful, and a limited quantity of 

 salmon was taken. 



In live stock the island has long been well to 

 the front, as the prize lists of the Halifax and 

 St. John exhibitions of 1899 attest. And yet 

 there has been a little falling off in both horses 

 and cattle within a few years. The substitution 

 of electricity for horse power on United States 

 street cars has lessened the demand for horses, 

 and the long-continued United States duties have 

 in like manner depressed the export trade in that 

 direction for all kinds of live stock as well as 

 field products. Two chicken-fattening stations 

 one housed in the exposition building at Char- 

 lottetown and the other at Summerside were 

 established, and have proved successful. One of 

 the chief new industries of the island is the great 

 pork-packing establishment of Mr. Rottenburg, 

 the largest of its kind in eastern Canada, near 

 the Charlottetown railway station. 



Notable improvements in the way of public 

 buildings in 1898 included the new Prince of 

 Wales College building, in which a solid masonry 

 foundation is surmounted by a brick structure 

 with stone dressings and slate roof, replacing an 

 old and shabby wooden building. There is also 

 a new Prince Edward Island Hospital building. 



