stood as follows: Quebec, 65; Ontario, 92; Nova Scotia, 21; New Brunswick, 16; Mani4,126 toba, 5; British Columbia, 6; Prince Edward Island, 6; total, 211. History and Government.-The Dominion of Canada was founded on the 1st of July, 1867, by the federal union of the provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canadas, Upper and Lower. By the act of Union the Canadas were named Ontario (Upper), and Quebec (Lower). The "British North America Act" is the name given to the Imperial statute creating the Dominion. In that statute authority is given to create the province of Manitoba. By virtue of that, and succeeding imperial and Canadian statutes amending it, that province was admitted into the Dominion in 1870, being formed out of that part of the Hudson Bay Territory known as Assiniboia Colony, or earlier as Selkirk Settlement. This Assiniboia was not the same as the present Territory of Assiniboia, but more nearly corresponded to the present Manitoba. In 1871 British Columbia was admitted into the Dominion, and in 1873 Prince Edward Island. The Territories were acquired in 1870, by transfer from the Hudson Bay Company. The members continue in office for a period of five years from the day of the return of the writs, subject, however, to an earlier dissolution by the Governor-General. The meetings of the House of Commons are presided over by one of its own members, elected Speaker. To become a member of Parliament no property qualification is necessary, but every member must be either a native-born or legally naturalized British subject. In 1874 voting by ballot was introduced, and the law for the prevention of bribery and other corrupt practices at elections was made more stringent than formerly. The elections, except those for British Columbia, Manitoba, and some of the remote or thinly settled districts of Ontario and Quebec, take place, according to law, on the same day throughout the Dominion. The Senate of Canada, at the time of confederation, was composed of 72 numbers, 24 being appointed from Ontario, 24 from Quebec, 12 from New Brunswick, and 12 from Nova Scotia. The present (1884) status of the Senate is: Ontario, 24; Quebec, 24; Nova Scotia, 10; New Brunswick, 10; Manitoba, 3; British Columbia, 3: Prince Edward Island, 4; total, 78. By the British North America Act, the number of Senators is limited to the present number 78, unless Newfoundland should enter the Dominion, in which case provision is made to allow the number to reach 82. The chief qualifications to be a Senator are: to be thirty years of age; to be either a native-born or a naturalized British subject; to hold, over and above all mortgages or charges of any kind, property valued at $4,000; to be a resident in the province for which he is appointed; in Quebec, to be resident in the electoral district for which he is appointed. Senators are appointed for life (subject to certain conditions) by the Governor-General in Council, or practically by the Premier or leader of the government of the day, who recommends the appointment. A Senator is disqualified by non-attendance in the Senate for two consecutive sessions. The Governor - General is appointed by the Government of Great Britain and Ireland, and represents the Queen. Wherever the Governor-General is named it is clearly understood, and is so stated in the British North America Act, that it refers to the GovernorGeneral acting by and with the consent of the Queen's Frivy Council for Canada. His special or independent functions are few. He has the privilege of declaring "according to his discretion, but subject to the provisions of the British North America Act, and to instructions from the British Government, either that he assents in the Queen's name to a bill that has passed both the House of Commons After the census of 1881 the readjustment and the Senate, or that he withholds the The form of government in Canada is in theory monarchical, but in practice republican. It consists of a legislative and an executive power. The legislative power is a Parliament composed of a House of Commons, a Senate, and a Governor-General. The members of the House of Commons are elected by popular vote. At the time of the Confederation, this House consisted of 181 members, of whom 82 were elected from Ontario, 65 from Quebec, 19 from Nova Scotia, and 15 from New Brunswick. These numbers are readjusted according to each decennial census, subject to the following rules: Quebec has the fixed number of 65 members. There shall be assigned to each of the other provinces such a number of members as will bear the same proportion to the number of its population (ascertained at such census) as the number 65 bears to the number of the population of Quebec (so ascertained). In the computation of the number of members for a province, a fractional part not exceeding one half of the whole number requisite for entitling the province to a member, shall be disregarded; but a fractional part exceeding one half of that number shall be equivalent to the whole number. On any such readjustment the number of members for a province shall not be reduced unless the proportion which the number of the population of the province bore to the number of the aggregate population of Canada at the then last preceding readjustment of the number of members for the province is ascertained at the then latest census to be diminished by onetwentieth part or upward. Such readjustment shall not take effect until the termination of the then existing Parliament. CANADA, DOMINION OF. Queen's assent, or that he reserves the bill for the signification of the Queen's pleasure." When the Governor-General, in the Queen's name, assents to any bill, he sends by the first opportunity an authentic copy of the act to one of the principal Secretaries of State for the Government of Great Britain and Ireland, and if the Queen in Council within two years after the receipt thereof thinks fit to disallow the act, such disallowance, being signified by the Governor-General, annuls the act from and after that day. The salary of the Governor-General is £10,000 sterling ($50,000), payable out of the Consolidated The legislative Revenue Fund of Canada. jurisdictions of the Canadian and the Provincial legislatures are clearly defined-in this, as indeed in the general plan of confederation, much has been modeled after the general Constitution of the United States. The provinces stand nearly in the same relation to the Dominion that the individual States do to the Union. But there is one very important difference, that all matters not specifically mentioned as coming under the exclusive jurisdiction of the various provinces, belong exclusively to the Dominion. This division of legislative jurisdiction has been the subject of considerable controversy between the province of Ontario and the Dominion. One point of dispute, the control of the liquor-traffic, was finally settled by appeal to the Privy Council of Great Britain in The Government of the autumn of 1883. Canada claimed that the powers exercised by the provinces of not only raising a revenue from the sale of liquor-licenses, but also of limiting the hours and modes of such sale, were in excess of their privileges, and consequently in the session of 1883 the Dominion Parliament passed a general liquor law. This law did not in itself interfere with the provincial laws, but while asserting the right of the federal authority in such matters, imposed double liquor laws on the provinces. A test case was submitted to the Privy Council of Great Britain and Ireland, with the result that Ontario, and hence all the provinces, is confirmed in the right of limiting the hours and modes of selling, as well as of levying the revenue on shops, saloons, etc. Another subject of contention was in the Governor General The Lord Dufferin was appointed in 1872, and retained the office for nearly seven years. Marquis of Lorne was Governor-General from 1878 to 1883, when he was succeeded by the Marquis of Lansdowne. The administration of justice is intrusted to judges appointed for life, i. e., during good behavior, but removable by the Governor-General on address of the Senate and House of Commons. The Governor-General in council appoints the judges of the Superior, District, and County Courts in each province, except those of the Probate Courts in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. These judges must be selected for the provinces of Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, and Quebec, from the bars of those provinces. There is a Supreme Court of the Dominion, which is a general Court of Appeal. Militia. The militia of Canada are under the control of a Minister of Militia and Defense, who is responsible to Parliament. The militia consists of all male inhabitants of Canada of the age of 18 years and upward to 60, not exempted or disqualified by law, and being British subjects; but the Government may require all male inhabitants capable of bearing arms to The militiaserve, in case of a levy en masse. men are divided into four classes, as follow: 2. Unmarried men and 1. Unmarried men and childless widowers from 18 to 30 years of age. childless widowers from 30 to 45 years of age. 3. Widowers with children and married men from 18 to 45 years of age. 4. Those from 45 to 60 years of age. These shall serve in order as above. The militia is divided into active and reserve land force, and active and reserve marine force. The active land force is composed of corps raised by voluntary enlistment; corps raised by ballot; corps composed of men The active marine force is raised by voluntary enlistment and of men balloted to serve. similarly raised, and is composed of seamen, sailors, and persons whose usual occupation is upon any vessel navigating Canadian waters. Canada is divided into 12 military districts, each under the supervision of a deputy adjutant-general assisted by brigade-majors. These districts are subdivided into brigade divisions, and these still further into regimental and company subdivisions. The militia is to be enrolled each year by the officers of the reserve militia. The active militia consists of cavalry, artillery, engineers, mounted infantry, infantry and marine corps, a total number (all volunteers) of about 36,000 men. The term of service is three years. These turn out annually for twelve days' drill, as a rule, in brigade camps, where they undergo a fairly good training (under canvas) in their duties. The strength of the regiment is usually from 6 to 10 companies of 42 men and 3 officers each. There is an officer commanding the militia, selected from the regular army of Great Britain, and holding rank therein of colonel or a superior rank. He ranks as ma jor-general in the militia, and receives a salary of $4,000. There is a permanent college, the Royal Military College of Canada, at Kingston. Its objects are to impart a complete education in all branches of military tactics, fortification, engineering, and general scientific knowledge. Finances. The total debt of Canada, which in 1867 was $93,046,052, in 1882 was $205,365,252, and bore an average interest of 3.82 per cent. The amount of debt payable in Canada was $73,242,377, consisting of provincial debts assumed, savings-bank deposits ($14,229,000), Dominion stock, etc., and $15,807,910 of Dominion notes. The debt payable in London, which in 1867 amounted to $67,069,116 and bore an average interest of 5.55 per cent., had grown by 1882 to $132,122,875, the rate of interest having been reduced to 4:39 per cent. Where, in the first year of confederation, the major portion of the foreign debt bore 6 per cent. interest, the portion paying so high a rate had, by 1882, been reduced to $9,254,000, and the large sum of $89,060,000 bore only 4 per cent., the remainder bearing a rate of 5 per cent. No less than $4,000,000 of debt was retired in the year last named. The Consolidated Fund of Canada is composed of her public works, such as canals, water-power, railways, railway debts, harbors, and river and lake improvements, together with all securities, cash, bankers' balances, lands, mines, and royalties, as well as the revenues from customs, excise, and public lands. The receipts on account of this fund, in 1882, were $33,383,000, of which $21,581,000 were from customs, and $5,884,000 from excise. The further receipts were $23,000,000, consisting of Dominion notes, savings-bank and other loans. The expenditure on Consolidated Fund account was $27,067,000, otherwise, $29,000,000, of which $12,000,000 went in redemption of debt. The sum of $7,351,000 was expended in 1882 on capital account, two thirds of which was for railways, the remainder on canals, telegraphs, and Dominion lands. The post-office savings. banks show an increase during 1882 equal to $2,260,000 over 1881. The number of accounts is 25,633 greater (51,463 is the total number), and the average amount at the credit of each depositor has grown from $97 to $184 in fifteen years. Banking. Canadian banks resemble most closely the joint-stock banks of Scotland, which first came into existence early in the last century; with, however, the important difference that where each individual proprietor in the latter is liable to the full extent of his property for the obligations of the bank, the Canadian shareholder is, like the American one, liable only for double the amount of his shares. In some particulars, both of banking and currency, the United States model has been followed. The decimal currency system of dol lars and cents, used for a hundred years by their American neighbors, was adopted by Canadians twenty years ago. The banking system of Canada is not, certainly, a copy of the cash-credit or personal security system of Scotland, where one can get credit from a bank if sureties will vouch for him. Nor is the system closely allied to what may be described as the mortmain or funded security plan of English bankers, under which one must either deposit title-deeds to land or hand over Government or other stock, to obtain a loan. Loans are freely made by Canadian banks on stocks and bonds, but lending upon real estate is left to the loan societies. The largest item by far among the assets of the banks is their discounts of promissory notes bearing two or more names. The rate of interest charged has ranged of late years from 7 to 9 per cent.; to-day it ranges from 6 to 8, 7 per cent. being the legal rate. Early in 1870 the banks ceased to issue notes of a smaller denomination than $4, and in the next year the $1 and $2 notes were issued by the Government, as they have since continued to be. Offices of the Receiver-General and Government savings-banks were opened in various cities, for the issue and redemption of the small notes and for the sale of Dominion stock. Assimilation of the currency of the various provinces was provided for by Hincks's act of 1870, and the British silver coins, which up to that time had circulated in Canada, were arranged to be withdrawn. By the act of 1871 banks were required to hold not less than one third of their cash resources in Dominion notes, which are procurable in exchange for gold at all times. The Government was constituted the chief speciereserve-provider and comptroller. An amendment of April, 1882, provided that any excess over $9,000,000-to which amount the issue of Dominion notes was at that time limited-may be held by the Receiver-General partly in specie and partly in deposits in chartered banks, the proportion being 20 per cent. in specie and 80 per cent. in deposit receipts. By the act of 1871 banks were exempted from tax upon their circulation. Among the twelve heads of departments who administer the affairs of Canada at Ottawa, not the least important is the Minister of Finance, a minister of the Crown, who is charged with the direction and control of the public accounts, revenue and expenditure, and financial affairs generally of the country, excepting customs and inland revenue, which have separate ministers. The banks and the currency are under the control of this department. The paid-up capital of the twenty-seven banks of Canada at the date of confederation (1867) was under $30,000,000; their circulation, $10,000,000; deposits, $38,000,000; and discounts, $53,000,000. The number of banks had grown by 1883 to forty, whose aggregate capital exceeded $61,000,000; circulation, $34, Building and Loan Societies.-The loan companies of Canada play an important part in her money-lending system. They were established as building societies after the English plan, the design being to assist investors to acquire land or to build houses by making payments in regular installments to that end; but they have for the most part changed their method of late years, and now lend upon the security of real estate the money which they receive from depositors in Canada, and debentureholders in the United Kingdom, in addition to their paid-up capital. In 1846 legislation was granted in Upper Canada favoring such societies. About 1847 very similar acts were passed by Quebec and New Brunswick, and in 1849 by Nova Scotia. The growth of societies of this kind, both in number and extent, has been remarkable, especially in Ontario. In the first return of their operations made to Government in 1863, only eleven permanent building societies were included, having a total capital of $1,208,000, deposits of $365,000, and mortgage loans of $1,500,000. There were, besides, at this time terminable building societies whose aggregate capital was $873,000. By 1873 the number of societies shown in this yearly return had grown to twenty-three; their capital to 6,376,000; $60,878,241 $16,084,560 deposits to $2,869,000, while the value of the mortgages they held exceeded $9,500,000. It was soon found possible to borrow money in Britain, however, at lower rates and in larger sums than was possible at home; and in 1874 a Dominion act was passed granting power to such societies to issue debentures. Several of the leading companies at once became borrowers in the Scottish and English money-markets, and the additional capital obtained gave a decided impetus to the working of such leading corporations. By a return to Government for the calendar year 1880, it appears that at least eighty such societies were then in existence in the Dominion; capital, $24,495,975; deposits, $11,713,633; loans secured on real estate, $56,612,200. Insurance Companies.-There are in Canada sixty-nine insurance companies, some of which do more than one kind of insurance. The nature of the business done by them is as follows: companies doing life-insurance, 39; fire, 29; inland marine, 6; ocean, 3; accident, 5; guarantee, 2; plate-glass, 1; steam-boiler, 1. The deposits for the protection of policy-holders, held by the Receiver-General in trust for these companies, according to the last official report, amounted to $7,032,377.53. The total net amount insured by fire-policies in force in Canada at the end of 1881 was $462,210,968. The premiums received by all companies for fire-insurance during 1881 amounted to $3,827,116. Of this amount Canadian companies received $1,206,476; English companies, $2,353,258; and American companies, $267,388. The total amount received in premiums by marine companies during 1881 was $3,131,925.97. Of the 39 life companies, 9 are Canadian, 18 British, and 12 American. The total amount of life-insurance in force at the end of 1881 was $103,290,932. Of this amount $46,041,591 is in Canadian companies, $20,983,092 in English companies, and $36,266,249 in American companies. In all 62,857 persons are insured. The following was the surplus of assets over liabilities of the Canadian companies in existence at the end of 1881: Canada Life, $451,752; Citizens', $20,513; Confederation, $235,916; Mutual Life, $42,107; North American, $59,831; Ontario Mutual, $27,495; Sun, $127,324; Toronto, $37,510. Agriculture. The total value of the agricul tural exports from the Dominion for 1881 was $21,268,327. The several provinces exported these products as follows: Ontario, $11,426,692; Quebec, $8,242,024; Nova Scotia, $526,004; New Brunswick, $141,772; Manitoba, $21,367; Prince Edward Island, $910,222. The agricultural products were sent almost entirely to England and the United States; $9,490,890 to the former, and $10,631,374 to the latter. Fourteen countries in all shared in these exports. The chief productions of the soil exported were as follow: ACRES OF LAND OCCUPIED, AND NUMBER OF OWNERS AND OF TENANTS. Forest Products.-The total value of the productions of the forest exported in the year 1881 was $24,960,012. The several provinces exported as follows: Ontario, $6,576,332; Quebec, $12,785,223; Nova Scotia, $1,325,280; New Brunswick, $4,068,241; British Columbia, $162,747; Prince Edward Island, $42,189. Mineral Products.-The total value of the mineral products exported from Canada in 1881 was $2,767,829. The following statements show the amount of each mineral exported: 15,112,284 6,385,562 401,885 follows: Ontario, $128,839; Quebec, $747,549; Nova Scotia, $4,278,731; New Brunswick, $786,400; Manitoba, $3,930; British Columbia, $400,984; Prince Edward Island, $521,282. Manufactures.- A great impetus has been given to manufacturing interests throughout the Dominion by the protective act known as the National Policy. In addition to supplying the demand of Canada itself with a very large part of the articles necessary in every department of life and labor, the manufacturers are now able to compete successfully in some important lines with other countries. The amount of capital invested was $165,302,623; hands employed, 254,935; total value of products, $309,676,068. Manufactures were exported from Canada in 1881 to twenty-seven other countries, the total value being $3,075,095. The value of the principal articles manufactured for export was as follows: Agricultural implements Tons. 420,055 180,961 gallons 2,456 46 19,802 8,921 150,412 44,677 114,850 2,101 88,738 84,494 $81.269 Phosphates.. 15,601 239,498 Biscuits 17.228 Salt... bushels 253,555 89,566 Carriages. 46,442 Sand and gravel... Clothing 9,952 Stone and marble. Cordage, ropes, and twine 12,031 Other minerals.. Fisheries. The exports of fish and articles produced from fish and other marine animals, amounted in 1881 to $6,867,715. The value exported from the various provinces was as Scrap.. Other, and hardware.. 41,481 Extract of hemlock-bark 190,068 191,210 84,713 |