of settlement have already been made public, and a bill to amend the school law in accordance therewith will immediately be laid before you. The law as amended will be administered by my Government in a spirit of conciliation and with the desire to make the provisions effective in extending the benefits of our educational system to every class in the community.

The discovery of mineral regions with possibilities of valuable development within the boundaries of the province necessitates the enactment of a system of mining laws applicable to lands the property of the province. You will be also asked to consider a bill codifying and declaring the law relating to partners, a bill amending the married woman's act, and bills to amend the Queen's Bench, the executor's act, the Queen's Bench suitor's fund act, the insurance act, and other measures."

There was no material change in the political conditions during the session of 1897. Mr. Greenway held his Government well in hand, only one change occurring, when the Hon. Charles J. Mickle became a member in place of Mr. Sifton, who had joined the Dominion Government. Mr. Mickle was re-elected, and two other vacated seats returned ministerial members. One other constituency, however, Turtle Mountain, elected a Conservative, and thus gave that party the first provincial victory in a by-election during many years. An important political matter was the acceptance of the leadership of the Conservatives in provincial politics by the Hon. Hugh John Macdonald, late Dominion Minister of the Interior.

The chief subject discussed by the Legislature was the so-called settlement of the Manitoba school question. The Liberal governments at Ottawa and Winnipeg had arranged a basis for common action, and the situation was thoroughly reviewed in the following extract from a speech made by Hon. J. D. Cameron, Attorney-General in the Assembly (March 18), supporting a bill to regulate the schools under the terms of the new agreement:

"The bill," he said, "embodied in almost identical terms the settlement that had been arrived at by the local government and the Dominion Government in November last. He proposed to review the later events which had led up to the settlement. It had been referred to the Supreme Court, and afterward to the Judicial Committee of the British Privy Council to define the power of the Governor General in Council and the Dominion Parliament regarding the appellant clauses of the Manitoba act; and the Judicial Committee had found that, in their judgment, certain privileges had been taken away from the minority; and that there was jurisdiction on the part of the Governor General in Council and the Dominion Parliament to deal with the matter. The Dominion Cabinet and Parliament shortly afterward took the position that the decision commanded the restoration of separate schools as nearly as possible as in 1890. The Legislature adopted a series of resolutions to the effect that it could not accept the responsibility of carrying out the mandate of the Cabinet at Ottawa. Shortly afterward trouble ensued at Ottawa, and the local government received a copy of an order in Council as a communication, asking this Government to state upon what lines they would adopt amendments. It was not until Dec. 20, 1895, that an order in Council was passed, that this Government firmly adhered to the views expressed in July of last year. No other conclusion could be come to than that what was demanded was a state-aided separate-school system; and this Government declined and then and there positively and definitely rejected, once and for all time, the idea of a separate and sectarian school system. Parliament met at Ottawa shortly after

ward; and after a month or so the remedial bill was introduced by the Minister of Justice. Three commissioners came from Ottawa to see if some way could not be found of avoiding the impending crisis. These were Sir Donald A. Smith, the Hon. Mr. Dickey, and Senator Desjardins. They submitted a memorandum to Hon. Mr. Sifton and himself (Hon. Mr. Cameron) which contemplated a very peculiar separate-school system applicable to cities and towns, but not to rural districts. It provided that, not at the request of parents or by action of municipal councils, but as soon as there should be a certain number of children, there must be separate school boards. He and Mr. Sifton contended that this was precisely what they could not consent to; that by resolutions of the House, and by statements before the electors they had committed themselves to the principle that there should not be separation of the children by religions; and that it was utterly impossible for them to assent to what was proposed. After prolonged debate the bill was killed by time, Parliament having expired. The question then became an issue between the two parties all over Canada; and the result was that on June 23 the administration so long in power at Ottawa was defeated. Almost immediately after that time it became the duty of the Hon. Mr. Laurier to open negotiations with the Manitoba Government. The result was the settlement published in November last."

Then follows a summary of the measure itself: The first section gives authority for religious teaching in the schools, to take place, either if authorized by resolution of the majority of the trustees, or petition of the parents or guardians of 10 children of a rural district, or parents and guardians of 25 children in a city or town. The principle of local option remains; there is nothing compulsory. Section 2 fixes definitely the hour at which religious instruction shall take place; that is, only between 3.30 and 4 o'clock. This is the practice adopted in New South Wales and in New Zealand. Section 4 provides that in towns or cities where there is an average of 40 Roman Catholic children or upward in a school, or in rural districts where there is an average of 25 or upward, at least 1 Roman Catholic teacher shall be employed if required by petition of the parents or guardians. The object is that, if there is to be religious teaching, it be made effective. Section 7 provides that there shall be no separation by religious denominations during the secular school work. Section 9 provides that no pupil shall be permitted to be present at any religious teaching unless the parents or guardians of such children desire it. Section 10 provides that when 10 pupils in a school speak any language other than English as their native language the teaching of such shall be conducted in such other language and in English, upon the bilingual system.

The measure passed by a large majority, though it was followed by a vigorous protest from the Orangemen, on the ground that it conferred favors and a special status upon the Roman Catholics. Archbishop Langevin, of Winnipeg, denounced it strongly as making permanent the abolition of their separate schools. Then came the visit of a papal ablegate, his report to the Vatican, and a period of patient waiting by the Roman Catholics for the Pope's decision.

Finances. The budget speech was delivered by the Hon. D. H. McMillan, Treasurer, on March 2. The estimated expenditure for 1896 had been $780.583; the actual amount was $769,857. The actual revenue received was only $665,553. He showed that for agriculture the expenditure had been $31,547.51; for immigration, $16,492.16; for the dairy school, $8,045.85. Last year the dairy school was opened in Winnipeg, and about 97 attended either

gated $2,980,959.58, being $35,558.51 in excess of 1896. The balance of $916,042.76 for 1896 included the sums due the insane asylum and the Penitentiary loans, namely, $412,019.20, afterward paid, which accounts for the large disbursements of 1897. The balance for 1897, after such payment, was in excess of that for the previous year by $203,115.02. Of this balance, $436,607.07 was to the credit of the public schools on Oct. 1, 1897, $227,625 thereof being apportioned and distributed as of that date, while nearly the whole of the remainder was devoted to special purposes and to meet the demands of the State government and the charitable institutions. The total receipts of the sinking fund were $627,404.18, all of which was invested, as during the previous year, in Maryland, 3.65s. There were sold during the year, from stocks and bonds belonging to the sinking fund, $74,000 of Frederick City 4-per-cent. bonds, and $161,000 of Baltimore city stocks, aggregating the par value of $235,000, which, deducted from the par value of stocks purchased, left $378,475 as the net par amount invested for the year. This sum exceeded that of the previous year by $70,775. The sinking fund for the defense redemption loan aggregated $3,494,245 as against $3,204,770 for the previous year. The total State debt at the close of the fiscal year was $9,284,986.24. Deducting the productive assets of the State, as well as stocks and bonds to the credit of the sinking fund, at their par value of $6,385,908.11 left as the net debt of the State Sept. 30, 1897, $2,949,078.13, against $3,338,533.13 for the previous year, or a net reduction of $389,475 for the year.

The assessed value of property for State purposes, under the new assessment, was $607,965,272 an increase of $67,503,525 over that of 1896. The increased basis produced a corresponding increase in the amount of levy, which was $1,079,138.27. One of the provisions in the new assessment law is the levying of a tax of of 1 per cent. on the income of mortgages, three fourths of such tax going to the counties in which the mortgages are to be recorded, and the remainder to the State.

The school-tax receipts from all sources were: City of Baltimore, $1,109,652.40; counties, $1,230,965.21; total, $2,340,617.61; decrease for year over 1896, $8,723.44. Paid for teachers' salaries: City, $955,340.60; counties, $835,400.22; total, $1,790,749.82; increase, $61,058.38. For building, repairing, and furnishing schoolhouses: City, $311,333.95; counties, $95,308.61; total, $406,642.56; increase, $156,245.36. Paid for books and stationery: City, $60,497.68; counties, $47,768; increase, $1,579.77. For rent, fuel, and incidentals: City, $74,907.52; counties, $74,927.16; increase, $7,190.38. Total expenses for public-school purposes: City, $1,419,300.38; counties. $1.230,965.21; total, $2,650,265.59; increase, $261,984.26.

The receipts for the oyster fund were $66,783.90, which, added to the balance of 1896, made the total receipts of the fiscal year on that account $67,270.73. The increase of the oyster revenue in 1897 was attributed almost solely to receipts from dredging licenses, the receipts in 1897 being $42,058.14, while in the year previous they were only $25,284.33. The disbursements were $66,761.97, leaving a balance of $508.76.

The net revenue from insurance for the fiscal year was $157,221. The gross receipts from tobacco inspection were $78,541, and disbursements $72.238. Education. The number of schools in operation was as follows: City, 185; counties, 2,204; increase, 56; pupils in city, 89,752; in counties, 129,610; increase, 14,618. Highest enrollment-city, 62,868; counties, 116,479: increase, 3,117. Average in daily attendance-city, 50,680; counties, 72,547; increase,

1,665. Number of teachers-city, 1,667; counties, 2,949; increase, 103. Number of months schools were open-city, 10; counties, 8.7. In his report, the secretary of the Board of Education says: "The most important advance in the cause of public education in this State during the last school year was made by the passage of laws by the General Assembly of 1896... providing for furnishing the use of text-books free of cost to the pupils of the public schools of the State, and making the annual appropriation therefor of $150,000. It is already appar ent, from the reports from the school officers of the several counties on file in this office, that the beneficial effects claimed for these laws have been realized. The attendance of pupils has increased from 10 to 30 per cent., and the efficiency of the schools has been greatly increased."

Charitable Institutions.-During the year the State appropriated funds toward the support of 45 charitable institutions, the aggregate of appropriations being $314,000. The following are among the items of appropriation: Asylum and Training School for Feeble-Minded, $20,500; Deaf and Dumb Asylum of Frederick, $30,000: House of Correction, $25,000; House of Refuge, $15,000; House of Reformation for Colored Children, $10,000; Hospitals for the Insane, $74,000; School for the Blind, $29,000; Home for Confederate Mothers and Children, $3,000. In the Maryland Hospital for the Insane the daily average of patients was 496, and the average cost for each was $212.50 per annum. The receipts at the Penitentiary during the year were $27.817 in excess of expenses-an increase of $10,000 over 1896. The greatest number of prisoners confined in the Penitentiary at one time during the year was 855, and the lowest 770. In the House of Correction the number of cells provided is but 232, "while frequently more than 300 prisoners are confined in the institution and the separation of the inmates with regard to sex is not possible."

Fish.-The United States Fish Commission took from the waters of the State during the year more than 70,000,000 shad eggs; the number of shad hatched was estimated at 50,000,000. Young shad were distributed in the different waters as follow: Susquehanna river and Chesapeake Bay, 24.457.000; Juniata river, 400,000; Bush river, 3,150,000; Gunpowder river, 2,250,000; Brandywine river, 1,500,000; Nanticoke river, 2.250,000; Deep river, Connecticut, 2,250,000; Hudson river, 3,150,000; Tuckahoe river, 900,000; Wicomico river, 900,000; Chester river, 900,000; Delaware river, 3,000,000. There have been deposited 500,000 striped-bass fry; 26,700 trout have been distributed in the northern and western parts of the State.

Coal. The coal shipments in 1896 amounted to 3,700,000 tons; in 1897 to about 3,900,000 tons. About 4,000 men were employed in the mines.

Grain. The largest cargo of grain that ever left the port of Baltimore, and said to be the largest load that ever left any American port, went out in August, on the British steamer "Knight Bachelor." The cargo comprised 64,000 bushels of corn and 264,600 bushels of wheat. Reduced to pounds, the cargo amounted to 15,724,600. It required 21 railroad trains of 20 cars each, to convey the grain to the water front.

Pea Packing. The pea picking and packing industry gives employment to about 5.000 persons in the State. The farms where the heaviest crops are picked are in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Hartford Counties, the principal packing houses being in Baltimore.

MASSACHUSETTS, a New England State, one of the original thirteen; ratified the Constitution Feb. 6, 1788; area, 8,315 square miles. The population, according to each decennial census, was

on shares withdrawn, $31,486.24 for dues on shares forfeited, $1,174,901 for dues on shares retired, and $262,507 for dues on shares matured-a total of $3,962,590.19, which sum represents actual savings paid back to members. The same members received $780,291.98 in profits returned. Four banks paid 7 per cent., and one only 4. There were 81 which paid 6 per cent.

Insurance. The report of the Insurance Commissioner shows that the income of the department for 1896 was $59,176.20, an increase of $1,984.34 over the previous year. The total expenditure was $36,276.96, leaving a surplus revenue of $22,889.24. The report shows that 13 mutual fire companies are in the hands of receivers.

Early in 1896 many policy holders of the Massachusetts Benefit Life Insurance Company appointed a committee to examine its affairs. As there was opposition to the examination on the part of the officers, the Legislature was appealed to, and a law was passed authorizing the appointment of a commission of the policy holders by the Governor, who should have full power to make such examination. The commission was appointed, and as a result all the officers and managers gave place to a new board and the by-laws were so changed that each policy holder has an equal right with every other policy holder in the ownership and management of the association.

Capital and Labor.-The report of a special committee appointed by the Arkwright Club to consider the matter of Southern competition with Northern cotton mills was presented in December, and another committee was appointed to devise methods of carrying out the recommendations contained in their report. Following are extracts from the report:

"The long hours run and the low prices paid, we believe, make the cost of labor in the South about 40 per cent. less than in the North. The working day in North Carolina is twelve hours, 24 per cent. longer than in Massachusetts, and the price paid per day for common labor in the mills is from 50 to 75 cents. So far as we could learn, there is no disposition to organize labor unions. The total cost of labor in several well-run mills was found to be under 4 cents per pound. We do not know of any mill in Massachusetts making similar goods in which the cost is less than 6 cents. It seems a duty to apply at once to the legislatures of the New England States to put us back upon a footing with the manufacturers in other parts of the country. It is particularly incumbent upon us to urge the Legislature of Massachusetts to repeal the legislation reducing the hours of labor to fifty-eight. Meanwhile, it is not possible for manufacturers to wait the slow action of legislatures, nor even to count upon it that their reasonable request will be granted."

The annual dividend list of the Fall River mills in December shows that the total capital represented, not including the Arkwright mills, which were organized this year, on which dividends are based, is $22,933,000. The average per cent. of dividends paid on capital represented is 3:38. The average would be smaller were it not for the Bourne, which has paid a regular monthly dividend of 1 per cent, and an additional dividend of 6 per cent. in August. The mill is just across the State line in Rhode Island, and is subject to the labor laws of the latter State, though deriving all the benefit of the Fall River market.

At a general meeting of the Cotton Manufacturers' Association at Fall River, Dec. 8, it was voted unanimously to reduce all wages in the mills of the city.

At an operatives' conference, Dec. 8, at Fall River,

the following resolution was adopted, to be offered to the unions represented:

"Resolved, That we accept the reduction, as it would not be good business policy on our part to enter into a strike at the present time. But we inform our employers that as soon as we think there is a margin of profit sufficient for the restoration of the present scale we shall demand it, even if we have to go to the extremity of leaving our employment by going on strike."

A movement was made early in the year to curtail production, and many mills were idle in the summer.

It was found, in April, that several large corporations in New Bedford were insolvent, a large amount of their indebtedness having been left out of the reports submitted to the State. Receivers were appointed.

The report of the Chief of the Police Department for 1897 says that the evil of child labor in the State is growing less, and the reports of the inspectors show that the number of children employed in manufacturing, mechanical, and mercantile establishments and workshops is 13,324. Children employed between thirteen and fourteen years of age, 104; young persons employed between fourteen and sixteen years of age, 13,220.

Game and Fish. The annual report of the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries and Game says that, despite all efforts to suppress the illegal traffic, a very large number of small lobsters are annually destroyed. During the last eight years the lobster fisheries have steadily decreased. In 1890 the catch of egg-bearing lobsters was 70,909; this year the returns, so far as received, indicate about 20,000, and of all others a decrease of 10 per cent. below last year and 45 per cent. below 1890.

The rearing and distribution of Mongolian pheasants during the past year has been fairly successful.

Cattle Commission. The report of this commission for 1897 shows that the number of cattle paid for as tuberculous during the year was 5,275, and that the amount paid for them was $179,867.52. Over $5,500 was paid for 160 animals in which no lesions of the disease were found. Quarantine, killing and burial expenses, and arbitration brought the average amount paid for condemned cattle up to $34.12 per head.

Commemorations.-New Bedford celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation as a city, Oct. 11 An exhibition of the products of the city was opened, including those of about thirty lines of industry. Among other exercises of the day was a message of greeting from Bedford, England. Addresses were also made by the mayor, C. S. Ashley, the president of the day, W. W. Crapo, and George F. Tucker, the orator of the day.

On Dec. 17 a bronze tablet, set up at the birthplace of Gen. Israel Putnam, in Danvers, by the Daughters of the American Revolution, was dedicated.

A monument to Col. Robert G. Shaw, who was killed while leading the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, the first negro regiment to serve in the civil war, in an assault on Fort Wagner, Charleston harbor, in 1863, was unveiled on Boston Common during the exercises of Memorial Day. (See article FINE ARTS.)

The one hundredth anniversary of the launching of the "Constitution" ("Old Ironsides") was celebrated at the Old South Church, Boston, Oct. 21. Maj. William H. Garland, who was a powder boy on the "Constitution" when she met the "Guerriere," was present. A poem which he had written, "Preserve the Ship," was read by Prof. Churchill, who also read Dr. Holmes's poem "Old Ironsides." Henry Cabot Lodge was the orator of the day.