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may have been, or shall hereafter be enacted respecting the C. P. R., and the lands to be granted in aid thereof." The assent of the Legislature of Manitoba to this extension and its terms was given by the Acts 44 Vic. (3rd session) c. 1 and 6, assented to respectively the 4th March and 21st May, 1881. The extension took effect the 1st July, 1881. Before the territory in question was included in Manitoba, and when the Act 44 Vic. c. 1 (Dom.) was passed, that territory was not included in any province, and was subject fully to the legislative authority of the parliament of Canada in all matters. Whatever, then, might be the position in the provinces, that parliament could authorize any corporation to take and hold lands in the North-West Territories. It is difficult to conceive any more effectual mode of conferring such a power than is exhibited in the statute 44 Vic. c. 1 (Dom.), the contract and the charter. And, to wind up the transaction, the lands are to be granted to the Company by the letters patent of the Crown."

As an indemnity, however, for the want of public lands, the province receives, in addition to other subsidy, a subsidy of $100,000 per annum from the federal government.

CHAPTER XV.

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

The proceedings which culminated in the admission of British Columbia to the Union sufficiently appear in the following:

ORDER IN COUNCIL

RESPECTING

THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (d).

AT the Court at Windsor, the 16th day of May, 1871.

PRESENT.

The QUEEN'S MOST Excellent Majesty.

His Royal Highness Prince ARTHUR.

Lord Privy Seal.

Earl Cowper.

Earl of Kimberley.

Lord Chamberlain,

Mr. Secretary Cardwell.
Mr. Ayrton.

WHEREAS by the "British North America Act, 1867,"

provision was made for the Union of the Provinces. of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into the

(d) See Dom. Stat., 1872, p. lxxxiv. See also B. N. A. Act, s. 146.

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Dominion of Canada, and it was (amongst other things) enacted that it should be lawful for the Queen, by and with the advice of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, on Addresses from the Houses of Parliament of Canada, and of the Legislature of the Colony of British Columbia, to admit that Colony into the said Union, on such terms and conditions as should be in the Addresses expressed, and as the Queen should think fit to approve, subject to the provisions of the said Act; And it was further enacted that the provisions of any Order in Council in that behalf should have effect as if they had been enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland:

And whereas by Addresses from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, and from the Legislative Council of British Columbia respectively, of which Addresses copies are contained in the Schedule to this Order annexed, Her Majesty was prayed, by and with the advice of Her Most Honourable Privy Council, under the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the herein before recited Act, to admit British Columbia into the Dominion of Canada, on the terms and conditions set forth in the said Addresses:

And whereas Her Majesty has thought fit to approve of the said terms and conditions, it is hereby declared by Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, in pursuance and exercise of the powers vested in Her Majesty by the said Act of Parliament, that from and after the twentieth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, the said Colony of British Columbia shall be admitted into and become part of the Dominion of Canada, upon the terms and conditions set forth in the herein before recited Addresses. And, in accordance with the terms of the said Addresses relating to the Electoral Districts of British Columbia, for which the first election of members to serve in the House of Commons of the said Dominion shall take place, it is hereby

further ordered and declared that such electoral districts shall be as follows:

[Here follows an enumeration of these electoral districts.] And the Right Honorable Earl of Kimberley, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions therein accordingly.

ARTHUR HELPS.

SCHEDULE.

Address of the Senate of Canada (e).

To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senate of Canada in Parliament assembled, humbly approach Your Majesty for the purpose of representing:—

That by a despatch from the Governor of British Columbia, dated 23rd January, 1871, with other papers laid before this House, by message from His Excellency the Governor-General, of the 27th February last, this House learns that the Legislative Council of that colony, in council assembled, adopted, in January last, an Address representing to Your Majesty that British Columbia was prepared to enter into Union with the Dominion of Canada, upon the terms and conditions mentioned in the said Address, which is as follows:

To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Members of the Legislative Council of British Columbia, (e) The address of the House of Commons is identical in its terms.

in council assembled, humbly approach Your Majesty for the purpose of representing :

That, during the last session of the late Legislative Council, the subject of the admission of the Colony of British Columbia into the Union or Dominion of Canada was taken into consideration, and a resolution on the subject was agreed to, embodying the terms upon which it was proposed that this colony should enter the Union;

That after the close of the session, Delegates were sent by the Government of this Colony to Canada to confer with the Government of the Dominion with respect. to the admission of British Columbia into the Union upon the terms proposed;

That after considerable discussion by the Delegates with the Members of the Government of the Dominion of Canada, the terms and conditions hereinafter specified were adopted by a Committee of the Privy Council of Canada, and were by them reported to the GovernorGeneral for his approval;

That such terms were communicated to the Government of this Colony by the Governor-General of Canada, in a despatch dated July 7th, 1870, and are as follows:

1. Canada shall be liable for the debts and liabilities of British Columbia existing at the time of the Union.

2. British Columbia not having incurred debts equal to those of the other Provinces now constituting the Dominion, shall be entitled to receive, by half-yearly payments in advance, from the General Government, interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum on the difference between the actual amount of its indebtedness at the date of the Union, and the indebtedness per head of the population of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (27.77 dollars), the population of British Columbia being taken at 60,000.

3. The following sums shall be paid by Canada to British Columbia for the support of its Government and

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