586 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



" For a number of years this Government has 

 been pressing upon the Dominion authorities the 

 right of this province to its share of the fishery 

 award under the Halifax Commission. I am 

 pleased to inform you that it is the purpose of 

 my Government still to urge this claim, and I 

 have no doubt that, in conjunction with the Gov- 

 ernment of the province of Quebec, which is now 

 moving in the matter, the claims of both govern- 

 ments will eventually be recognized and the 

 amounts justly due paid over to the provinces. 



"The inauguration of farmers' institutes in 

 Prince Edward Island, under our Department of 

 Agriculture, has been a great stimulus to our 

 farming industry, and the province will doubtless 

 be greatly benefited by the formation of these so- 

 cieties. The establishment of a dairy school in 

 our province, assisted by the federal and provin- 

 cial governments, will, I am sure, result in secu- 

 ring a higher standard of, as well as greater uni- 

 formity in, the quality of our dairy-products, 

 which now form a very important part of our agri- 

 cultural exports. Arrangements are being made 

 for the importation this season of some improved 

 breeding stock, comprising horses, cattle, and 

 swine. Measures will be submitted to you for 

 the purpose of improving the road system, and 

 also for increasing the revenue of this province. 



" During recess a decision of our Supreme Court 

 was given with respect to the right of the farm- 

 ers to dig mussel mud within a certain distance 

 of live oyster-beds, under the regulations adopted 

 by the Federal Government. This decision had 

 been adverse to the province, on the ground that 

 the Dominion Government had the power to make 

 such regulations. Since this decision, negotia- 

 tions have been had between my Government and 

 the federal administration, and the matter will 

 likely be so arranged as not to interfere with the 

 rights of the farmers to dig mussel mud as they 

 have heretofore been accustomed to do, and at the 

 same time to conserve in a proper manner the 

 oyster fisheries of the province. 



" The new wing to the insane asylum has been 

 completed, and a large number of the unfortunate 

 patients have been transferred from the old build- 

 ing to it, thus providing means for their better 

 classification and avoiding the overcrowded state 

 of the institution. Since last session the constitu- 

 tionality of the prohibition act passed in 1900 

 has been upheld by our Supreme Court." 



Prorogation took place on April 11, after the fol- 

 lowing acts and other minor ones had been as- 

 sented to on behalf of the Crown: 



To amend the public roads act of 1901. 



To amend the law relating to trustees. 



To amend the prohibition act of 1900. 



To amend the public schools act of 1877. 



The chief points in the work of the session, 

 aside perhaps from the decision of Judge Hodgson 

 and the action of the Legislature thereon, were 

 the development of the caucus system and the in- 

 creased taxation. The following from an editorial 

 in the Charlottetown Guardian, a paper usually 

 friendly to the Government, may be taken as cor- 

 rectly summarizing the situation: " A feature of 

 the session of which the influence will be distinctly 

 felt is the increase of taxation imposed, but ren- 

 dered necessary by the state of the provincial 

 finances. If all were quite as sure as the Premier 

 professed himself to be that we shall shortly re- 

 cover from the Dominion Government our claim 

 for the fishery award, amounting to a million or 

 more, these increased taxes might at least have 

 been postponed to await the result. But an old 

 claim, however just, is not by any means the 

 same as cash in the treasury. So we must accept 



the increase of the road tax, and the added 50 per 

 cent, to the income tax on banks. There will 

 still probably be a deficit on the current year's 

 transactions. The caucus system was much in 

 evidence, and seems to have obtained a greater 

 prominence here than in other provinces of Can- 

 ada. In fact, the public business is so fully 

 shaped in caucus as to leave but little for the 

 House to do as a deliberate body. Many mat- 

 ters appear in a clearer and different light after 

 being examined from the Opposition standpoint, 

 and the country should have the benefit of this 

 criticism before being committed to important 

 new departures." 



Finances. Mr. Peters delivered his budget 

 speech on April 8. He said that Mr. Farquharson 

 had issued $48,930 debentures on Prince of Wales 

 College, $37,890 on the wing to the asylum, $2.492 

 on repairs to the Colonial Building, and on perma- 

 nent bridges $4,537. The balance, $25,000, ow- 

 ing to the depression in the money-market, was 

 not sold. He pointed out that in several depart- 

 ments a saving had been made. He wished first 

 to take the Department of Justice for ten years. 

 He found that the Conservatives spent $19.1521, 

 and the Liberals $16,816 per annum, the saving 

 for the ten years being $28,059. In legislation the 

 Conservatives spent $12,907, and the Liberals 

 $8,748 per annum, or a saving in ten years of $41,- 

 590. In the Public Works Department the Con- 

 servatives spent $23,354 for bridges, the Liberals 

 $18,203, an annual saving of $51,510 in the ten 

 years. The expenditure for wharves in ten years 

 under Conservative rule was $7,306; under the 

 Liberal regime $4,078 a saving in these depart- 

 ments in the ten years of $155,324. 



The Treasurer referred with pride to some in- 

 creases in expenditure, such as that upon educa- 

 tion, which had grown from a yearly average of 

 $106.292 under Conservative rule, to $124,203 un- 

 der his party. He placed the public debt at 

 $642,177, of which the Liberals were responsible 

 for $471,177. Since they attained power in 1892 

 $359,155 had been expended on capital account and 

 finally charged to this indebtedness, and the re- 

 mainder had been spent upon Prince of Wales Col- 

 lege, the insane asylum, etc. The Opposition crit- 

 ics, including Daniel Gordon, leader of the party, 

 pointed out that this debt was a floating liability, 

 really amounting, with certain unpaid accounts, 

 to more than $700.000: that $220.980 was due to 

 the banks, and $176,998 was in the form of tem- 

 porary loans, liable to be called in at a moment's 

 notice. The revenues were placed at $309,445 for 

 the year ending Dec. 31, 1901, but the Opposition 

 contended that $25,014 of this amount were pro- 

 ceeds of a sale of debentures and were not revenue 

 at all. The expenditures were $330,632, and this 

 left a deficit, according to the Government, of 

 $20,000, and according to the Opposition of $4.V 

 000. The revenues included $196,931 from Domin- 

 ion subsidies, $64,992 from various taxes land, 

 income, road, commercial travelers, and corpora- 

 tions; $17,317 from various fees; and $5258 from 

 public lands. The chief items of expenditure were 

 as follow: Administration of justice, $17,524; 

 Department of Agriculture. $3,265.99; education, 

 $128,288.10; Hospital for Insane, $23,436; inter- 

 est, $24,803: miscellaneous, $4,701; poorhouse and 

 paupers, $7,307 ; Secretary-Treasurer's Depart- 

 ment, $4.590; Public Works Department, $4,140: 

 ferries, including the ferry steamers, $20,322; 

 roads, $18,969; bridges, $20J83; Hospital for In- 

 sane, $13,398; bridges (permanent), $4,055; total 

 expenditure on capital account, $20,306. 



On April 14, Mr. J. A. Mathieson replied to the 

 Treasurer. He gave the figures of extra revenue 



