MANITOBA 



3632 



MANITOBA 



At the head of the judicial system is the 

 court of appeals, with a chief justice who ranks 

 as the chief justice of Manitoba, and four asso- 

 ciate judges; then comes the court of King's 

 Bench, with a chief justice and five associate 

 judges. Each district has the usual inferior 

 courts. 



For local administration the rural regions are 

 organized into municipalities; denser centers of 

 population are organized into villages, towns 

 or cities, according to the number of inhabit- 

 ants. These are administered by an elected 

 council, called board of aldermen in the in- 

 corporated cities. 



Public Utilities Commission. A public utili- 

 ties commission was created in 1912 and placed 

 in charge of the public utilities of the province. 

 These include telegraph and telephone lines, 

 companies furnishing to the public, either 

 directly or indirectly, water, gas, heat, light, or 

 power, and also such municipalities as shall 

 properly consent to come within its authority. 

 The commission has the power to regulate rates, 

 value the property of public service corpora- 

 tions, control issues of stocks and bonds, and 

 possesses the authority of a court of record. 

 It can enforce its judgments, which are final, 

 except as to the question of jurisdiction, from 

 which an appeal can be taken. Municipal fran- 

 chises are subject to the commission's approval. 

 The commission is subject to the legislative 

 authority of the province. 



History. Early Exploration. The first white 

 man to penetrate this region was the French 

 explorer, Sieur de la Verendrye, who explored 

 the neighborhood of Lake Winnipeg in 1733. 

 Five years later he built Fort Rouge, on the 

 site of the present city of Winnipeg. French, 

 and Scotch fur hunters and traders began now 

 to visit this region. By their marriage with 

 Indian women a race of half-breeds or metis 

 sprang up. After the conquest of Canada by 

 the British in 1763 the fur trade, mostly in the 

 hands of the Hudson's Bay Company, became 

 more active. 



The Red River Settlement. Between 1811 

 and 1817 the Earl of Selkirk made the first 

 attempt permanently to settle this region. He 

 brought a number of Scottish peasants and 

 began to colonize the fertile regions along the 

 banks of the Red River. The colony became 

 known as the Red River Settlement. After the 

 initial difficulties had been overcome the set- 

 tlement prospered, but still the region remained 

 for the following fifty years almost exclusively 

 in the hands of the fur traders. 



Manitoba Made a Province. In 1869 the 

 rights of the Hudson's Bay Company over the 

 northwestern territory were transferred to the 

 newly-founded Dominion of Canada. In 1870 

 the Red River Settlement was organized into a 

 province and under the name of Manitoba was 

 admitted as the fifth province of the Dominion. 

 The area of the new province was 13,500 square 

 miles and it had a population of about 12,000 

 inhabitants, largely half-breeds. The French 

 section of these, fearing that their privileges 

 would be abolished, rose in rebellion under the 

 leadership of Louis Riel, but upon the arrival 

 of a British force under General Wolseley, Riel 

 fled and the rebellion collapsed. In 1881 the 

 area of the province was enlarged to 73,732 

 square miles and in 1912 it was again enlarged 

 to its present size. 



The School Question. On account of its situa- 

 tion as the Key to the western provinces, and 

 owing to the fact that its inhabitants belong to 

 many races and to different religious denomina- 

 tions, Manitoba has been the storm center of 

 Canadian politics. One of the most trouble- 

 some problems was that relating to religious 

 teaching and to the language of instruction in 

 elementary schools. In 1890 the system of sep- 

 arate religious or parochial elementary schools 

 was abolished and the present system of unde- 

 nominational schools was established. This 

 measure greatly dissatisfied both the French 

 and Catholic inhabitants not only in the prov- 

 ince but in the whole of Canada. After a long 

 agitation a settlement was effected in 1896 by 

 which religious instruction could be given in 

 schools, after school hours. 



Other Political Problems. The rapid eco- 

 nomic development of the province has given 

 rise to many political and economic questions, 

 such as curbing the monopolistic power of rail- 

 roads or other big corporations and problems of 

 a similar kind, which have agitated the province 

 and spread to other provinces of Canada. In 

 1908 the government bought up the telephone 

 system of the province. In 1910 a workmen's 

 compensation act was passed. In 1916 stringent 

 legislation was adopted permitting only the use 

 of English in the public schools. In the same 

 year a strict prohibitory liquor act was passed, 

 and the legislative suffrage was extended to 

 women. In 1917 the university was made a 

 provincial institution, its body of governors be- 

 ing all appointed by the provincial government. 



The city of Winnipeg in 1916 had a popula- 

 tion of 163,000 (with its suburbs, 200,000) and 

 now ranks as the third city in the Dominion; 



