Among the commissions to be appointed by the Governor is that for securing uniformity of legislation with other States in respect to divorce, insolvency, and probate laws, also those relating to descent and distribution of property. The law relating to recognizances for debt was repealed.

An attachment of real estate expires in five years after date of filing, unless brought forward at the request of the plaintiff or his attorney.

A law affecting installment sales provides that no agreement whereby the property shall become that of the buyer till it is paid for shall be valid unless recorded in the city clerk's office. Vessels of 5 tons or less on inland waters are now exempt from fees for inspection or license.

The State has allowed savings banks to require ninety days' notice for the withdrawal of deposits, and in turn has provided that these banks shall not invest in street railways, excepting those already built in Maine, unless there is paid in on the stock 333 per cent. of the amount of bonds.

The laws on liens were amended; the claimant has forty instead of thirty days in which to file his statement.

Changes were made in the law governing the sale of liquors. Among the important features added is the requirement for an assay of the liquors.

MANITOBA, a western province of the Dominion of Canada.

Legislation. The third session of the eighth Legislature was opened at Winnipeg on Feb. 14, 1895, by the Lieutenant Governor, Sir John Christian Schultz, with a speech from the throne, which contained these passages:

It appears that during the past year unusually large shipments of stock have been made out of the province-an encouraging indication that our farmers are no longer wholly relying upon the production of

wheat.

A substantial increase in the provincial subsidy

has been obtained fro:n the Dominion authorities.

By the judgment of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, recently pronounced on an appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada, it has been held that an appeal lies to the Governor General in Council in behalf of the minority of this province, inasmuch as certain rights or privileges given by prior provincial, legislation to the minority in educational matters had been affected by the public-schools act of 1890, and that therefore the Governor General in Council has power to make remedial orders in respect thereto. It is not the intention of my Government in any way to recede from its determination to uphold the present public-school system.

It has been determined by the Department of Education to introduce a carefully prepared course of study in agriculture into the public schools, and during the past year a considerable amount of preparatory work has been accomplished.

Finlay M. Young was elected Speaker. The principal bills passed were the following: Respecting corporations incorporated outside

Manitoba.

Respecting humane societies.

of

To amend the public-schools act.
To make further provision respecting mortgages of

real estate.

To amend the Manitoba insurance act.

To amend the act respecting life assurance for the benefit of wives and children.

For prevention of fraudulent statements by companies and others.

Respecting aid to creameries and cheese factories. To incorporate the Red River Valley Colonization Land Company.

A special meeting of the Legislature was called on May 9, primarily to deal with the school question. It was prorogued on June 28, after passing the following measures, among others: To amend the municipal boundaries act. Respecting municipal hail insurance. To make further provision respecting the liens of laborers and mechanics.

To incorporate the Canadian Live Stock and Fire Insurance Company.

To enable the Government of Manitoba to loan a limited amount of money to the rural municipality of Gimli.

The most important subject of discussion during the two sessions of the Legislature in 1895 was the school question. The Manitoba legislative acts of May, 1890, with reference to the public schools of the province, abolished the system which permitted separate Protestant and Catholic sections of the School Board, and ordered the arrangement of all the school districts, both Protestant and Catholic, under one scheme of free and nonsectarian schools, to be sustained by the collection of a public-school rate. Any school refusing or neglecting to work under the new law was not to be allowed the privilege of enjoying a share of the grants or allotments. The Imperial Privy Council having decided that, while the Manitoba act of 1890 was constitutional, it yet remained with the Dominion Government to see that the rights of the Roman Catholic minority were respected and guarded, the question at once became a Federal one. The Ottawa ministry, sitting as a court of final appeal, heard the complaints and the defense, and finally issued a remedial order or instruction to the Manitoba Government to restore the privi leges taken from the Catholics by the abolition of their separate schools in 1890. This decision was made by the Governor General in Council, on March 18, declaring that the rights and privileges enjoyed by the Catholic minority in Manitoba prior to the provincial acts of 1890 were prejudicially affected by those acts, and requesting legislation that should repeal the existing law, in order that the wrongs complained of by the Catholics might be removed. This the provincial Government flatly refused to do, and were supported in their opposition by a large majority of the Assembly, and apparently of the people of Manitoba. It was pointed out that the difficulty of maintaining separate schools in a large and scattered country like Manitoba practically amounted to an impossibility. The decision of the Government created two distinct issues-one between Catholics and Protestants, the other between the provincial and Dominion Legislatures. The situation was awkward. The Minister of Justice for the Dominion, Sir C. H. Tupper, considered the emergency so serious that he resigned in order to bring about a dissolution, this, in his view, being the only constitutional course open to him. His resignation was tendered on March 26, but three days later he was prevailed upon to remain in office. Matters now await the legislation that is

pledged by the Dominion Government at the January session of the Federal Parliament.

On March 3 Attorney-General Sifton carried a resolution abolishing the provincial expenditure upon the maintenance of a residence for the Lieutenant Governor. This leaves that official dependent upon the $10,000 salary paid to the lieutenant governor of each province by the Federal authorities under the terms of the act of union. A few months later, the Hon. J. C. Patterson, formerly Minister of Militia at Ottawa, succeeded Sir John Schultz as Lieutenant Governor.

On April 8 a judgment was rendered in the Supreme Court of Manitoba which sustained in a local case the contention that provincial legislatures have not the power to prohibit, either directly or through the municipalities, the sale of intoxicating liquors. This decision did away with local-option laws in 10 municipalities.

Finances. For the year ending Dec. 31, 1894, the chief items of receipts were as follow: Annual subsidy from Dominion, $418,267.31; interest on school lands, $10,465.21; county court fees, $10,205.85; law stamps, $11,926.50; land titles, $42,402.19; liquor licenses, $26,111.60; interest, $40,895.71; support of lunatics, $26,654.19; insurance act fees, $7,891; official administration, $10,958.61; municipal sinking fund, $13,344.79; central judicial district, $31,290.40; municipal debentures (1890), $9,588.84; loans to municipalities (1894), $8,934.91; Manitoba and Northwestern Railway Company debenture account, $14,647.43; Manitoba Southwestern Colonization Railway debt and interest account, $49,402.51; provincial debentures, $202,619.83; Court of Queen's Bench, $26,539.17; balance brought forward from 1893, $574,458.06; miscellaneous, $47,839.34; total, $1,584,443.45. The chief expenditures were as follow: Legislation, $40,400.43; Treasury Department, chiefly interest on debentures, $152,065.33; provincial Secretary's department, $7,911.84; public schools, $119,997.12; Manitoba University, $3,500; agriculture and immigration, $74,680.72; AttorneyGeneral's department, $127,580.13; Railway Commissioner's department, $6,887.70; public works, $177,573.08; treasury loans, etc., $107,020.19; interest on railway bonds, $101,263.00; miscellaneous, $56,633.98; cash on hand, $608,929.84: total, $1,584,443.45. The outstanding debentures of the province at the end of 1894 included $787,426 issued in 1885 for aiding the Manitoba and Northwestern Railway Company; $899,846 in 1885 for aid to the Manitoba Southwestern Colonization Railway Company; $255,986 in 1886 to aid the Hudson's Bay Railway and Steamship Company; $1,498,933 in 1888 for general purposes; and $997,666 issued in 1893, also for purposes of public expenditure.

Agricultural.-The crops of 1895 were unprecedented. The comparative areas in acres may be seen from the following table':

The estimated production for 1895, from reports received from all parts of the province, includes 33,843,392 bushels of wheat, or 29.68 bushels to the acre; 5,993,567 bushels of barley, or 38.96 to the acre; 25,855,989 bushels of oats, or 38.96 to the acre.

The development of the dairy interest has been noticeable, more than 20 new cheese and butter factories having been established during the season. According to the statements contained in bulletin that was issued by the Department of Agriculture in June, 1895, 6,842 *men were employed as farm help, at wages averaging $16.50 for the summer months and $10.50 for those hired by the year.

Education.-The school population in 1894 was 36,459, compared with 14,129 in 1884. The number of pupils was 32,680, and the average attendance 16,260. The teachers numbered 1,047; the schools in operation were 884; the average salary of teachers was $410, as against $433.50 ten years before. The legislative grant to the schools was $101,013.46, and the school taxes, raised from the municipalities, amounted to $354,963. Before the abolition of separate schools (or their Government maintenance) in 1890, there were 91 Catholic and French school districts. For various reasons 24 of these have since disbanded and 27 have accepted the public-school system. Nine newly formed districts, where the French and English populations are about equal in numbers, have also accepted what is called the "national " system. Convent schools are still in operation in 9 centers, and 38 other schools in various parts of the province are conducted as separate schools and maintained by voluntary subscriptions.

Industries and Trade.-At the time of the last census (1891) there were 1,031 industrial establishments in the province, with a working capital of $2,561,836, employing 4,403 persons at wages aggregating $1,905,981. The yearly product was valued at $10,155,182. The imports of the province in 1894 amounted to $2,392,222, and the duty collected to $602,466. Up to June, 1895, the export of cattle for the year was placed at 30,000 head; the export of hogs, at 10,000; and the export of sheep, at 4,000; while the total value of the dairy products exported was estimated at $500,000.

Keewatin. This large district, of 282,000 square miles, is still under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. The principal occupation of its scattered inhabitants -who are mainly Indians-is hunting and fishing. In his annual report for 1894, Sir John Schultz urges the Dominion Government to take steps for the protection of the rich whaling grounds to the north, and suggests restrictive measures against the use of the bomb, lance, and swivel guns by foreign whaleboats. also protests vigorously against American vessels which have "traded with the Eskimos on our arctic coast carrying on a barter with the articles upon which no duties have been paid, and furnishing as matters of trade or reward for inland trading expeditions magazine rifles, fixed ammunition and intoxicants, thus violating the laws of Canada and defrauding her revenue." He then refers to the value of the trade thus controlled from San Francisco.

He

Cost of material.

$2,101,748 $1,618,066 $2,479,998

207,294

123,891

260,177

Portland, Ore..

819,880 109,894

265,217

San Francisco, Cal.

281,910 126,962

318,000

529,450 444,670 965,000 217,155 233,118 434,367

8,299,532

1,640,815 4,509,857

Bronze Castings.

1,627,457

789,843

1,762,850

New York, N. Y.

806,100 72,537 291,500