Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/864

 84:0 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND fruit raised, 3,141. There were 25,329 horses, 62,984 neat cattle, 147,364 sheep, and 52,514 hogs. The manufactures, which are limited and chiefly for home consumption, embrace coarse cloth ("homespun") worn generally by the inhabitants, brick, lime, grist mill, saw mill, and tannery products. Ship building is carried on to some extent. The adjacent wa- ters, particularly on the N. E. coast, abound in fish, but the fisheries are mainly prosecuted by vessels from the United States. The value of fish taken by inhabitants of the island during the year ending June 30, 1874, was $288,863, chiefly mackerel, cod, lobsters, salmon, and herring. The value of goods entered for con- sumption from foreign countries during the same period was $1,913,696, of which $1,454,- 200 was from Great Britain and $394,803 from the United States. The chief articles of import are cottons, woollens, hardware, and other manufactured goods, tea, sugar, spirits, and flour. The value of exports to foreign countries during the same period was $722,- 129, viz. : agricultural products, chiefly oats, $419,426; products of the fisheries, $135,234; animals and their produce, chiefly eggs, $97,- 125; forest products, $51,118; miscellaneous articles, $19,226. The exports were distrib- uted as follows: to Great Britain, $396,486; to the United States, $193,571 ; to Newfound- land, $84,299; to the British West Indies, $29,587; to St. Pierre, $9,063. The number of entrances was 172, tonnage 51,478; clear- ances 176, tonnage 49,101; built during the year, 67 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 15,024. The number of vessels belonging in the province at the close of 1873 was 280, with an aggregate tonnage of 38,918. A railroad, commenced by the colonial government and completed by the Dominion, traverses the en- tire length of the island, connecting Charlotte- town with Tignish on the northwest and Georgetown and Souris on the southeast. The length of the W. division, from Charlotte- town to Tignish, is 117 m. ; of the E. division, from Charlottetown to Georgetown, 46 m. ; of the branch from Mount Stewart (22 m. from Oharlottetown) on the E. division to Souris, 38 m. ; total, 201 m. The island is con- nected with the mainland by telegraphic cable. During the season of navigation a tri-weekly line of steamers runs from Charlottetown to Pictou, Nova Scotia, and to Shediac, New Brunswick, and weekly lines connect with Quebec and with Halifax and Boston. Navi- gation closes about the middle or end of De- cember, and does not reopen until the end of April or the beginning of May. Ice forms in the harbor of Georgetown about a month later and breaks up about a month earlier than these dates. In winter mails and passengers are conveyed across the strait in ice boats, from Cape Traverse to Cape Tormentin, N. B., but the passage is attended with difficulty and danger. There are five banks (three at Charlottetown, one at Summerside, and one at Rustico), which in 1874 had an aggregate capital of $359,753 34, an outstanding circu- lation of $568,917 87, and resources to the amount of $1,814,671 90. The deposits in government savings banks, other than post- office savings banks, on May 31, 1874, amounted to $320,750 38. The executive power of the province is vested in a lieutenant governor (appointed by the governor general of the Dominion in council), assisted by an executive council of nine members (president of the council, provincial secretary, attorney general, and six without office), who are appointed by himself and responsible to the legislature. The legislature consists of a legislative council of 13 members and a house of assembly of 30 mem- bers. There is a small property qualification for members of assembly, but none for coun- cilmen. The right of suffrage is conferred upon all male British subjects 21 years old and upward, a property qualification being re- quired of electors of councilmen and a small- er one of electors of assemblymen. Voting is viva voce. The principal judicial officers are a chief justice, an assistant judge and master of the rolls, and an assistant judge and vice chancellor, appointed by the governor general during good behavior. The supreme court is held by the three judges in cases of appeal, or by one of them in jury trials in the differ- ent counties; the court of chancery is held by the master of the rolls or vice chancellor. There is a probate court, with jurisdiction throughout the island, held by a single judge. The court of divorce consists of the lieuten- ant governor and members of the executive council. There are also inferior courts. The province is represented in the Dominion par- liament by four senators and six members of the house of commons. The balance in the provincial treasury on Jan. 1, 1874, was $267,- 301 94; receipts during the following year, $406,347 81, including $268,644 27 subsidy from the Dominion government and $40,000 proceeds of debentures; total, $673,649 75. The expenditures during the year amounted to $443,915 94; balance in treasury on Dec. 31, 1874, $229,733 81. The principal charitable institution supported by the government is the lunatic asylum near Charlottetown, opened in 1848. The number of inmates during the year ending Jan. 31, 1874, was 68 (41 males and 27 females) ; remaining on that date, 58 (37 males and 21 females). The expenditure on account of the asylum for the 11 months ending Jan. 1, 1874, was $4,542. During the same period $4,409 14 was expended for the almshouse near Charlottetown and $2,663 56 for outside relief for the poor. The public schools are under the general control of a board of education of 11 members, appointed by the lieutenant governor in council. Subordinate to the board are a visitor for each county and a board of trustees for each district. The expense of tuition is defrayed by the province. The following table contains the school statistics for 1874: