manufactured and partly manufactured goods quite apart from the constantly expanding exports of agricultural products. This was owing to Canadian natural resources and cheap raw material, as well as to the facilities furnished by the British policy of encouraging the merchant and commission branches of commerce. The market would have to be studied, however, and Canadian goods adapted to British tastes. He hoped that in this connection the value of the Institute and its collection of specimen products and manufactures would be more appreciated, and that the displays made at Paris and Glasgow would be permanently located in its exhibit. He referred, also, to the arrangement, by which his department was able to work in co-operation with the Commercial Intelligence Department of the Government Board of Trade, and to the consequent facility for meeting public requirements and inquiries. As to the lines of trade, in which openings had been most strongly marked during the past year, Mr. Watson mentioned broom and tool handles, mouldings, chair parts, flooring blocks, castings and other manufactures of woods. In this connection he thought the amalgamation of the Canadian furniture manufacturers should help them in securing a share of the immense trade of Great Britain in imported furniture. Three requirements were necessary for any considerable export trade to Great Britain in any special line-sufficient capital to produce a considerable quantity of goods; improved machinery and appliances to compete with United States exporters; knowledge of British requirements in the way of designs, shapes, finish, etc. The trade of the preceding year, so far as Canada and Britain was concerned, had been very dull in the canned goods branch. There was a good demand for dried plums and other fruits, which he thought Canada might meet. The trade in poultry was steadily growing. In leather there was also a steady increase, but the trade was not being sufficiently advertised as Canadian and was passing under the "American" designation very largely. In iron and steel manufactures there were most important possibilities, and a good beginning had been made. So with mica and Canadian pianos—if the latter could be adapted to the current taste. The annual meeting of the governing body of the Imperial Institute was held on May 2nd, with Lord James of Hereford in the chair. Lord Strathcona and Mr. C. A. Duff-Miller were present from Canada. In the Report submitted by Sir Frederick Abel it was stated that expenses had been largely decreased during the year; that subscriptions had also fallen off; that the leasing of a part of the building to the University of London had relieved them of much heavy debt and taxation; that important additions had been made to many of the Colonial collections-not including Canada; that sufficient funds had been obtained to thoroughly organize the Technical Department under Professor W. R. Dunstan; that various reports had been submitted to Colonial Governments upon the scientific character and values of specified products; that His Majesty the King had continued the warm support, which he had unfailingly given the Institute as Prince of Wales-its founder and President. On May 14th, the position of matters at the Institute came before the Dominion House of Commons, in connection with a vote of $3,000 for renewing and improving the Canadian exhibits. Mr. Fisher, Minister of Agriculture, explained to the House, that, after many complaints as to inadequate representation from London, and many intimations from Provincial Governments that they could not afford to keep up their exhibits, his Department had concluded to take over the work, and make it a Federal matter. Hence the small sum asked as a beginning. Mr. James Clancy thought the amount too small and expressed his regret that Canada had allowed her exhibits to get into such a condition. The Hon. Mr. Fielding agreed with him on this latter point. With the facilities at disposal from Glasgow, he believed, a fitting exhibit could now be made. Mr. E. B. Osler thought the vote was not sufficient. The Institute, he declared, was visited by an enormous number of people, and Canada could well afford to make a first-class showing. The Financial Section V-THE FINANCES OF CANADA The Consolidated Fund or ordinary revenue of Canada was $13,687,928 in 1868; $22,375,011 in 1878; $35,908,463 in 1888; $40,555,238 in 1898; $51,029,994 in 1900.* The expenditures upon this account were, respectively, in these years, $13,486,092, $23,503,158, $36,718,495, $38,832,526, and $42,975,280. Of the duties collected in 1900, $4,591,540 were from articles of food and live stock; $1,389,688 from articles in a crude condition and which entered into processes of home industry; $3,648,249 were from articles wholly or partially manufactured; $12,711,155 were from manufactured articles for consumption; $6,548,478 were from articles of voluntary use and luxuries. The internal revenue included $4,774,527 from a tax levied upon spirits, and $4,078,110 from a tax upon tobacco. The general revenue included $4,345,823 from the Postal Service-not including $21,551 from the Yukon; $1,388,024 from Dominion lands; $1,683,051 from Interest on Investments; $5,232,459 from Public Worksincluding railways and canals. The total revenue under its four chief headings was, in 1900, as follows: Customs, $28,889,110; Internal Revenue, $9,854,674 ; Postal Service, $4,345,823; miscellaneous sums, $9,582,236. The chief expenditures included $13,392,479 for charges on the Public Debt; $4,807,484 for the Post Office-not including $112,368 for the Yukon; Subsidies paid to the Provinces, $4,250,608; Railways and Canals, $5,433,127; Public Works, $2,472,748; Militia and Defence, $1,846,179; Civil Government, $1,420,998; Indians, $1,037,436; Legislation, $830,302; and the following: From Confederation in 1867 to June 30, 1900, Canada spent on capital account, outside of the ordinary expenditures, a total of $225,258,760-including $58,515,420 on Čanals; $62,742,816 on the Canadian Pacific Railway; $31,010,419 on debts specially allowed to the Provinces; $50,335,030 on the Intercolonial and connected railways. The expenditure in excess of the net increase in the Public Debt was $35,493,594. The receipt from taxes-customs, *Many of the figures in this and the next three paragraphs are compiled and condensed from various elaborate tables in the Statistical Year Book for 1900. excise and, until 1882, bill stamps-was $11,700,681 in 1868; $17,841,938 in 1878; $28,177,413 in 1888; $29,576,456 in 1898; $38,242,223 in 1900. In 1868 the total charges on the Public Debt were $5,216,025; in 1888 they were $12,105,983; in 1898 they were $13,076,614; in 1900 they were $13,392,479. The revenue and expenditure, per head, of the estimated population were, respectively, in 1868, $4.05 and $4; in 1878, $5.49 and $5.76; in 1888, $7.66 and $7.84; in 1898, $7.73 and $7.40; in 1900, $9.49 and $7.99. The amount of taxation per head in these years was $3.47 in 1868; $4.37 in 1878; $6.01 in 1888; $5.64 in 1898; $7.11 in 1900. The gross debt of the country at Confederation was $93,046,051, and the assets $17,317,410. In 1878 they were, respectively, $174,957,268 and $34,595,199; in 1888, $284,513,842 and $49,982,483; in 1898, $338,375,984 and $74,419,585. In 1901 the gross debt was $354,732,432, the assets, $86,252,428 and the net debt $268,480,083. At Confederation $62,500,000 of debt from Upper and Lower Canada, $8,000,000 from Nova Scotia, and $7,000,000 from New Brunswick were assumed and since that time $31,930,148 of other Provincial liabilities have been taken over. The assets included, in 1900, $10,566,125 of Provincial accounts and $45,824,282 of Sinking Funds. The net debt of Canada per head was $22.47 in 1868; $34.41 in 1878; $50.06 in 1888; $50.29 in 1898; $49.36 in 1900. The Funded Debt of Canada is chiefly payable in London-$227,958,836 -and only $8,675,765 is payable in the Dominion. Of the larger sum $2,433,333 draws 5 per cent.; $140,856,596 draws 4 per cent.; $24,333,333 draws 3 per cent.; $50,602,241 draws 3 per cent.; $9,733,333 draws 24 per cent. The Dominion On March 14, 1901, the Minister of Finance—Mr. W. S. Fielding-introduced his fifth annual Budget. It was a cheerful statement and the Minister was able to declare that in almost every department of Canadian industry there had been during the year a most gratifying activity; while trade and commerce had flourished in such a degree as to make the period one of unexampled prosperity. The receipts for the two past financial years-ending June 30th-were as follows: The total increase had been $4,288,745, or a million more than he had expected. The total expenditure chargeable to consolidated fund account for what may be described as the ordinary purposes of government was $42,975,279, showing a surplus of $8,054,714. This he described as the largest in the history of Canada. The next largest was that of 1899 which amounted to $4,837,749. There was, however, another class of expenditure, called capital expenditure, and composed of items spent for special public works, railways and railway subsidies. These amounts, including $3,308,894 for the Intercolonial and Prince Edward Island Railways, $2,639,564 for Canals, $1,089,827 for Public Works, $230,850 for the Militia, $725,720 for Railway subsidies and $1,547,623 for the South African Contingents and the Halifax Garrison, amounted to $9,742,187. The Public Debt had been diminished by $779,639. On June 30, 1899, it was $266,273,446 (net); on June 30, 1900, it was $265,493,806. Upon only two occasions in the history of the Dominion had it been possible to thus announce a reduction in the debt-in 1871 when Sir Francis Hinks was Finance Minister and in 1882 under the regime of Sir Leonard Tilley. He estimated the revenue for the current fiscal year (1900-1901) at $52,750,000 and the expenditures chargeable to the consolidated fund at $46,400,000. The total capital expenditure, however, he estimated at $10,700,000 and thought that probably $1,800,000 would have to be added to the Public Debt. As to the condition of the debt generally the Minister stated that the average yearly increase during the four years of the Laurier Administration had been $1,749,093 as against an average of $6,563,075 in the previous eighteen years. Dealing with the coming fiscal year, 1901-2, Mr. Fielding estimated an expenditure of at least $44,000,000 on consolidated fund account, and $6,296,000 on capital account, together with supplementary appropriations and bounties on steel and iron production, of at least $1,000,000. He did not expect a much increased revenue, and in this respect thought we had about reached "the crest of the wave of prosperity." The total expenditure upon the South African war was given in detail, and included $1,547,623, expended in 1898-99, upon the Contingents and the Halifax Garrison; $724,068, expended from June 30, 1900, to February 28, 1901, upon the same purposes; and an estimated further expenditure to June 30, 1901, of $120,000—a total of $2,391,692. He spoke of the position of Canadian securities in the British market. Our 2 per cent. loan of 1897, issued at 91, was now quoted at 92, while British Consols, which stood at 1137 in 1897, were now quoted as low as 973. If, therefore, Canadian credit had not actually risen, it had at least not shared in the very natural results which war had brought to the greatest of British Securities. The only change in the Tariff announced by the Minister was the free admission for one year of all machinery used in the equipment of beet-root sugar factories. Mr. E. B. Osler, a leading financier and prominent capitalist, was selected to reply to Mr. Fielding on behalf of the Opposition. After pointing out that in the last four years the Government had obtained a revenue of $30,980,000 over and above the revenue of the preceding four years, he declared that the surplus should have been treated in one of two ways-either to reduce the taxes or to reduce the Public Debt. Instead of this, it had been spent with a free hand, and the debt actually increased by $6,900,000." Where are all the professions of economy, and all the platforms of the present Government when |