legitimate argument. As to the policy of enforcing the power of the State to regulate fares and freights there can not, since the result of the late election, be further doubt. Sumptuary laws are and ever have been opposed to Democratic teachings, and find no support among liberal-minded people. For many years sections 299, 300, and 391, of the Penal Code, commonly called the "Sunday law," have been on our statute-books. Under slightly varying forms this law has been in existence in this State during the major portion of the past quarter of a century. Now and then spasmodic efforts have been made to enforce it, but without success. In every contest before the courts the condition of public opinion has been shown by the fact that the law has been practically placed on trial, and not the particular defendant at the bar. In cases where the testimony adduced has been conclusive that the alleged offense has been committed, juries have almost uniformly refused to convict-a state of facts never before observed with reference to any other portion of our criminal jurisprudence. Such is the condition of the sections above cited. It is unwise to encumber the statute-books with an enactment which experience has proved can not be enforced. The result at the late election is an emphatic indorsement of the attitude of the now dominant party on this important subject, and our duty in the premises is perfectly clear. We all concede that those sections of our Codes which provide for certain holidays and nonjudicial days are essential to happiness and health. The repeal of the "Sunday law" will in no wise interfere with the permanency or effect of our civil legislation in the matter of a day of rest. Nor is there any disposition to disturb those penal enactments which are intended to protect religious assemblages from all unseemly interference. Within the past year Congress has granted to the people of this coast partial relief from the much-deplored evil of Chinese immigration. There are some who affect to believe this important question finally settled by the statute referred to. There are those who evince a desire to nullify its effect by a loose construction of its terms and an inefficient execution of its provisions. The law had hardly taken effect when another bill was introduced into the Senate of the United States, and I believe is now pending in that body, under which many thousands of Chinese now serving under labor contracts in the West India islands might be permitted to cross the territory of the United States to their homes in the Chinese Empire. Considering that we have no power to deport the Chinese, if they were once permitted to land in this country, they might remain here permanently. Against this new danger the people of this coast will depend upon their representatives in Congress to guard. The congregate system of imprisonment, which, owing to the peculiar construction and want of cellroom in our prisons, is necessarily in vogue therein, is, in my opinion, not conducive of the moral wellbeing of the prisoner. The most important object of penal confinement ought to be to effect a reformation of the prisoner. I would respectfully recommend that, if practicable, a system of isolation and solitary confinement be instituted among those of the most vicious character. In the absence of such a system of isolation, San Quentin Prison, from its geographical position, might be made a distributing prison. All convicts should be sentenced to that institution in order that they may be registered and graded, the prison directors selecting those for distribution to Folsom and any other branch prison hereafter established. After careful study and examination of past records, the comparatively good should be retained and the vicious and incorrigible confined at another prison, so far as the interests of the State may permit. This system, strictly carried out, would form a perfect record of the antecedents and disposition of all convicts within the State. This system is not only essential for the good of the prisoner and for the guidance of the directors, but would enable the district attorneys of each county to be always able to procure a complete record to embody in their information or indictments the number of convictions of each defendant, if any such there be, as they are now compelled by law to do under what is known as the "Prior-Conviction Act." In a large portion of the State, agricultural interests are being developed by the aid of irrigation. The history of all countries dependent upon irrigation shows that this practice has necessitated the enactment of laws especially designed for the protection and regulation of irrigation, the maintenance of order, equity, and economy in the appropriation and use of waters, and that the subject has been one of the most difficult to deal with in legislation. Our own experience, limited though it be, is sufficient to establish this fact, as our courts are crowded with litigation growing out of irrigation practices, which constitute a serious draw back to our prosperity. Finances. The receipts for the thirty-second fiscal year (1881) were $4,751,573.66, and for the thirty-third fiscal year (1882), $4,698,654.41. Of these, for the thirty-second year, $3,636,008.23, and for the thirty-third, $3,685,367.60, came from property-taxes; and from poll-taxes, for the thirty-second year, $316,869,48, and for the thirty-third year, $248,816.30. During the two years the disbursements on account of the State were: For the thirty-second year the disbursement exceeded receipts $633,317.90, but for the thirty third year the receipts exceeded disbursement $280,292.28. The Comptroller says, "The nat ural inference to be drawn from the fact that in any one year the disbursements exceeded th receipts, is that the finances of the State wer not in a healthy condition, but this would b unjust, as such disbursements were made from not only incoming moneys, but from money accrued in previous years to the funds wher the discrepancy occurs.' It cost $16,101.90 to carry convicts to priso in the thirty-third fiscal year, and $22,500 fo transportation of insane patients to the asy lums. The following tables show the assessed valnes of the several classes of property in the State for the years 1881 and 1882 respectively: ASSESSED VALUES OF PROPERTY FOR 1881. Value of real estate..... Value of improvements on real estate Value of personal property, exclusive of money.. The amount of money $348,863,810 115,218,041 146,180,978 13,597,566 -for various purposes; but is owing mainly to our growth as a community, which has naturally necessitated greater outlay. For charities, the annual expenditures were, for five years preceding this administration, $433,870. The average for the past three years has been $623,262. For public education, the average yearly outlay for the five fiscal years immediately preceding my inauguration was $1,380,628. During my term of office, the average annual outlay for the same purposes has been $1,783,948. The increased annual average, there.$658,691,059 fore, for these two items alone, amounts to $592,865 -which is within $17,000 of the total increased average. Value of railroads operated in more than one county.... 84,829,664 37 7 cents- $2,190,084 22.4 cents- 1,800,000 5.4 cents- 815,000 65.5 cents- $3,805,084 Total...... 27,602,818 .$607,472,262 27-8 cents- $1,488,735 24.3 cents- 1,800,000 898,000 7.5 cents 59-6 cents- $3,186,735 The counties paid to the State for taxes in 1881, $4,230,075.68, and in 1882, $4,144,659.93. From other sources the State received, for 1881, $52,497.98, and for 1882, $553,994.48, making a total of all receipts from all sources for the thirty-second year, of $4.751,573.66, and for the thirty-third year of $4,698,654.41. The amount of outstanding warrants, June 30, 1882, was $286,749.69; balance in Treasury, $1,016,021.77. On the financial condition of the State, Gov. Perkins, in his valedictory message, says: The State has taxable property of the assessed value of about $610,000,000. Her interest-bearing debt amounts to 83,293,500. Of that debt the State owns, holding in trust for educational purposes, $2,690,000. This leaves only $603,500 of her bonds in private hands; and there is now in the Treasury, and provided for by taxes already levied, something more than $500,000 applicable to their purchase or redemption. That showing is a good one for a Commonwealth that has expended within the past ten years more than $4,000,000 upon public buildings, more than $4,500,000 for charities, and more than $2,000,000 for public education. Within fifteen years our expenditures for educational purposes have increased from the annual average of 175,000 to that of the current fiscal year-$2,029,374; expenses, ordinary and extraordinary, have been met; permanent improvements of great value have been made; taxation has not been excessive, comparatively speaking, and the public debt has been steadily reduced. During the present administration the ordinary expenses of government have been light, the extraordinary ones great. The public institutions have been ably and economically managed. The various offices have been efficiently filled and prudently conducted. The expenditures for all purposes have averaged $4,244,038 annually. For the five years preceding, the al average expenditure was $3,633,902. The intreased average expenditure yearly has been $610,136. Fach increase is owing in part to extraordinary appropriations made-and, in my opinion, wisely made The State Board of Equalization was provided for under the Constitution for the purpose, in part, of effecting an equalization of the assessment of the property of the State. From the report of the board it would appear that it has not been able, through defects in the law, and decisions of the Supreme Court, in raising the assessment of the State to the truc standard of value in money. Thus, while, exclusive of railroads, the assessment of 1880 exceeded that of 1879 in the sum of $103,068,642, the assessment of 1881 and 1882 did not increase in the proportion which was expected from the known progress of the State in material wealth and industrial pursuits. The assessment of 1881 was below that of 1880 $36,278,541. The assessment of 1882 shows a decrease below that of 1880 of $55,158,105, and below that of 1881 of $18,879,564. I entered upon the duties of my office with deficiency bills amounting to more than $218,000. A part of this sum was for increase in salaries of the judiciary, and expense of Railroad Commission and Board of Equalization, that were created by the new Constitution, and began life the middle of the fiscal year. The Legislature of 1880 appropriated $414,000 more than it levied a tax to raise. Hence resulted the tax levy for 1881 of 65.5 cents as against that for 1880 of only 59 cents. The last Legislature paid all these accumulated debts; there was a falling off in the assessed value of property of $51,000,000, and yet, as the result of prudent economy in outlay, the tax levy for 1882 was reduced to 56'6 cents; and to-day our public buildings are all in a most excellent state of preservation; and one of our prisons almost placed upon a self-sustaining basis. California contributes $190,000 annually to twenty orphan asylum societies toward the expense of caring for the children. The insane asylums cost $458,000, and the State prisons $450,000. Viticulture. The Board of Viticultural Commissioners has performed its labors with credit to itself and profit to the State. Established but three years, it has seen the increased plantation of from 50,000 to 60,000 acres of land in vines, which plantations were made mainly through the encouraging influence of this board, it being also instrumental in choice of the vines planted and the locations selected. The actual present value of these new plantations is over $15,000,000, and the increased value by this reason given to the surrounding properties must be fully as much more. The impetus thus given to the plantation of vineyards still continues. The present plantations will yield the producers after the next vintage not less than six and a half million dollars per annum. There are now planted not less than 100,000 acres of vineyards, of which, probably, 7,000 are planted with the choicest of imported vines. Election Returns.-The result of the election in November, 1882, was as follows: For Governor, Stoneman, Democrat, 90,724; Estee, Republican, 67,175; McDonald, Prohibitionist, 5,765; McQuiddy, Greenbacker, 1,020. All the State officers elected were Democrats. The Democrats also elected two Congressmen-atlarge, four district Congressmen, three Railroad Commissioners (one in each district), and three members of the State Board of Equalization (first, third, and fourth districts). In the second district the Republicans elected the member of this board. The following is the vote for district Congressmen : ada, when considered in degrees of longitude, its breadth in miles is only 3,200 from extremity to extremity, and from ocean-port to oceanport, only 2,200. From Port Nelson, on Hudson bay, to the mouth of the Skuna river, in British Columbia, is only 1,360 miles. The physical features of Canada, considered as a whole, are very regular. The northeastern coast-line is deeply indented by Hudson and James bays, while its eastern one is broken irregularly by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. The lakes of Canada are detailed in the following table: Pacific ocean, and from Dixon Entrance to the Arctic ocean, in latitude 70°, the United States Territory Alaska; on the north lies the Arctic ocean; while on the northeast and east are Baffin bay, Davis straits, the Atlantic ocean, Labrador, Straits of Belle Isle, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Labrador, though part of the mainland, is under the administration of Newfoundland. Included within these boundaries are 3,370,000 square miles of land. The provinces of Canada are: NAME. Ontario.. Manitoba Great Bear, Great Slave, Athabasca, Wollaston, and Deet are not properly surveyed yet, hence the areas, etc., are only Notwithstanding the great breadth of Can- approximate. They are all shallow. (For details concerning the various provinces, son river; on the north by the 55th parallel of see the articles under their respective names.) latitude; and on the west by Alberta, meTerritories. To the east of British Columbia ridian 111. lie the four new Territories of Canada, viz., Athabasca, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Assiniboia. By an Order in Council, dated May, 1882, these were erected out of the Northwest Territories, for the convenience of settlers and for postal and other purposes. Assinibola. The District of Assiniboia, about 95,000 square miles in extent, is bounded on the south by the 49th parallel; on the east by the western boundary of Manitoba, meridian 101}; on the north by the southern boundary of Saskatchewan, the 52d parallel of latitude; and on the west by the eastern boundary of Alberta, near meridian 111. Saskatchewan.-The District of Saskatchewan, about 114,000 square miles in extent, is bounded on the south by Assiniboia and Manitoba; on the east by Lake Winnipeg and the Nel Alberta. The District of Alberta, about 100,000 square miles in extent, lies between the 49th parallel on the south and the southern boundary of Athabasca, the 55th parallel, on the north; and between the western boundaries of Assiniboia and Saskatchewan, meridian 111, on the east, and the eastern boundary of British Columbia on the west. Athabasca.-The District of Athabasca, about 122,000 square miles in extent, lies between Alberta on the south and the 60th parallel of latitude on the north; and between the eastern boundary of British Columbia, meridian 120, on the west, and the meridian forming the eastern boundary of Alberta, continued north until it intersects the Athabasca river, thence that river, Lake Athabasca, and Slave river, to the 60th parallel. TERRITORIES. Most important places. Regina, Qu'appelle, Moose Jaw, Livingstone, Chesterfield, Wood Mountain, Forts Fort Macleod, Edmonton, Victoria, Rocky Mountain House, Forts Calgary, Sas- Dunnegan, Vermilion, Peace River, Athabasca, Forts Macleod, and Lesser Slave. History and Government.-The Dominion of Canada was founded on the 1st of July, 1867, by the federal union of the provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canadas, Upper and Lower. By the act of Union the Canadas were named Ontario (Upper), and Quebec (Lower). The "British North America Act" is the name given to the Imperial statute creating the Dominion. In that statute authority is given to create the province of Manitoba. By virtue of that, and succeeding imperial and Canadian statutes amending it, that province was admitted into the Dominion in 1870, being formed out of that part of the Hudson Bay Territory known as Assiniboia Colony, or earlier as Selkirk Settlement. This Assiniboia was not the same as the present Territory of Assiniboia, but more nearly corresponded to the present Manitoba. In 1871 British Columbia was admitted into the Dominion, and in 1873 Prince Edward Island. The Territories were acquired in 1870, by transfer from the Hudson Bay Company. The form of government in Canada is in theory_monarchical, but in practice republican. It consists of a legislative and an executive power. The legislative power is a Parliament composed of a House of Commons, a Senate, and a Governor-General. The members of the House of Commons are elected by popular vote. At the time of the Confederation, this House consisted of 181 members, of whom 82 were elected from Ontario, 65 from Quebec, 19 from Nova Scotia, and 15 from New Brunswick. These numbers are readjusted according to each decennial census, subject to the following rules: Quebec has the fixed number of 65 members. There shall be assigned to each of the other provinces such a number of members as will bear the same proportion to the number of its population (ascertained at such census) as the number 65 bears to the number of the population of Quebec (so ascertained). In the computation of the number of members for a province, a fractional part not exceeding one half of the whole number requisite for entitling the province to a member, shall be disregarded; but a fractional part exceeding one half of that number shall be equivalent to the whole number. On any such readjustment the number of members for a province shall not be reduced unless the proportion which the number of the population of the province bore to the number of the aggregate population of Canada at the then last preceding readjustment of the number of members for the province is ascertained at the then latest census to be diminished by onetwentieth part or upward. Such readjustment shall not take effect until the termination of the then existing Parliament. After the census of 1881 the readjustment stood as follows: Quebec, 65; Ontario, 92; Nova Scotia, 21; New Brunswick, 16; Manitoba, 5; British Columbia, 6; Prince Edward Island, 6; total, 211. The members continue in office for a period of five years from the day of the return of the writs, subject, however, to an earlier dissolution by the Governor-General. The meetings of the House of Commons are presided over by one of its own members, elected Speaker. To become a member of Parliament no property qualification is necessary, but every member must be either a native-born or legally naturalized British subject. In 1874 voting by ballot was introduced, and the law for the prevention of bribery and other corrupt practices at elections was made more stringent than formerly. The elections, except those for British Columbia, Manitoba, and some of the remote or thinly settled districts of Ontario and Quebec, take place, according to law, on the same day throughout the Dominion. The Senate of Canada, at the time of confederation, was composed of 72 numbers, 24 being appointed from Ontario, 24 from Quebec, 12 from New Brunswick, and 12 from Nova Scotia. The present (1884) status of the Senate is: Ontario, 24; Quebec, 24; Nova Scotia, 10; New Brunswick, 10; Manitoba, 3; British Columbia, 3; Prince Edward Island, 4; total, 78. By the British North America Act, the number of Senators is limited to the present number 78, unless Newfoundland should enter the Dominion, in which case provision is made to allow the number to reach 82. The chief qualifications to be a Senator are: to be thirty years of age; to be either a native-born or a naturalized British subject; to hold, over and above all mortgages or charges of any kind, property valued at $4,000; to be a resident in the province for which he is appointed; in Quebec, to be resident in the electoral district for which he is appointed. Senators are appointed_for_life (subject to certain conditions) by the Governor-General in Council, or practically by the Premier or leader of the government of the day, who recommends the appointment. A Senator is disqualified by non-attendance in the Senate for two consecutive sessions. The Governor-General is appointed by the Government of Great Britain and Ireland, and represents the Queen. Wherever the Governor-General is named it is clearly understood, and is so stated in the British North America Act, that it refers to the GovernorGeneral acting by and with the consent of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. His special or independent functions are few. He has the privilege of declaring "according to his discretion, but subject to the provisions of the British North America Act, and to instructions from the British Government, either that he assents in the Queen's name to a bill that has passed both the House of Commons and the Senate, or that he withholds the |