8 TRANSACTIONS. 1906-7. 



and his advisers. In opening the Legislature at Quebec in Nov- 

 ember, 1793, Lord Dorchester said that he would cause to be laid 

 before the House of Assembly a complete statement of the receipts 

 of provincial revenue since the separation of Upper from Lower 

 Canada. The expenditure, he observed at the same time, had 

 been very heavy and could not all be laid to provincial account. 

 The fact was that money was spent lavishly on sinecures which 

 the- Assembly would have wished to see abolished. In its address 

 in reply the House politely observed: "By receiving from Your 

 Excellency an account of the receipts of the provincial revenues of 

 the Crown, we shall be enabled to deliberate on the means by 

 which they may be rendered more productive; and penetrated 

 with gratitude to the parent state for having hitherto defrayed 

 the surplus expenditure of the Province, we flatter ourselves that, 

 in consideration of our situation, we shall continue to experience 

 her generous assistance; a hope further strengthened by Your 

 Excellencj-'s intention of not requiring from us any subsidy at 

 present, which confirms the benevolence of our mother country. " 



The gross receipts were as follows : — 



Casual and territorial £ 720 



Duties 3771 



Licenses 1013 



£5,50-1 stg. 



In 1794 the amount had increased to £8,623. 



The expense of the civil government was in reality £25,000 

 a year, the heavy deficit being met by the Imperial Treasury, 

 There was no provincial debt. 



In the same session a militia bill was passed which, repealing 

 the ordinances previously in force, substituted provisions better 

 adapted to the circumstances of the Province. It is worthy of 

 note that this measure was carried unanimously in a House com- 

 posed mainly of French Canadians; the true spirit of the popula- 

 tion was thus clearly manifested. The younger generation of that 

 day hardly remembered the events of 1775, the date of the last 

 war, but they were ready to shoulder their guns, as their fore- 

 fathers had done, for the defence of the country. 



The Legislature was at the same time asked to pass an Alien 

 Law establishing ''regulations respecting foreigners and certain 

 subjects of His Majesty who have resided in France coming into 

 this province and residing therein, and for empowering His Majesty 



