aul ie vviov 0 44 dstock Scale, 1:7,100,000 English Miles 20 o So 120 160 Railways +r? Canals of Greenwich 88 Longitude West important cities are Ottawa (the capital of the Dominion) (59,9 28 in 1 9 01), Hamilton (52,634), London (37,981), Kingston (17,961). The number of males slightly exceeds that of females. The population is chiefly of British descent, though in the eastern counties numerous French Canadians are flocking in from Quebec and in some instances by purchase of farms replacing the British. There are also about 20,000 Indians, many of whom are civilized, enjoy the franchise and are enrolled in the Dominion militia. There is no state Church, though buildings devoted to religious purposes are almost wholly exempt from municipal taxation. The Methodists are, numerically, the strongest religious body, then come Presbyterians, Roman Catholics and Anglicans, in the order named.
The executive power is vested in a lieutenantgovernor appointed for five years by the federal government, and assisted by an executive council, who have seats in and are responsible to the local legislature. This consists of one house only, of 106 members, elected by what is practically manhood suffrage.
The municipal system still embodies the spirit and purpose of the Baldwin Municipal Act which originated it in 1849. Though based rather on the simple English model than on the more complicated municipal governments of the United States, it has certain features of its own, and is revised from year to year. On it have been modelled the municipal systems of the other provinces. Municipal ownership does not prevail to any extent, and in the larger cities the powers of certain great corporations have tended to cause friction, but such matters as the provision of electric power and light are gradually being taken in hand both by the municipalities and by the province, and a railway and municipal board appointed by the local legislature has certain powers over the railways and electric tramlines.
By the British North America Act, which formed in 1867 the Dominion of Canada, the provinces have the right of direct taxation only. Against this, however, a strong prejudice exists, and in Ontario the only direct taxation takes the form of taxes on corporations (insurance, loan and railway companies), succession duties, liquor licences, &c. These, together with returns from various investments, earnings of provincial buildings, &c., yield about one-third of the revenue. Another third comes from the Dominion subsidy, granted in lieu of the power of indirect taxation, and the remainder from the sale or lease of crown lands, timber and minerals. Owing to the excellence of the municipal system there has been a tendency to devolve thereon, in whole or in part, certain financial burdens on the plea of decentralization. The finances of the province have been well administered, and only in recent years has a debt been incurred, chiefly owing to the construction of a provincial railway to aid in the development of the northern districts.
As early as 1797 500,000 acres of crown lands were set apart for educational purposes, and a well-organized system of education now exists, which, since 1876, has constituted a department of the provincial government. A laudable attempt has been made to keep the education department free from the vagaries and the strife of party politics, and the advantages of political control have been as much felt as its drawbacks. Since 1906 a superintendent has been appointed with large powers, independent of political control and with the assistance of an advisory council; attention is also paid to the advice of the provincial Educational Association, which meets yearly at Toronto.
School attendance is compulsory between the ages of eight and fourteen, and is enforced by truant officers. The primary or public schools are free and undenominational. They cannot, however, be called secular, as they are opened and closed with the Lord's Prayer and closed with the reading of the Bible. From these religious exercises any children may absent themselves whose parents profess conscientious objections. After a long and bitter struggle the Roman Catholics won in 1863 the right to separate schools. These may be set up in any district upon the request of not less than five heads of families. The rates levied on their supporters are devoted exclusively to the separate schools, which also share pro rata in the government grant. Although many Roman Catholic children attend the public schools, the number of separate schools is, under the influence of the priesthood, steadily increasing. Under certain conditions, Protestants and coloured persons may also claim separate schools, but of these only four or five exist. Numerous kindergartens have been established in the cities.
Secondary education is imparted in high schools and collegiate' institutes. These may exact fees or give free education at the ' A high school is raised to the rank of collegiate institute on complying with certain provisions, chief among which are the employment of at least four teachers with Degrees in Honours from a recognized Canadian university. Such an institution receives a slightly larger government grant.
option of the local trustees. There are also numerous private schools. Of these such as are incorporated are aided by exemption from municipal taxation. In and around Toronto are numerous boarding schools and colleges, of which those for boys are on the model of the great public schools of England. Of these the most celebrated is Upper Canada College, founded in 1829, and long part of the educational system of the province, but now under private control.
The provincial university is situated in Toronto, and since 1906 has been governed by an independent board, over which a power of veto is retained by the lieutenant-governor in council. With the affiliated colleges, it had in 1908 a staff of 356, and 3545 students. There are also numerous universities throughout the province, founded in early days by the various religious bodies. Of these Victoria (Methodist) and Trinity (Anglican) are in Toronto, and have become federated with the provincial university, in which they have merged their degree-conferring powers. MacMaster (Baptist) is also in Toronto, and retains its independence. The others are Queen's University, Kingston (Presbyterian); the Western University, London (Anglican); and the university of Ottawa (Roman Catholic). Women students are admitted to all the universities save Ottawa on the same terms as men, and form nearly one-third of the whole number of students. Theological colleges are supported by the various religious bodies, and are in affiliation with one or other of the universities.
The public and high schools tend rather to follow American than British methods, though less freedom is allowed to the local authorities than in most of the American states. Only those text books authorized by the central department may be used. Free text books may be issued at the discretion of the local authorities, but in most cases are provided by parents. Every school, public, separate or high, shares in the provincial grant, but the chief financial burden falls on the local authorities.
Owing to the low rate of salaries, the percentage of women teachers, especially in the public schools, is steadily increasing, and now amounts in these to almost 83%. The same cause has also reduced their age, and the teachers are in many cases exceedingly immature. The institution of a minimum salary by the provincial department led to such resistance that it was withdrawn, but a distinct advance in salaries has taken place since 1906. In the rural districts an attempt is being made to increase efficiency by the consolidation of several small schools and the conveyance of the children to one central building.
The curriculum, originally modelled on that of England, is being gradually modified by the necessities of a new country. In addition to the ordinary literary and scientific subjects, manual training, domestic science, agriculture and kindred subjects are taught in the public and high schools, and in the larger towns technical institutes are being founded. Many of the rural schools have gardens, in which the elements of agriculture, botany and kindred subjects are taught in a practical manner. Travelling libraries are sent through the country districts, and an attempt is being made to extend similar aid to the lumber-camps.
The training of teachers is carefully supervised. Numerous model and normal schools exist, and a well-equipped normal college at Toronto. The smaller county model schools have, since 1906-1907, been consolidated and centralized in the larger towns.
At Guelph is the Ontario Agricultural College, founded and endowed by the provincial government, and greatly enlarged and improved by the generosity of Sir William Macdonald (b. 1832). Its services in placing provincial agriculture on a scientific basis cannot be over-estimated. The government also maintains an institute for the deaf and dumb at Belleville and for the blind at Brantford. At Kingston it supports a dairy school and a large school of mining.
About three-fifths of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural pursuits, and in 1910 the amount invested in lands, buildings, implements and stock was double that invested in the manufactures of the whole Dominion. Nearly all the farms are worked by their owners, and a simple and efficient system of landtransfer is in use. The farming population in the older parts of the province tends to decline in numbers, owing to emigration, partly to the towns, but especially to the newer lands of Manitoba and the west. Yet, owing to the increasing use of scientific implements and methods promoted by the federal and provincial governments, the total value of agricultural products increased by over 50% between 1881 and 1910. In general, the soil is fertile and the climate favourable. The district north of the Height of Land, long supposed to be a barren wilderness, has proved in part suitable for agriculture, and is steadily increasing in population. Mixed farming and the raising of live stock is becoming more and more the rule, so that the failure of any one crop becomes of less vital importance. The average farm varies in size from 100 to 200 acres. Wheat, barley, oats, peas, potatoes and other roots are staple crops, the average yield of wheat being about 20 bushels an acre; cattle are increasing in number and improving in quality, and all branches of dairy farming prosper. Owing to tariff restrictions, the United States' market is being more and more abandoned, and improvements in cold storage are making it possible to export to Great Britain increasing quantities of butter and cheese. The collection of milk by the creameries and cheese-factories is carried on with great efficiency. The number of horses and sheep is stationary or declining, but the raising of hogs, formerly abandoned in great part to the western states, is becoming an increasing industry. Large quantities of peas, corn, tomatoes and other vegetables are canned, chiefly for home consumption. Three-quarters of the orchard lands of Canada are in Ontario, the chief crops being apples and peaches. The cultivation of the latter centres in the Niagara peninsula, but apples flourish along the great lakes and the St Lawrence from Goderich to Cornwall. In Essex and Kent, and along the shore of Lake Erie, tobacco and grapes form a staple crop, and wine of fair quality is produced.
Slightly less than half remains of the forest which once covered the whole province. The lumber industry exceeds that of any other part of the Dominion, though Quebec possesses greater timber areas untouched. The numerous lakes and rivers greatly facilitate the bringing of the timber to market. All trees were long little thought of in comparison with the pine, but of late years poplar and spruce have proved of great value in the making of paper pulp, and hard-wood (oak, beech, ash, elm, certain varieties of maple) is becoming increasingly valuable for use in flooring and the making of furniture. In the spring the making of syrup and sugar from the sap of the sugar-maple is a typical industry.
Much splendid timber has been needlessly destroyed, chiefly by forest-fires, but also by improvident farmers in their haste to clear the land. Increased attention is now being paid by both provincial and federal governments to preservation and to reforestation. Special areas have been set apart on which no timber may be cut, and on which the problems of scientific forestry may be studied. Of these, the earliest was the Algonquin National Park, which also forms a haven of refuge for the wild creatures.
Northern Ontario is still a valuable fur-bearing and hunting country, moose, caribou, fox, bear, otter, mink and skunk being found in large quantities. Wolves, once numerous, have now been almost extirpated, though a bounty on each head is still paid.
The geographical distribution of the great mineral wealth of Ontario has already been indicated (see Physical Geography, above). Save for beds of lignite, said to exist in the extreme north, coal is not found, and has to be imported, chiefly from the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, though Nova Scotia furnishes an increasing quantity. The production of iron is stimulated by federal and provincial bounties. The province supplies over two-thirds of the iron ore mined in the Dominion, but much is still imported. The output of gold is decreasing. The nickel mines in the neighbourhood of Sudbury are the largest in the world, outrivalling those of New Caledonia. In the same district, and chiefly in connexion with the nickel mines, large quantities of copper are produced. When in 1905 the rich silver area was found in northern Ontario, a rush was made to it, comparable to those to the Australian and Californian goldfields. Cobalt, the centre of this area, is 103 m. from North Bay by the provincial railway (Temiscaming & North Ontario railway). In the same neighbourhood are found cobalt, arsenic and bismuth. In the older districts of the province are found petroleum and salt. The district around Petrolea produces about 30,000,000 gallons of petroleum yearly, practically the whole output of the dominion. Salt is worked in the vicinity of Lake Huron, but the production is less than half that imported. Natural gas is produced in the counties of Welland and Essex, and exported in pipes to Buffalo and Detroit. Among the less important metals and minerals which are also mined, is corundum of especial purity.
Manufactures and Commerce. - Manufactures are becoming of increasing importance. The obstacle due to lack of coal is offset by the splendid water powers 'afforded by the rapid streams in all parts of the province. Save for the flour and grist mills, few do more than supply the markets of the Dominion, of which they control an increasing portion. Woollen mills, distilleries and breweries and manufactures of leather, locomotives and iron-work, furniture, agricultural implements, cloth and paper are the chief. The great agricultural development of the western provinces, in which manufactures are little advanced, has given a great impetus to the industries of the older provinces, especially Ontario.
Numerous lakes and rivers afford means of communication, and obstacles thereon have been largely overcome by canals (see Canada). Railways gridiron the province, which contains over one-third the total mileage of the dominion; their construction is aided by provincial and municipal subsidies, in addition to that paid by the federal government. The provincial government owns a line running north from North Bay, operated by a board of commissioners. The other railways are owned by private companies, but are subject to the decisions of a federal railway commission. The provincial railway and municipal board also exercises control, especially over the city and suburban electric lines.
The first white man known to have set foot in what is now Ontario was Champlain. In 1613 he explored the Ottawa river as far as Allumette Island; in 1615, starting from Montreal, he reached the Georgian Bay by way of the Ottawa river, Lake Nipissing and French river, and then by way of Lakes Couchiching and Simcoe and the Trent river system of lakes and streams made his way to Lake Ontario, called by him Entouhoronon. The winter of1615-1616he spent among the Huron Indians, near the Georgian Bay. In 1615 a mission among these Indians was founded by the Recollet friars, and carried on with great success and devotion by the Jesuits, but in1648-1650the Huron nation was almost utterly destroyed by an invasion of their hereditary foes, the Iroquois. From its centre at Quebec French civilization extended along the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, and also northwards to Hudson's Bay. In the western country numerous posts were founded, wherein fur-trader and missionary were often at variance, the trader finding brandy his best medium of exchange, while the missionary tried in vain to stay its ravages among his flock. On the frontiers of what is now Ontario the. chief points were at the strategic centres of Fort Frontenac (now Kingston), Niagara, Michilimackinac and Sault-Ste-Marie. Farther north, in what is now New Ontario, their English rivals, the Hudson's Bay Company, had more or less permanent posts, especially at Fort Albany and Moose Factory.
With the cession of French North America to Great Britain in 1763, the Indian lords of the soil rose under Pontiac in a last attempt to shake off the white man, and in1763-1765there was hard fighting along the western frontier from Sault-Ste-Marie to Detroit. Thereafter for almost twenty years, Ontario was traversed only by wandering bands of trappers, chiefly belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company; but in 1782 bands of American loyalists began to occupy the fertile country along the Bay of Quinte, and in the Niagara peninsula, the first settlement being made in 1782 at Kingston. Between1782-1784about 5000 loyalists entered Ontario, and were given liberal grants of land by the British government.
The oligarchic constitution established in Canada in 1 774 by the Quebec Act did not suit men trained in the school of local self-government which Britain had unwittingly established in the American colonies, and the gift of representative institutions was soon necessary. In the debates in the British parliament Fox urged that the whole territory should remain one province, and of this the governor-general, the 1st baron Dorchester, was on the whole in favour, but in 1791 Pitt introduced and carried the Constitutional Act, by which Upper and Lower Canada were separated. The Ottawa river was chosen as the main boundary between them, but the retention by Lower Canada of the seigneuries of New Longueuil and Vaudreuil, on the western side of the river, is a curious instance of the triumph of social and historical conditions over geographical. To the new province were given English civil and criminal law, a legislative assembly and council and a lieutenant-governor; in the words of its first governor, Colonel John Graves Simcoe, it had, "the British Constitution, and all the forms which secure and maintain it." Simcoe set to work with great energy to develop the province, but he quarrelled with the governor-general over his pet scheme of founding military colonies of retired soldiers in different parts of the province, and retired in 17 9 6. Even before his retirement political feuds had broken out, which increased in bitterness year by year. In so far as these had other causes than the Anglo-Saxon love of faction, they were due to the formation by the loyalists, their descendants and hangers-on of a clique who more and more engrossed political and social power. The English church also formed a quasi-official clerical oligarchy, and the land reserved by the Constitutional Act for the support of "a protestant clergy" formed a fruitful source of bitterness.
For a time the War of1812-1814with the United States put an end to the strife. The war gave some heroic traditions to the province, and in special cemented that loyalty to Great Britain for which Ontario has been conspicuous. On the other hand, the natural dislike of the United States felt by the loyalists and their descendants was deepened and broadened, and has not yet wholly died away, especially among the women of the province. The jobbing of land by the official clique, whose frequent intermarriages won for them the name of "The Family Compact," the undoubted grievance of the "Clergy Reserves" and the well-meaning high-handedness and social exclusiveness of military governors, who tried hard but unavailingly to stay the democratic wave, soon revived political discord, which found a voice in that born agitator, William Lyon Mackenzie. A wiser but less vigorous reformer was Robert Baldwin, who saw that in responsible government lay the cure for the political green-sickness from which Upper Canada was suffering. But though Baldwin and Mackenzie were in the right, it is very doubtful whether their party could at the time have given the country as cheap and efficient a civil service as was given by the Family Compact, who had at least education and an honourable tradition.
In 1837 discontent flared up into a pitiful little rebellion, led by Mackenzie. This tragical farce was soon at an end and its author a fugitive in the United States, whence he instigated bands of hooligans to make piratical attacks upon the Canadian frontier. Thus forcibly reminded of the existence of Canada, the British government sent out Lord Durham to investigate, and as a result of his report the two Canadas were in 1841 united in a legislative union.
Meanwhile the southern part of the province had been filling up. In 1791 the population was probably under 20,000; in 1824 it was 150,066, and in 1841, 455,688. The eastern counties of Stormont and Glengarry, and parts of the western peninsula, had been settled by Highlanders; the Canada Company, organized in 1825 by the Scottish novelist, John Galt, had founded the town of Guelph, had cleared large tracts of land in the western peninsula, and settled thereon hundreds of the best .class of English and Scotch settlers.
Once granted responsible government, and the liberty to make her own mistakes, Upper Canada went ahead. The population rose to 952,004 in 1851 and to 1,396,091 in 1861. Politically she found Lower Canada an uneasy yoke-fellow. The equality of representation, granted at the union, at first unfair to Lower Canada, became still more unfair to Upper Canada, as her population first equalled and then surpassed that of her sister province. The Roman Catholic claim to separate state-aided schools, at length conceded in 1863, long set the religious bodies by the ears. Materially the province prospered. The "Clergy Reserves" were secularized in 1854, and in 1851 began a railway development, the excitement and extravagance caused by which led in 1857 to a financial crisis and the bankruptcy of various municipalities, but which on the whole produced great and lasting benefit. The Reciprocity Treaty with the United States, in operation from 1854 to 1866, and the high prices for farm produce due to the American Civil War, brought about an almost hectic prosperity. In the discussions from which sprang the federation of 1867, Ontario was the one province strongly in favour of the union, which was only rendered possible by the coalition of her rival leaders, J. A. Macdonald and George Brown.
Since Federation Upper Canada has been known as the province of Ontario. The first provincial government, formed on coalition lines by John Sandfield Macdonald, was thrifty and not unprogressive, but in 1871 was defeated by a reorganized liberal party, which held power from 1871 to 1905, and on the whole worthily. Under Oliver Mowat, premier from 1873 to 1896, the government, though strongly partisan, was thrifty afid honest. An excellent system of primary and secondary schools was organized by Egerton Ryerson (1803-1882) and G. W. Ross (q.v.), higher education was aided and a school of practical science established in Toronto and of mining in Kingston; agriculture was fostered, .and an excellent agricultural college founded at Guelph in 1874.
The great struggle of the time was with the federal government on the question of provincial rights. Several questions in which Ontario and the Dominion came into conflict were carried to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and in all of them Mowat was successful. Connected with this was the boundary struggle with Manitoba, the latter province being aided by the federal government, partly out of dislike for Mowat, partly because the crown lands in the disputed territory would, had it been adjudged to Manitoba, have been under federal control. Had Manitoba won, the boundary line would have been drawn about 6 m. east of Port Arthur, but in 1884 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council unanimously decided in favour of Ontario; and in 1888 another decision gave her absolute control ,of the crown lands of New Ontario. Under Mowat's successors the barnacles which always attach to a party long in power became unpleasantly conspicuous, and in January 1905 the conscience of Ontario sent the conservatives into power, more from disgust at their opponents than from any enthusiasm for themselves. The new government displayed unexpected energy, ability and strength. The primary and model schools were consolidated and improved; the provincial university was given increased aid from the succession duties; various public utilities, previously operated by private companies, were taken over by the province, and worked with vigour and success. At the election of the 8th of June 1908 the conservative government was returned by an increased majority.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. - Statistical: The various departments of the provincial government publish annual reports, and frequent special reports. Among these may be noted those of the Bureau of Mines and the archaeological reports by David Boyle (1886-1906). Since 1889 the university of Toronto has published numerous valuable studies on historical, economic and social questions, e.g. Adam Shortt, Municipal Government in Ontario. Historical: The early history of the province is best given in the general histories of Canada by MacMullen and Kingsford (see CANADA). Ernest Cruikshanks has published numerous excellent studies on the Ontario section of the War of 1812. Lord Durham's celebrated Report (1839, reprinted 1902) is less trustworthy on Ontario than on Quebec. R. and K. M. Lizar's In the Days of the Canada Company depicts the life of the early settlers. Biographies exist of most of the chief men: C. R. W. Biggar, Sir Oliver Mowat (2 vols., 1905), is practically a history of Ontario from 1867 to 1896. The provincial government has issued an excellent Documentary History of Education in Ontario, by J. G. Hodgins (28 vols.). See also W. Kingsford, Early Bibliography of Ontario. (W. L. G.)
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