

ONTARIO. 



525 



creased the safety of the operatives and those 

 connected with the mechanical industries of the 

 province. The fishing industry has, during the 

 year, been unusually prosperous. The work in- 

 augurated last year of restocking the inland 

 lakes and rivers will be continued during the ap- 

 proaching season." 



After passing important measures dealing with 

 the liquor question and increasing the represen- 

 tation in the Assembly of new districts in the 

 northern part of the province, the Legislature was 

 prorogued on March 17. The royal assent was 

 given to 116 bills, including the following: 



Respecting mortmain and the disposition of 

 land for charitable uses. 



To amend the manhood-suffrage registration 

 act. 



To amend the Ontario election act. 



To authorize the construction of the Temis- 

 camingue and Northern Ontario Railway. 



The agricultural and arts amendment act. 



To approve and confirm an agreement between 

 the Commissioners for the Queen Victoria, Niag- 

 ara Falls Park Company and the Canadian Niag- 

 ara Power Company. 



Respecting the imperial statutes relating to 

 property and civil rights incorporated into the 

 statute law of Ontario. 



Respecting expert witnesses. 



Further to amend the mechanics' and wage- 

 earners' lien act. 



To amend the act respecting councils of con- 

 ciliation and of arbitration for settling industrial 

 disputes. 



To amend the marriage act. 



To amend the joint-stock companies winding- 

 up act. 



Respecting the sale of intoxicating liquors. 



To amend the public health act. 



To amend the Ontario factories act. 



To amend the San Jose scale act. 



To amend the act respecting the Tbarberry 

 shrub. 



To amend the Ontario game protection act. 



To amend the separate schools act. 



The General Elections. After months of pre- 

 liminary conflict and preparation on both sides, 

 the elections for the Ontario Legislature took 

 place on May 29, 1902. The campaign was opened 

 at Newmarket by Premier $oss on April 4 in a 

 most elaborate speech. " How many of the 

 2,000,000 people in Ontario," he asked, " had any 

 substantial grievance against the Government? 

 They had settled 150,000 people in New Ontario. 

 Had any of them a grievance? They had spent 

 $10,000,000 for the development of our railway 

 system, and were doing in New Ontario what 

 had been done in older Ontario many years be- 

 fore, where they had assisted 38 railways, 2,219 

 miles in length. They had kept pace with the 

 wants of the country in regard to public build- 

 ings, on which they had spent $23,563,000 

 in the past thirty years. They had cared for 

 the insane, the deaf and dumb, and the blind, 

 and the expenditure in Ontario for charitable pur- 

 poses was greater per head than in Great Britain 

 or in any State of the Union. They had kept 

 step with the progressive tendencies of the age 

 in education, and with the agricultural wants of 

 the people." He elaborated the details of useful 

 legislation during the past three decades, and 

 declared that the Conservative Opposition had 

 opposed them all. 



Mr. J. P. Whitney, the Opposition and Con- 

 servative leader, "had been equally active. His 

 policy was announced as including measures of 

 law reform in the interest of the poorer litigant 



and in favor of one final and conclusive provin- 

 cial appeal; the development of ^ew Ontario and 

 a railway into the Temiscamingue ' country; 

 grants to railways only for development or colo- 

 nization, and subject to Government control of 

 freight and passenger rates; encouragement to 

 the refining of minerals within the province; dis- 

 position of timber areas in pulp-wood lands under 

 competitive tender; increased grants for agricul- 

 tural purposes, and especially for agricultural 

 schools; cooperation with the Dominion Govern- 

 ment in promoting facilities for food transporta- 

 tion; educational reform in the direction of im- 

 proving the curriculum and character of public 

 schools; condensation and revision of municipal 

 laws; elimination of alleged corruption and fraud 

 from election procedure. The following was the 

 Government or Liberal policy as announced and 

 summarized by its supporters: 



1. Early settlement of the unoccupied lands of 

 the province by colonization and by the projec- 

 tion of the railways into New Ontario. 



2. Manufacture within the province, and so 

 far as practical by Canadian labor, of the prod- 

 ucts of our forest and the smelting and refining 

 of mineral products. 



3. Increase of agricultural wealth by improved 

 methods of husbandry, cold storage, and the 

 production of beet-root sugar, and by reclaiming 

 undrained lands. 



4. Extension of trade with Great Britain in all 

 natural products, but especially in cattle, horses, 

 and dressed meats. 



5. Disposal of forest wealth with a view to its 

 perpetuation by reforestry, timber reserves, and 

 parks. 



6. Improvement of transportation by better 

 construction of highways and removal of tolls. 



7. Regulation of rates for passengers and 

 freight on all railways subsidized by the province, 

 and ultimate control of such railways at the 

 option of the Legislature. 



8. Application of public revenues for develop- 

 ment of the province and relief of the taxpayers. 



9. Revision from time to time of the laws gov- 

 erning the municipal and political institutions 

 of the province and the improvement and enforce- 

 ment of all laws affecting public morality. 



10. Maintenance of the independence of the Leg- 

 islative Assembly as the guardian of the consti- 

 tutional rights of the province. 



11. Application of sound principles of educa- 

 tion to the course of instruction in all our 

 schools and colleges. 



There was no actual dissolution of the Legisla- 

 ture, which expired on March 29. The writs for 

 a new election were then issued; the nomina- 

 tions were held on May 22, and one candidate 

 (a Conservative) was elected by acclamation; and 

 on May 29 the contest closed with results in some 

 doubt. As finally accepted on May 31, the result 

 was as follows: 98 seats in all, of which^the Lib- 

 eral Government had carried 50 and the Conserva- 

 tive Opposition 47, with one in doubt. Some 

 changes took place in the courts, and on July 2 

 the Government had a majority of one. At the 

 end of the year the majority stood at two or 

 three, with several by-elections pending. Ac- 

 cording to figures compiled from the majorities 

 in the constituencies, Mr. Whitney had a popular 

 majority of the votes polled. 



The Prohibition Referendum. Aside from 

 the general elections, the chief public event of 

 the year in Ontario was the referendum. Varied 

 resolutions were passed by temperance organiza- 

 tions and submitted to the Government. On 

 Jan. 24 more than 1.000 men interested in the 



