The agreement may be terminated at any time by either government. All minerals, including gold and silver, within Indian reserves, shall be administered by the Department of Indian Affairs. With respect to the lands of the province of Ontario, any head of a family, whether male or sole female, having children under eighteen years of age, can obtain a grant of 200 acres ; and a single man over eighteen years of age, or a married man having no children under These eighteen residing with him, can obtain a grant of 100 acres. lands are mostly covered with forest, and are situate in the northern and north-western parts of the province. Such a person may also purchase an additional 100 acres at 50 cents per acre cash. The settlement duties are: To have 15 acres on each grant cleared and under crop at the end of the first five years, of which at least 2 acres are to be cleared annually; to build a habitable house, at least 16 feet by 20 feet in size; and to reside on the land at least six months in each year. In the Rainy River district to the west of Lake Superior, consisting of well-watered, uncleared land, free grants are made of 160 acres to a head of a family having children under eighteen years of age residing with him (or her), and 120 acres to a single man over eighteen, or to a married man not having children under eighteen residing with him; each person obtaining a free grant to have the privilege of purchasing 80 acres additional, at the rate of $1 per acre, payable in four annual instalments. The settlement duties are the same as set out above, excepting that only three years' residence is required. The soil of this district. is a deep loam, and for an area of nearly a million acres is very fertile. In the district of Nipissing east of the Spanish River, several townships have been surveyed and opened for sale on the same terms and subject to the same conditions of settlement as those in the Temiscamingue settlement above mentioned. North of Lake Huron along the lower waters of the Spanish, and westerly to the regions watered by the Thessalon and Mississagua Rivers, lands in the market are sold at twenty cents an acre cash, subject to settlement duties, and actual residence for three years from date of purchase. The Wabigoon country selected by the Minister of Agriculture for the pioneer farm, is a new section opened for settlement in the Rainy River district about 217 miles west of Port Arthur, and 80 miles east of Rat Portage. It is intended to bring it to the attention of the intending settler as a dairy section rather than a grain-growing country. Four townships have been surveyed, and two of them, Van Horne and Wainwright, have been placed on the market at 50 cents an acre, one-fourth cash and balance with interest at 6 per cent, subject to settlement conditions. The Crown Land Agent's office is at Dryden. About 7,000,000 acres of land have been surveyed by the Government of Quebec for sale. Lands purchased from the government are to be paid for in the fellowing manner :-One-fifth of the purchase money is required to be paid the day of the sale, and the remainder in four equal yearly instalments, bearing interest at 6 per cent. But the price at which the lands are sold is so low-from 20 cents to 60 cents per acre (10d. to 2s. 51⁄2d. stg.)—that these conditions are not very burdensome. The purchaser is required to take possession of the land sold within six months of the date of the sale, and to occupy it within two years. He must clear and have under crop, in the course of four years, ten acres for every hundred held by him, and erect a habitable house of the dimensions of at least 16 feet by 20 feet. The letters patent are issued free of charge. The parts of the province of Quebec now inviting colonization are the Lake St. John district, the valleys of Saguenay, St. Maurice and the Ottawa rivers, the Eastern Townships, the Lower St. Lawrence, Lake Temiscamingue and Gaspé. The Temiscamingue settlement at the head of Lake Temiscamingue on the Upper Ottawa, consists of a level tract of many thousands of acres of rich calcareous clay. Twenty-five townships have been surveyed, five of which have been opened for sale subject to settlement and pine tree regulations, at fifty cents an acre, half cash, and balance in two equal annual instalments with interest. The settlement duties are actual residence on the land purchased for four years from the date of purchase, clearing and having under cultivation and crop at least ten acres for every hundred acres, and building a habitable house sixteen feet by twenty feet. There are now in Nova Scotia about 1,500,000 acres of ungranted lands, a considerable quantity of which is barren and almost totally unfit for cultivation. Nearly all the best land has been sold or granted. The price of Crown Lands is $40 (£8 stg.) per 100 acres. The grants of land to the early settlers in this province contained no systematic reservation of minerals. Gold, silver and precious stones are reserved without any express mention; in the earlier grants iron was not reserved, but for many years coal, iron, copper, lead, &c., were retained for a source of revenue to the Crown. The Act of Settlement releases to the owner of the soil all gypsum, limestones, fireclay, barytes, maganese, antimony, &c., and any of the reserved minerals whenever the reservation is not specified in the original grants. It is estimated that there are about 7,000,000 acres of ungranted land in New Brunswick. Crown Lands may be acquired for actual settlement as follows: I. Grants of 100 acres, by settlers over eighteen years of age, on conditions of improving the land to the extent of $20 (£4) within three months; building a house 16 by 20 feet, and cultivating 2 acres within one year; and continuous residence and cultivation of 10 acres within three years. 2. One hundred acres are given to any settler over eighteen years of age who pays $20 (£4) in cash, or does work on the public roads, &c., equal to $10 (£2) per annum for three years. Within two years a house 16 by 20 feet must be built and 2 acres of land cleared. Continuous residence for three years from date of entry, and the cultivation of 10 acres in that time are required. 3. Single applications may be made for not more than 200 acres of Crown Lands without conditions of settlement. These are put up at public auction at an upset price of $1 (4s. 2d.) per acre. Purchase money to be paid with application. Cost of survey to be paid by purchaser. The above sections apply only to lands fit for agricultural purposes. Lands well timbered are not sold outright. Any person being the head of a family, a widow or a single man over eighteen years of age, and a British subject, or an alien purposing to become a British subject, can pre-empt 160 acres of land belonging to British Columbia west of Cascade Mountains, or 320 acres east of these mountains, at $1 per acre. Two months' leave of absence under the Land Act, and an additional four months for sufficient cause, when applied for to the Chief Commissioner, can be had in each year till the Crown deed is obtained. A certificate of improvement showing that the claim has been improved to the extent of $2.50 per acre is necessary before a Crown deed can be issued. Timber and hay lands may be leased from the Government. Timber lands pay a yearly rental of 15 cents per acre, and a royalty of 50 cents per 1,000 feet on all logs cut. Lease of land for other purposes may also be granted by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. There are about 45,000 acres of vacant Government land available in Prince Edward Island, consisting of forest lands of medium quality, and averaging in price about $1 an acre. Intending settlers are allowed ten years to pay for their holdings, the purchase money bearing interest at 5 per cent, and payable in ten annual instalments. The Canadian Pacific Railway lands consist of the odd-numbered sections along the main line and branches in Manitoba, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Lands in the province of Manitoba average in price from $3 to $6 an acre; in the district of Assiniboia, east of the 3rd meridian, $3 to $4 an acre, and west of the 3rd meridian, $3 an acre. If paid for in full at time of purchase, a deed of conveyance of the land will be given; but the purchaser may pay down a little more than one-tenth of the purchase money and interest, which for 160 acres at $3 per acre on nine years' time, interest at 6 per cent, would amount to $611.85. The first instalment at that price would be $71.85, the balance payable in nine equal annual instalments of $60 each, the first of which would fall due in one year from the date of purchase, except in the case of actual settlers requiring the lands for their own use. In such cases the second instalment would fall due in two years and the remaining payments annually thereafter, thus giving the settler an opportunity to pay for the land out of his crops. Liberal rates for settlers and their effects will be granted by the company over their railway. The land grant of the Manitoba South-western Colonization Railway Company contains over 1,000,000 acres of land, well adapted for grain growing and mixed farming, in a belt of 21 miles wide, immediately north of the international boundary, and from range 13 westward. The terms of purchase are the same as those of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, but in addition to the price the purchaser pays ten cents per acre to defray the cost of surveying the land. The Alberta Railway and Coal Company owns, in the district of Alberta in the North-west Territories, 300,000 acres of farming and grazing prairie lands. These are situated principally between the international boundary and Lethbridge, the site of the company's colleries. The company have for sale blocks of land from 10,000 to 30,000 acres in extent, for grazing or colonization purposes. Full information and plans may be obtained from the company's offices at Lethbridge. The Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway Company's land grant consists of about 1,500,000 acres of land in the Saskatchewan district, and a report on any section can be seen at the company's land offices in Winnipeg. The Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway runs through the district, connecting with the Canadian Pacific Railway at Regina. At present the majority of the lands (within easy reach of the railway) are offered at $3 per acre. Terms, one-tenth purchase money and interest (straight 6 per cent) cash, balance in nine equal annual instalments, an additional year given to actual settlers to make second payment, the remaining payments annually thereafter. The Calgary and Edmonton Railway Company's land grant consists of about 1,900,000 acres of agricultural and ranching lands in Alberta, and a report on any section can be seen at the company's land office in Winnipeg. EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1897. 1897. Jan. 2nd. Death of Hon. Thos. McGreevy at one time member of House of Comons and representing Quebec East. Jan. 4. Death of Sir Joseph Hickson, formerly general manager of the Grand Trunk Ry., and Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Liquor Traffic, 1892. Jan. 11. Signing of the Anglo-American General Arbitration Treaty by United States Secretary of State Olney and by British Ambassador Sir Julian Pauncefote. Jan. 21. Appointment of Sir Henry Strong, Chief Justice of Canada, to be mein- Jan. 30. United States and Great Britain agree to determine the boundary between Feb. 2. The Anglo-Venezuelan Arbitration Treaty signed at Washington by Sir March 20. Feb. 11. Serious fire in the West Block, Dominion Public Buildings, Ottawa. March 25. April 20. Nova Scotia general provincial elections, Liberal Government sustained. May 11. General elections, Province of Quebec. Conservative Government over- May 22. Hon. E. J. Flynn, Premier of Quebec, tendered his resignation to the May 24. The Lieut.-Governor of Quebec sent for Hon. F. G. Marchand to form a May 26. Hon. Mr. Marchand and his colleagues of the Government of Quebec sworn into office. June 1. Dominion Senate unanimously adopted an Address of congratulation to June 12. The Colonial Premiers entertained by the Liverpool (Eng.) Chamber of June 14. zuela. June 18. Colonial Premiers entertained by the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce. Special celebration of the Diamond Jubilee throughout the Empire. June 29. Gov. General prorogued Canadian Parliament. July 1. Review at Aldershot by the Queen of 30,000 troops representative of all parts of the Empire. |