In April, 1874, the Dominion Government gave a contract to Messrs. Carpenter & Co. to use the Dawson route for the carrying of freight and passengers from Lake Superior to Winnipeg, but the undertaking was never properly carried out by the contractors, and the Government were obliged to abandon it. Indeed, a great deal of suffering was entailed upon many of the passengers who attempted to enter the Province by this road, although the cost to Canada of establishing it had reached, in 1874, the enormous figure of $1,294,887.

About the same time, however, the Dominion Government resolved to go on and complete the railway from Winnipeg to Pembina, to connect with the St. Paul and Pacific Railway Company, which was then building northward towards the International boundary, and a sum of $650,000 was included in the estimates of 1874, for the purpose.

The Dominion Government, also, in the same year, commenced the building of the Custom House and Land Office in Winnipeg, so that the outlook for the prosecution of public works in the Province had a promising appearance.

But at this time the Province was visited by the grasshoppers, and the crops, which were in a most flourishing condition, suffered almost total destruction in many parts of the Province. The blow was a severe one to old and new settlers, just as the country in other respects gave signs of a healthy state of development, for although the damage to the country, as a whole, was not as great as at first feared, the loss to the farmers in many sections was very considerable. One good effect of the visitation, however, was to call the attention of agriculturists to the necessity of taking steps to prevent a recurrence, if possible, of the scourge, and the result was that

precautionary measures were not only considered, but afterwards adopted.

In the latter part of September, 1874, the first sod in the work of construction on the railway between Winnipeg and Pembina was turned by Mr. Whitehead, the contractor, and operations were pushed forward energetically from that date, and in the following November the telegraph line connecting Winnipeg with the stone fort was completed.

Thus the Province of Manitoba was making substantial progress in the development of its resources, under circumstances, however, which were not altogether satisfactory. The revenue, in the way of subsidy from the Dominion, was not adequate to the needs of the country, and in consequence the Province was running into debt, the expenditure often exceeding the estimates by large amounts.

At this stage the Girard Government resigned office on the 9th December, 1874, and Hon. R. Davis was called upon to form a new Ministry. This he succeeded in doing, as follows: Hon. R. A. Davis, Provincial Treasurer and Premier.

Hon. Joseph Royal, Minister of Public Works and Provincial Secretary.

Hon. Colin Inkster, Speaker Legislative Council and President Executive Council.

The reduction in the number of Cabinet Ministers which the change of government brought about effected a saving of $4,300 per annum. It was also proposed to reduce the indemnity to members from $300 to $200, which would make a further saving of $2,400 per session.

The abolition of the Legislative Council was promised, which, if effected, would save the Province an outlay of $6,200 each year, and the new Government proposed, by a

policy of rigid economy, to reduce the expenditure in every branch of the civil service.

The following is an outline of the policy announced by the Davis Government on taking office :

1. Rigid confining of the Expenditures within the Income of the Province.

2. The practice of the closest economy, that may be consistent with efficiency, in all the expenditures of the public moneys, and, as an earnest thereof, the reduction of the Ministry to three.

3. The prosecution of negotiations with the Dominion Government for a moderate but sufficiently increased subsidy, to enable the Government of Manitoba to meet the demands upon the revenues resulting from a rapidly growing population.

4. The introduction of an effective municipal system, and, in connection therewith, aiding the municipalities in the maintenance and construction of roads and bridges.

5. The abolition of the Upper House.

6. The reduction of the indemnity of members to $200 for the session.

7. The amendment of the school laws, so as to secure an accurate list of the attendance of pupils in the schools, duly verified under oath.

8. A reduction of the expenditure in connection with the administration of justice, to the greatest extent practicable; and, in connection therewith, the entrusting to Crown Counsel the conduct of all prosecutions under a tariff of fees of a reasonable but yet economical amount.

9. The dealing from time to time, by practical and progressive legislation, with all subjects affecting the advance of the

Province and the well-being of the whole community, taking advantage of the experience of the other provinces of the Dominion, and having in view the special requirements of the people of Manitoba.

CHAPTER XI.

THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION.

THE boundary between British North America and the United States was agreed upon by the Treaty of Ghent, on December 24th, 1814. On October 20th, 1818, an International Convention determined the geographical boundary, and a joint commission was appointed to define it from the Atlantic Ocean westward. This commission concluded its work in 1826, at the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, where a monument was erected. During the years 1858-62, a joint commission marked the boundary from the Pacific Ocean eastward to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. In the interior of the continent, between these terminal points, the boundary remained unmarked until 1872, when the recent cession of the North-West to Canada rendered a definite boundary in the prairie region necessary. A commission was therefore appointed by each nation to work in unison in defining the line from the north-west angle, westward to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. The British Commission was composed of the following staff:

Her Majesty's Commissioner, Major Cameron, R.A.
Secretary, Captain Ward, R.E.

Chief Astronomer, Captain Anderson, R.E.

Assistant-Astronomers, Captain Featherstonhaugh, R.E., and Lieutenant Galwey, R.E.