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appointed by the Governor. This law was designed for the benefit of the cattle raisers of the State, who were injured by the establishment by the United States authorities of a quarantine line along the entire eastern border of California, over which cattle could not pass into Nevada. The State veterinarian is to determine from time to time with the Governor's approval the quarantine and other regulations necessary to prevent the spread among domestic animals of any malignant, contagious, or infectious disease found to exist among live stock, and he shall to that end co-operate with and obtain the assent of the United States authorities to the establishment or changing of quarantine lines.

New school laws provided for fire escapes on all schoolhouses more than one story in height; for the setting apart of a teachers' salary fund each year; for the establishment of kindergartens, grammar and evening schools, and the employment of superintendents in counties of the fifth class; and amended the law on the teachers' annuity and retirement fund. An appropriation was made for a State normal school in San Francisco. The State normal schools are each again to have a board of five trustees, exclusive of the Governor and Superintendent of Public Instruction. There is also to be a joint board, to be composed of the chairman and two other members of each local board. It shall meet in succession at San José, Chico, Los Angeles, and San Diego. An appropriation of $45,000 was made for the completion of the San Diego Normal School.

The Adjutant General and others were authorized to examine the tracts of land offered for a camp of instruction at Santa Cruz, and select one if they thought best. A bill for reorganizing the National Guard was vetoed.

Other acts were:

Providing that State officers must pay for the printing, ruling, and binding done for them out of the funds granted for that purpose; and all work must be authorized by the State examiner. Making it a misdemeanor to desecrate the United States flag by printing on it or attaching to it any advertisement.

Making it a misdemeanor to keep a book from a public library for thirty days after notice to return has been served.

Making it a misdemeanor to wear, unless entitled to, the badge, button, or other insignia of any organization.

Requiring the payment into the State treasury of all moneys belonging to the State received by institutions, commissions, and officers, and providing for the disbursement of all State moneys at the capital.

Requiring that street cars be provided with fenders and brakes.

Changing the boundary between Shasta and Lassen Counties.

The office of expert to the Comptroller was created; also that of Lake Tahoe road commissioner. The Supreme Court Commission was continued for two years, and the office of Commissioner of Public Works was continued, the annual salary being fixed at $2,500.

The collateral inheritance tax law was amended so as to make it apply to legacies left to brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews, who were formerly exempt.

It was enacted that "any person not authorized by law who brings into either of the State prisons of the State of California, or any reformatories therein, or within the grounds of such institutions, any opium, morphine, cocaine, or other

narcotics, or any intoxicating liquors of any kind whatever, or firearms, weapons, or explosives of any kind, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a term not less than one nor more than five years, and shall be disqualified from holding any State office or position in the employ of this State."

The following is a new section of the penal code: "Any appraiser appointed by virtue of section 1444 of the Civil Code of Procedure, who shall accept fees, reward, or compensation other than that provided for by law from any executor, administrator, trustee, legatee, next of kin, or heir of any decedent, or from any other person, is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Another section prohibits all prize fights, but permits sparring exhibitions not to exceed a limited number of rounds with gloves of not less than five ounces each in weight by a domestic incorporated athletic club upon the prepayment by such club of an annual license, to be fixed by the supervisors of each county; provided, that such club shall have a physician in attendance to examine the boxers prior to each exhibition, and determine whether they are in perfect physical condition.

By an amendment to the political code the trusts and estates created for the founding, endowment, and maintenance of Stanford University are confirmed, and power is granted to the trustees to receive property, wherever situated, for the university, and the Legislature may by special act exempt any or all of the university property from taxation. This provision made it possible for Mrs. Stanford to endow the university as noticed under "Education" in this article. The law before amendment did not allow an educational institution to accept such gifts.

Twenty-three constitutional amendments were proposed in the Senate, and 25 in the Assembly. Among those that were passed was one to exempt from taxation all bonds hereafter issued by the State or by any county, city and county, municipal corporation, or district in the State. Another exempts from taxation all buildings and so much of the real property on which they are situated as may be required for the convenient use and occupation of said buildings when the same are used solely and exclusively for religious worship, but property rented for religious purposes will not be exempt. Still another provides that each Superior Court judge may appoint a competent stenographer for his court, who shall hold office during good behavior, and whose salary shall be paid by the State. His fees for transcription are payable in criminal cases by the county, and in civil cases by the party ordering the transcript. The salaries and fees are to be fixed by law. Another proposition is to amend so as to allow the payment of claims against San Francisco incurred in 1892-'93, amounting to $210,000.

The general appropriation bill carried items for State officers, bureaus, and district agricultural societies, etc., amounting to $5,056,944. The tax levy for the two following fiscal years will be $12,096,494, including $4,866,680 for the school fund, $800,000 for orphans, half orphans, and abandoned children, and $282,870 for interest and sinking fund. The cost of the legislative session was $170,533, exclusive of the printing. The State printing office spent $96,000 or more, the larger part of which was for work for the two houses.

The Governor vetoed a bill to make the golden poppy the State flower, and the Assembly voted to pass it over the veto, a proposition which re

ceived but two votes in the Senate. A large number of bills failed to receive the approval of the executive. Many of these were appropriations, amounting in the aggregate to over $800,000. Among the larger appropriations vetoed were $250,000 for the San Francisco exposition, $100,000 for the improvement of San Diego harbor, $43,000 for buildings for the State University, $25,000 for Lake Tahoe wagon road, $31,000 for improvements at Mendocino Hospital, $30,000 for improvements at Whittier School, $20,000 for cottages at the Home for Feeble-minded Children, $25,000 for a macadamized road between Sacramento and Folsom, $100,000 for Oakland harbor, and $7,500 for a well on the Capitol grounds. A bill to issue bonds for $1,000,000 to complete the San Francisco sea wall was vetoed; one granting suffrage to women at school elections; one to create a State board of charities; others to create a free employment bureau to regulate the practice of horseshoeing, to regulate the practice of dental surgery, to suppress employment agencies, compelling banks to furnish sworn statements of funds on hand, and fixing the legal rate of interest at 6 per cent.

Earthquake.-Early in the morning of Dec. 25 a large part of southern California was shaken by an earthquake. The center of the disturbance was at San Jacinto, Riverside County, and the undulations continued about twelve seconds. Many buildings were damaged, and some walls and chimneys fell. It was reported that six squaws were killed on the Sabota reservation.

CANADA, DOMINION OF, a federated group of British provinces in North America.

Government and Politics.-The House of Commons was opened at Ottawa, March 16, 1899, by the Earl of Minto, Governor General of Canada, with the usual formalities. The speech from the throne, outlining the Government policy for the session, contained these passages:

"The negotiations which were set on foot during the recess between her Majesty's Government and that of the United States in reference to the settlement of certain questions in dispute between Canada and the latter country were, I grieve to say, greatly delayed by the illness and subsequent death of two of the most eminent members of the commission appointed for that purpose. Considerable progress has been made on several of the subjects submitted, but a serious disagreement arose between her Majesty's commissioners and the commissioners of the United States on the question of the delimitation of the boundary between Canada and Alaska. The question was referred by the commissioners to their respective governments, the commission being adjourned to the second day of August next, in the hope that in the meantime the difficulty might be overcome.

"I observe with pleasure that the mother country, Canada, and other British possessions have recently adopted a penny-postage letter rate. The satisfaction with which this action has been received by the Canadian people is a further proof of the general desire existing among our people for closer relations with the mother country and the rest of the empire. I am also glad to be able to state that the satisfactory condition of the finances of the country permitted a reduction, on Jan. 1 last, of the Canadian domestic letter rate from three to two cents, and, although such reduction involves a temporary loss of revenue, it is, nevertheless, confidently expected that the cheapened rate will prove of such service in the promotion of trade and in the general interchange of correspondence that,

within a reasonable time, the revenue of the Postoffice Department will be restored to its former figure.

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Much information has been obtained since you last met relative to the extent and value of the deposits of gold and valuable minerals in the Yukon and other parts of Canada. The returns from the Yukon have so far proved sufficient to meet the heavy expenditure it was found necessary to incur for the purpose of preserving law and order, and it has been thought expedient in the public interest to authorize the construction of a line of telegraph for the purpose of maintaining speedy communication with the people of those distant territories. A measure will be submitted to you for the better arrangement of the electoral districts throughout the Dominion, as also several enactments of less importance."

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THE EARL OF MINTO, GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA.

Sir James D. Edgar was re-elected Speaker of the House, and upon his death, later in the session, Mr. Thomas Bain was chosen to succeed him. The following resolution was introduced by the Government in favor of reforming the constitution of the appointive Senate which was largely opposed to them in politics-but was subsequently withdrawn:

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That an humble address be presented to her Majesty the Queen setting forth that the provisions of the British North America act, 1867, respecting the powers of the Senate of Canada in the making of laws, are unsatisfactory, and should be brought more into harmony with the principle of popular government, and praying that her Majesty may be pleased to recommend to the imperial Parliament a measure for the amendment of the said act, in such terms as will effectually make provision as follows: If the House of Commons passes any bill which the Senate rejects, or fails to pass, or amends in a way not accepted by the House of Commons, then if the House of Commons, at the next following session, again passes such bill, and the Senate again rejects or fails to pass it, or amends in a way not accepted by the House of Commons, the Governor General may, by proclamation, convene one or more joint sittings of the members of the two houses for the further consideration of such bill or amendments, and a

question whether such bill or amendments shall pass shall be decided by a majority of the members of the two houses present and voting, and the vote of any such joint sitting shall, as respects such bill or amendments, have the same force and effect as a vote of the Senate under the existing constitution."

The proposal was opposed by the Conservatives, mainly on the ground that its nature was unprecedented; that it could not be made to work in harmony with British principles of government; and that the equality of provincial representation in the upper house would be practically destroyed.

During the session Sir Charles Tupper, as Opposition leader, moved the following resolution in connection with preferential trade relations within the empire:

"In the opinion of this House it is the duty of the Government, in response to these repeated advances by the imperial authorities, to endeavor to secure for the produce of Canada that preferential treatment in the markets of the United Kingdom which would be of such inestimable value to the farmers and other producers of Canada competing against foreign rivals in the markets of the United Kingdom, would set in motion a great tide of immigration to our shores, people the vast wheat areas of the Canadian Northwest, enhance farm values in the older provinces, promote the unity of our empire, and speedily deliver it from dependence upon a foreign food supply."

It was defeated by a party vote of 77 to 41, the position of the Government being that their tariff discrimination of 25 per cent. in favor of Great Britain was all that could be done at present, and that Canada must trust to time and sentiment in England for the overthrow of freetrade principles and the establishment of a preference there for Canadian products. The Conservatives claimed that Canada should have asked for this before granting a preference in its own

market.

The Transvaal situation evoked an interesting debate and a loyal resolution. The House adjourned on Aug. 11, after discussing a long resolution introduced by the Hon. G. E. Foster, in behalf of the Conservative party. It is given here as very fully propounding in an historical manner the policy of the Opposition and their view of the Government's administration:

"That the Liberal party went to the country in 1896 with a policy declaring, among other things, for (a) reduction in taxation, (b) decrease in expenditure, (c) diminution of the public debt, (d) extermination of the principle and practice of protection, (e) independence of Parliament and purity of the electorate, (f) abolition of railway bonuses or subsidies, and (g) an honest, economical, and business administration. "That, comparing 1899 and 1896, the amount of customs and excise taxation has been in creased by nearly $7,000,000, or by over $1 a head of the population, and the total amount collected from the people by over $8,000,000, or about $1.27 a head. The total expenditure has been increased by about $8,000,000, or over $1.25 a head; while the total amount, not including next year's supplementary, voted for the year 1899-1900 reaches the astounding sum of $51,796,344, or $13,000,000 more than was voted, and $14,847,197 more than was expended, for the year 1896. The net debt has increased about $6,000,000, and must be seriously augmented by the enormous expenditures authorized at the present session of Parliament. "That, instead of exterminating protection and

establishing a system of free trade, or tariff for revenue only, we have incorporated the principle of protection into the tariff acts of 1897 and 1898, and the results of the year 1898-'99 showed that they have imposed a rate of 28.74 per cent. on all dutiable goods imported for home consumption, as compared with 29.94 per cent. in 1896, or upon dutiable and free imports for home consumption of 16.95 per cent., as compared with an average of 17.47 per cent. for the years 1892-'96 inclusive.

"That the independence of Parliament and the purity of the electorate have been illustrated by the traffic in seats in both houses of Parliament for purely party purposes; by the arbitrary and indefensible dismissals from office; by interested and unnecessary appointments to public offices in all branches of the service; by the written and authorized promise of office emoluments and subventions given to members of Parliament and others by the Premier and other members of the Government for electoral and party purposes; by the practical repudiation of the safe principle of open competition, tender and contract, as applied to the expenditures of public money, and the giving of contracts by private arrangement to party friends, who thus make profit for themselves at the expense of the country. That, instead of abolishing the system of bonus and subsidies to railways, they have this year, in addition to the payment of $1,600,000 for the Drummond County Railway and $140,000 yearly for ninety-nine years as rental to the Grand Trunk Railway Company, authorized the expenditure of not less than $6,500,000 for general railway bonuses, in many instances for unnecessary and parallel lines. That the promise to maintain an honest, economical, and businesslike administration has been illustrated by: (a) The entry upon enterprises unauthorized by Parliament, and for which no appropriation had been made, which involved the expenditure of millions of dollars and the diversion of moneys specifically voted for distinct and well-defined services to these purposes, thus setting at naught the constitutional principle of parliamentary sanction and appropriation. (b) By undertaking the construction of public wharves and buildings which are either totally unwarranted on grounds of public necessity, or which should be left to provincial, municipal, or private enterprise. (c) By an extravagant, inefficient, and useless expenditure proposed and carried out in the Yukon district, and a management of affairs there which has exposed the whole system to general suspicion and provoked charges seriously affecting the character and efficiency of the administration and its officials, and compromising the good name of Canada, which have been refused thorough and adequate investigation before an independent and judicial commission. (d) By its inefficient conduct of the business of Parliament; its failure to achieve much-needed legislation for the good of Canada, to secure a fast Atlantic service, to settle any of the vexed international questions at issue, to induce any mutually preferential trade with other portions of the empire, or to open up a single new market under improved conditions, reciprocal or otherwise, in any quarter of the world."

The motion was defeated on a strict party vote after it had served its purpose of discussion, and the following measures, among many other minor ones, were then assented to by Lord Minto in the name of the Queen:

To incorporate the Edmonton and Slave Lake Railway Company.

To incorporate the St. Clair and Erie Ship Canal Company.

Respecting various railway and mining companies.

To incorporate La Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de Colonization du Nord.

To incorporate the Russell, Dundas and Grenville County Railway Company.

To incorporate the Athabasca Railway Company.

To authorize the amalgamation of the Erie and Huron Railway Company and the Lake Erie and Detroit River Railway Company.

To incorporate the Edmonton and Saskatchewan Railway Company.

addition to the above-mentioned actual expenditure, were made, which increased the total of liabilities incurred for the year to $60,000,000. In the statement of the public debt on June 30, 1898, and on June 30, 1899, the liabilities were as follow:

ITEMS.

Payable in England
Temporary loan..
Canada.

Bank circulation fund
Dominion notes...
Savings banks..
Trust fund...
Province accounts.

To incorporate the Klondike Mines Railway Miscellaneous and banking.

Company.

To incorporate the Canadian Inland Transportation Company.

To incorporate the Canadian Permanent and Western Canada Mortgage Corporation.

To amend the winding-up act.

To incorporate the Sudbury and Wahnapita Railway Company.

To incorporate the Rockland and Noyan Railway Company.

To incorporate the Canada Mining and Metallurgical Company, Limited.

There were no changes in the Government, except that the Hon. C. A. Geoffrion died, and on Sept. 30 James Sutherland was made a minister without portfolio. So far as the session was concerned, the Laurier Cabinet held its own, and it was not until afterward that slowness in the Transvaal contingent matter affected in some measure its popularity in the country. Besides Sir James D. Edgar, the Hon. J. F. Wood and the Hon. W. B. Ives died during this time, and in the year Senators Bellerose, Price, Sanford, Temple, Adams, Sutherland, and Boulton passed away. As nearly all these Senators were Conservatives, their successors have helped to modify the Senate problem from the Liberal standpoint. A political event of importance was the reorganization of the Conservative party by Sir Charles Tupper, and an exhibition of marvelous personal activity in traveling, speaking, and working on the part of the Conservative leader, who is now on the verge of seventy-nine years. Meanwhile, however, the Liberal majority in the House has grown steadily through by-elections, as is usual

in Canada.

Federal Finances.--The total revenue on account of the consolidated fund was $46,796,268, and expenditure on the same account $41,760,343, so that there was an apparent surplus of $5,036,625. But there was also an expenditure of $9,130,772 on capital account, which raised the total expenditure for the year 1898-'99 to $50,891,115, or $4,094,747 more than the receipts. This, of course, caused an increase in the public debt, which stood at $345,130,754 gross and $266,054,711 net on June 30, 1899, as compared with $338,370,254 gross and $264,086,358 net on June 30, 1898. A noticeable feature of the public debt is that, in spite of the heavy increase in taxation, as shown by the enlarged revenue from customs, and excise, it was found necessary to make a temporary loan of £800,000 ($3.893,333.33). On June 30, 1898, there was no temporary loan.

There was much generous legislation during the session of 1899 in favor of railways, etc., and the Hon. Mr. Tarte, as Minister of Public Works, announced that it was the policy of the Government to regulate its subsidies, etc., in accordance with the growing needs and prosperity of the country. Hence supplementary pledges, in

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Prohibition. Following upon the prohibition plebiscite or referendum in 1898, by which a small majority had been recorded for the principle in the Dominion as a whole, and a large majority against it in the province of Quebec, there was much discussion throughout the country. The Government refused to take any action under the circumstances, and the ensuing letter, dated March 4, 1899, from Prime-Minister Laurier to a prominent prohibitionist in Toronto, explains its position fully:

"When the delegation of the Dominion Alliance waited upon the Government last fall to ask, as a consequence of the plebiscite, the introduction of prohibitory legislation, they based their demand upon the fact that, on the total of the vote cast, there was a majority in favor of the principle of prohibition. The exact figures of the votes recorded were not at that time accurately known, but the official figures, which we have now, show that on the question put to the electors 278,487 voted yea and 264,571 voted nay. After the official figures had been made public, it was contended by some of the opponents of prohibition that the margin of difference between the majority and the minority was so slight that it practically constituted a tie, and there was, therefore, no occasion for the Government to pronounce either one way or the other. The Government does not share that view. We are of the opinion that the fairest way of approaching the question is by the consideration of the total vote cast in favor of prohibition, leaving aside altogether the vote recorded against it. In that view of the question, the record shows that the electorate of Canada, to which the question was submitted, comprised 1,233,849 voters, and of that number less than 23 per cent., or a trifle over one fifth, affirmed their conviction in the principle of prohibition. If we remember that the subject of the plebiscite was to give an opportunity to those who have at heart the cause of prohibition, who believe that the people were with them, and that if the question were voted upon by itself, without any other issue which might detract from its consideration, a majority of the electorate would respond, and thus show the Canadian people prepared and

ready for its adoption, it must be admitted that the expectation was not justified by the event. On the other hand, it was argued before us by yourself and others that, as the plebiscite campaign was carried out by the friends of prohibition without any expenditure of money and without the usual excitement of political agitation, the vote recorded in favor of it was comparatively a large one. This statement I did not then controvert, nor do I controvert it here and now. I would simply remark that the honesty of the vote did not suffer from the absence of those causes of excitement, and that even if the totality of the vote might have been somewhat increased by such cause, its moral force would not have been made any stronger. I venture to submit for your consideration, and the consideration of the members of the Dominion Alliance, who believe in prohibition as the most efficient means of suppressing the evils of intemperance, that no good purpose would be served by forcing upon the people a measure which is shown by the vote to have the support of less than 23 per cent. of the electorate. Neither would it serve any good purpose to enter here into further controversy on the many incidental points discussed before us. My object is simply to convey to you the conclusion that, in our judgment, the expression of public opinion recorded at the polls in favor of prohibition did not represent such a proportion of the electorate as would justify the introduction by the Government of a prohibitory measure."

This view of the case naturally did not please the Prohibitionists, and at a meeting in Toronto of 400 delegates, on July 11, the following resolutions were passed, together with an expression of opinion in favor of woman suffrage and the support of prohibition candidates in ensuing

elections:

"That in view of the substantial majority in favor of prohibition of all the votes polled throughout the Dominion in the recent plebiscite, including an overwhelming majority in all the provinces but one, and a large proportion of all the possible votes in those provinces, this meeting desires to express its strong dissatisfaction at the failure of the Government to take any steps to give effect to the will of the people as expressed at the polls.

"That this convention declares that nothing short of the total prohibition of the manufacture, importation, and sale of intoxicating liquor for beverage purposes throughout the Dominion can be accepted as a settlement of the liquor question. That such prohibition is the right and only effective remedy for the evils of intemperance, and must be steadily pressed for until obtained.

"That, in view of the large vote and the great majority recorded in favor of prohibition in six provinces and the Northwest Territories, the least measure of immediate legislation that could be looked upon as reasonable would be such as would secure the entire prohibition of the liquor traffic in and around these provinces and territories.

"That such legislation ought to be enacted by the Dominion Parliament, which alone could prohibit the sending of intoxicating liquor into prohibition provinces from places in which prohibition was not in operation.

"That failure to enact at least this measure of prohibition must be considered inexcusable disregard and defiance of the strong moral sentiment of the electorate so emphatically expressed in the plebiscite.

"That Prohibitionists ought to oppose any

government or party, or any candidate, that will refuse to recognize and respond to the demand of the people to at least the extent of such legislation."

The Pacific Cable.-Progress was made in connection with the important project of an allBritish cable between Canada and Australia after an interval during which it threatened to fall through altogether. On July 24, 1899, the Postmaster-General, the Hon. William Mulock, moved a formal resolution in Parliament to provide for its construction. He pointed out that the subject was one with which the public had become comparatively familiar. The enterprise was not intended primarily as an investment from which dividends were expected, but was designed to unite more firmly the different portions of the empire. The subject was first mooted at the conference of 1887 in London, and afterward at the conference of 1894 at Ottawa. The question that chiefly concerned the people now was that of cost. He did not think that the monopoly enjoyed by the Eastern Extension Cable Company at Hong-Kong for twenty-five years, from 1893, would seriously interfere with this new enterprise, or prevent it from securing a fair share of the business of China and Japan. The Imperial Government had power, if it wished, to purchase the line from Hong-Kong to Singapore for £300,000, and in any event it was quite inconceivable, if Canada and Australia had decided to unite themselves by the construction of a cable, that any monopoly could prevent them from establishing a connection with China and Japan. He believed that the Eastern Extension Cable Company would recognize the irresistible force of the empire, and render a duplication of lines unnecessary unless the volume of business should happen to require it. As to the extent to which the scheme would involve Canada financially, it was of course impossible to give anything but estimates. The line would have to be laid in places at a depth of 3,000 fathoms, which exceeded the depth of any cable at present; but once it was laid this circumstance would help to preserve it. The estimate of cost made by the Imperial Pacific Cable Committee was £1,422,000. Since then the cost of material had appreciated to the extent of about £170,000, making the total estimated cost £1,592,000. To this it was proposed to add £108,000 as a margin, and to figure the total cost at £1,700,000. It was confidently anticipated that the cable would become a paying enterprise within a very few years. The cost of maintenance, repairs, sinking fund, and interest would be £144,886, and it was believed by experts that, after paying off these charges, there would be a surplus for the first year of operation of £1,114, which would increase by the fifth year to £124,565. The proposal involved Canada's becoming interested to the extent of five eighteenths in the profit or loss. Great Britain would have five eighteenths, and New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria two eighteenths each. The intention was, that each country should be represented on the governing board in proportion to its interest, but in order to bring this about the board would have to consist of 18 members, which would be too large. It had therefore been decided that the board should be composed of 8 members, of whom 3 would be from Australasia, 3 from Great Britain, and 2 from Canada.

The Militia.-In 1899 there were upon the regimental establishment of the militia 3 regiments of a permanent force-practically regulars numbering 61 officers and a total of 986 officers

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