history]
CANADA
has grown from 4022 in 1874 to 17,250 in 1899; and new lines are still being built as new areas become settled. The question of subsidizing railways has at various times profoundly affected the politics of the country. The completion of the Canada Pacific railway, and the consequent opening-up of the prairie lands of the north-west, have been followed by a considerable increase in immigration. But at no time has this been excessive, nor is any foreign nation represented by numbers sufficiently large to prevent ultimate fusion with the English-speaking element. A considerable migration has lately taken place into the north-west from the western states of America. The exodus from Iceland, begun in 1875, has resulted in greatly decreasing the population of that island. In Southern Manitoba are settled large numbers of Mennonites, a thrifty and honest if somewhat exclusive folk, who fled from Europe to escape military service. For a similar reason the Doukhobors (q.v.), a peculiar religious sect from the Black Sea provinces of Russia, in 1899 emigrated to Canada in a body. Scottish crofters from the Highlands, English and Irish agricultural labourers, Americans, Norwegians, Galicians, and Danes, help to swell a varied but hardy and industrious population. The district of Alberta is largely occupied by Englishmen who are engaged in ranching. On the Pacific slope the Chinese, though discouraged by a heavy tax, are found in considerable numbers, while the influx of Japanese coolies is creating a problem in the labour market of British Columbia. On confederation Canada assumed the care of her own land defences. The Fenian raids of 1866 and 1870 delayed for a short time the removal of imperial regiments, but in the latter year all British forces were withdrawn except those stationed at Halifax. During the war in South Africa (1899-1902) these, too, were temporarily replaced by a Canadian garrison. On the other hand, within the last few years the imperial and the Canadian Governments have entered into an agreement for the joint defence of Esquimalt, a new coaling and naval station on the Pacific coast. By the Militia Act of 1868 and 1883 the Canadian militia is divided into three classes—the permanent, the active, and the reserve. The permanent force includes about 1000 men, exclusive of the garrison at Halifax. There is also a corps of North-West Mounted Police, numbering about 1000. The active Militia numbers 45,000 men, whose term of service is three years, and who drill for two weeks each year ; while the Reserve includes all the remaining male citizens between the ages of sixteen and forty-five. The officer commanding the militia is appointed from the imperial army. A military college was established at Kingston in 1875, and in this officers are trained for both the Canadian and imperial services. Several commissions are given each year to selected candidates by the British Government, and a considerable proportion of the graduates of the college are now serving in the imperial army. The military forces of Canada were called upon to repel the Fenian attacks of 1866 and 1870, and to put down the insurrection of half - breeds in the north-west in 1885. The contribution made by Canada of two contingents of troops for service under imperial direction in South Africa is the most important military event in the later history of the Dominion. The forces sent by the Dominion were supplemented by a body of horse raised in North-Western Canada, and equipped and paid by a Canadian, Lord Strathcona. The sea fisheries, which are so important a source of wealth for Canada, have been the cause of no little international difficulty. With the termination of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1866 all American rights to fish in Canadian waters came to an end, but in spite of this American fishing schooners continued to carry on operations within the three-miles limit.
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Several were seized and confiscated, to the annoyance of New England fishermen. The joint commission, which met at Washington in 1871 to settle points of dispute between Great Britain and the United States, decided that Americans should be allowed to fish in Canadian waters on payment of an indemnity to be fixed by a later treaty. A commission met at Halifax six years afterwards to decide the amount of this indemnity, and awarded to Canada the sum of $5,500,000, which was paid with some reluctance. But in 1885 the fisheries clauses of the Washington treaty were terminated by the Americans themselves; a new treaty, signed at Washington in 1888, was rejected by the United States Senate, and fishing is now carried on by the Americans under a modus vivendi which provides for the payment of licenses. A dispute, arising out of the seizure by the Americans of several Canadian vessels engaged in the seal fishery in Bering Sea, was, in 1892, referred to a board of arbitration, which decided in favour of Canada, and awarded to the owners of these vessels damages to the amount of $464,000. This sum was paid in 1898. At the same time agreements were entered into for the future conduct of the seal fishery, with a view to preventing further disputes. The discovery of new mineral deposits, and the development of others previously known, have during the last few years given a great stimulus to Canadian prosperity. From the Yukon field alone there was taken in 1899 gold to the value of $16,000,000, while the gold output of the whole country increased from $1,000,000 in 1894 to $21,000,000 in 1899. A large area of country in southern British Columbia has proved extremely rich in gold, silver, and copper; large mining towns have sprung up with great rapidity; much capital has found profitable investment; several hundreds of miles of railway have been built to meet the needs of the increasing population; and this mining population has furnished a new and profitable market for the products of western farming. New and very extensive coal deposits, lately opened up in the Crow’s Nest Pass, supplement and add to the value of other mineral discoveries. In the extreme east extensive ironworks have been constructed at Sydney, Cape Breton. Both here and in Nova Scotia the existence of iron ore, coal, and flux, within easy reach of each other, offers exceptional opportunities for the cheap production of iron and steel on a large scale. The most important nickel deposits yet discovered in the world are at Sudbury, in Ontario ; and steps have been taken to increase the already large output of this metal. Trade Policy.—Questions of trade policy have divided public opinion in Canada more deeply than almost any other. This arises from very exceptional trade relations. The chief commerce of the Dominion is carried on with two countries—Great Britain and the United States—of which the one has followed a free trade and the other a highly protectionist policy. Until 1866 Canada enjoyed great prosperity under a Reciprocity Treaty with the United States. In that year the treaty was abrogated, apparently with the intention of checking Canadian trade and fostering a desire for annexation. In the next seven years, however, the trade of Canada almost doubled, the opening of new markets in the West Indies and Europe having given new outlets for her products. Then followed a period of commercial depression without parallel in Canadian history. Manufactures languished, the agricultural classes were in great need, and the revenues of the country showed increasing deficits. Meanwhile the highlyprotected industries of the United States offered a field for labour which drew thousands of Canadians over the border. Hence arose a keen conflict of opinion. It was urged, on the one hand, that a free trade policy would
