Mining.—Up to the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century, the principal mineral production of the province of Quebec was of the non-metallic order, and in this class asbestos held first place. The annual value of asbestos production has been for some years between ten and twelve million dollars, and forms the largest percentage of the world production of that min eral. It is mined at several places on the "Serpentine Belt" of the Eastern Townships in the Appalachian region, and its manu facture into the various industrial uses as a fire-proof material is carried on on a large scale. Associated with it are deposits of chromite. In the Appalachian region, near the City of Sherbrooke, copper-sulphur ores have been mined for many years, with the production of the metal and sulphuric acid in considerable quan tities. During half a century alluvial gold has been recovered in the valley of the Chaudiere river, south of Quebec City, to a total value of two million dollars. The Laurentian Plateau has produced much mica, graphite, feldspar and magnesite. With the beginning of the second quarter of the twentieth century, however, a more important mining era opened in the Laurentian Plateau with the discoveries that the continuation of the highly mineralized rocks of Eastern Ontario (Cobalt and other areas) into Western Quebec carried important gold quartz veins of considerable ex tent and vast deposits of solid sulphides carrying copper and gold. A large smelter has been erected at Noranda to serve the interests of the Rouyn and of Temiscaming and Abitibi counties.
Good Roads Movement.—A notable feature of progress in the province of Quebec was the adoption of the Good Roads policy in the year From that year to 1928 a total sum of $83,000, 00o was expended by the Department of Roads both on highway improvement and on maintenance, in addition to which $15,000, 000 was paid by the Department of Colonisation in colonisation roads. The total length of rural roads in the province is 31,500 miles. Out of this length, 9,148 miles were permanently improved with gravel, macadam or concrete. The main trunk highway sys tem is 3,100 miles long, and is completed. All improved roads, of whatever class, are maintained in order at the expense of Government. An extensive plan of tree planting along the high ways was adopted and in 1927 the number planted was 125,000. The improved roads have proved of immense benefit to the prov ince in various ways, commercially and socially. The farmers have benefited by the more rapid carriage of milk and cream daily to the railway stations, by means of light motor-trucks, for ship ment to the cities, while the increase in the summer tourist traffic from other provinces and the United States has been enormous.
Agriculture.—The province of Quebec was long second only to the province of Ontario in agricultural production, but with the expansion of wheat-growing and mixed farming in the western provinces, Saskatchewan is now second and Quebec third in the order of Canadian farm production. Wheat is an un important crop in Quebec, and the principal field crops are hay, clover and oats. Notable progress in the production of dairy cattle has resulted in a steady increase of factory-made butter and cheese, but the most rapidly growing export business is that of cream to eastern cities of the United States. The combined butter, cheese, cream and milk production has reached an annual value of $90,000,000. The returns from farm animals average $20,000,000; poultry and eggs, $10,000,000; fruits and vegetables, $6,000,000; maple products, $5,o0o,000; tobacco, $1,500,000, and wool, $1,500,000. Honey production is also a large item. Primi tive methods of farming have largely disappeared under policy of the department of agriculture. Agricultural colleges train farm demonstrators, who are placed by the Government in every county; local clubs and associations are enabled by govern ment subsidies to purchase pure bred animals for breeding pur poses; government inspection of butter and cheese factories assists in the development of export trade; government aided com petitions in standing field crops and in well-kept farms arouse emulation, and an Order of Agricultural Merit rewards the most successful farmers.
Education.—In the province of Quebec the educational system is dual, Roman Catholic and Protestant. Cities and towns, and some rural municipalities, are erected into school municipali ties "for Catholics only" and "for Protestants only," but in the great majority of cases the school municipality consists of a whole township or parish, with the local majority (whether Catholic or Protestant) represented by five elected commissioners and the local minority, if it has "dissented," represented by three elected trustees. Each rural board may have anywhere from one or two to a dozen schools under its control. There is no minister of education, but the department of education is represented in the legislature by the provincial secretary. The non-political head of the department is the superintendent, assisted by a French secre tary and an English secretary, both of whom are deputy-ministers by law, the French secretary being responsible for Roman Catholic education and the English secretary for Protestant. The latter has the further title of director of Protestant education. The Education Act deals with all matters concerning taxation, erec tion of municipalities, election of commissioners and trustees, and civil management of school affairs generally, but it also confers powers upon the two committees of the Council of Education—a Catholic committee and a Protestant committee—in part ap pointed by the provincial Government and in part co-opted by the members. Each committee has among other powers the right to make all regulations concerning organization and administra tion of the schools under its control; for the division of the prov ince into inspection districts; for the government of normal schools; for the government of boards of examiners; for the examination of candidates for the office of school inspector; for determining the holidays to be given in schools; the approval of text-books, maps or other articles used in the schools. The regu lations of each committee, approved by order-in-council have the force of law.
The progress of education in the province of Quebec during the first quarter of the twentieth century is indicated by the growth of school population out of proportion to the increase of the general population. In 1901 the number of pupils was 315,000; in 1925, 600,000. The government aid in 1901 was $473,450; in 1925 it was $3771,317• The contributions of the ratepayers in 1901 amounted to $5,889,642; in 1925 they were $16,165,665. The contributions of independent institutions in creased in the same period from $1,280,203 to $9,043,636. Large technical schools were also built by the Government at Montreal, Quebec, Shawinigan Falls, Sherbrooke, Three Rivers and Hull. There are four universities in the province. Two are Roman Catholic : Laval at Quebec and the University of Montreal at Montreal; McGill University at Montreal is non-sectarian and the Bishop's University at Lennoxville is Anglican. Under the Protestant system of the province there are 3 classes of school: elementary with 7 grades; intermediate with 9 grades, and high schools with 11 grades. The Roman Catholic system has 2 classes of school : primary elementary and primary complementary. There are sixteen Roman Catholic normal schools. The training of the Protestant teachers is conducted at the School for Teachers at Macdonald college, founded by the late Sir William Macdonald, and now affiliated with McGill university.
Political Change.—In August, a provincial election was sen sational in its results. The Conservatives led by Maurice Du plessis won 75 out of 90 seats in the legislature. Premier Adelard Godbout and the Liberals—who had been in power as a party for 39 years—were left in a minority of 15. A factor in the result was alleged irregularities during the long Liberal regime.
(J. C. Su.)