NOVA SCOTIA. 



433 



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In Manitoba, I suppose, practically all the home- 

 stead lands have been taken up, and practically 

 all the railroad lands have been sold. This is 

 also largely true of Eastern Assiniboia, but as 

 you go farther west the unoccupied areas in- 

 crease." 



Agriculture. The work of the farmer and 

 rancher and dairyman was the central source of 

 Territorial progress in 1901-'02. The product of 

 the creameries in the former year showed an aver- 

 age price of 19.25 cents a pound, with 1,345 pa- 

 trons, for 672,393 pounds of butter. The secretary 

 of the Western Stock-Growers' Association made 

 figures public in April, 1902, which showed a 

 shipment from Alberta of 45,301 head of live 

 stock in the previous year, compared with 46,231 

 in 1900 and 27,578 in 1899. The grain production 

 of the Territories in 1901 was as follows: Wheat, 

 12,676,343 bushels thrashed, 24.92 bushels an 

 acre; oats, 11,113,066 bushels thrashed, 48.43 

 bushels an acre; barley, 736,749 bushels thrashed, 

 36.75 bushels an acre. 



According to Crop Bulletin No. 2, issued, on 

 Sept. 1, 1902, by the Department of Agriculture 

 at Eegina, the estimated production for the year 

 was 14,649,500 bushels of wheat, 10,725,500 bush- 

 els of oats, and 844,000 bushels of barley. At the 

 annual meeting of the Territorial Horse-Breeders' 

 Association at Calgary on May 16 the secretary 

 estimated the number of horses in the Territories 

 at 90,000 for Alberta, 45,000 for Assiniboia, and 

 15,000 for Saskatchewan. In 1901, 1,267 horses 

 were imported via Calgary from the United States 

 at an average price of $32.89, and 2,806 via Leth- 

 "n-idge at $21.71. 



NOVA SCOTIA, an Atlantic province of the 



ominion of Canada; area, 20,600 square miles. 

 Population, in 1901, 459,574. Capital, Halifax. 



Government and Politics. There were no 

 changes in the composition of the provincial Gov- 

 ernment in 1902. G. H. Murray was Premier and 

 Provincial Secretary; J. W. Longley, Attorney- 

 General; Arthur Drysdale, Commissioner of 

 Works and Mines; and the members without 

 office were T. Johnson, A. H. Comeau, A. Mac- 

 Gillivray, T. R. Black, W. T. Pipes, Hon. D. 

 McPherson. On Feb. 13 the first session of the 

 thirty-third Assembly of the province was opened 

 by Lieutenant-Governor A. G. Jones, with a 

 speech from the throne, of which the following 

 are the significant passages: 



" For some years past evidences of steady prog- 

 ress have been manifest in the agricultural, mi- 

 ning, fishing, and lumbering enterprises of the 

 province, and the reports of the banking and 

 other commercial institutions of the country 

 offer conclusive evidence of marked and notable 

 advance during the past few years. The output 

 of coal in Nova Scotia for the past year was con- 

 siderably the largest of any in our history, and 

 the indications are for a substantial increase dur- 

 ing the present year. The railway between Wind- 

 sor and Truro, commonly known as the Midland 

 Railway, has during the past year been completed 

 and open for public traffic, as also the Inverness 

 and Richmond Railway, between the Strait of 

 Canso and Broad Cove Mines. Both of these rail- 

 ways open up important sections of. country. Act- 

 ive work has been begun upon the railway be- 

 tween the Strait of Canso and St. Peters, which 

 has been subsidized by my Government. During 

 the last session of the Legislature a measure was 

 adopted authorizing my Government to enter 

 into a contract for the construction of a railway 

 from Halifax to Yarmouth. After the Legisla- 

 ture had been prorogued, my Government imme- 

 diately had negotiations with various parties for 

 VOL. XLII. 28 A 



the carrying out of the provisions of the act, and 

 I may state that my Government ultimately en- 

 tered into a contract with the Halifax -and South 

 Western Railway Company, to whom a charter 

 was granted, under the provisions of the law, 

 by order in Council, for the construction of a line 

 of railway from Halifax to Barrington. The 

 terms of such contract were somewhat in excess 

 of the powers embodied in the act relating there- 

 to, and such contract was made subject to rati- 

 fication by the Legislature. A copy of this con- 

 tract will be laid before you, and an act will be 

 submitted for the ratification thereof. 



" Since the recess steps have been taken toward 

 the establishment of a public sanatorium for the 

 treatment of tubercular diseases, and upon the 

 report of the Medical Commission appointed for 

 such purpose a site has been selected and se- 

 cured." 



Thomas Roberston was elected Speaker of the 

 Assembly, and Robert Boak was maintained in 

 his office of president of the Legislative Council, 

 which he had held since 1878. When the coro- 

 nation honors were announced it was found 

 that he had been knighted in recognition of his 

 long retention of an important office. In the ses- 

 sion that closed on March 27, 213 acts were 

 passed, of which the following were the more im- 

 portant : 



To secure the registration of municipal deben- 

 tures. 



Respecting the maintenance and reform of ju- 

 venile offenders. 



Respecting the encouragement of building of 

 railways. 



To amend chapter lii, Revised Statutes, 1900, 

 the education act. 



To amend chapter xviii of the Revised Statutes, 

 1900, the coal-mines regulation act. 



To amend chapter clxxi, Revised Statutes, 1900, 

 the mechanics' lien act. 



To amend chapter clii, Revised Statutes, 1900, 

 of investment of trust funds in certain loan com- 

 panies. 



To amend subsection 2 of section 10 of chapter 

 clxx, Revised Statutes, 1900, of the sale of land 

 under execution. 



To amend chapter cxlv, Revised Statutes, 1900, 

 the assignments act. 



Of the mass of legislation involved, a large por- 

 tion was private bills. Others w r ere merely 

 amendments to existing laws. A good deal of 

 discussion took place about the proposed Mari- 

 time School of Agriculture, but nothing definite 

 was done, and the principal enactment of the 

 Legislature was the ratification of a contract re- 

 garding the South Shore Railway. Such by-elec- 

 tions as occurred during the year went in favor 

 of the Government, which had only two members 

 in opposition until December, when two Inde- 

 pendents were elected. 



Finances. The financial statement was pre- 

 sented to the House on March 19 by Mr. Longley. 

 The estimates for the year ending "Sept. 30, l!ti 

 included an expenditure of $1,047,920 and a reve- 

 nue of $1,052,106, against the estimate for the 

 preceding year of $1,026,965 for expenses and a 

 revenue of $1,034,096. The expected revenue in- 

 cluded $460,000 from mines, $30,000 from Crown 

 lands, $50,000 from the Nova Scotia Hospital. 

 $35,000 from succession duties, and $432.000 from 

 Dominion subsidies. The estimated expenditures 

 included $33,000 upon agriculture, $260.000 upon 

 education, $20,000 upon Crown lands, $50,000 for 

 legislative expenses, $43.200 for Public Works 

 (which included $22,000 upon the welcome to the 

 Prince and Princess of Wales in 1901), $134,850 



