THE session of 1874 was the last of the 23rd Legislature of New Brunswick. The Lieutenant Governor in his speech was able to announce the settlement of the export duty for the sum of $150,000 a year to be paid by the Dominion Government to the Province. New Brunswick had exacted an export duty on certain kinds of lumber prior to Confederation, but this impost was contrary to the policy of the Dominion Government, to which all matters connected with the customs had been relegated by the British North America Act. This payment of $150,000 a year to the Province, was considered a fair equivalent for the abandoned export duties which would certainly have increased largely with the increased lumber trade. The Governor was also able to announce that under the new arrangement made with the Dominion Government, New Brunswick had been allowed an increase of debt equal to an income of $58,000 a year. It was also stated that the Province had other claims against the Dominion which it was hoped would be adjusted at a future day. Some of these claims, such as those arising out of the Eastern Extension Railway, were greatly delayed in the settlement and did not mature for many years.

The resolutions moved by Mr. Costigan in the Dominion House of Commons, in regard to the Schools of New Brunswick, naturally attracted much attention, and a resolution moved by the Hon. Mr. Wedderburn condemning the interference of the Dominion Parliament with the rights of New Brunswick with regard to its schools was carried by a large majority, only thirteen members voting against it. It was significant of the temper of the times and the feeling of the people, that of these thirteen, nine lost their seats at the general election a few months later.

An important bill of the session was one to subsidize certain railways to the extent of $5,000 a mile. This followed the same lines of the measure passed in 1863, under which Western Extension and other railways were built. Under the measure of 1874, the Grand Southern, the Canada Eastern, the New Brunswick Central, the Hampton and St. Martins, the Cape Tormentine, the Kent Northern, the Caraquet, the Elgin and Petitcodiac, and other lines, were constructed. Altogether 425 miles of new railway were built under this new Act, all of which served a useful purpose for the development of the Province.

The House was dissolved on the 15th of May, 1874, and the elections took place in June. The only question before the people was the School Law and the result was, that out of a House of 41 members only five opponents of the law were returned. These were Messrs. Burns and Blanchard of Gloucester, Messrs. O'Leary and Johnston of Kent and Mr. Theriault of Madawaska. This was a notable triumph for the free non-sectarian school system.

When the Legislature met in the early part of 1875, the Hon. Mr. King, who had borne the weight of the election contest and whose hustings speech at St. John largely contributed to the victory, was able to announce the complete success of his policy. After such a decided declaration of the views of the people, there could be no room for any further doubt as to the success of free schools. Unfortunately, in January, prior to the meeting of the Legislature, a riot, arising out of the School Law had taken place in Caraquet, involving loss of life and making it necessary to send a military force to that place to protect life and property. This riot cost the Province about $20,000 in military and legal expenses.

Among the other Acts of the session was one introduced by the Hon. Mr. King changing the basis of assessment. This Act is still in force. An Act was also passed to authorize the sale of the St. John Suspension Bridge for $65,000. This bridge had been built by a private company more than 20 years before, and was the only toll bridge in the Province. It was thought that it should be acquired by the Government and made free, and this was done under the Act referred to. Another important bill of the session was one relating to Agriculture. Up to that time all affairs connected with Agriculture had been under the direction of a Board composed of about twenty members not all of whom were farmers. It cannot be said that the work done by this Board was very efficient, so the Government passed an Act placing the control of agricultural matters into the hands of the Executive and providing for a Secretary for Agriculture, who should do the work under their direction. This arrangement continued for about twenty-five years when a Department of Agriculture was created under the control of a member of the Government.

Another bill which was passed at this session and which had been much heard of in former years was one incorporating the Orange Order. This measure had been passed in 1874, but had been defeated in the Legislative Council. It was now carried in the House by a vote of 27 to 11 and this time the Council accepted it and it became law. A vote was also taken at this session in the House of Assembly on a resolution moved by one of the members for St. John in favor of a union of the Maritime Provinces. It was defeated by a vote of 25 to 10. This was a matter that had sprung up frequently in the Legislature, and in 1864, delegates had actually been appointed to represent New Brunswick in a Conference of the three Maritime Provinces to arrange for terms of union. These negotiations were put an end to by the arrival at Charlottetown of representatives of the Government of Canada, who were sent to endeavor to arrange a Confederation of all the Provinces. Nevertheless the Maritime Union has been frequently discussed since Confederation, and some public men have expatiated on its advantages, on the ground that it would give more weight to the influence of the Maritime Provinces, if they were united. Still there are such wide differences in the interests of the 2u three Maritime Provinces, that it is extremely doubtful if Maritime Union will ever be accepted by all the three provinces interested.

Up to the year 1875, only three of the Counties of the Province had been incorporated. These were York, Carleton, and Sunbury, which had been created Municipalities under a permissive Act. in 1875, Northumberland and Gloucester were created Municipalities by Acts of the Legislature, and Moncton, which was becoming a railway centre, was incorporated as a town. The people were becoming tired of the old system of government by the sessions, and the time was approaching when all the counties would be converted into Municipalities, and the administration of their affairs brought into the direct control of the people. The same idea was presently to be carried out in the government of smaller communities, so that at the present time nearly all the towns in the Province have become incorporated.

The principal topic mentioned in the speech of the Governor during the legislative session of 1876, was improvements which had been effected by the Provincial Government in the importation of stock for the benefit of the farmer. In 1875, upwards of 75 head of cattle of improved breeds, were imported, and also a number of horses. This policy has been followed up by successive Governments ever since with excellent results. At this session of the Legislature, a resolution was passed authorizing the erection of a new Normal School building at Fredericton, for the purpose of accommodating the large number of students which were expected to be enrolled under the new school law.

The years from 1870 to 1876 were a period of decided progress in railway development. In 1870, a line of railway was completed from St. John to Fredericton, and in 1871, St. John, by means of the Western Extension Railway, was connected with Bangor and the railway system of the United States. In 1873 connection was made with Halifax, and in 1876 St. John and Halifax, by means of the Intercolonial Railway, were connected with Quebec. The completing of the Intercolonial Railway, which united the Maritime Provinces with Quebec and Ontario, was regarded as a notable achievement and great hopes were founded upon it and its effect on the commerce of the country. Unfortunately the route of the railway was not such as to insure the best results for New Brunswick. Immediately after confederation a survey was ordered under the management of Sanford Fleming, for the purpose of deciding upon the best route for the Intercolonial through New Brunswick. At that time there was a line from Halifax to Truro which afterwards became a part of the Intercolonial, and there was also a line from St. John to Shediac which was absorbed into the Intercolonial at a later period. From this line, which crossed the country from East to West, there were three available routes, the North Shore route, which was the one finally adopted, the central route which would go through the centre of the Province in the same manner as the Grand Trunk Pacific, and the St. John River Valley route which would follow the river on the West side from St, John to Grand Falls. The people of St. John were naturally very anxious that the latter route should be adopted, while the people of Halifax were just as strongly the other way. The chief engineer, Mr. Fleming, decided in favor of the North Shoie route, and even proposed to carry the railway round by Baie Verte, thus avoiding Dorchester, Sackville and Amherst, through which a line was being built prior to Confederation. Finally this line, which was known by the name of the Eastern Extension, was finally adopted as a part of the Intercolonial railway, but not until the Dominion Government had made hard terms with the Province, which involved a considerable loss on its cost. The Eastern Extension claims of New Brunswick were not settled until thirty years had elapsed from the time when the location of the line was decided upon. The route of the Intercolonial as settled by the Dominion Government, gave St. John a very slight advantage over Halifax in the matter of distance. One of the great arguments for the construction of the Intercolonial was, that it would bring the products of the West to the ports of the Maritime Provinces, and make these ports the winter ports of Canada, in the place of Portland, Maine, which had been adopted by the Grand Trunk Railway long before Confederation. These hopes, however, were doomed to be disappointed. Although the Government of Canada had built an elevator at Halifax for the shipping of grain, it was not used, the distance between Halifax and Montreal being so much greater than the distance from Portland to Montreal. Portland continued to be the terminus of the Canadian Mail boats up to the year 1897.

When the people of St. John discovered that they were not likely to derive any benefit from the Intercolonial Railway, an agitation was commenced for the building of a shorter line to Quebec, down the St. John River Valley. This was the origin of the New Brunswick Railway which was built from Gibson opposite Fredericton to Edmunston. The Legislature, to encourage the building of this road, gave the Company which built it, a subsidy of 10,000 acres a mile. This was a very improvident grant, but it is only fair to those who voted for the grant to say that no one had any idea at that time, that our timber lands would ever be as valuable as they have since become. Prior to that time, large areas of timber land had been sold by the Province to lumbermen for as low a price as 50 cents an acre? so that the grant for 10,000 acres a mile at that time did not seem excessive. The hopes that were founded on the construction of this railway proved to be fallacious. The line did not go beyond Edmundston, leaving a gap of 80 miles between that place and Riviere Du Loup. At a later period this line was built to Riviere Du Loup by another Company, but it has never had any effect on through traffic between St. John and Quebec or Montreal. The New Brunswick Railway was acquired by the Canadian Pacific and is now a part of that great railway, but as the Short Line gives a shorter route to St. John from Montreal, it is not needed at present as a through line. The time may come when it will be made available, should the narrow policy of the Government of the United States abolish the bonding privilege by which Canadian goods are carried through that territory.

There were two sessions of the Legislature in 1877, the first being in February, and the second on the 28th August. In the meantime had occurrred the great St. John fire, which destroyed two-thirds of the buildings in that city, consumed ten miles of streets, and brought financial ruin to hundreds. This calamity which occurred on the 20th of June, destroyed upwards of 1,600 houses, turned 15,000 people out of doors, and burnt up about thirty million dollars worth of property. It consumed the mercantile stocks of every kind, in the city, leaving St. John without sufficient food to sustain the people for more than a day or two. Nearly every shop in the city was destroyed. All the newspapers were burned up ; in fact, the destruction could hardly be more complete. Many lives were lost. The whole water front on the eastern side of the city, with its wharves, was burned over, and many vessels which were lying at them were destroyed. This calamity as soon as it became known, appealed to the charitable instincts of the whole world. Large sums of money, cargoes of supplies and car loads of bread-stuffs, furniture and clothing were sent to St. John from the cities of the United States and other portions of Canada. Later, large donations of money were received from the United Kingdom. The Dominion Government gave a donation of $20,000, and all the cities of Western Canada contributed liberally. A relief and aid society was formed in St. John, under the presidency of the Mayor, S. X. Earle, M. D., and this organization had the valuable advice and assistance of Mr. C. G. Trusdell, the general Superintendent of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, who was sent down to St. John for that purpose. This society relieved the necessities at once and has ever since been in operation, for the purpose of assisting those who were ruined by the fire and who, from age or other causes, were unable to recover their former conditions. As it was evident that the fire had been largely due to the imperfect manner in which St. John was built, and especially to the existence of so many houses with shingled roofs, it became necessary to enact legislation to control the rebuilding of the city. The August session of the Legislature only sat for nine days, but it accomplished its work by limiting the height of wooden houses and by defining the bounds of the territory in which only brick or stone houses were to be built. For the two years following the fire, St. John was a very busy place, for the owners of property were all engaged in rebuilding and laborers from all over America came to assist. The new St. John was a much handsomer city than its predecessor, but in many cases, it was found that the new buildings were larger than the needs of trade required, and the business centre of the city had to a large extent been changed, some streets being deserted, while others had reaped the benefit of the altered conditions. The fire naturally retarded the growth of the city, for the destruction of so much capital could not be readily replaced. As St. John is the principal market of the Province, this calamity^which arrested its growth, was felt all over New Brunswick, especially in the river counties, and in the County of Kings and will account for the stationary character of the population at the following census.

A number of important changes took place on the eve of the election of 1878. The Premier, the Hon. George E. King, resigned on the 4th of May, and the Hon. John J. Fraser, who had been Provincial Secretary, became Premier and Attorney General. The Hon. Wm. M. Kelly, who had been the Chief Commissioner of Public Works for ten years, resigned that office and became a member of the Legislative Council. He was succeeded as Commissioner by P. A. Landry. William Wedder-burn, who had been Speaker, became Provincial Secretary, and Michael Adams, Surveyor General, the Hon. B. R. Stevenson having resigned that office, to become Speaker of the House. D. L. Hanington became a member of the Executive without office. These changes brought a large amount of new blood into the Government, but did not involve any special change in policy.