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Mr. Whitney calls the grant a " deal " • he has even gone so far as to call it a " steal." Notwithstanding that Hon Mr Gibson Cormmissioner oi Crown Lands, has fully answered at different times the criticisms of the leader of the Opposition, and shown the absurdity of the position taken by him, he still persists in the use of strong language and much misrepresentation in his fruitless endeavors to make a point against the Government in this connection. There is nothing in the nature of dissatisfaction in the western part of the Prov- ince whore the facts are best known, and in the older portion of Ontario people everywhere have come to the conclusion that in this matter the Government have done an excellent stroke of business. A brief narra tiveof the facts will show that the Opposition leader is either ignoran;, or dishonest in his publicly expressed views of this transaction, and that his professed suspicions of the bona fides of the Government in the matter are unworthy both of himself and them. ONTARIO'S MINERAL WEALTH. The people of Ontario are beginning to realize the value of the vast heritage in the northwestern part of the Province which was secured to them by tha vigilance and determination of Sir Oliver Mowat and his colleagues, and in which not one - stick of timber," not " one lump of lead, iron or gold," would have been their property had the Conservative Government at Ottawa-backed up by the local Opposition-had its way Discoveries of gold and other metals have followed fast upon one another in northwestern Ontario during the past few years, and bright hopes were warranted that if capital could be interested in undertaking serious development work a permanent industry, particularly in gold mining would be established. That this object of ambition was a worthy one on the part of any Government, not even Mr. Whitney will deny There is no better market for manufactured goods and agricultural produce than a mining camp m steady operation. Large quantities of all kinds of supplies of flour, pork, beef, butter, cheese, vegetables, fruits, etc., are required by a mining population, which is usually fprecluded from ^rowina anv i 4 1 i ! 1- ! 1 "^^rp • rgi^ r^-l' '!■". '-W^ thing for its own use by the unauitablenena of the ground on which it is situated. To meet the varied demands of such a community means better times for manufacturers and better prices for farmers. No more success- ful means could be found of settling the wild agricultural lands of the Crown in northern and western Ontario than the opening up in their vicinity of a large and prosperous industry with its thousands of busy miners to be clothed, housed and fed. THE NEED OF CAPITAL TO DEVELOP IT. There was no question as to the importance of the end ; the only difficulty lay in bringing it about. Capital is capricious, and there are fashions in investments just as there are in ladies' bonnets. There are other gold fields in the world, and /or a number of years the United States, South Africa, West Australia, and, more recently, British Columbia, have been engaging the attention of investors in Great Britain, the money centre of the world, to the exclusion of other countries. But the agitation for free silver was undermining the confidence of British investors in the future of the United States ; political disturbances in South Africa were rendering hazardous gold mining ventures in that part of the world ; and it was being fovmd that in West Australia the undoubted richness of the deposits was offset by the want of water, fuel and other necessaries for working them. The time appeared opportune to make a departure from tha orAinar' methods of dealing with the mineral resources of Ontario, not necesf .. Jy by permanently changing the Government's mining policy, but by attempting to divert a part of the stream of British capital to our own Province. Here was a great expanse of unexplored territory, proven by prospectors and miners in various places to be gold bearing, and here were not only abundance of wood and water, a plentiful supply of efficient labor, facilities of transportation, ease 'of access, but also stability of institutions and security of life and property as great as in any other part of the British Empire. THE ENQLEDUB LICENSE; ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. The opportunity presented itself to the Government in the summer of 1896, when Col. W. T. Engledue, of By fleet, Surrey, England, paid a visit to the Lake of the Woods country and became interested in what is now the well known Mikado mine. He made overtures to the then Commissioner of Crown Lands (Hon. Mr. Hardy^ for a concession in the nft'^ure of the exclusive right to prospect over a large tntct of land in the mineral belt, upon terms to be agreed on. Negotiations were entered in- to and an arrangement was finally made throuffh the present Commissioner, I by whic] license o '*B",c situated other wei to exploi thereon J to expeni year, ^40 the first ^ blocks, ai deposited in default lands upo to be sol ordinary second jt deposited carefully respecting as it then mineral hi yeare, whi per acre ii mainly to locate depi COMP The tota 46,000 acr( older parte mineral-be Prof. Colei Lake Supei Pacific Raij many place 260 miles I granting of for general this one no] ^w^ «^^^ 3 by which Col. Bngfedue, J.me. Reid .nd J.K.W wer, ««„w .o.a.e of occupatfon covering two block, o, ..„d. died bZ". ^d B , oontauiing about 16,000 acres and '■"> other w«,t of Lake of the Woods The tT "'"' ■"" "» .oexplorethe territo^ -J^ in t^^eTX ^ r^,"^ *« '!*''' thereon for three year, from l.t May, 1897 »d LTk " """"" blocks, and the renaming ^Z IT. ^^r,:: .Z":/^^;^ *" deposited with the Government as evidence of ,ood faiu? f „ if^l^ in default of the stipulated expenditure during ttT tot I '„ '"^'T^ Und. upon which discoveries of mi.«rri were ma^e '; tl ' ce-el' ' " to be sold or leased to them on the ordina^ eondtt on .TatT ordinary terms prescribed by the Mine, Act. If durinrthr . ! «>cond year either block *.s surrendered to the ciwL Zh^U the "' depos.ta, was to be refunded. The terms of the licenr w ^ !„ch Tt" carefully protect the public interest, and were al! !! f ■ "! «spec«ng development work as the ordinary J i^'w^Cl^r «.tthen stood, r^juired that patentee, or owners of land „n wM.: "h^rr" r*"-™' *'p--within'tc:': r^rir thte r .:: z''r:iTf:r:rii:r?i COMPARATIVE SMALLNBSS OF THE ABBAS The total .re. of Und covered by the licen«, of occupation w*. .bout 46 000 aores-not more than U contained in a fair si.ed townsWri^ th! dder pari, of the Province. It wa. a very ,mall proporti™ indeed ^f L mme^-beanng belt of northwestern Ontario. It ha, been estima^t ^f. Coleman, of the Bureau of Mines, that in the region st^etoht^rom LakeSupenor to Lake- of the Woods, and lying ,outh of the o"*^Z P«^c Bau^ay, there is an area of Und in which gold ha. been f„ many places, and which may fairly be described „ gold bearing, aulrt 260 mUe. long by 120 mUe. broad, or containing So'ooO.OOO acL Z gnmt,ng of the Engledu, Uoense of occupation left 19,95^000 acres ope' orge„,™l exploration; mother word., one acre only L avery'rof this one gold field was com^ri,^ :■ .i,. *_. i, , / . . ^ '* "' c — ' ixx vitc x.nu uiocss. lit Uie district, of Thunder Bay, Algoma and Nipisaing outside of the above area, and south of the height of land, there are tracts of mineral-bearing land of newly equal extent, to that only about one-eight hundredth or one-nine hundredth of the known mineral-bearing formations of northern Ontario was placed under license of occupation to the Engledue syndicate. A fanner owning a farm of eight or nine hundred acres would not be deemed improvident if he gave a prospector the privilege of exploring a single acre of his land with the right to purchase any part of it, on terms fixed by himself. THE LANDS UNKNOWN AND UNEXPLORED. The areas chosen, while believed to be within the mineral belt, were wholly unknown and unexplored ; they were miles away from the nearest known occurrence of gold, and if anything of value existed upon them it was outside the knowledge alike of the Government and the syndicate. As to Block '•'■ A" lying north of the Seine riv^r, not a single application for mining land within it had been received by the Department of Crown Lands at the time the arrangement was doncluded, nor for many miles to the north, east and west. The nearest known gold-bearing land'3 lay to the south, five miles a" '/. Only three locations had been surveyed, and a few small applications made for land in Block "B," the ne&rest known gold mining property to which was four and a half miles distant. Mr. Whitney has repeatedly stated his belief that these blocks were known by the syndicate to contain valuable gold lands previous to their making application for them, and has sought to fasten upon the govern- ment a charge of improper dealing in thus otranting large areas of mining land of known value in this wholesale way. To refute fihis charge it is sufficient to point out that if Col. Engledue and his associates were aware of the existence of gold veins or other deposits of mineral on either of these blocks, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for them to have obtained possession of them in the ordinary way by applying for, surveying and paying for them. Why go to so much trouble and under- take to expend so much money for the purpose of securing discoveries already made, when title to them could be obtained so much more cheaply and simply ? A moment'^ reflection will convince anyone, not a partisan, that Mr. Whitney's idea is absurd. But if further proof is wanted, it is supplied by the manner of selecting the blocks, as shown in the additional correspondence submitted tc the Legislature in this matter at its late session. The selection was left entirely in the hands of Mr. A. Blue, the Director of the Bureau of Mines, who repreaeiiieti Uie iiuvuruuieiil durilig lliv negotiationM. vio yivloVvitiCB was expres another. In makir ing oonside that the co parts of th should be possecs nat appear to ' geological o as Blocks ' and they w Their mine] relations w< had been re the maps si tions, and e the fact rei the syndicai the compan; THE L The liceni of .Graat Br large scale a dne himself with an imp crofters sett of capitalist mineral lam Republic in but has for a man of ent< appear that t way involved that gentlem after Mr. Ki , ously with tl Kerr'a letter w»B merely t ^mmmom' was expresaed by Col. Engledue or his associates for any one locality over another A. a matter of fact, all were equally unknown to them In makmg his choice. Mr. Blue was, as he says, guided by the follow- ZtT : (1) Having in view the public interest, It was b^ttlr fcha the concession should consist of two tracts of small area in different sCldbe r ^^""'T 'T '' ^"^*"^^ °^ "^^«« «^^-^^ <2) ^^^^- should be m unexplored territory ; (3) as far as practicable they should po«ess natural boundaries ; (4) in their geological formations they sh ^ d appear to be favorable to the occurrence of metalliferous veins With geological data and maps before him. Mr. Blue selected th. areas kriown asBocKs "A" and "B," which appeared to fulfi, the above cond^ttnT and they were accepted by the syndicate without question or demur Their mmeral value was entirely unascertained, and even their seMogical . relations were not absolutely certain, for while the geology of the region had been roughly worked out. minute details were wanting. So far as he maps showed, the tracts contained Laurentian and Huronian forma- tions, and eruptive granite, but whatever their value may turn out to be the fact remains that they were chosen by the Government and not by the syndicate Ample confirmation of this is found in the statements of tlie company a managers given below. THE LIOBNSBHS MEN OP STANDING AND SUB STANCE. The licensee, were men of standing and position in the financial world of.Graat Bntain-men accustomed to cany on mining enterprises on a UJige scale and possessing access to large amounts of capital. Col. Engle- dne himself was in 1891 entrusted by the Government of Lord Salisbu^ with an important mission of inquiry as to the condition of the Highland crofters settled in British Columbia, and had been connected with a g "p of capitalist who for some time were engaged in exploring traL of minera^^ land under a concession from the Government of the Transvaj Republic in South Africa. Mr. Reid was a former resident of Onri but has for some years been living in England, where he is known as a man of enterprise and substance. Mr. Whitney has sought to make it appear that the connection of Mr. J. K. Kerr with the enterprise in some way invo ved the Government in an act of politic' favoritism, because of that gentleman s well-known Liberal opinions, and he has insinuated that , lu^r '*' connected, the Government dealt more gene'r- . ously with tho syndicate than they were disposed to do previously Mr Kerrs letter, published in the Sessional papers, sho^ that hi« Lh^.: w«« merely mat ot a legal agent, entrusted with the duty of looking after immm ppmpipiuflw j i-.i„#iiiiiiiii,ig||| wmmmmm-i ^^' m. 6 the interests of the lioensees on the upot. He has since surrendered his trust and is no longer connected with the project. ** I do net hold a/nd never have held any shares m the company which has taken operand is opera- ting the lit-ense of occxipation^" Mr. Kerr says, *^nor has the company been nor is it in any loay indebted to me in respect of the same, except for some trifling professional charges payable to my firm." ACTIVE AND VIGOROUS OPERATIONS. A company > known as The Ontario Government Gold Concessions, Limited, has Jbeen formed, with a capital of £80,000, stg., for the pjirpose of takinK over the concession and exploring the lands, the shareholders being well-known capitalists of London, nearly all of whom are reputed to be millionaires. The ability of this company to supply the necessary means for a thorough exploration of the lands covered by the concession, is undoubted, and the advantages to be derived by the mining industry of the Province from the allyir^ of such men with it can hardly be over- estimated. In July last, or as soon as the fly season was over and men could live and work comfortably in the woods, two directors of the company, Messrs. Beid and Peake-Mason, came out from England and at once made arrange- ments for the vigorous carrying on of the work of exploring the lands, as they were bound to do by the terms of the license of occupation. They engaged two men of skill and experience in the mining profession — Messrs. Alan Sullivan, C. E., and Thomas R. Deacon, O. L. S., both of Rat Port- age, to act as managers of Blocks " A " and '* B" respectively. Ample funds for defraying expeiisec were placed at the credit of thc«e gentlemen in the Imperial Bank at Rat Portage, a for'^fl of twenty-five or thirty competent prospectors was engaged for each ot the blocks, the men were fully equipped with tools, explosives, etc., provisions and supplies of all kinds were laid in and an active campaign at once begun. Mr. Sulli- van's method in Block A was first of all to survey the area into lots of about eighty acres each, the survey lines being actually run on the ground and the posts numbered. His prospectors were then divided into pairs and certain lots assigned to each pair, which they were required to thoroughly examine before removing to another area, their method being as follows : the ridges are first carefully explored and followed to ?ot boundaries, then the low lying ground, the moss being removed wherever possible in a strip across the strike of the country rock. If the character of the rock is promising, two or even more parties are put on the lot together, the prospectors being under standing orders in all cases to exhaust every possible means of ascertaining whether a quartz deposit exists or pectors, } samples a devolopm Deacon's he has su STA*] If the ( on the bit explored before th "It h« secret inf their [lice deemod it treasures looking f( pany I hs responsib tions wer« ence and use.' No was I adv tions wha simply iiiE work." With re "A" has first beliei does not e absolutely schist are almost ev< thing to b Sullivan, in small p driU next about twe depth." "I may carefully i money is I are to exai are all Car ordinary ij Mr. Des •'B"ha8l 1 .^l'Jll.jllllplppiiiiJ' exutB or not. If a voin is discovered, it is partiaUy strippec by the pros, pectors, who also determine its strike, width and surhce continuity, and samples are taken for preliminary tests. Shot^ld these prove favorable, development work is then proceeded with in the ordinary way. Mr! Doacoo's plan of operations on Block " B " is much the same, except that he has subdivided the Area into lots of 160 acres instead of eighty. STATEMENTS BY THE COMPANY'S MANAQHRS. If the company had previous knowledge of valuable deposits of mineral on the blocks, it is reasonable to suppose that the^e would have been first explored and taken up. As to this, Mr. Deacon says in his letter laid before the Legislature : " It has been stated that they, (the company), were in possession of secret information as to the value of these lands prior to their receiving their [license of occupation. If such was the case, they have not yet deemed it expedient tc revo treasures are, though I hav looking for them The sta pany I have no hesitation , responsible man having any kiK - their manager where these hiddon nearly $10,000 of their own money iird, and as manager of the com- it would not be made by any the circumstances. My instruc- tions were very brief and were simpij .o adopt what scheme my experi- ence and judgment would suggest, and to keep a record for the company's use. No reference was made to any particular part of the location, nor was I advised to commence at any particular place, nor ^^iven any sugges- tions whatever as to which parts would prove the most profitable. I was simply instructed to explore the concession, and I am still engaged in that work." With regard to results, Mr. Sullivan says that the exploration of Block " A " has shown its geological character to be different from what was at first believed. The Itn^'e wedge of schist marked on the geological map does not exist in the interior of the block, which appears to have been absolutely unexplored either by white man or Indian, but bands of biotite schist are found which gradually merge into the mica granite observable almost everywhere al«ng the shore. " While we have not yet found any- thing to be unhesitatingly recommended as a first rate deposit," says Mr. Sullivan, "there are two or three large fahlbands or dykes carrying gold in small proportions which the company will probably test by diamond drill next season. The mining to date has consisted solely of test pits ; about twelve of these have been sunk, varying from tan to* twelve feet in depth." Concluding his letter Mr. Sullivan states : " I may say that this part of the company's land is being examined as carefully and closely as it is possible to do it ; neither time, labor nor money is being spared to determine its resources ; my explicit instructions are to examine everything and examme it thoroughly. Those employed are all Canadians, and the methods used are as much ahead of those of the ordinary lirospector' as ft miniit-e investicration is ah^jid nf a. ns.ai:*n^ cAs-..~.~ " Mr. Deacon states that about one-half of the area comprised °in "fiiook •* B " has been gone over, and exploring will be resumed as soon aa spring 1 IP^fi, ^ m!^mwm»^»9Mm m^^ ^K#P^ 8 openi. A number of veinB, probably twenty-Rve or thirty, have been found, and about t'weaty-twu pita of various depths have been lunk to test them. Some of i-liem hftve proved to be worthless, and some of them are now undergoing development. On these work will go on all winter, and a diamond drill will piobablv aNo be set at work in the spring. While some vuins that promise well have been discovered, no sensational finds have been made m yet, but the work oi development will bo puslted, and the ores thoroughly cested. , THE OBJBOTS OP THE OONOBSSION AOHIBVBD. The foregoing recital of facts is sufficient to show that t!je Government acted not only in perfect good faith, but with excellent judgment and sagacity. They wer' aot afraid io luave the beaten path o* the ordinary mining l.