The evening times., 1901-05-21
HEAVY MINING ROYALTIES
The Source of One-third Of the Rev
enues of Nova Scotia.

HALIFAX. y. $ May 21-Every ton of
coal mined IN the Province. pays from g..
cents to 12l cents into the Provincial
Treasury The Government of Nova SEQ
ito is peculiar among British Governments.
in that today il is drawing more than one
third of its revenue from mining royal
ties. and viii be soon drawing an even
larger proportion Mining royalties are
common on the coal fields of England.
Wales and Scotland but there the royal
ties, which range from fourpeuce To ten
pence a ton, are collected by the great
landlords from under whose domains the
coal is taken. Here III >C,va Scotia no
mining royalties are paid TO landowners.
as from the beginning of the settlement
of the Province the Crown has reserved
the coal, and royalties have from the earl
lest time gone into the Treasury, and have
been used in meeting the civil expenses
Of the Province
The coal lands, however have been of
real Importance to the Province only since
about 1850. IN the early years of the nine
tecnth century. when there was but
small and local demand for coal, the vast
resources which are today bringing Nova
Scotia Sc prominently TO the front in the
industrial world were regarded as of lit
tie account They We're little valued as
late as 1926. for in that year a blanket
lease Of all the coal areas. developed and
undeveIoped. was granted by the Colon
iaI Government to the Duke of York for
sixty years for a payment Of e3.0J3 a year.
The lease was turned over to a group Of
company promoters in London who in
ISIS organized a company. now prominent
In the Industrial and political history of
Nova Scotia, as the General Mining Asso-
citation of London
About 1890 the Mining Association began
to work mines in Cape Breton and at Pic
tou and other places on the mainland of
Nova Scotia For long time. however,
the market for coal was small. and the
associations monopoly was of little val
ue. As soon as 1t became of value, the
York lease became a storm centre in pro
vinCial politics. At one time popular feel
ing was so strong and vehement that No
va Scotia threatened TO cut the connection
with Great Britain if the lease We're not
abrogated- In 1857. In response to the
popular demand, the Legislature sent a
deputation TO London to confer with the
directors Of the Mining Association The
association agreed to abandon its claims
to the unopened and Undeveloped coal
lands on being given an Undisputed title
to certain coal areas in Cape Breton. tic
tou, and Cumberland counties, with ez-
elusive possession for thirty years. These
mines the association continued to work.
It obtained a renewal Of its lease, and uu-
til twelve months ago, when its under
takings were bought out by the Nova
Scotia Iron and Steel Company, the as
sociation was still in the Cape Breton
field, and, among other properties, owned
and operated the Iong-esta blished and ex-
ceIient mine on Sydney Head
rT-F,Fs --scorgTa-,,or7r Of tho oroT TanFc {v
1878 forms landmark in the industrial
history Of the province At the time IT
was made 10000 tons OF coal were being
mined annually in Nova Scotia, as COM
pared with 1900 in 1872, the year before
the Mining Association was organized. A
mining code was enacted after the reset
tIement, under which leases could be
granted TO mining companies for q Pc
Rod Of eighty years. Embodied in the
code were provisions establishing the
royalty system, and preventing any con-
pany from obtaining control over a large
area Of coal lands. With free trade in
mining thus established, ten or twelve
mining companies came into existence.
AT this time the Elgin-Marcy treaty was
IN force, and a large trade IN sea-borne
coal was built up with the New England
States Work was brisker than ever be-
fore at the mines, and the shipping of the
Maritime Provinces was proftabIy en-
ployed in transporting coal to New Eng
land, and also up the St. Lawrence to
Quebec and Montreal The abrogation OF
the Elgin-AJarcy treaty in 1867 at a stroke
put an end TO nearly ali the American
trade. But the trade up the st Lawrence
was gradually increased; and with the
building Of the IntercoIoniaI Railway in
the middle seventies. access was given
from the coal fields to inland towns Of the
Maritime Provinces By 1890 the output
Of the Nova Scotia mines had reached
1.7Ss. 900 tons
During this period-that is. from 1858.
when the monopoly Of the Mining AssC-
citation came to an end, until 1ss0-the
Government received a royalty Of ~
cents a ton on coal In these years Nova
Scotia was appreheUsive OF anything ap-
proximating TO another monopoly, and the
commotion TO which the York lease had
given rise had too strongly impressed it
self on the popular mind 10 admit of any
laxity on the part Of the Government in
its guardianship Of the coal lands. IN
1891 the royalty system was revised, and
uniform royalty Of 10 cents a ton was
established. Following these changes Of
1891, there came in 1892 the radical change
in policy toward the coal areas which
Coal Company, and to the enormous de-
veIopment which in the last five or six
years has taken place in the coal indus
try OF Cape Breton. a lawyer in Hall
fax conceived the idea Of consolidating
the Cape Breton county mining proper
ties But the scheme was engineered by
H. II. Whitney. and it was at Mr. Whit
ney's instance that the mining code was
so amended as to make possible cOuSoli-
datton of the mines in the neighborhOod
or Sydney
Mr. whitney offered a royalty Of 1215
cents q ton. " cents a ton more than had
been fixed by the act Of 1891 IN return for
Ing over 11e years, and for d guarantee,
p embodied in an act Of the Legislature
that the mining royalties should not be
increased. There was some OutCry that
another monopoly would be created. The
answer was that there would be no deveI-
corresponding TO that in America, unless
capitalists could be induced 10 90 into
mining who were prepared 10 embark IN
ii On a large scale. and equip the mines
with the most modern and effective ma
chinery. To allay popular apprehension.
the Dominion Coal Company was confined
10 the county Of Cape Breton But the
reserves Of coal in Cape Breton county
are enormous, and today the company is
in possession Of areas from which it has
been estimated that $500 900, 600 tons Of
coal can be mined
The Dominion Coal Company has cre=
sted an entirely new and large market
for Sydney coal at Boston From 1888 to
1900 il mined S,6S7 ,s92 tons, on which the
royalty was 81 ,0S5.S9Z The independent
coal companies in the same period mined
Hf4FFg "a VI frn e q