QUEBEC. 



T41 



of the previous year, at least in considerably re- 

 ducing it. 



" My Government has devoted special atten- 

 tion to the most effective means of promoting 

 agricultural progress, and to that end it has been 

 considered that it was urgent to encourage, within 

 the measure of its annual revenue, the improve- 

 ment of municipal roads. It has done so by con- 

 tributing liberally to the purchase of stone-break- 

 ing and road-making machines. The efficacy of 

 this policy is manifest from the fact that within 

 the past fifteen months over 100 municipal coun- 

 cils have provided themselves with these ma- 

 chines, by means of which over 1,200 miles of 

 good road have been completed. 



" The excellent reputation acquired by our fruit 

 on the European markets, whither our exports 

 have hitherto been directed merely as an experi- 

 ment, has induced my Government to devote 

 special attention to this important branch of 

 our agricultural products. Five experimental 

 fruit-growing stations have been established at 

 various points in the province. We have rea- 

 son to be satisfied with the work that has 

 been done, and the continuation thereof will 

 give a surer direction to our fruit growing, and 

 in a methodical and rational manner establish the 

 general principles tha't should guide it. 



" Colonization has also received special atten- 

 tion from the Government. New roads have given 

 access to regions hitherto uninhabited, which are 

 now rapidly filling up with industrious settlers. 

 Side by side with these agricultural groups, im- 

 mense industrial establishments have sprung up 

 in the heart of the forest, attracting large num- 

 bers of the working classes, for whom they pro- 

 vide employment by utilizing our forest resources 

 for the manufacture of pulp and paper." 



The chief legislation of the session was in con- 

 nection with education. A measure was intro- 

 duced and carried which consolidated existing 

 laws and made detailed improvements, but 

 omitted the main point of the unsuccessful bill 

 of the preceding year, and did not attempt to ap- 

 point a political head to the Department of Edu- 

 cation, which had been created by its terms. 

 Legislation was carried forbidding the munici- 

 palities from attracting industrial concerns from 

 each other by means of bonuses, and three extra 

 judges were appointed for the city of Montreal. 

 The House adjourned on March 11, after passing 

 158 measures, of which the following were the 

 chief : 



Respecting the constitution of the Superior 

 Court. 



Respecting certain immigrant children. 



Respecting the inspection of insurance and 

 other companies. 



Respecting mutual benefit associations and 

 charitable associations. 



To amend the municipal code. 



Respecting agricultural societies. 



Respecting asylums for the insane. 



To amend the Quebec license law. 



Respecting public lands. 



To revise the charter of the city of Montreal. 



To incorporate Loyola College. 



To incorporate the Provincial Trust Company 

 and Agency Company. 



To amend the pharmacy act. 



To amend the law respecting dentists. 



To incorporate the Catholic High School of 

 Montreal. 



To amend the civil code respecting the privi- 

 leges of voyaueurs, lumberers, and others. 



To amend the act concerning civil engineers. 



Respecting conciliation. 



Late in December, 1898, four by-elections had 

 taken place, in which the Conservatives gained 

 one seat. 



Finances. On Feb. 7 F. G. Marchand, Premier 

 and Provincial Treasurer, presented his annual 

 budget to the Legislature. He stated that the 

 public accounts for the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1898, showed that the ordinary receipts and 

 expenditure for that year, including the amounts 

 received on the railway subsidy tax, embraced 

 ordinary receipts amounting to $4,177,650 and 

 ordinary expenditure to $4,364,686. The ordinary 

 receipts for the previous year (1896-'97), as estab- 

 lished on a new basis by his administration, were 

 $3,874,966, and the ordinary expenditure $4,685,- 

 450. Thus the diminution of the deficit amounted 

 to $623,458. The decrease in expenditure charge- 

 able to capital was as follows: The payments for 

 railway subsidies in 1897-'98 were less by $1,143,- 

 572 than in the previous year. The payments on 

 Quebec Railway construction claims were less by 

 $4,256 than in 1896-'97. The balance of railway 

 subsidies authorized by statute, but not yet 

 earned, on June 30, 1898, was $925,682. The 

 amount repaid on guarantee deposits in 1897-'98 

 was less by $143,715 than in 1896-'97. The bal- 

 ance of these deposits on June 30, 1898, was $132,- 

 702. 



Referring to the current year (1898-'99), Mr. 

 Marchand said there was no" reason to anticipate 

 that the estimated expenditure would be exceeded, 

 except in the item for lunatic asylums, for which 

 an additional amount of $45,000 had been asked, 

 owing to the increase on the tariff under the con- 

 tract passed Feb. 24, 1897, with the St. Jean de 

 Dieu Asylum, and the increase in the number of 

 patients in the asylums generally, and in pay- 

 ment of unforeseen and in great part uncontrol- 

 lable expenditure. 



As for the revenue, he said that the receipts for 

 the six months had been in proportion to the esti- 

 mates. He estimated the total receipts for 1899- 

 1900, from all sources, at $4,204,899, in which the 

 Dominion subsidy figured for $1,277,799: interest 

 for $310,000; land, forests, and fisheries for $1,- 

 050,000; justice for $255,900; licenses for $675,- 

 000; direct taxes on commercial corporations for 

 $160,000; and duties on successions, $225,000, etc. 

 He placed the probable total ordinary and ex- 

 traordinary expenditure at $4,177,755, while for 

 the probable payments out of capital he set down 

 $446,812, being $33,072 for the reimbursement of 

 railway guarantee deposits, and $413,740 for rail- 

 way subsidies, etc. 



A statement of the assets and liabilities of the 

 province as they stood on June 30, 1898, was 

 given, showing that, including the public debt 

 and its increase owing to the debt conversion 

 policy, the amount of the liabilities was $36,793,- 

 088, and of the assets $10,962,565. A statement 

 of the funded debt showed that on June 30, 1897, 

 the amount outstanding was $34,196,654, and on 

 June 30, 1898, $34,283,841. On the other hand, 

 there had been invested during the year in the 

 sinking fund $10,6?7, bringing the latter invest- 

 ment up to $10,004,677, and leaving $24,279,163 

 as the net amount of the funded debt. The float- - 

 ing debt was placed at $2,309,247 on June 30, 

 1898. Against this there was in cash and in 

 claims for loans and advances to individuals and 

 corporations a total of $767,887. 



The Provincial Treasurer in the late Conserva- 

 tive Government, A. W. Atwater, replied to Mr. 

 Marchand. He said that from May, 1897, the 

 Government had taken $281,600 by special war- 

 rants to pay pretended claims which in the ordi- 

 nary course would not have been paid until the 



