IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.25 l^|28 |50 '■^" 2.5 1.1 l.-^l 20 1.8 1.4 11.6 m r^.^v A %S >, '/ /A CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. 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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 '"•l'^ '' --■J- 3 W 4 5 6 The EDITH and LORNE PIERCE COLLECTION o/CANADIANA SlueerCs University at Kingston «:■ J '1- 1 4 o • 1 , I I ONTARIO: ■ 'V:";r: 3 ITS PRESENT POSITION, RESOURCES, AND ^ (. ;- . ;,j, PROSPECTS. ■'aj'.*/ i/ii'":' , ;> V..-. ■^■•. ..f :•':?.■;:■ i-;; rtyr/7 i?;?- }•-,■.•«•: Ontario is the most important, populous, and opulent of the seven Provinces that comprise the newly-formed Dominion of Canada. Comparatively speaking it is but a new country. It lies north of the great Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario ; while the Ottawa river divides it partly on the east and north from the province of Quebec, the population of which is principally of French extraction. On the north and west again it is bounded by the new province of Manitoba. The name Ontario, by which Western Canada is now designated, signifies ** Beautiful ;" for the Indians were wont to give very expressive appellations to localities, according to their situation or picturesqueness. Area and Population. — Ontario possesses an area of 122,000 square miles, equal to about eighty millions of acres. -'^ Accordingly, its territorial extent is as large as Great Britain and ^ Ireland united. The population, which has augmented consi- S derably during the last quarter of a century, amounts at present ^^/^to nearly two millions. In 1830 the inhabitants numbered merely two hundred and ten thousand, so that the population of 1871, when the last Census was taken, amounted to eight times that of the period mentioned. This remarkable rate of increase shows that the Canadians are not much behind their southern neighbours in the race for prosperity. Of course, the population of Ontario would be still larger than it now is, were it not for the emigration to the Western States of the Union that periodically takes place. Bat on -the other hand, it must be borne in mind that many American citizens have taken up their permanent abode in this ^ portion of the British possessions. It is moreover alleged j ilMt when the next Ccnstis is taken it will be discovered that (\> ^ ONTARIO. ( the population has increased in a still greater ratio ; and that the settlement of the country is, figuratively speaking, but beginning. . . , r- Climate. — The climate of Ontario is far from being insalu- brious, although pretty cold in winter and equally warm in sum- mer. The winter, however, is not arctic in its severity and duration. The atmosphere is generally clear and bright, fogs being almost entirely unknown in that region. Compared with this country Lower Canada is more changeable as regards heat and cold, but less so with reference to rain and sunshine. The rain- fall amounts to nearly the same as it does in England. Spring opens in April and ends in May, when summer sets in rapidly. Autumn, or ** the fall " — as this season is called all throughout the continent of America — lasts during September, October, and November, one portion thereof being mild and agreeable, so that it gets the name of the '* Indian Summer." The winter extends from December to the close of March ; but the severe cold is usually over with the month of February. The Cana- dian winter does not interfere with farmers keeping large heads of horned cattle, sheep and horses, which are exported in con- siderable numbers to the neighbouring States. Indeed there is much farm-work that can be better done in winter than at any other season of the year, such as the cutting and felling of trees, the removal of manure, fencing, and other matters which it is unnecessary to particularize. ■^ Cities, Towns, and Incorporated Villages. — Ontario possesses several well-built and excellent cities and towns in ad- dition to villages and hamlets. The cities comprise the capital, Toronto, situated on a securely-protected bay of Lake Ontario, and having a resident population of at least 50,000 ; Kingston, a fortified place, on the outlet of the same lake, with a popula- tion of 14,000 J Hamilton, a commercial city at the head of the navigation of Lake Ontario, with 19,000 inhabitants; and London, a handsome inland city in the centre of the western . peninsula, possessing a population close upon 12,000. Besides f ' these important centres of population, there are thirty-six towns and forty-seven incorporated villages. And here it will not be ^Xk\ of place to remark en what constittiteH the right to the title u ONTARIO. i of village, town, and city. Places containing a population ex- ceeding one thousand are termed police villages, and are governed by boards of police accordingly. When a district ex- ceeds one thousand residents it becomes an incorporated village, and its local affairs are managed by a council of five. When a locality acquires a population above three thousand, it at once rises to the dig. .ty of a town, and can elect its mayor and com- mon «ouncil, besides being represented in the county council by a reeve and his dviputy. As soon as a place has over ten thou- sand inhabitants, it is created a city, thereby conferring high municipal privileges upon the locality so honoured. - - - -The Municipal System.— The local government of the province, while it is simple, seems fitly adapted to the wants of * new country. Ontario is divided into forty-two counties. These again are subdivided into townships, and town and village muni- cipalities, the cities being separate and distinct for municipal purposes. Municii,.xl bodies are empowered to levy by direct taxation such moneys as may be found requisite for the making of roads, bridges, etc., as well as for drainage and the maintenance of schools and police. This taxation, however, does not usually exceed more than ten dollars annually for every hundred acres. The municipal councils are restrained by law from incutrinr obligations that would raise the taxation to more than two per cent, of the municipal property. Railways. — Railway extension has progressed rapidly throughout the Canadian provinces, especially in Ontario. In 1853 there were but a few miles of railway in the coui^try, none at all in the west. At present we find no fewer than thirty-five lines in active operation, extending considerably over three thousand miles. The Grand Trunk line— one of the most im» portant of all — is quite eleven hundred and twelve miles in ex- tent, apart from its divergent branches, which coupled together, make a total of thirteen hundred and ninety miles. Already nearly three hundred miles are laid of the Intercolonial Rail- way, which is to connect the province of Quebec with the sister province of New Brunswick ; while the projected Canadian Pacific line will be two thousand five hundred miles long, and must take at lesist a million sterling to lay down. By the con< ■'1 ONTARIO. struction of this line the Pacific coast will not only be brought six hundred miles nearer to Ontario, but even New York, Bos- ton, and Portland will reap a similar advantage. Compared with the Union Pacific Railway of the United States, the Cana- dian line will shorten the passage from Liverpool to China and Japan by at least one thousand miles. Surveyed, Settled, and Free Grant Lands. — Of the eighty million acres that comprise Ontario, but twenty-five mil- lion acres are surveyed, twenty-one million of which are sold. The still disposable surveyed lands lie to the rear of the frontier settlements on Lake Ontario, between the Ottawa river and the Georgian Bay, besides north of Lakes Huron and Superior. The western peninsula is almost entirely settled, and held by private persons. This large tract of country, which for a long time has absorbed much of the immigration from Europe, is known as *' the garden of Canada," owing to the exuberance of the soil. The Provincial Government, in order to encourage emigration, have thrown open a number of townships, into any of which immigrants may select for themselves a future and per- manent home. Each head of a family can obtain a grant of 200 acres ; while young men and women who have reached the age of eighteen, may possess themselves of 100 acres. These town- ships have been opened for settlement by virtue of the Free Grant and Homestead Act which became law in February, 1868. Moreover, any association of ten persons or over, resident for a year in the province, may have a block of land with a **lot " for each associate '* located " to them, while each person may receive besides the $15, granted by the Act of 1872, $15 extra on com- plying with another section of the Act respecting clearing and building. • Public Works. — Ontario is not deficient in public works, which having been erected at the expense of the public, are necessarily under Governmjent control. Among those already established may be mentioned a provincial Agricultural College, possessing an extensive experimental farm, and suitable buildings in connection therewith, a College of Technology, or School of Industrial Science ; an Institute for the Blind, and another for the Insane ; a Central Prison, five docks, and other works to obviate t ONTAIUO. *mj-^v><^^>j-T_n-nrL i iJX ' ~Lr j" j~ i ~¥~wir'r~ i fj'inj*' i "~f~ — --^ i ^^-^^^^ ».— ^^^^^ — ^^^^^^^^^»»a^^»^ , - ^ p. ^ — .^— .^ rapids and other obstructions to navigation in different places ; a variety of works for the drainage of marshy lands, etc., etc. , . '. Ports and Canals. — There are no less than fifty-three ports in Ontario at which customs are collected. The great canals embrace the Welland and the Rideau ; the former being situated between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the latter between the cities of Kingston and Ottawa, the Dominion capital, located in the adjoining province of Quebec. By means of these canals many miles of inland coast is opened with the sea, thus removing all obstructions from the carrying trade. The Welland canal has twenty-seven locks, by means of whic* an acclivity of three hundred and thirty feet is ascended to the waters of Lake Erie, which is one thousand and forty miles from the ocean, and five hundrec and sixty-four feet above its level. Even the American rities contiguous to the great lakes are rapidly opening up a direct trade with Europe through Canadian waters. Industries. — Although Ontario is principally an agricultural country, nevertheless a number of industries are carried on therein. The principal articles of manufacture which give constant employment to numbers of persons, male and female, consist of cloth, linen, furniture, sawn timber, iron and hard- ware, paper, soap, cotton and woollen goods, steam engines and locomotives, wooden ware of all descriptions, agricultural implements, etc. Owing to an unlimited supply of water-power various descriptions of manufactures are increasing throughout the province. To the above-named industries flax culture remains to be added. At present Ontario contains sixty scutch mills. Hemp, tobacco, and sugar beet are likewise raised in large quantities, and yield considerable profit. Trade and Commerce. — The trade and commerce of Ontario have trebled within the last quarter of a centurj'. The total value of the exports and imports of the province for the last fiscal year amounted to twelve millions sterling. Mines and Minerals. — The country between the Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River is rich in minerals. These principally consist of copper, iron, lead, salt, plumbago, arsenic, antimony, manganese, gypsum, and two descriptions of spar. Mica is found 8 ONTARIO. ■M^'M^V^W^^f^W^^^W^^'M^'V^^M^^^^M^VM^rfMMMA^^^^^^fW^'^^^^W^^^^^^^^^'^M^'^^^AM^^A^^^^^^M^^A'^^*^^^^^^'^^' i • in large quantities and is profitably worked. What are called the Bruce Mines on the north shore of Lake Huron produce much copper ore and metal, which to the value of ;^50,ooo pre annually exported. Silver is likewise found on the shores of Lake Superior. Education. — In Ontario education is making rapid and yet steady strides. The law secures to all persons from five to twsnty-one years of age the right of attending the common schools. The number of national and grammar schools are sufficiently numerous to meet the wants of the juvenile popula- tion. The government appropriations in support of these educa- tional establishments amount to nearly ;^400,ooo annually. The progress of education in the province is, of course, furthered by the Normal and Model Schools of Toronto, towards the erection of which the legislature granted ;^25,oco. In the Normal School instruction is imparted to teachers, so as to qualify them for the proper performance of their intended calling ; while the Model Schools are designed to be the model for all the public schools of the Province. Free libraries are likewise scattered throughout Ontario, containing altogether some 200,00c volumes. Then there are twenty-six Mechanics* Institutes which receive legislative aid to the extent of $3,000 a year towards their efficient support. In these institutes instruction is regularly given in grammar, penmanship, mathematics, bookkeeping, ornamental and mechanical drawing, chemistry, and other important branches of education. Savings' Banks. — Following the excellent system adopted in this country, savings' banks have been widely established in connection with the numerous post-offices of the Province ; the system has only been in operation for a few years. Over two million dollars are deposited in the hands of the Receiver- General. No individual can deposit more than $300 with- in a yaar. Interest is allowed at from four to five per cent, per annum. Money orders are obtainable at most of the post- offices, ia exchange with Great Britain and the United States, the adTJHitage of which accommodation is obvious. Clasies most required in Ontario.— There can be no questioa that this province is quite capable of maintaining a very ONTARIO.