PART I. GENERAL EXPLANATION OF THE PUBLIC LAND AND MINING LAWS APPLICABLE TO EACH THREE POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF ALASKA, OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY, AND THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. BOUNDARIES OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY, PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, YUKON DISTRICT. DOMINION of Canada, CONSTITUTION AND GONERNMENT. PART 1. THE PUBLIC LAND AND THE MINING LAWS of the three great political divisions of Alaska, of the Northwest Territory, and of the Province of British Columbia are entirely separate and distinct from each other. THE PUBLIC LANDS OF ALASKA are known as Government lands, and belong to the United States. THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY are known as Dominion lands, and belong to the Dominion of Canada. THE PUBLIC LANDS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, excepting the Forty-mile Railway Belt, are known as Crown lands, and belong to that Province. THE FORTY-MILE RAILWAY BELT in the Province of British Columbia was ceded by the Province to the Dominion of Canada as a contribution in consideration of Government aid toward the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The land within the Forty-mile Railway Belt is subject to the land laws of the Dominion of Canada specially applicable to said belt. Gold and silver in the Railway belt have been decided by Privy Council (England) to be vested in the Province of British Columbia. The gold discoveries extend over Alaska, Northwest Territory and the Province of British Columbia. BOUNDARIES. The Northwest Territory extends from the international boundary between Canada and the United States, the 49th parallel of latitude on the south, to the Arctic ocean on the north. Is bounded on the east by Hudson's Bay and the Province of Manitoba; and on the west by the Province of British Columbia south of the 60th parallel of latitude and the international boundary line between Canada and Alaska north of the 60th parallel of latitude. The area of the Northwest Territory in square miles is 1,402,800. The capital of the Northwest Territory is Regina. (13) The Province of British Columbia extends for about 700 miles north and south, and nearly 500 miles east and west lying north of the 49th parallel, the international boundary line between Canada and the United States, and north to the 60th degree of north latitude. Is bounded on the east by longitude 120 degrees, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the international boundary line between Canada and Alaska. Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands are included within its bounds. Victoria, of Vancouver Island, is the capital of British Columbia. YUKON DISTRICT. The Yukon district comprises-speaking generally-that part of the Northwest Territory lying west of the water-shed of the Mackenzie river. Most of it is drained by the Yukon river and its tributaries. It covers a distance of about 650 miles along the river from the Coast Range of mountains. DOMINION OF CANADA. The Dominion of Canada came into existence on July 1, 1867, under the terms of an act of the Imperial Parliament known as the British North American Act, which provides for the union of the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The Province of Canada being immediately before that time divided into Upper and Lower Canada, which divisions are now known as Ontario and Quebec respectively. The dominion was subsequently augmented by the Province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories in 1870, by British Columbia in 1871, and by Prince Edwards Island in 1873; and now includes the whole of British North America, with the exception of New Foundland. CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT. The Government of Canada is Federal; Ottawa is the capital. The Provinces have local legislatures. By the British North American Act before referred to, the executive government and the authority of and over Canada remain in the Queen. The Governor-General for the time being carries on the Government in the name of Her Majesty, but is paid out of the Canadian revenue. The Dominion Parliament consists of an Upper House, styled the Senate, composed of 81 members. The Senators are nominated for life by the Governor-General on the advice of the Executive Council. The Commons are elected for five years. The franchise for both the Federal Parliament and the Provincial Legislatures practically confers the voting power upon nearly all male residents of full age. At the head of each of the Provinces is a Lieutenant-Governor, appointed by the GovernorGeneral, and paid by the Dominion. He is the Executive head of the Provincial Government, and medium of communication between the Provinces and the Federal Government. In some of the Provinces there are two branches of the Legislature in addition to the Lieutenant Governor; but in Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba and British Columbia there are only single Houses. This, however, is a matter entirely within the control of the local authorities, as are also the election of members, franchise qualifications and alteration of the Electoral districts for the Provincial Legislatures. But the duration of the local assemblies is fixed at four years. The powers of the Dominion Parliament, the Provincial Legislatures, and the contributions to the revenues of the latter from the Dominion Treasury are defined by the British North American Act, and the Acts passed under it. Legislation upon local matters is assigned as a general rule to the Provinces. There is generally a perfect system of municipal government in the Provinces constituting the dominion by which Municipal Councils elected by the people control and govern matters of purely local and municipal concern. |