# The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Canada, Dominion of

Edition of 1879. See also Canada on Wikipedia; and the disclaimer.
​CANADA, Dominion of, a semi-independent federation of British provinces, occupying the northern part of North America, bounded N. by the Arctic ocean, E. by the Atlantic, S. by the United States, and W. by the Pacific ocean and Alaska. Its southernmost part is in lat. 41° 45′ N., and it lies between the meridians of 52° and 141° W. The superficial area is greater than that of the United States, and is nearly equal to the whole of Europe. It comprises the following provinces and territories: Ontario, 121,260 sq. m.; Quebec, 210,020; Nova Scotia, 18,670; New Brunswick, 27,037; British Columbia, 233,000; Manitoba, 16,000; Hudson Bay and Northwest territories, 2,206,725, exclusive of Labrador and the islands in the Arctic ocean. These being added, the total area is about 3,500,000 sq. m.
Seal of Canada.
Of this amount more than half is the property of the general government, acquired by purchase from the Hudson Bay company. The portion which is useless for cultivation from being subject to summer drought is 50,000 sq. m.; the prairie lands, with occasional scattered groves and belts of timber on the margin of rivers, well adapted for agriculture, cover 120,000 sq. m.; the timbered lands, in which occasional prairies are interspersed, as in the Peace river district, and which are suitable for the growth of wheat and other grains, cover 466,225 sq. m. There is a belt of land, comprising 928,200 sq. m., lying outside the prairie and timbered portions, which, though beyond the agricultural zone properly speaking, is sufficiently supplied with timber, and may be utilized for the growth of barley and grass. Rock and swamp, in which the timber of the more southern regions gradually disappear, occupy 642,300 sq. m. In other terms, we may set down 375,184,000 acres of agricultural land, yet to be brought under cultivation, outside the limits of the organized provinces, the greater ​part of which is well adapted to the growth of wheat. The population in 1861 was 3,090,561; in 1871 it was 3,906,810, exclusive of Indians in the Northwest and Hudson Bay territories, distributed as follows: Ontario, 1,620,842; Quebec, 1,191,505; Nova Scotia, 387,800 ; New Brunswick, 285,777; Manitoba, 13,000; British Columbia, 35,586, including Indians. The nationalities comprised were 1,082,940 French, 846,414 Irish, 706,369 English, 549,946 Scotch, 202,991 German, 29,622 Dutch, 23,035 Indian, 21,496 African, 7,773 Welsh, 2,962 Swiss, 1,623 Scandinavian, 1,035 Italian, 879 Spanish, 607 Russian, 125 Jews, and 39 Greeks. There were 1,492,029 Roman Catholics, 494,049 belonging to the church of England, 567,091 Methodists, and 544,998 Presbyterians; also 5,146 not professing religion, 1,886 pagans, 534 Mormons, 409 deists, 20 atheists, and 13 Mohammedans.—The Dominion of Canada does not include any portion of Labrador (which belongs politically to Newfoundland) east of a line drawn due N. of Anse au Sablon, near the extremity of the strait of Belle Isle, to lat. 52° N. In the gulf of St. Lawrence it includes the Magdalen islands, but leaves out Prince Edward island, which belongs to it geographically, and probably will soon politically. The boundary line passes through the straits of Northumberland N. of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the form of a semicircle, with the two ends reaching upward in equal distance, the northern extremity of Prince Edward island, on its western part, extending precisely as far N. as the extreme northern portion of Cape Breton, lat. 47° 4′ N. After enclosing Cape Breton it sweeps round Nova Scotia proper in a S. W. direction. On the N. side of this province the line of boundary leaves on the Canadian side Grand Menan with its islands in the bay of Fundy, and Campo Bello, Deer, and Indian islands in Passamaquoddy bay, while the minor islands S. and N. W. are on the United States side. From the mouth of the St. Croix, in Passamaquoddy bay, to its source, the line of boundary was run and marked by commissioners of England and the United States, under the treaty of 1794, by whom a monument was placed at the source of the St. Croix; thence the exploring line ran N., and was marked by the surveyors of the two governments, under the treaty of Ghent, in 1817 and 1818, to its intersection with the St. John river; this was adopted by the Ashburton treaty of 1842. Thence it was continued up the middle of the stream to the mouth of the river St. Francis; up the middle of that river and the lake through which it flows to the outlet of the Pohemagamook; thence S. W., by the shortest direct line, to a point on the St. John supposed to be ten miles from the main branch of the latter river; but if it proved to be less than seven miles from the summit of the highlands that divide the waters which flow into the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the St. John, the point of junction was to recede down the N. W. branch of the St. John to a point seven miles in a straight line from the summit; thence it took a direct course about S. 8° W. to a point where the parallel of 46° 25′ N. intersects the S. W. branch of the St. John; thence southerly along that branch to its source in the highlands at Metjarmette portage; then down the highlands which divide the waters that full into the river St. Lawrence from those that fall into the Atlantic ocean, to the head of Hall's stream, and down the middle thereof to the intersection of the old boundary line, long presumed to be identical with the parallel of 45°. From St. Regis the line runs 35° 0′ 45″ W. into the river, at right angles to the shore, to within 100 yards of Cornwall island; thence it is carried in a westerly direction, as near as was found physically possible, through the middle of the St. Lawrence river, Lake Ontario, the Niagara river, Lake Erie, the Detroit river, the lake and river St. Clair, into Lake Huron, in which the line was so run as to give St. Joseph's island to Canada and Tammany islands to the United States. It then turns easterly and northerly round the lower end of St. George's or Sugar island, and follows the middle of the channel which divides St. George's from St. Joseph's island; thence up the Nabaish channel, near St. George's island, through the middle of Lake George; thence W. of James island into St. Mary's river to a point in the middle of the river about a mile above St. George's island, which it secures to the United States; thence through that river and Lake Superior to a point marked by the commissioners under the treaty of Ghent N. of Isle Royale, 100 yards N. and E. of Isle Chapeau, near the N. E. point of Isle Royale; thence S. W. through the middle of the sound between Isle Royale and the N. W. mainland to the mouth of Pigeon river; up that river to and through the N. and S. Fowl lakes, to the height of land between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods; thence along the water communication to and through Lake Seiganga; thence to Cypress lake, Lac du Bois Blanc, Lac la Croix, Little Vermilion lake and Lake Mamican, and through the smaller lakes, straits, and streams connecting with these, to a point on Lac la Pluie or Rainy lake, where the commissioners under the treaty of Ghent traced the line to the most N. W. point of the Lake of the Woods, in lat. 49° 23′ 55″ N. and Ion. 95° 14′ 38″ W. ; then due S. till it intersects the parallel of 49° N., and along that parallel, nearly 1,200 m., to the Pacific. This latter portion of the boundary line is now in course of settlement by means of a joint survey.—The most striking physical features of Canada are the Rocky mountains, the Laurentian range, with its continuation northward to the Arctic ocean, and the immense bodies of fresh water, especially in the northern part of the country, which have so great an effect on the climate. The range to which the name of the Laurentian mountains has been given runs ​along the N. bank of the St. Lawrence river, near its margin, from the Labrador coast to Cape Tourment, near Quebec. From this point the range recedes N., running 60 m. behind Quebec and 30 m. behind Montreal. Thence, following the line of the Ottawa for a distance of 150 m. from Montreal, it crosses that river at Lac du Chat; then taking the opposite direction, it returns S. to the St. Lawrence, a little below the point at which Lake Ontario discharges its waters into that river. From this point it runs in a N. W. direction to the S. E. extremity of Georgian bay; then forming the E. shore of that bay, it passes beyond to lat. 47° N.; whence, taking a W. direction, it passes Lake Superior, and runs in a N. W. direction to the Polar sea. This range crosses the St. Lawrence at the point where it returns to it after crossing the Ottawa; and the Thousand Islands, which there stud the former river, may be considered as so many of its fragments. Between this point and Lake Champlain it comprises the Adirondack mountains. On the S. side of the St. Lawrence, commencing near the E. extremity at Gaspé, is another range of mountains, which is considerably broken, running parallel with the river, and passing higher up through the Green mountains of Vermont into the higher range of the Alleghanies, which divide the waters of the Ohio from those of the Atlantic. On the river Chatte one of the peaks has an elevation of 3,768 ft. The Laurentian series of mountains, on the N. side of the St. Lawrence, have at some points an elevation of from 4,000 to 5,000 ft. This elevation is attained between Quebec and Lake St. John; but this is at a point where the rivers, including the Jacques Cartier, are 3,000 ft above the level of the St. Lawrence, and in general the range is much lower. The height of land which divides the affluents of the St. Lawrence from those of Hudson bay is far from presenting a continuous mountain range. It consists for the most part of a ridge of table land, on which the sources of the waters which run N. and S. interlock and overlap one another, sometimes for considerable distances. At some points the heights have now been ascertained by actual survey. At the W. end of Portage du Prairie, above Lake Superior, the elevation is 1,520 ft. above the level of the sea. The ridge decreases in height eastward. The highest point in the peninsula of Ontario, along the line of the Great Western railroad, is about 700 ft. above Lake Ontario. A line surveyed on the plateau of Lake Erie shows an elevation of only 200 ft. at the highest point above Lake Ontario. The altitude of the valley of the Red river is about 680 ft. above the sea level.—Viewing the country as a whole, Canada may be said to be open on the Atlantic and the Pacific, and the whole widely extended northern frontier of the United States, with which it is coterminous; for where the dividing line is not hydrographical, there are scarcely any natural boundaries. On the north the country is closed by the Arctic sea and practically inaccessible. The river St. Lawrence, which brings down the waters of six lakes (for to the five on the frontier Nipigon in the north must be added), is the great natural entrance and outlet of the country. This river is navigable for seagoing vessels as far as Montreal, a distance of nearly 600 miles. Above Montreal several extensive rapids occur. They can be descended by the largest steamers which navigate Lake Ontario; but as no force of steam is sufficient for their ascent, it has been necessary to construct canals, near the sides of the river, to overcome them. These canals, with that intended to overcome the falls of Niagara—the Welland—have been constructed at a cost to the province of $15,000,000, the whole of them having been directly built as government works. By the aid of these canals, and that constructed at the Sault Ste. Marie, between Lakes Huron and Superior, vessels may descend from the head of the latter lake into the ocean; and as a matter of fact, several vessels have gone from Chicago, on Lake Michigan, to Liverpool; but it is a question if this combined lake and ocean navigation will ever become general. The Saskatchewan, which takes its rise in the Rocky mountains and empties into Hudson bay, through Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson river, is about 1,800 m. long; but from the interruptions to navigation near its mouth, and the high latitude in which it lies, it is only the upper section, or Saskatchewan proper, that is valuable for navigation. The Mackenzie, which has a course over 10° of latitude, has the disadvantage of connecting with the Arctic ocean.—Canada has not the same varieties of climate that some countries of much smaller extent enjoy; but the distribution of large bodies of fresh water saves it from the evils of aridity and sterility. The St. Lawrence and the connecting lakes above are estimated to contain 12,000 cubic miles of water. Besides these, there are thousands of lakes in Canada further north, some very large and others of which the size is only very imperfectly known. The region of summer droughts lies between the parallel of 49° and Bow river, the S. branch of the Saskatchewan; at the base it extends between the meridians 104° and 114°, rounding off in a cone-like shape on the north, with its apex about the meridian of 108°. The northern extremity of the chief wheat zone, commencing in the east at the parallel of 50°, on the N. side of the St. Lawrence, near its mouth, is deflected a little to the south, when it reaches as far W. as James's bay; it then takes a general N. W. course till it strikes the parallel of 60° at its intersection with the meridian of 101°; from which point to the Pacific it has the form of a bow slightly bent northward, both ends of which rest on the parallel of 60°. The northern limit of grains and grasses, crossing James's bay in lat. 52°, takes a N. W. course till it attains to nearly 70°, at the meridian of 132°. The wheat zone covers ​1,300,000 sq. m.; that of the grasses and coarser grains, 2,300,000 sq. m.; of maize, 500,000 sq. m. The summer isothermal of 70°, starting at Long island, lat. 41°, and passing through Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago, rises in its westward course, on the Saskatchewan, to lat. 52°, at the meridian of 110°; that of 62°, starting off Boston, crosses the Red river in lat. 50°, lon. 97°, and rises to 60° at Mackenzie river.—The valley of the St. Lawrence is a region of immense forests of coniferæ and deciduous trees. Whatever may be the effect of these forests in producing precipitation, they certainly prevent evaporation, retaining the moisture in the ground and keeping the rivers and springs constantly supplied. Over the whole of this valley up to 49° the sugar maple is found; the ash-leaved maple on the Saskatchewan in 54°; and wherever the maple is found it has the wild vine for a companion. The Canadian forests comprise 60 different trees. The black walnut, now becoming scarce, attains an average height of 120 feet.—The government of Canada is modelled in some respects after that of the United States, but in others wholly differs from it. The constitution is embodied in an imperial act, known as “the British North American act, 1867;” it received the royal assent on March 29 in that year. The passage of this act took place at the express desire of the provinces interested. The immediate reason for a change was that the old union between Upper and Lower Canada had become unsatisfactory. Based as this union was upon an equality of suffrages, without regard to relative population, the increasing preponderance of Upper Canada, carrying with it no corresponding increase of political power, made itself felt in discontent with the existing political condition. When it became manifest that Lower Canada would not consent to an increase of the representatives of Upper Canada, under the then existing legislative union, the upper province sought a remedy in a change of the relations of the provinces to one another, and to those adjoining but not united to them. The initiative was taken in 1864 by the parliament of Canada, a secret committee of the legislative assembly being appointed to inquire into the political condition of the provinces, and devise a remedy for the evils complained of. The proceedings of that committee have never been divulged. Scarcely had it concluded its labors when the two political parties, hitherto separated by an antagonism which every year tended to make more acrimonious, united with the avowed object of bringing about a federal union of the whole of British America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, the latter of which, in the colonial system, is not considered part of British America. Delegates were appointed by the governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick to arrange a basis of federal union. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland refused to coöperate; and the great majority of the people of Nova Scotia, far from sanctioning the action of their government, displayed an almost revolutionary violence in their opposition. Threats of resorting to arms were sometimes uttered. When the basis of union had been agreed upon at the Quebec conference of delegates, it was submitted to the several legislatures for ratification. In Upper Canada there was no opposition; in Lower Canada opposition was confined to the usual political minority, relatively very small; in New Brunswick confederation, after a struggle, commanded a large majority; in Nova Scotia the consent of the legislature was not obtained. Delegates were now appointed by the governments of the several provinces to carry this basis of union to England and get it embodied in an act of the imperial parliament. That parliament would probably have refused to do violence to the wishes of any province; but it was induced to believe that the question of confederation had not been an issue at the previous general election in Nova Scotia. To the united provinces the name of “the Dominion of Canada” was given. At the start the confederation included four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. British Columbia has since been brought in, and the whole of the Hudson Bay territory purchased and annexed. The executive authority is nominally vested in the queen of England; and the governor general, the only officer in the Dominion who receives his appointment from the British government, carries on the government in her name. With the sole exception of the pardoning power, the authority of the governor is exercised under the advice of a privy council, appointed and removable by himself, with the approbation and assent of the house of commons. The command of the land and naval militia, and of all naval and military forces, is vested in the queen. Ottawa is the seat of the federal government. The legislative power is exercised by two houses of parliament, styled the senate and the house of commons, in connection with the governor general, whose assent to all acts of parliament is given in the name of the queen. The senate is not a representative body, in the sense of being periodically elected. Its members are nominally appointed by the crown; in fact by the governor general, on the recommendation of the privy council. Under the legislative union of the Canadas, the legislative council, which then formed the second chamber, had for some years been elected by the people. This practice had not prevailed in New Brunswick; and the Quebec conference decided upon going back to the principle of crown nomination. Ontario has 24 senators, Quebec 24, Nova Scotia 12, New Brunswick 12, British Columbia 3, and Manitoba 2. The whole number cannot exceed 78. A senator must be 30 years of age, a natural born or a naturalized subject of the queen, possessed ​of freehold property to the value of $4,000, and an equal amount in personal property, and a resident of the province for which he is appointed. In the case of Quebec, senators are appointed to represent particular districts; and they must either be residents of those districts or have a property qualification therein. The appointments are for life, but a seat would be vacated by bankruptcy or loss of the required property qualification, transfer of allegiance to another country, treason, felony, or any infamous crime. The house of commons originally consisted of 181 members, of whom 82 were for Ontario, 65 for Quebec, 19 for Nova Scotia, and 15 for New Brunswick. Since then 6 have been added for British Columbia, and 4 for Manitoba. There is no fixed date for the annual meeting of parliament; that body is summoned, as in England, by the executive, at convenient times for the despatch of business. The electoral divisions of Quebec (late Lower Canada), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick remained the same as before the confederation was formed; those of Ontario (late Upper Canada) were somewhat altered. Except for Quebec, which is always to continue to have the fixed number of 65 representatives, there is to be a readjustment of the representation after every decennial census, according to the changed proportions of the population; but no province is to have the number of its representatives reduced unless the decrease of population, as compared with the population of the whole of Canada, reaches 20 per cent. All appropriation and tax bills must originate in the house of commons; and no money vote can be proposed unless it be recommended to the house by message from the governor general. There are certain measures of an unusual or extraordinary kind to which the governor general may refuse the royal assent, and which he may reserve for the signification of the queen's pleasure; and the royal veto may be exercised at any time within two years. Besides the federal government, there is a local government in each province. The lieutenant governors of the provinces are appointed by the governor general, and hold office during pleasure, but are removable only for cause within five years, which is practically the term of their incumbency. They are advised by executive officers, most of whom act as heads of departments, who are responsible to the people's representatives. These governments are not uniform in structure, one of them, that of Ontario, having but one chamber. In the distribution of the powers between the general and the local legislatures, the crown lands remained under the control of the governments of the provinces in which they are respectively situated. To the charge of the general parliament were assigned public debt and property; the regulation of trade and commerce; the raising of money by any mode of taxation; borrowing on the public credit; postal service; census and statistics; militia, military and naval, and defence; beacons, buoys, lighthouses, Sable island; navigation and shipping; quarantine and the establishment and maintenance of marine hospitals; seacoast and inland fisheries; ferries between a province and any British or foreign country, or between two provinces; currency, coinage, and legal tender; savings banks; weights and measures; bills of exchange and promissory notes; interest; bankruptcy and insolvency; patents of invention and discovery; copyrights; Indians and lands reserved for Indians; naturalization and aliens; marriage and divorce; the criminal law (from which the constitution of the courts is strangely excepted, and the anomaly is seen of local legislatures constituting or altering the constitution of courts to which the general government appoints the judges); the establishment, maintenance, and management of penitentiaries; and all subjects not expressly assigned to the local legislatures. The residuum of power therefore rests with the general legislature, not the provincial. The parliament of Canada has to enact uniform laws relative to property and civil rights in the several provinces, and the procedure of any courts therein; but such laws cannot go into effect until reënacted by the provincial legislatures. The powers confided to the local legislatures are uniform. They include the right to amend the local constitutions, except as regards the office of lieutenant governor; direct taxation to raise a revenue for provincial purposes; to borrow money on the credit of the province; the establishment of the tenure of provincial offices, and the appointment and payment of provincial officers; the management and sale of the public lands and timber; public and reformatory prisons; local hospitals, asylums, and charities, other than marine hospitals; municipal institutions; shop, saloon, auction, and other licenses; local works, exclusive of lines of ocean and other ships, railways, canals, and telegraphs which extend beyond the limits of the province, or, being situated wholly within one province, have been legally declared to be for the general advantage of Canada, or of more than one province; the incorporation of companies for provincial purposes; the solemnization of marriage; property and civil rights; the administration of justice; the enforcing of laws, by punishment, fine, or penalty, having relation to any of the subjects of which the provincial legislature has cognizance; and generally all matters of a local or private nature. Previous to the establishment of confederation, separate Roman Catholic schools had been established in Ontario, and dissentient or Protestant schools in Lower Canada, as part of the public school system; and the continued existence of both is guaranteed by a constitutional prohibition to legislate on the subject. With regard to agriculture and immigration the general and local legislatures have concurrent jurisdiction. The only judges appointed by the local governments are those of the probate courts in Nova ​Scotia and New Brunswick. The judges of the courts of Quebec, where there is a million of French-speaking people, must be selected from the bar of that province. The judges of the superior courts hold office during good behavior, but are removable by the governor general on address of both houses of parliament. The salaries, allowances, and pensions of the judges of the courts, except the probate courts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, are fixed by the parliament of Canada. Parliament has authority to establish a general court of appeal, of which the powers will be similar to the supreme court of the United States. At present the Dominion government has to pronounce on the constitutionality of acts of the provincial legislatures, before exercising the authority to disallow them. The Dominion assumed the debts of the several provinces to the amount of $62,500,000; and the residue of the debt of Canada above that amount, not less than $10,500,000, was assumed by the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, in proportions to be determined by arbitration. Disagreement arising on the results of the arbitration, the question has been (1873) appealed to the privy council in England. Nova Scotia became liable for whatever amount its debts was in excess of $4,000,000, and New Brunswick for whatever sum its debt might exceed $7,000,000. The Dominion obtained the customs and excise revenues, and agreed to pay each province an annual subsidy of 80 cents per head of the population, besides a fixed yearly sum for the support of its government: Ontario $80,000, Quebec $70,000, Nova Scotia $60,000, New Brunswick $50,000. This subsidy, and the lands, minerals, and forests, constitute the actual sources of the provincial revenues; but to them they can, if necessary, add the resort to direct taxation. There is a disposition on the part of the smaller provinces to complain of this fiscal arrangement. To Nova Scotia an additional amount has since been granted. New Brunswick is entitled to receive, in addition to the above amount, $63,000 a year for ten years. To the existing Dominion debt is to be added $25,000,000 or $30,000,000 for the intercolonial railway to connect Halifax with Quebec, sections of which were built many years ago, and the remainder is now in course of construction, and the Pacific railway, the construction of which was one of the conditions of the accession of British Columbia to the union. The contract for this road has been let, government giving $30,000,000 in money and 50,000,000 acres of land in aid of its construction. The imperial government guarantees a loan of $12,000,000 for the same purpose. In the division of assets, the Dominion took the canals, harbors, lighthouses, public vessels, river and lake improvements, debts due by railway companies (few of them of any value), military roads, custom houses and public buildings, except those required for the provincial governments, ordnance property, armories, drill sheds, munitions of war, and lands set apart for general purposes; leaving to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, conjointly, lunatic asylums, normal schools, some court houses in Quebec, law society buildings, Ontario consolidated loan fund (to which many millions of hopelessly bad debts were due by municipalities), Quebec fire loan fund, educational endowments, and other things of a local nature. The imperial parliament guaranteed a loan of £3,000,000 sterling to build the intercolonial railway, by which means the amount was obtained at four per cent. The loan is repayable by a sinking fund, at the rate of one per cent. per annum.—The revenue for the year ending June 30, 1871, was $19,329,560, of which more than one half, $11,841,104, was derived from customs; excise, the next largest item, producing $3,259,944. The income from public works, including canals and railways, was $1,146,240; interest on investments, $554,388; prison labor, $124,817. The remainder is made up of a number of small items, not one of which reaches $100,000. At the same date, the outstanding public debt, payable in London, was $75,811,162. It consists of 5 and 6 per cent. securities, and those covered by the imperial guarantee, and bearing a much lower rate. Portions of this debt fall due at various times up to the year 1903. The largest amount that will fall due at one time, $32,707,095, matures in 1885. The length of railroads in operation is 3,250 m., to which will soon be added 500 m. additional of the intercolonial; and the estimated length of the Pacific is 2,700 m. The telegraph lines are fully 30,000 m. In 1871 there were 420 newspapers and other periodicals published in Canada. Of these 255 were issued in Ontario, of which 24 were daily, 2 tri-weekly, 1 semi-weekly, 195 weekly, 6 semi-monthly, 25 monthly, 1 quarterly, and 1 yearly; 96 in Quebec, of which 12 were daily, 11 tri-weekly, 8 semi-weekly, 51 weekly, 3 semi-monthly, and 11 monthly; 37 in Nova Scotia, of which 3 were daily, 6 tri-weekly, 23 weekly, and 5 monthly; 34 in New Brunswick, of which 3 were daily, 2 tri-weekly, 1 semi-weekly, 24 weekly, 3 monthly, and 1 quarterly.—Canada no longer supplies wooden vessels to Europe, but she yearly builds a large number of ships for home use. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872, the total number built was 414, aggregating 114,065 tons; of these 37 were steamers, with 6,408 tons. The number built and registered from 1858 to 1872 inclusive was:
REGISTERED. :
| YEARS. | No. | Tons. | No. | Tons. |
| 1868 | 355 | 87,230 | 539 | 113,692 |
| 1869 | 336 | 96,439 | 526 | 124,408 |
| 1870 | 339 | 93,166 | 494 | 110,852 |
| 1871 | 389 | 106,101 | 540 | 121,724 |
| 1872 | 414 | 114,065 | 563 | 127,371 |
| Total | 1,823 | 497,001 | 2,663 | 599,047 |
​A comparison of the percentage of tonnage contributed by the different provinces shows Nova Scotia to be the largest ship builder:
1872. :
| Ontario | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Quebec | 31 | 33 | 21 | 20 | 12 |
| Nova Scotia | 36 | 28 | 36 | 41 | 47 |
| New Brunswick | 28 | 33 | 38 | 32 | 32 |
The percentage of registrations for the same period shows where the ships are owned:
1872. :
| Ontario | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Quebec | 32 | 31 | 23 | 23 | 20 |
| Nova Scotia | 42 | 35 | 40 | 39 | 36 |
| New Brunswick | 18 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 35 |
The tonnage of the vessels that entered inward in 1871 was 6,576,771, and of those that cleared outward 6,549,257. These figures show the Dominion to stand third in the list of maritime powers, only England and the United States possessing a larger commercial marine. The development of this marine is due largely to the extensive fisheries of the gulf of St. Lawrence, the number of Canadians employed in which is estimated at 75,000. The value of the exports in 1871 was $74,173,618; of the imports, $86,947,482. The imports from and exports to the United States almost balance one another; the exports being $30,975,642, and the imports, $29,022,387. The exports to Great Britain amounted to $24,173,224, and the imports thence to $49,168,170; exports to the British West Indies, $2,104,064; imports thence, $839,523; exports to the foreign West Indies, $1,773,334; imports thence, $2,055,597. The distribution of the imports and exports for two years ending June 30 was as follows:
IMPORTS.
1870-'71. :
| Ontario | $26,135,176 | $29,025,243 |
| Quebec | 32,883,916 | 40,108,120 |
| Nova Scotia | 3,940,800 | 9,483,068 |
| New Brunswick | 6,532,827 | 8,044,714 |
| Manitoba, half year | ......... | 286,337 |
| Total | $74,814,339 | $86,147,482 |
EXPORTS.
1870-'71. :
| Ontario | $24,650,899 | $23,086,535 |
| Quebec | 37,807,468 | 39,021,706 |
| Nova Scotia | 5,803,417 | 6,516,927 |
| New Brunswick | 5,303,206 | 5,517,930 |
| Manitoba, half year | ......... | 30,520 |
| Total | $73,573,490 | $74,173,618 |
The exports for the year ending June 30, 1871, comprised the following articles:
| Produce of mines | $3,221,461 |
| Produce of fisheries | 3,994,275 |
| Produce of forests | 22,352,211 |
| Animals and their produce | 12,582,925 |
| Agricultural produce | 9,853,146 |
| Manufactures | 2,201,331 |
| Other articles | 387,554 |
| Ships | 558,144 |
| Goods not produce of Canada | 9,853,033 |
| Coin and bullion | 6,690,350 |
| Short returns | 2,448,668 |
| Manitoba, three months | 30,520 |
| Total | $74,173,618 |
The value of the imports for the year ending June 30, 1872, was $107,704,895; an increase of over $20,000,000 in one year. The duties collected on them amounted to $13,016,218. The value of the exports was $82,639,663, of which $12,798,182 represented products of other countries than Canada.—The history of Canada up to 1867 was the history of the two present provinces of Ontario and Quebec alone. In the spring of 1534 Jacques Cartier, or Quartier, as the ancient French historians write the name, a French navigator, under orders from the king, sailed from St. Malo, with two vessels of 61 tons each, and 61 men; at the end of 20 days he reached Newfoundland, and penetrating the strait of Belle Isle, entered the St. Lawrence, having made the discovery of Canada. Entering the Bay of Chaleurs, Cartier took possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, in spite of the protestations of a chief of the race who were the owners of the soil. A large wooden cross was placed on a neighboring eminence, as if to announce the religious mission of the discovering nation. The other principal navigator whose name is connected with Canadian discoveries is Champlain; besides the lake which hears his name, he discovered the lakes Ontario and Nipissing. When colonization was seriously commenced, it was conducted on a plan very different from that pursued in New England. The colony was semi-military, semi-religious. The Recollect and the Jesuit missionaries traversed the country in all directions, enduring incredible hardships to secure the conversion of the Indians. Garrisoned forts were constructed at every prominent point from Quebec to Florida; and those on the shores of Hudson bay were sometimes in the hands of the French and sometimes in possession of the English. The French were frequently at war with the Indians, having for their enemies the Iroquois, the most ferocious tribe that dwelt on the S. side of the lakes. For allies the French had the more timid and less warlike Hurons, who were driven from the peninsula of Upper Canada by the Iroquois in 1636, taking refuge on St. Joseph's island, where numbers of them perished miserably of famine during the winter. The feudal system, on the model of the Coutume de Paris, was established; and thus a nobility, who generally possessed nothing but their swords and the land granted to them as seigneurs, sprang up on the banks of the St. Lawrence. The seigneurs were ​obliged to concede the lands granted to them, when demanded by settlers, on certain conditions. They were not absolute proprietors; but they possessed certain rights in the soil and were obliged to perform certain duties. It was incumbent on them to build mills, and on the censitaires to employ these mills; all water power pertained to them; they had a right to charge a nominal rent, which has generally been stated at two sous per arpent; when the censitaires sold their improvements and the rights they had acquired in the lands, a portion of the money went to the seigneur. He possessed several other rights of a beneficiary nature, as well as some of a personal kind. This system became ultimately unsuited to the advanced state of society; but it was not till 1854 that the legislature made provision for its abolition, the seigneurs being compensated for the privileges they were called on to surrender. In 1629 Quebec fell into the hands of the English, who were led on by three refugee French Calvinists, whose sect had been formally excluded from the colony. On March 29, 1632, Canada was restored to its ancient mistress by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye; but in the interval there had been much discussion in France as to whether the colony were worth receiving back. In 1663 one of the most remarkable earthquakes on record occurred in Canada. It commenced on Feb. 5, and continued, with some short intermissions, over six months. If the accounts of it do not grossly exaggerate, it changed the entire face of the country, causing mountains and rivers to disappear, and forming lakes where mountains had stood before. The fountains were dried up, and the color of the rivers was changed, some of them having their waters tinged with yellow, others with red, those of the St. Lawrence being white as far down as Tadousac. Near Three Rivers two mountains are said to have been precipitated into the St. Lawrence, to have changed its course, and to have given the white appearance to the vast body of water which it contained. Near Tadousac the continuity of the motion was least broken, and at that point a storm of ashes is said to have been driven across the St. Lawrence. The tone of portions of the contemporary narrative gives reason to suspect exaggeration, the more especially as not a single colonist was injured, and none of the houses suffered greater damage than the falling of a chimney. In the infancy of the colony the governors, in connection with the intendant, held the military and civil administration in their hands; and in connection with the seigneurs, who possessed the right of administering justice in their seigneuries, they exercised judicial functions. In time the accumulation of duties rendered it necessary for the governors, of whom there were three, one at Quebec, another at Three Rivers, and a third at Montreal, to perform part of their functions by deputy. Jesuit and other priests became conspicuous in the public service. Afterward, at the instance of the parliament of Paris, which had supreme control in all the affairs of the colony, the French king established the conseil souverain de Québec. Besides acting as a court of appeal when the decisions of the subaltern judges were called in question, the supreme council registered, upon the order of the king, all edicts, ordinances, declarations, letters patent, &c. It was composed at first of the governor, the bishop, five councillors appointed by them every year, and a king's attorney. The intendant was afterward accorded a place in the supreme council, which had power to hold its sittings at Three Rivers, Montreal, or any other place, as well as Quebec. After the appointment of a bishop of Quebec, serious dissensions broke out between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, victory sometimes declaring for one side and sometimes for the other. Bishop Laval was powerful enough to procure the recall of a governor, and the appointment of a successor of his own selection. The supreme council, on the other hand, reduced the tithes payable by the Roman Catholics from 1/13 to 1/20. In 1690 an English fleet, under Admiral Phips, made an unsuccessful attack upon Quebec, and after receiving considerable damage had to retire under cover of a dark night. The establishment of the French colony at Detroit, and the discovery of the Mississippi by La Salle, are among the principal events of this part of the history of Canada. By the treaty of Utrecht, signed April 11, 1713, Louis XIV. restored to England Hudson bay, ceded Newfoundland and Acadie (Nova Scotia), and renounced all right to the Iroquois country, reserving to France only the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. The terms of the treaty were sufficiently vague to give rise to disputes as to the extent of the territories respectively belonging to each country; and as neither country was willing to be confined to the limits which the other wished to assign it, a final struggle for supremacy, extending over a period of seven years, ended by the cession of Canada to England and of Louisiana to Spain in 1763. The conquered colonists were guaranteed the free exercise of their religion, and the right of the Catholic clergy to continue to receive their accustomed rights and dues. Whether the subsequent confiscation of the Jesuits' estates was a violation of this stipulation is a question that has been much disputed. In 1774 the parliament of England passed an act to provide for the government of the province of Quebec, as the new acquisition was then called. By this act the king was empowered to appoint a council of not less than 17 nor more than 23 members, for the government of the colony. Except for public roads or buildings, the council was not empowered to levy taxes, and no ordinance which it might pass concerning religion was to be valid till it had received the express approbation of the king. The criminal law of England, which had previously been ​extended to the colony, was continued in force. This arrangement continued till 1791, when Canada was by an act of the imperial parliament divided into two provinces, Upper Canada and Lower Canada. To each a popular assembly and a legislative council, nominated by the crown, were given. The crown was empowered to confer hereditary titles upon residents of the colony. The legislature was to meet once every year. The governors, appointed by the crown, might reserve for the pleasure of the sovereign any bill which the legislature might pass. Authority was given to reserve one seventh of the public lands for the support of a Protestant clergy, the apparent intention being to constitute endowments of church of England rectories. For this purpose some 3,400,000 acres were set apart; but very few of them were ever actually applied to the endowment of rectories, the instructions to this effect of the imperial government having been disobeyed; and in 1854 an act of the provincial legislature was passed to devote the whole of these lands to secular purposes. Thus the idea of establishing a state church in Canada was relinquished. Disputes regarding the interpretation of the constitutional act arose. One party contended that Canada was in possession of a transcript of the British constitution, and that the advisers of the governors in matters of state should be responsible to the commons house of assembly. The other party denied the necessity of any accord between the executive council and the legislative assembly. The attempt to make the local government responsible to the popular branch of the legislature was not successful till 1841, the year after an imperial act had been passed to unite the provinces under one administration and one legislature. The definite establishment of a responsible government in 1841 was effected by a series of resolutions passed by the legislative assembly, in which the other chamber was not invited to concur. In this simple manner was consummated a revolution which bears some analogy to that of 1688 in England. But in 1841 victory was already achieved for the principle of constitutional government, before its formal declaration by the resolutions of the popular chamber. The antecedent struggle between oligarchy and the constitutional principle had been long, fierce, and sanguinary. It was marked by open insurrection in 1837 and 1838. The popular complaints which preceded that outbreak were numerous, but they are all referable to the single circumstance of an irresponsible administration. In the rebellion, which had Louis Joseph Papineau for chief in Lower Canada, and William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada, a considerable number of lives were lost; after the failure of the enterprise, some executions took place, many who had been implicated in the movement fled for protection to the United States, and several were banished to the island of Bermuda. There were some serious engagements between the troops or militia and the insurgents. For some weeks the Upper Canada insurgents had possession of Navy island, situated in the Niagara river, just above the falls. In 1849 a general amnesty was passed. In 1841 Upper and Lower Canada were united for purposes of government. The system of government was professedly modelled after that of Great Britain. In 1849 the parliament houses in Montreal were burned down by a mob, in consequence of a measure proposed by the government to pay certain losses incurred by individuals in the insurrection; and for a period the sessions of the legislature were held every alternate four years in Toronto and Quebec. In 1857 Ottawa was selected as the permanent seat of government. Costly public buildings were erected there; and it continues to be the seat of the general government under the new confederation, the history of which has already been given.