these imports for home consumption amounted to $15,050,930, and in 1879 to $10,420,344. The National Policy did its work, and the result was that the importation of these products fell to $4,240,849 in 1891, to $3,092,452 in 1892, and to $2,741,733 in 1893. In other words, in the three years 1877, 1878, and 1879, there was an average annual import of these products for consumption of $13,867,541, whereas in the last three years there was an average annual import of the same inaterials for home consumption of only $3,358,344. In 1877 the farmers of this country sent, of agricultural products and animals and their products, to Great Britain $13,437,762 worth, and to the United States $10.198,297 worth, or a total of $25,123,396. In 1878 that total was increased to $27,644,636 worth -distributed, $17,308,793 to Great Britain and $8,984,025 to the United States; and in 1879 increased to $29,813,771-distributed, $17,690,006 to Great Britain and $10,869,275 to the United States. The average exports of those three years amounted to $16,145,520 to Great Britain and $10,017,199 to the United States, a total export of $27,527,267 yearly. The exports to Great Britain in 1892 reached the sum of $36,869,595, and the exports to the United States the sum of $6,643,099, a total of $46,145,590. In 1892-'93 they were $40,420,681 to Great Britain and $6,020,992 to the United States. In these two years the average exports of these products to Great Britain was $38,500,000; the average export to the United States, $6,333,000 and the total averaged $47,690,000.

Among the more important features of legislation during the session was a revision of the tariff. This, while not departing widely from the protective policy of the Government, was largely in the direction of a reduction of customs duties, especially upon imports used in manufactures. In a few instances the customs imposts were increased, but all the changes combined were not expected to affect the revenue to any considerable extent. Several articles were also placed upon the free list, among them being nearly all those used in dyeing and tanning, brass in various forms, coke, shoe buttons, papiermaché, and sugar not above No. 16 Dutch standard in color. Logs and round unmanufactured timber, firewood, railroad ties, ship timber, and ship-planking not specially provided for in the act were also placed upon the free list.

In the case of books generally, instead of the former ad valorem duty of 15 per cent., a duty of 6 cents a pound is imposed; to which is added on reprints of British copyrights an additional duty of 12 per cent., which is transmitted in payment of the copyright.

The treaty of commerce with France, which had been the subject of diplomatic correspondence, was ratified during the session of 1894. This could only be done after the consent of the British Government had been given, as Canada has not yet the treaty-making power. The provisions of the treaty are as follow:

Nonsparkling wines gauging 15° by the centesimal

alcoholometer or less, or according to the Canadian system of testing containing 26 per cent, or less of alcohol, and all sparkling wines, shall be exempted from the surtax or ad valorem duty of 30 per cent. The present duty on common soaps, savons de Marseille (Castile soap), shall be reduced by one half. The present duty on nuts, almonds, prunes, and plums shall be reduced one third. Any commercial advantage granted by Canada to any third power, especially in tariff matters, shall be enjoyed fully by France, Algeria, and the French colonies.

The following articles of Canadian origin imported direct from that country, accompanied by certificates of origin, shall receive the advantage of the mini

mum tariff on entering France, Algeria, or the French colonies: Canned meats, condensed milk, fresh-water fish, fish preserved in their natural form, lobsters and crayfish so preserved, apples and pears, fresh, dried, or pressed, fruits preserved, building timber in rough or sawed, wood pavement, staves, wood pulp, tanning extracts, common paper, prepared skins, others whole, boots and shoes, furniture of common wood, flooring in pine or soft wood, and wooden seagoing ships.

It is stipulated that the advantage of any reduction of duty granted to any other power on any of the articles enumerated above shall be extended fully to Canada. The treaty is to continue in force until the expiration of twelve months after either of the contracting parties shall have given notice of their intention of terminating it.

The important acts of the parliamentary session remaining to be noticed are:

To incorporate the Elgin and Havelock Railway Company.

Respecting the Winnipeg and Hudson Bay Railway Company, and to change the name thereof to the Winnipeg Great Northern Railway Company.

To incorporate the Dominion Women's Christian Temperance Union.

To incorporate the St. Clair and Erie Ship Canal Company.

To incorporate the Duluth, Nipigon and James Bay Railroad Company.

To incorporate the Wolsely and Fort Qu'Appelle Railway Company.

To incorporate the Canadian Railway Fire Insurance Company.

To incorporate the Canadian Railway Accident Insurance Company.

To incorporate the Northern Life Assurance Company of Canada.

To disfranchise voters who have taken bribes. To empower the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company to issue debentures, and for other purposes. To incorporate the Lake Megantic Railway Company.

To incorporate the Ontario Mutual Life Assurance Company.

To incorporate the Cariboo Railway Company. To incorporate the Metis, Matane and Gaspé Railway Company.

To incorporate the Alberta Southern Railway Com

Railway Subsidies.-The most important subsidies granted to railways by Parliament for 1894 were the following: To the Nipissing and James Bay Railway, $217,000: Parry Sound Colonization Railway, $64,000; United Counties Railway, from Iberville to Sorel, $102,400; railway from Newport, or Windsor, or Truro, N. S., to a point between Truro and Stewiacke, and from a point on that railway to a point at or near Eastville, $300,000; railway from Lime P. Q., for 50 miles of its length. $160.000; Great Ridge northerly through the county of Wolfe, Northern Railway, $70,000; Pontiac and Ottawa

$18,199; in 1893, $276,446. Mail subsidies and steamship subventions-in 1878, $257,534; in 1893, $413,938. Civil government-in 1878, $823,369; in 1893. $1,367,570. Adulteration of food-in 1878, $5,964; in 1893, $24,249. Miscellaneous expenditure-in 1878, $62,968; in 1893, $284.478. Mounted police-in 1878, $334,748; in 1893, $615,479. Total-in 1878, $5,256,424; in 1893, $10,384,272.

Commerce.-The following tabular statements convey an accurate idea of the condition and volume of the export trade of Canada with the United States and Great Britain for the past year:

halibut, $215,367; alewives, $212,714: pike, $209,688; pickerel, $157,410; oysters, $156.440; eels, $118,793; sturgeon, $105,795; bass, $79,201; shad, $77,076; tomeod or frostfish, $77,070; clams, $68,658; squid, $43,744.

The Government expenditure for the fisheries for last year are as follow: Fisheries, $72,314.68; fish breeding. $47,322.49; fisheries protection service, $106,805.39; fishing bounty, $159,752.14; miscellaneous expenditure, $100,602.14; total, $486,796.84.

The Liquor Traffic.-The extent of this traffic in 1893 is shown by the following table:

Subjoined is a statement of the principal imports last year: Wool, 10,503,645 pounds; cottons, 40,263,333 pounds; raw sugar, 252,644,060 pounds; hides, etc., $2,045,175; rubber, $862,113; jute, $380,577; lumber and timber (foreign), $877,364; veneers, $80,038; hemp, $1,150,134; furs and skins, $785,433; raw silk, $206.471; corkwood, $72,963; broom corn, $146,987: pig and scrap iron, 107,000 tons.

Fisheries.-The total value of the Canadian fisheries for last year was estimated at $20,686,660, divided as follows: Nova Scotia, $6.407.279; New Brunswick, $3.746,121; British Columbia, $4,443.963: Quebec, $2,218,905; Ontario, $1,694,930; Prince Edward Island, $1,133,368; and Manitoba and Northwest Territories, $1,042,093. The total value shows an increase of $1,500,000 over the year preceding, due entirely to the enormous catch of salmon in British Columbia.

The value of the different kinds of fish marketed was as follows: Cod. $4,028,448; salmon, $3.890,644; lobsters, $2.484.568; herring, $1.852,891; whitefish, $1,298,744; mackerel, $1.096,066 seals, $874,842; trout, $658,614: haddock, $446,320; smelts, $414,174; hake, $367,823; pollock, $241,581; sardines, $218,018;

Increasing the first cost by 100 per cent.—a very moderate estimate-the cost of intoxicants to consumers in the Dominion last year would exceed $40,000,000. There are in the country 162 breweries, 8 distilleries, and 5 maltsters' establishments, which use machinery to the value of $1,469,000, employ 2.243 men, and pay in wages $1,070,331. The total amount of capital invested in breweries is $8,309,644, and in distilleries $7,054,000.

Forest Products exported. The total value of the products of Canadian forests exported last year was $28,212,552. The chief consumers of these products are the United States and Great Britain.

A marked feature of the export to the United States is the increase in the number of pine saw logs imported from Canada, which increased from 4,335,000 feet in 1882-'85 to 269,868,000 feet in 1890-'93. The imports of timber from the United States during the same period were: Logs, $266,990; timber from Maine to be sawed in the mills of St. John, $900,000.

Immigration. During last year the number of immigrants arriving at the port of Quebec was 46,888, divided as follows: From England, 33,628; Ireland, 873; Scotland, 1,672; Germany, 5,340; Belgium, 4,569; France, 275; St. Pierre et Miquelon, 7; and Iceland, 524. The number of immigrants arriving in Canada in 1894 is estimated at 50,000. This enumeration does not include expatriated French Canadians, of whom 40,000 were estimated to have returned to the province of Quebec from the United States during the summer of 1894.

Considering the expenditure of money made to encourage immigration into the country and the vast agricultural areas awaiting settlement in the Northwest Territories and elsewhere, the

bistory of emigration into Canada is disappointing. According to Sir Richard Cartwright, 886,000 immigrants arrived in Canada during the past ten years, at a cost to the Canadian Government of about $3,000,000. Of the whole number arriving, according to the same authority, hardly 150,000 remained in Canada, the rest going to the United States.

Fast Steamer Service.-To facilitate the connection between the Canadian Pacific Railway and the route across the Atlantic, and to insure a quicker mail service, the Canadian Government, in the summer of 1894, contracted for a fast steamship service on both the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. The service is to be first class in equipment and every respect, and the speed to be 20 knots an hour, deep-sea trial, long course. For the first ten years an annual subsidy of $750,000 will be granted to the Atlantic fast-service steamers, and for the succeeding ten years $500,000 a year. The subsidy granted to the steam service between Canada and Australia is $125,000 a year. For this service New South Wales gives $50,000 annually; the other Australian colonies have not yet made their contributions.

Canals. The Sault Ste. Marie Canal, connecting Lake Huron with Lake Superior on the Canadian side, begun a few years ago, was partially opened for traffic toward the close of 1894. It is about two thirds of a mile long, with a mean width of 152 feet, and a depth, when completed, made suitable for navigation at a mean water level by vessels drawing 20 feet. There is one lock 900 feet long and 60 feet wide, with a depth of water on the sills of 20 feet 3 inches at the lowest recorded water level. The cost of the work will be about $3,000,000.

The entire amount expended by Canada on canal works and their maintenance has been $71,310,793. Of this sum, $20,692,244 was expended before confederation. $4.173,921 by the Imperial Government, and $16,518.323 by the provincial governments. The total amount spent for canal construction and enlargement alone is $61,151,330. The revenue derived by the Government of Canada from canals since confederation is $9,850,579, being an average of $380,000 a year.

In October, 1894, Hon. George E. Foster. Minister of Finance, negotiated a loan in London of $2,500,000. Part of the money will be used for deepening the Canadian canals, one object being to make the Great Lakes accessible to the war ships of the British navy; but most of the money raised will be spent in completing the work on the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and in meeting obligations already incurred in the work.

Postal Affairs.-The gross revenue of the Post-Office Department of Canada for last year was $3.696,062, and the total expenditure $4.343,758. The expenditure has exceeded the revenue continuously during the past twenty-six years. The item of expenses, however, as compared with revenue, has been gradually decreasing during recent years. It is estimated that the annual loss through the free transmission of newspapers amounts to $100,000. The number of post offices in the country is 8,656; the total number of letters posted last year was 106,290,000, of which 3,254,000 were registered and 4,723,000 were free

letters. The number of postal cards sent during the same period was 22,790,000.

Criminal Statistics.-There are 5 penitentiaries in the Dominion, situated at Kingston, Ont.; St. Vincent de Paul, Montreal, P. Q.; Dorchester, N. B.; Stony Mountain, Man., and New Westminster, B. C. The total number of persons confined in these penitentiaries on June 30, 1893, was 1,194, of whom 1,160 were males and 34 were females. Of the entire number, 8 were charged with murder; 12, manslaughter; 27. rape and similar offenses; 4, bigamy; 86 burglary and robbery with violence; 17, forgery and offense against currency; and 13, arson. Of those committed during 1893, 233 were born in Canada, 35 in England, 25 in the United States, 15 in Ireland, and 7 in Scotland.

were

Divorce. During 1893 15 divorces granted in Canada, divided between the provinces as follow: Ontario, 3; Quebec, 4; Nova Scotia, 5; New Brunswick, 2; British Columbia, 1.

Indian Affairs.-The Indian population of Canada in 1893, according to the figures furnished by the Government, was 99,717, a decrease of 9,488 from the number given the year before. This reduction is attributable to a correction of the estimated Indian population of British Columbia for 1892.

Though the majority of the Indians are opposed to everything that would obliterate the lines of demarcation between themselves and the white population, many of them show an eager interest in the education of their children in the industrial and other schools provided for them by the Government. The number of children attending these schools in 1893 was 7,699.

The amount to the credit of the Indian fund in Canada on June 30, 1893, was $3.530,774, the expenditure from which was $263,964. The expenditure from parliamentary appropriations was $933,739, making a total of $1,197,693 expended on Indians during the year.

Telegraphs. The principal telegraph lines are in private hands, and the Government owns and operates only those lines that have been built in furtherance of the public service, between those places where the traffic could not be expected to be sufficient to compensate private outlay. Of such Government telegraph lines there are 2,700 miles in operation, 207 miles being cable. In 1893 the telegraph companies of Canada had 28,775 miles of line, 69,111 miles of wire, 2,692 offices, and the number of messages sent during the year was 4,550,253. The project of connecting Canada and Australia by means of a cable has been so far realized that the work is now being vigorously prosecuted.

Political. During 1894 there was no exciting subject of discussion in Dominion politics. The matter of Government expenditures was still a fruitful topic, as heretofore, for Liberal censure; but the tariff changes, largely in the direction of a reduction, made at the last session of Parliament, robbed the arguments of the antiprotectionist of much of their force, even in appealing to those who, if they were not freetraders, were at least theoretically so. The argument of the opponents of the Government is that the reductions when made were not suffi

ciently low, that they were not general enough, and that some of the reductions, especially those stipulated for in the French treaty, were of questionable value to the people of Canada. However this may be, it is certain that the tariff changes made have given general satisfaction to the Conservatives, and even to Liberals who are not strongly partisan.

The most important political event of the year in the history of Canada was the death of the Premier, Sir John S. D. Thompson, at Windsor, England, on Dec. 12, soon after he had been sworn in as a member of the Queen's Privy Council. Shortly after the news of the Premier's death was received in Canada the members of the Dominion Cabinet met, and it was determined that Hon. Mackenzie Bowell, Minister of Customs, should assume the vacant leader ship of the Government. The Governor-General then requested Mr. Bowell to form a ministry, which he did. Sir John Thompson succeeded the late Sir John Abbott as Preinier in Decem

ber. 1892.

Colonial Trade Conference.-At a meeting held in London in November, 1884, the Imperial Federation League was formed, the object of which was to bring about a closer union between the mother country and the colonies. The project has enlisted the sympathies and engaged the attention of public men and statesmen in various portions of the empire, but so far nothing tangible has resulted.

The Canadian Minister of Customs toward the close of 1893 visited the Australian colonies and conferred with their various governments in furtherance of closer trade relations between the Australian and the other colonies and Canada. The result of this was a colonial conference, which was formally opened at Ottawa on June 28, 1894. The following imperial and colonial delegates were accredited to the conference: Great Britain, the Earl of Jersey; New South Wales, Hon. F. B. Suttor; Cape Colony, Sir Henry De Villiers, Sir Charles Mills, and Jan Hendrick Hofmeyer; South Australia, Hon. Thomas Playford; New Zealand, Albert Lee Smith Victoria, Sir Henry Wrixon, Hon. Nicholas Fitzgerald, and Hon. Simon Fraser; Queensland, Hon. A. J. Thynne, Hon. William Forrest; Canada, Hon. Mackenzie Bowell. Sir Adolph Caron, Hon. George E. Foster, and Sandford Fleming, C. M. G.

Addresses were delivered by the GovernorGeneral of Canada, Sir John S. D. Thompson, the Earl of Jersey, and several of the representatives from Australia and the Cape of Good Hope.

The conference held several meetings, the principal result of the deliberations being the adoption, on July 11, of the following resolutions:

Whereas, The stability and progress of the British Empire can best be assured by drawing continually closer the bonds that unite the colonies with the mother country, and by the continuous growth of a practical sympathy and co-operation in all that pertains to common welfare: And

Whereas, This co-operation and unity can in no way be more effectually promoted than by the culti vation and extension of the mutual and profitable interchange of their products: Therefore,

Resolved, That this conference records its belief in

the advisability of a customs arrangement between Great Britain and its colonies, by which trade within the empire may be placed on a more favorable basis than that which is carried on with foreign countries. Resolved, That until the mother country can see her way to enter into a customs arrangement with her colonies, it is desirable that, when empowered so to do, the colonies of Great Britain, or such of them as may be disposed to accede to this view, take steps to place each other's products, in whole or in part, on a more favored customs basis than is accorded to the like products of foreign countries.

Resolved, That for the purposes of this resolution the South African Customs Union be considered as part of the territory capable of being brought within the scope of the contemplated trade arrangements.

The delegates representing Canada, Tasmania, Cape of Good Hope, South Australia, and Victoria voted in the affirmative, while those representing New South Wales, New Zealand, and Queensland voted in the negative.

CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. The British colony of the Cape of Good Hope has had responsible government since 1872. Natal became one of the self-governing colonies in 1893. British Bechuanaland is a crown colony adjoining Cape Colony on the north, and north of it is the Bechuanaland protectorate. The German protectorate of Southwest Africa embraces Namaqualand and Damaraland, extending from the Atlantic to the western boundaries of the British possessions. Inclosed between Cape Colony and its native dependencies, Natal, the British protectorate of Zululand, the Portuguese possessions, and now shut in on the north by the territory of the British South Africa Company, is a territory a quarter greater than the United Kingdom, where the Dutch settlers have endeavored to maintain political independence in the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. British South Africa is the territory over which the British South Africa Company in 1889 obtained by royal charter sovereign and property rights, which have been curtailed in 1894 in respect to the portion actually conquered and colonized. British South Africa extends from the borders of Bechuanaland and the South African Republic up to the Zambesi, which is the geographical limit of South Africa. This same territory is sometimes included under the term British Zambesia with British Central Africa, a sphere of influence recognized in treaties that extends to the confines of the Congo Free State and German East Africa.

Commerce and Production. The export trade of South Africa depends mainly on mining, although the Boers of Cape Colony and of the republics export pastoral products. Cape Colony produces ostrich feathers and a surplus of wine. and Natal sugar. The exports for the whole of South Africa were appraised for the year ending June 30, 1893, at £13,500,000, of which £12,250,000 passed through the ports of Cape Colony and £1,250,000 through Durban, Natal. The export of gold was £4,500,000: of diamonds, £4.000.000; of copper ore, which is obtained in Namaqualand, £250,000; of coal, which is mined in Natal. £50,000. The wool export amounted to £2,650,000; that of Angora hair, £600,000; hides and skins. £550,000; ostrich feathers,

500,000: wine. £18.000; tan bark from Natal. £7.000; dried flowers from the Cape, £21,000 : fish exported to Mauritius, £13,000; sugar,