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RIX

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 486 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RIX  . 16survey reports, See also:

copper-bearing rocks have a development of over 5000 sq. m. throughout the See also:island . See also:Iron-See also:mining, however, has far surpassed copper-mining, the See also:chief centre being at See also:Bell Island in Conception See also:Bay . Hematite iron has been found at Exploits See also:river, See also:Fortune See also:Harbour, New Bay and other parts in Notre See also:Dame Bay . The iron exported in 1905 amounted to 635,350 tons with a value of $635,350 . In 1895 the value of iron exports was nil . Of iron See also:pyrites 68,97o tons were exported in 1905 valued at $410,514 . Similarly in 1895 no See also:slate was exported . It has since been worked at Trinity Bay, Bonavista Bay and Bay of Islands, the latter See also:deposit being declared equal to the best See also:Carnarvon slate . In 1905 14,750 tons were shipped . The existence of See also:coal in the island has been known since See also:Captain See also:Cook first reported its See also:discovery in 1763, but until lately little has been done to exploit it . The most important carboniferous region is at See also:Grand See also:Lake, St See also:George's and the Codroy region directly opposite the Cape See also:Breton coal-See also:fields .

See also:

Zinc has been found in many localities, as also See also:antimony, See also:silver and See also:gold . See also:Asbestos is frequently found, and See also:mica of See also:good See also:size has been discovered in the Laurentian rocks in the See also:Long Range Mountains and in Labrador . At the mouth of the See also:Humber are large deposits of See also:marble . The valuable non-metallic materials include See also:talc, See also:gypsum, See also:graphite, lithographic See also:stone and See also:manganese . See also:Shipping.—The See also:total number of vessels sailing under Newfound-See also:land registry on the 31st of See also:December 1905 was 3049, with a See also:net See also:tonnage of 129,617 tons . Of these 66 were steamers . The See also:statistics of See also:foreign-going tonnage show a remarkable growth in See also:trade . The See also:bounty granted by the legislature has given a considerable impetus to See also:local See also:shipbuilding . Between 1900 and 1905 the See also:average of vessels annually built in the See also:colony was Io5, with a total tonnage for the five years of 17,698 . In 1904-1905 the total value of exports was $10,669,342, of imports $10,279,293 . For the See also:period of seven years preceding the exports exceeded the imports by $7,174,676 or a See also:balance of trade in favour of the colony of over one million dollars annually . Manufactures.—In 1874 there were only five saw-See also:mills in the colony, producing 211I ft. of See also:timber .

The See also:

census returns of 190I showed 195 saw-mills valued at $292,790, employing 2408 persons and producing 43,648 ft. of timber, 16,197 of See also:shingle and 2020 of laths, of a total value of $480,555 . See also:Paper-making from See also:wood-pulp has been mentioned in connexion with See also:Flora, above . Six tanneries in 1901 produced goods to the value of $98,200 . There are See also:boot and See also:shoe, See also:tobacco, See also:nail, See also:soap, See also:furniture and See also:carriage manufactories . The rope-walk in St See also:John's produces rope and See also:line valued at $300,000 annually . See also:Government.—See also:Newfoundland is a See also:British colony, directly dependent on the See also:crown . Representative government and a constitution were granted to it in 183 2, and " responsible government " in 1855 . Two legislative See also:chambers were appointed—the See also:house of See also:assembly, to be elected, and the legislative See also:council, to be nominated by the See also:governor in council . This See also:form of government has worked satisfactorily . It consists of a governor who is appointed by the crown, and whose See also:term of See also:office is usually about six years; an executive council chosen by the party commanding a See also:majority in the house of assembly, and consisting of seven members; a legislative council or upper house, of fifteen members nominated by the governor in council and holding office for See also:life; and a house of assembly elected every four years by the votes of the See also:people on a See also:household See also:suffrage basis . There are seventeen electoral districts sending See also:thirty-six members to the house of assembly, all of whom are paid . The sessional allowances range from $194 to $291 .

The supreme See also:

court, instituted in 1826, js composed of a chief See also:justice and two assistant See also:judges . They are appointed by the crown, and hold their office for life . The See also:jurisdiction of Newfoundland extends over the whole of the See also:Atlantic See also:coast of Labrador . See also:Finance.—Duties levied on imports form the basis of the.revepue . The See also:tariff being intended for the cost of government and not for See also:industrial See also:protection, the duties are not as a See also:rule See also:differential, being partly ad valorem, partly specific . There is no See also:direct See also:taxation, and there are no See also:city or See also:town corporations . The customs See also:revenue See also:grew from $840,936 in 1885 to $2,295,959 in 1905 . The public See also:debt increased from $2,149,597 in 1885 to $22,043,338 in 1905, against which there was a sinking fund of $300,244 . The debt of St John's municipal council, $1,187,221, on which full See also:interest is paid to the government, must be credited to the See also:gross public debt . In December 1905 a new See also:loan of $636,903 was floated in See also:England . Based on the value of the exports the earning capacity of the See also:population increased from $29 per See also:head in 1885 to $47 per head in 1905 . The postal and See also:telegraph revenue amounted in 1905 to $125,000, having more than doubled in a See also:decade .

The crown lands revenue, which in 1895 was $5500, stood in 1905 at $41357 . With the See also:

United See also:Kingdom, trade, which in 1888 was 38 % of the whole, steadily diminished in See also:volume, until it was in 1905 only 22 % of the whole . Trade with zz See also:America in this period showed an increase of 128.5 % and that with to the colony, and this being the See also:case, that it would be " an unwarrantable interference with the rights of a self-governing colony " to disallow the measure . The See also:Reid See also:contract was therefore signed by See also:Sir See also:Herbert See also:Murray before relinquishing his See also:post See also:early in 1898 . Meanwhile considerable feeling had been manifested in the colony; numerous public meetings in support of the governor's See also:action were held; and several petitions were despatched to England; but it was not until the See also:spring of 1900 that Sir See also:James See also:Winter and his colleagues were forced to resign on See also:account of the opposition which had been engendered . The See also:general See also:election brought a Liberal, Mr (afterwards Sir) See also:Robert See also:Bond, into See also:power; and he had hardly assumed office when the contractor approached the See also:ministry with further proposals to convert his See also:property into a limited liability See also:company with a See also:capital of £5,000,000 See also:sterling, for which proceeding the consent of the legislature was necessary, under the terms of 1898 . Mr Bond refused unless a modification of the contract was agreed to . The modifications demanded were—that the telegraphs should revert at once to the government; that the land grants, which included a large amount of private property, should be readjusted so as to conserve the rights of those whose holdings had been confiscated; also, that it should be optional for the colony to take over the See also:railways at the end of fifty years by paying back the sum of $,,000,000 with interest, the amount paid by Mr Reid to the colony; and a sum to be arrived at by See also:arbitration for all improvements that may have been made on the property within the fifty years . After considerable dispute these terms were substantially agreed to, and the See also:conversion into a company took See also:place . See also:History.—Newfoundland, commonly termed the " See also:senior colony " of See also:Great See also:Britain, antedates in discovery (though not in continuous See also:settlement) any other British over-See also:sea Discovery. dominion . John See also:Cabot, sailing from See also:Bristol in 1497, appears to have made landfall at Bonavista and claimed the whole See also:country for See also:Henry VII . Three years later Gaspar See also:Corte-Real, ranging the See also:North See also:American coasts, discovered and named Conception Bay and See also:Portugal See also:Cove, and was appointed Portuguese governor of Terra Nova .

The long See also:

series of See also:annual trans-Atlantic expeditions followed upon the voyages of Cabot and Corte-Real, and their reports in England, Portugal and See also:France concerning the multitude of See also:fish in Newfoundland . For a long See also:time it was supposed that the See also:English fishermen did not avail themselves to any extent of these advantages until the See also:middle of the See also:lath See also:century, but this is now shown to be erroneous . Mr Prowse states that the trade during the first See also:half of the century was both " extensive and lucrative." In 1527 the little See also:Devon-See also:shire fishing See also:ships were unable to carry See also:home their large catch, so " See also:sack ships " (large See also:merchant vessels) were employed to carry the See also:salt See also:cod to See also:Spain and Portugal . An See also:act of 1541 classes the Newfoundland trade with the Irish, See also:Shetland and See also:Iceland See also:fisheries . See also:Hakluyt, See also:writing in 1578, mentions that the number of vessels employed in the See also:fishery was 400, of which only one-See also:quarter were English, the See also:rest being See also:French and See also:Spanish Basque . But in the same See also:year, according to See also:Anthony Parkhurst, " the English are commonly lords of the harbours where they fish and use all help in fishing if need require." Shortly there-after England awoke to the importance of Cabot's great discovery, and an See also:attempt was made to plant a colony on the shores of the island . Sir See also:Humphry See also:Gilbert, provided with letters patent from See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth, landed in St John's in See also:August 1583, and formally took See also:possession mg ' of the country in the queen's name . The first attempt at colonizing was frustrated by the loss of Gilbert soon after-wards at sea . In 1610 James I. granted a patent to John See also:Guy, an enterprising Bristol merchant, for a " See also:plantation " in Newfoundland; but no marked success attended his efforts to found settlements . In 1615 Captain See also:Richard Whitbourne of See also:Exmouth in See also:Devonshire was despatched to Newfoundland by the British See also:admiralty to establish See also:order and correct abuses which had grown up among the fishermen . On his return in 1622 he wrote a " Discourse and Discovery of Newfoundland Trade " which See also:King James, by an order in council, caused to be distributed See also:Canada 76.1 % . Roads and Railways.—Railways See also:play a unique See also:part in the See also:modern history of the island .

Not until 1825 was the first road made; it was 9 m. in length, from St John's The to Portugal Cove . When representative government Reid contract. was established in 1832 an annual See also:

grant was voted cont for roads and See also:bridges, and of See also:late years not less than $See also:ioo,000 per annum has been expended on this head . There are now over moo m. of postal roads, and over 2000 of See also:district roads . In 1880 after much agitation the legislature finally agreed to raise a loan of £1,000,000 for the construction of a railway from St John's to See also:Hall's Bay, with branches to Brigus and Harbour See also:Grace, the distance being estimated at 340 M . In See also:November 1884 the line was completed for See also:traffic as far as Harbour Grace . In the following year the construction of a line, 27 M. in length, from Whitbourne to Placentia, the old French capital, was begun and finished in 1888 . Shortly after-wards it was decided to resume the line northwards from St John's to Hall's Bay (which, owing to the failure of the See also:con-tractors, had been discontinued) with a view ultimately to a transinsular railway . The See also:tender of a well-known contractor, Mr R.G . Reid of See also:Montreal, was accepted, and the See also:work was begun in See also:October 189o . But before the contractor had proceeded far with the Hall's Bay line a new survey was made and another route determined for the proposed transinsular railway, See also:west-wards from the valley of the Exploits, which was regarded as much more favourable than the one originally contemplated . It traversed the Exploits and Humber valleys, passing through the most fertile territory in the island, to the Bay of Islands on the west coast; hence it skirted Bay St George and the Codroy valley and terminated at See also:Port-aux-See also:Basques, acommodious harbour 93 M. distant from See also:Sydney, Cape Breton . The new route was chosen, and a contract signed on the 16th of May 1893, whereby the contractor was to be paid $15,600 per mile in Newfoundland bonds, the whole line to be completed in three years .

At the same time, in order to provide for the working of the line, it was agreed between the colonial government and Mr Reid that the latter should maintain and work it, as well as construct a See also:

system of telegraphs, for a period of ten years from the 1st of See also:September 1893 at his own expense, in See also:consideration of a " grant in See also:fee See also:simple to the contractor of 5000 acres of land for each one mile of See also:mail line or See also:branch railway to be operated." Should the line, therefore, be Soo m. in length the land grant would be 2,500,000 acres, to be situated on each See also:side of the railway in alternate sections of i or 2 M. in length with the railway, and 8 m. in See also:depth, the colony also retaining an equal amount of land with the contractor along the route . Much hostile See also:criticism was subsequently directed towards this arrangement . In 1898 a new proposal was made by Mr Reid, under the terms of which he undertook to work all the railways in the island for a period of fifty years, See also:free of cost to the government, provided that, at the termination of the said period, the railways should become his own property . He was also to receive a further concession of land to the extent of 2,500,000 acres on terms similar to those contained in the former contract . Mr Reid agreed to build and run seven steamers, one in each of the large bays, and one to ply in Labrador in summer, to provide an electric See also:street railway for St John's, and also to pave a certain portion of the capital . The colony was to part with the telegraph system to the contractor, who was to acquire at a fixed See also:price the government dry-See also:dock at St John's . On the other See also:hand, to See also:complete the bargain, $1,000,000 in See also:cash was to be paid by the contractor to the government within a year after the See also:signing of the contract . This remarkable See also:covenant, which was afterwards characterized by Mr See also:Chamberlain, secretary of See also:state for the colonies, as a transaction " without parallel in the history of any country," was nevertheless ratified by the legislature, and submitted to the governor, Sir Herbert Murray, for his approval . The governor declined to append his See also:signature to the See also:instrument, but upon its being referred to the imperial secretary of state, it was decided that the arrangement was one See also:relating exclusively among the parishes of the kingdom " for the encouragement of and in 1814 no less than 7000 emigrants arrived . The population adventures unto plantation there." A year after the departure of Whitbourne, Sir George See also:Calvert, afterwards the first See also:Lord See also:Baltimore, obtained a patent conveying to him the lordship of the whole See also:southern See also:peninsula of Newfoundland, and the right of fishing in the surrounding See also:waters . He planted a colony at Ferryland, 40 M. north of Cape See also:Race, where he built a hand-some See also:mansion and resided with his See also:family for many years . The French so harassed his settlement by incessant attacks that he at length abandoned it .

In r65o, or about a century and a half after its discovery, Newfoundland contained only 350 families, or less than 2000 Fishery individuals, distributed in fifteen small settlements, policy. chiefly along the eastern See also:

shore . These constituted the See also:resident population; but in addition there was a floating population of several thousands who frequented the shores during the summer for the See also:sake of the fisheries, which had now attained very large dimensions . So early as 1626, 150 vessels were annually despatched from Devonshire alone; and the shipowners and traders residing in the west of England sent out their ships and fishing crews early in summer to See also:prose-cute these lucrative fisheries . The fish caught were salted and dried on the shore; and on the approach of winter the fishermen re-embarked for England, carrying with them the products of their labour . Hence it became the interest of these traders and shipowners to discourage the settlement of the country, in order to retain the exclusive use of the harbours and fishing coves for their servants, and also a See also:monopoly of the fisheries . They were able to enlist the British government of the See also:day in their project, and stringent See also:laws were passed prohibiting settlement within 6 m. of the shore, forbidding fishermen to remain behind at the See also:close of the fishing See also:season, and rendering it illegal to build or repair a house without a See also:special See also:licence . The See also:object of this See also:short-sighted policy, which was persisted in for more than a century, was to preserve the island as a fishing station and the fisheries as nurseries for British See also:seamen . There was, however, another See also:element which retarded the prosperity of the country . The French had early realized the Treaty of immense value of the fisheries, and strove long and See also:Utrecht desperately to obtain possession of the island . Their See also:constant attacks and encroachments harassed the few settlers, and rendered life and property insecure during the long See also:wars between England and France . When at length, in 1713, the treaty of Utrecht ended hostilities, it did not deliver Newfoundland from the grasp of France, as it yielded to her the right of catching and drying fish on the western and See also:northern sides of the island . Though no territorial rights were conferred on the French, and the See also:sovereignty was secured to England, the See also:practical effect was to exclude the inhabitants from the fairest half of the island .

In spite of the restrictive regulations, the number of the resident population continued to increase . The sturdy settlers First clung to the See also:

soil, and combated the " adventurers " governor. as the merchants were called, and after a lengthened conflict obtained freedom of settlement and See also:relief from oppression . But the contest was severe and prolonged . The merchant-adventurers strenuously opposed the See also:appointment of a governor; but at length, in 1728, the British government appointed Captain Henry See also:Osborne first governor of Newfound-land, with a See also:commission to establish a form of See also:civil government . This constituted a new era in the history of the colony . In 1763 the fixed inhabitants had increased to 8000, while 5000 more were summer residents who returned home each winter . In 1763 the coast of Labrador, from See also:Hudson's Strait to the river St John opposite the west end of the island of See also:Anticosti, was attached to the governorship of Newfoundland . The population in 1785 had increased to ro,000 . During the wars between England and France which followed the French Revolution, Newfoundland attained great prosperity, as all competitors in the fisheries were swept from the seas, and the markets of See also:Europe were exclusively in the hands of the merchants of the country . The value of fish trebled, See also:wages See also:rose to a high figure, now numbered 8o,000 . In 1832 representative government was granted to the colony, and See also:provision was made for See also:education . In 1846 a terrible See also:fire destroyed three-fourths of St John's and with it an enormous amount of property; but the city rose from its ashes improved and beautified .

Phoenix-squares

In 1855 the system of responsible government was inaugurated . In 1858 the first Atlantic See also:

cable was landed at See also:Bull See also:Arm, Trinity Bay . Unproductive fisheries, causing a widespread destitution among the working classes, marked the first eight years of the decade between 1860 and 187o . A system of able bodied pauper relief was initiated to meet the neces- histo See also:Recent ry . sities of the case but was attended with the usual demoralizing results . The See also:necessity of extending the cultivation of the soil in order to meet the wants of the growing population was See also:felt more and more as the pressure arising from the failure of the fisheries showed their See also:precarious nature more sensibly . In 1864 copper ore was discovered in the north, and mining operations were successfully initiated . In 1869 a series of successful fisheries began which enabled the government to terminate the injurious system of able-bodied pauper relief . In 1871 the revenue rose to $831,160 . In 1893 direct See also:steam communication with England and America was established . By the treaty of Utrecht of 1713 a right was reserved to French subjects to catch fish and to dry them on that part of Newfoundland which stretches from Cape Bonavista to the northern part of the island and from thence c/rsimench a . coming down by the western side reaches as far as Pt .

Riche . By the treaty of See also:

Versailles of 1783 France renounced the fishery from Bonavista to Cape St John on the See also:east coast, receiving in return extended rights upon the west coast as far as Cape See also:Ray . Neither treaty purported to grant exclusive right, but there was annexed to the treaty of Versailles a See also:declaration to the effect that " His Britannic See also:Majesty will take the most See also: