BRITISH COLUMBIA 



940 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 



The premier and the other members of the 

 council were not strictly responsible to the 

 legislative assembly, and frequently disagreed 

 with it on matters of policy. Since 1903 re- 

 sponsible government has been unquestioned 

 both in practice and in principle. The lieu- 

 tenant-governor at that time was Sir Henri 

 Joly de Lotbiniere, who was instrumental in 

 securing the change, and the first premier 

 under the new system was Sir Richard Mc- 

 Bride. 



Immigration and Other Problems. Since 

 1903 the chief questions of public interest have 

 involved the development and conservation of 

 the mining, fishing and agricultural resources. 

 There has also been a powerful demand for a 

 larger subsidy from the Dominion government. 

 A question which has several times threatened 

 foreign complications is the restriction of im- 

 migration. A provincial act of 1900 prohibited 

 the immigration of Asiatics, but was disallowed 

 or vetoed by the Dominion government as being 

 contrary to the national policy. So far as re- 

 gards the Japanese, the question was settled 

 when the Japanese government forbade emigra- 

 tion to Canada (see CANADA, subhead History). 

 Chinese immigration was practically stopped in 

 1903 when the Dominion imposed a poll tax 

 of $500 on every Chinese immigrant. 



A striking event of 1914 was the attempt 

 of a shipload of Hindus to secure admission 

 to Canada. The problem of Hindu immigra- 

 tion has long perplexed Canadian authorities, 

 and particularly British Columbia. The sit- 

 uation was relieved temporarily by a Dominion 

 statute whicn forbade the entry of Orientals 

 into Canada except by direct passage from 

 the land of their birth. As there is no direct 

 steamship line between India and Canada, 

 Hindus have been barred by this law. Hindu 

 resentment at this treatment came to a head 

 in 1915, when Gurdit Singh, a wealthy Hindu, 

 specially chartered a Japanese steamer, the 

 Komagata Maru, and with 379 other Hindus 

 sailed directly from Calcutta to Vancouver. 

 The port officials refused the intending immi- 

 grants permission to land, and after various 

 judicial preliminaries sent a hundred Vancouver 

 policemen to the ship to compel it to put back 

 to India. The Hindus, thoroughly enraged, 

 beat off the police, and it required the threat 

 of a Canadian cruiser's guns to persuade them 

 to leave. ' 



Labor probjems, aside from the influence of 

 immigration, have also received considerable 

 attention. A law of 1905 provided an eight- 



hour day for all miners working underground, 

 and a law of 1907 made the same provision for 

 workers in smelters. There has been, never- 

 theless, considerable discontent among the 

 miners, and . strikes have several times inter- 

 rupted .the progress of the industry. In 1912 

 the Industrial Workers of the World made a 

 great effort to establish their organization, and 

 succeeded in causing a strike of the railway 

 employees. There were riots in Vancouver, 

 and several strikers and agitators were given 

 prison sentences. In the next year Vancouver 

 Island was the scene of a great strike among 

 the coal miners. Chinese and Italians were 

 brought in as strike-breakers, and there were 

 riots during the summer at Nanaimo, Lady- 

 smith and other places. Many of the strikers 

 were arrested and severely handled, and much 

 criticism was directed against the government 

 because all the prisoners, even before their 

 trials, were treated as convicted criminals. 



Elections and Political Changes. On Decem- 

 ber 15, 1915, the resignation of Premier Mc- 

 Bride was announced. McBride had been 

 premier since 1903, and his administration was 

 marked by the ever-increasing prosperity of 

 the province. His successor, the Hon. William 

 J. Bowser, had been his chief lieutenant for 

 many years, and was well known throughout 

 the province. The Conservative Bowser ad- 

 ministration, however, held office only for a 

 few months, for at the general elections in 

 September, 1916, the Liberals won a large 

 majority in the legislative assembly. On the 

 resignation of the Conservative ministry, the 

 Liberal leader, Hon. H. C. Brewster, became 

 premier and formed a ministry. At the same 

 time the voters gave a decisive verdict in favor 

 of prohibition and woman suffrage. 



Other Items of Interest. It is estimated that 

 the coal measures of British Columbia contain 

 about one hundred billion tons of coal. 



The Douglas fir, in the coast regions where 

 it thrives best, frequently attains a base cir- 

 cumference of from thirty to fifty feet. 



The province has no fewer than thirty-six 

 native varieties of trees. 



Certain small streams in Vancouver Island 

 and in Northern British Columbia are at times 

 literally choked with salmon, and the natives 

 simply toss them out upon the banks with 

 pitchforks. 



Though in general a region of high altitudes, 

 the province has "river-bottoms" along the 

 Lower Eraser and the Upper Columbia where 

 dykes are a necessity. 



