Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/145

 QUEBEC (PEOVINOE) 137 Miles la operation In the province. Grand Trunk, W. division " " E. division " " Portland division " Three Kivers branch " Cham plain division " " Lachine and Province Line division Massawippi Valley Montreal and Vermont Junction Montreal, Chambly, and Sorel Quebec and Gosford St. Lawrence and Industry Southeastern Stanstead, Shefford, and Chambly Montreal to Detroit, Mich. (564 in.) Montreal to Trois Pistoles Richmond to Portland, Me. (221 m.) Arthabaska to Doucet's Landing (opposite Three Elvers). St. Lambert to Rouse's Point, N. Y Montreal to Province Line Sherbrooke to Newport, Vt. (40 m.) St. Johns to Burlington, Vt. (78 m.) St. Lambert to West Farnhain Quebec to Gosford Lanoraie to Joliette West Farnham to Newport, Vt. (65 m.) St. Johns to Waterloo 45 810 54 85 42 40 84 26 28 26 12 82 43 Total. 733 The Intercolonial railway is intended to be extended from Moncton, New Brunswick, N. and then W. to Kiviere du Loup on the St. Lawrence. There are other lines projected or in progress. There were 19 banks on Sept. 30, 1874, with an aggregate paid-up capital of $42,351,464. The executive power is vested in a lieutenant governor, appointed by the gov- ernor general of the Dominion in council, as- sisted by an executive council of seven mem- bers (secretary and registrar and minister of public instruction, treasurer, attorney general, commissioner of crown lands, commissioner of agriculture and public works, president of legislative council, and solicitor general) ap- pointed by himself and responsible to the as- sembly. The legislative authority is exercised by a legislative council of 24 members, ap- pointed by the lieutenant governor in council for life, and a legislative assembly of 65 mem- bers (one from each electoral district), elected by the qualified voters for four years. The right of suffrage is conferred on all male Brit- ish subjects 21 years old and upward who possess a small property qualification. Voting is by ballot. For judicial purposes the prov- ince is divided into 20 districts. The princi- pal courts are the queen's bench, consisting of a chief justice and four puisn6 judges, and the superior court, with a chief justice and 25 puisne judges. These judges are appointed by the governor general of the Dominion in coun- cil during good behavior. The queen's bench sits four times a year at Montreal and as fre- quently at Quebec for the purpose of hearing appeals. Trial terms are held twice a year in different parts of the province by a single judge, in criminal cases with a jury. Three judges of the superior court sit in review of judgments of a single judge at the superior and circuit courts. Superior courts, with jurisdic- tion of sums exceeding $200, are held three times a year in each judicial district by a single judge. Circuit courts, with jurisdiction of sums not exceeding $200, are held in each county by a judge of the superior court. A vice-admiralty court is held at Quebec by a judge of vice-admiralty. Justice is adminis- tered according to the Code civil de Quebec, which is based mainly upon the coutume de Paris and the edicts and ordinances of the French kings in force at the time of the ces- sion to Great Britain. The province is rep- resented in the Dominion parliament by 24 senators and 65 members of the house of com- mon* (one from each electoral district). The balance in the provincial treasury on June 30, 1873, was $948,001 43 ; receipts during the fol- lowing year, $2,041,174 71, including $1,014,- 712 12 subsidy from the Dominion government, $542,140 72 from the crown lands department, $121,540 98 from law stamps, and $141,597 72 from licenses, &c. The expenditures amount- ed to $1,992,594 88, including $54,822 84 out- standing warrants ; balance in treasury on June 30, 1874, $1,051,404 10. The chief items of expenditure were as follows : legislation, $173,- 292 98; civil government, $146,766 41; ad- ministration of justice, $364,555 29 ; police, $63,292 20; reformatories, $38,000; educa- tion, $320,166 07; agriculture, $61,352 15; immigration, $48,978 79 ; colonization roads, $114,525 76; public works and buildings, $161,147 42; charities, $218,224 85; crown lands department, $128,574 82 ; subsidy to Southeastern railway, $38,700. The provin- cial lunatic asylum is at Beaufort, near Que- bec. There are also lunatic asylums at Mon- treal, at St. Ferdinand d'Halifax, and at St. Johns, which receive aid from the province, the first two being under the control of the Catholics and the last of the Protestants. Aid is also granted to the Belmont Eetreat ine- briate asylum in Quebec, to the Catholic and Protestant deaf and dumb institutions in Mon- treal, to the Nazareth asylum for the blind and for destitute children in Montreal (under the control of the sisters of charity), to the reformatories at Montreal and Sherbrooke (the former Catholic and the latter Protestant), and to various hospitals and asylums conducted by religious bodies. There is a penitentiary at St. Vincent de Paul on Isle Jesus, under the control of the Dominion. The number of con- victs at the close of 1873 was 122. The pub- lic schools of the province are under the direc- tion of the minister of public instruction, as- sisted by a council of 24 members (16 Catho- lics and 8 Protestants) appointed by the lieu- tenant governor. For each municipality there