Meanwhile, and up to 1849, the government of Vancouver's Island and the mainland of New Caledonia had been that of the great fur-trading company under its royal charter of 1670. In 1849, however, special terms were made with the company as to Vancouver Is land and it was declared a Crown colony. A governor was appointed with a council of seven members and with authority to call an assembly elected by the inhabitants. This legis lature, which first met in 1856, had full power to impose taxes and regulate affairs subject to and with the final assent of the governor. Mr. R. Blanshard was the first holder of this post, but from 1851 to 1856 the practical ruler of the country was Mr. (afterward Sir) James Douglas, a man of remarkable character and capacity, and who combined in himself the functions of chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company with those of acting — and from 1856 to 1864 actual — representative of the Crown. On 17 Nov. 1866 the mainland, which was now known as British Columbia and had been under separate government since 1858, was united with Vancouver Island. The first legislature of the united province met in Vic toria in 1868, though, as yet, it was only partially elective in composition.
Confederation with During this period the British colonies on the Atlantic and on the great lakes of British America had combined in 1867, after prolonged agitation, in a confederated system. Ambitious extension had brought them by purchase in 1869-70, the rights and territory of the Hudson's Bay Com in Rupert's Land and the western prairies. Further and greater ambition was expressed in current expectation of a trans continental line to the Pacific coast. At this point British Columbia came into consideration. Isolated behind an apparently insuperable bar rier of great mountain ranges and with vast plains stretching for 800 miles between those mountains and the outposts of Canadian civili zation, union was a dream without the prospect of a railway. With it the subject became practicable.
After much discussion of the subject throughout the province, the passing of reso lutions by the provincial legislature and pro longed consideration at Ottawa, the terms of union agreed upon included six members in the House of Commons and three in the Senate; construction, to be commenced by the Domin ion within two years, of a railway connecting eastern Canada with the Pacific coast; a land grant from the province to the Dominion gov ernment through the entire extent of British Columbia for the railway and not to exceed 20 miles on either side of the line; payment in return of $100,000 per annum to the province for the use of these lands; assumption by the Dominion of the charge of the Indians and their lands; complete responsible government and an entirely elective assembly to be estab lished in the province whenever desired by the people. In November 1870 a provincial election was held and the terms of union approved. The new legislature met on 5 Jan. 1871, the proposals were unanimously ratified and, on 20 Jan. 1872, British Columbia entered confedera tion. The constitution was then reorganized upon a popular basis and in 1871 the elections under the new system took place.
Later Political Hon. J. W. Trutch was appointed the first lieutenant-gov ernor and Hon. J. F. McCreight the first Premier. Succeeding prime ministers were Amor de Cosmos, G. A. Walkem. A. C. Elliott, J. Walkem, Robert Beaven, Win. Smythe, A. E. B. Davie, John Robson, Theodore Davie, J. H. Turner, C. A. Semlin, Joseph Martin, James Dunsmuir, E. G. Prior, Richard Mc Bride, Sen. W. J. Bowser and H. C. Brewster. Following the entry into confederation came prolonged and at one time acute differences with the Ottawa government over the non completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
For some eight years, while that great under taking was in the struggling stages of inception and preliminary construction, the discontent in the province was very great.
Meantime, however, construction went on slowly and surveys continuously. The im perial authorities were appealed to and mis sions came from eastern Canada and others went to London. Finally, Lord Carnarvon, as Colonial Secretary, suggested terms of settle ment which were agreed to by both parties and which involved the construction and com pletion of the Canadian Pacific Railway by 1 Jan. 1891. It was completed in 1885. A visit of Lord Dufferin, as governor-general, to the coast in 1876 had, meantime, done much to smooth asperities and promote the settlement of this vexed and vital question.
Beyond the ordinary domestic questions, the chief political and social problem of British Columbia at the beginning of the 20th century was that of Oriental immigration. Of the 39,000 Asiatics in Canada in 1911, over 30,000 were in British Columbia, and this num ber was nearly doubled in the next four years. Most of these immigrants are men of working age, so that they would be approximately one third of the male working people. Chinese were at first admitted free by Canada. In consequence of local protest a head tax on immigrants was imposed, beginning at $100 and increased to $500. This did not diminish the movement, for in 1913, Chinese immigra tion was 7,455, but in 1915 it was stopped altogether. Incidentally this deprived the province of a revenue of $1,750,000; since one half of the tax was paid by the Dominion to the provincial treasurer. By the treaty between Great Britain and Japan, the Japanese were permitted to settle in British countries. Canada had the right to say that this agreement would not be applicable to the Dominion, but the Do minion government assented to the treaty. In 1907 Japanese arrived in large numbers; there was a strong protest in Vancouver city where a small riot occurred and damage was done to Japanese property. Afterward compensation was paid and the Canadian government entered into an arrangement with Japan under which the Japanese authorities refused permission for more than a limited number of Japanese to em igrate to Canada. A little later a considerable Hindu movement into British Columbia took place. This has been checked by regulations requiring direct sailing from India. In 1914 there was some trouble over the arrival of a shipload of Hindus arriving in violation of this arrangement, and they were returned in the same ship to India. The second decade of the century witnessed in British Columbia, as well as elsewhere in Canada, a period of eager and rapid railway construction, of speculation in real estate and of material development of many kinds. Land prices advanced rapidly, especially in cities and townsites along the lines of new and proposed railways. Reaction fol lowed, with a drop of prices and a period of financial stringency, from which in 1917 the province was rapidly recovering. At be ginning of the war in 1914 the people of British Columbia responded quickly to the call for vol unteers, and by the end of 1917, over 50,000 out of the population of 400,000 had enrolled for overseas service. See CANADA and consult works there referred to.
Bibliography.— 'Official Reports of the various Departments of the Provincial Gov 'British Columbia Year Book) (Vic toria, annually); Brown A. G., 'British Colum bia: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources) (London 1912) ' • Fairford, F., 'British Columbia) O ' b. 1914) • Gosnell, R. E, 'Year Book of British Columbia) (London) ; Thornhill, J. B., 'British Columbia in the Mak ing) (London 1913).