NEWFOUNDLAND. 



419 



tlce Morrison, who retired to advocate confed- 

 eration with Canada. H. J. B. Woods had al- 

 ready accepted the new office of Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral. On Dec. 17 Mr. Edward P. Morris, K. C., 

 became Minister of Justice. The by-elections fol- 

 lowing these changes were not very favorable to 

 the Bond Government, although they could not 

 affect their large majority seriously. On Dec. 

 2 Trinity District returned 2 Opposition can- 

 didates by more than 300 majority to support 

 Mr. A. B. Morine in constituencies that had pre- 

 viously given a Government majority of 700. 

 The reciprocity policy of Sir R. Bond was one of 

 the chief issues. Meanwhile, on Feb. 21, the Leg- 

 islature had been opened by Gov. Sir Cavendish 

 Boyle, in a speech foreshadowing measures to pre- 

 serve the whale fisheries, establish cold storage 

 for fishing products, reform the municipal sys- 

 tem in St. Johns, protect railway employees, and 

 encourage iron-mining. After some stormy 

 scenes and the passage of a series of enactments 

 covering many important interests, the Legisla- 

 ture was prorogued on April 22. The following 

 bills were approved by the Governor: 



Newfoundland French treaties act. 



Patents (amendment) act. 



Registration of deeds (amendment) act. 



Warehouse receipts (amendment) act. 



Bank fishermen insurance (amendment) act. 



Whaling industry act. 



Shipbuilding (amendment) act. 



Duties on foreign-built vessels act. 



Grand Bank harbor act. 



Deer preservation act. 



Game preservation act. 



Customs (amendment) act. 



Revenue (amendment) act. 



Duties (reduction of) act. 



In July Sir Robert Bond went to the corona- 

 tion in England, took part in the Colonial Con- 

 ference, and was made a member of the imperial 

 Privy Council. 



Finances. The budget speech of the Minister 

 of Finance .was delivered in the House of As- 

 sembly on March 25. For the year ending June 

 30, 1901, he placed the revenue at $2,060,581, 

 which included $1,807,951 from customs, $55,952 

 from postal service, $11,795 from Crown lands, 

 $4,640 from liquor licenses, $6,673 from inland 

 stamps, $6,454 from foreign fishing licenses, $4,885 

 from penitentiary labor, $25,000 interest on mu- 

 nicipal debt, and $47,231 from miscellaneous 

 sources. The expenditures were $2,024,952. 



He said the public debt was $17,378,419, and 

 pointed out that the customs revenue had risen 

 from $1.502,588 in 1896-'97 to $1,897,951 in 1900- 

 '01, and the total revenue from $1,610,788 to 

 $2,060,581. The estimated receipts for the year 

 ending June 30, 1903, were given at $2,096,000, 

 including $1,875,000 from customs, $60,000 from 

 postal services, and $40,000 from municipal debt 

 interest. The estimated expenditures to be voted 

 by the House were $1,123,511, and those already 

 authorized by statute were $952,539. The au- 

 thorized sums included $150,268 for education 

 and $743,755 for interest on the public debt and 

 its management. The revenue for the year ending 

 June 30, 1902, was $2,200,000. 



Trade and Commerce. The year 1901 was a 

 most exceptionally prosperous period in the col- 

 ony, and 1902 was not behind it. The imports 

 increased from $5,929,768 in 1896-'97 to $7,359,442 

 in the year ending June 30, 1901. The exports 

 increased from $4,917,785 to $8.320,809. The im- 

 ports in the latter year included beef (salted) to 

 fe value of $183,495, butter $99,360, coal $330,- 

 7, flour $1,167,434, cottons, woolens, silks, and 



linens $1,126,396, leather and leather ware $259,- 

 245, iron railway material, etc, $681,263, molasses 

 $326,256, pork $360,918, salt $126,317, sugar $125,- 

 021, tea $162,445, tobacco, wines, and spirits $94,- 

 369. The exports were as follow: Dry codfish 

 $5,171,910, herring $231,413, salmon $139,101, 

 lobsters $448,501, cod-oil $398,039, seal-oil $424,- 

 632, sealskins $282,895, copper $390,779, iron ore 

 $455,554, lumber $63,299. 



Banking and Insurance. In his budget 

 speech the Finance Minister said the Govern- 

 ment savings-bank deposits had increased from 

 $1,103,788 on Dec. 31, 1899, to $1,296,040 on Dec. 

 31, 1901. He said also that the public was in- 

 sured to the amount of $5,686,366 in insurance 

 companies, and paid premiums to the extent of 

 $245,834. 



Temperance. In 1866, when the population 

 was about 140,000, there were 6,477 gallons of 

 brandy, 4,201 of whisky, 120,722 of rum, 11,955 

 of gin, and 11,077 of wine and champagne con- 

 sumed in the island. In 1900, with a population 

 of more than 200,000, the figures ran as follow: 

 Brandy, 3,780 gallons; whisky, 16,126; rum, 41,- 

 453; gin, 2,096; and wine and champagne, 6,559. 

 Ale, beer, and porter rose in the same period from 

 37,496 to 62,245 gallons. 



Population. The census returns for 1901 were" 

 presented to the Legislature by Sir R. Bond on 

 March 3, 1902. They showed a total population 

 of 220,249, including 3,634 for the dependency of 

 Labrador, on the coast of Canada. In 1891 New- 

 foundland had 197,930 inhabitants, and Labra- 

 dor 4,106. The chief denominations were as fol- 

 low in the two periods: Catholics, 72.696 in 1891 

 and 76,209 in 1901 ; Anglicans, 69,834 in 1891 and 

 72,650 in 1901; Methodists, 54,276 in 1891 and 

 60,812 in 1901. The Salvation Army rose from 

 nothing in 1891 to 6,500 in number. According 

 to official figures published in June, 1902, the 

 births in the island in the previous year were 

 6,810, an increase of 211; the marriages were 

 1,781, a decrease of 83; the deaths were 3,865, an 

 increase of 840. The birth-rate was 30.91 per 

 1,000, the marriage-rate 7.85 per 1,000, the death- 

 rate 17.54 per 1,000. 



Mines and Minerals. The total value of the 

 output in 1901 of the crude materials at the 

 mines and quarries amounted to $1,211,163, an 

 increase over the previous year's output of $319,- 

 154. The main factor in bringing about this re- 

 sult was the large production of iron ore at the 

 Bell island mines, 738,206 tons. Estimated at 

 $1 a ton, this shows a total value only $53.893 

 short of the entire value of all the minerals 

 raised in the colony in 1900. The statement of 

 the products for 1901 is as follows: Brick, 1,305,- 

 000 pieces, valued at $13,500; building-stone, 

 5,500 tons, $5,500; copper ore. 73,348 tons, $360,- 

 000; granite, 3,240 tons, $19,710; iron ore, 738.206 

 tons, $738,206; limestone, 1,300 tons, $97 5; paving- 

 stone, 140,000 pieces, $14,128; pyrites, 7,522 tons, 

 $37,128; slate, 2,000 tons, $22,600; total value, 

 $1,211,163. The brick, building-stone, granite, 

 limestone, and paving-stone were used in the col- 

 ony, and the copper, iron and pyrite ores, and 

 the slate were exported to Europe and America. 

 Of the copper ore, 36,641 tons went to Britain, 

 35,767 tons to New York, and 540 tons to Pictou, 

 Nova Scotia. Of the iron ore, 35.830 tons went 

 to Britain, 213,385 to Germany, 408,617 to Can- 

 ada, and 76,860 to the United States. New York 

 took all the pyrites, and the entire export of 

 slate went to England. The copper-ore output 

 increased by 5,000 tons. 



Fishing. The Banks fishery for 1901 em- 

 ployed 118 vessels of 5,282 tons, with 1,531 men, 



