pathway during the coming summer, to enable pedestrians to explore without danger. The usual repairs have been made where damage has been caused by freshets, and paths have been constructed to leading points of attraction, and rustic seats placed at convenient intervals. Upon the commencement of winter the dead and fallen timber were cleared away, and permits granted for cutting and removing. poles to be shipped for prairie fencing. Partly owing to a late spring and frequent showers, as well as to the removal of dead timber, no fires have occurred during the year. At the cave and basin some much needed improvements have been made. The floor of the basin, which had become rough and dangerous to bathers, has been repaired by the use of good gravel; and a good water-closet has been constructed at the building, with pipes so arranged as to make it self-cleansing. Notwithstanding the overflow of the river the Park meadows yielded a good crop of hay, and there is no doubt now as to the value of these meadows, The past season shows a decrease in the number of visitors to the hotel, the sanitarium, and the cave and basin, as compared with last year. This decrease is owing to the exaggerated exports as to the small-pox epidemic in British Columbia and Alberta, which were effectually used by United States rival railway companies to divert traffic from the Canadian Pacific Railway. Many persons, however, have written to say that they had postponed their visit so as to take in the World's Fair during the same season. The total number of visitors for the year was 5,394, which, although much less than last year, is greater than that of any other previous year. With the disappearance of small-pox and the expected rush to the great Fair, there is every prospect of a large number of visitors at the Park in 1893. It is contemplated to continue the construction of more bridle-paths so as give further access to the yet unexplored beauties of the Park; and also to make improvements on the Devil's Lake for the preservation of the smaller fish, and for the better navigation of the lake. The usual record of meteorological observations is appended to the report, but without any of the changes which I recommended last year in view of the natural advantages of the Park and its importance as a health resort. SCHOOL LANDS. After careful consideration of the long standing question of the illegal occupation. and cultivation of school lands in Manitoba, it was decided that, except in certain special cases, for which it is proposed to seek remedy by legislation, the only way of protecting the interests of the school endowment, and of preventing at the same time any unnecessary hardship to those squatters who in ignorance of the law had settled upon these lands, would be to offer at public auction all the quartersections of school lands which, to the knowledge of the department, are illegally, occupied, so as to afford the squatters an opportunity of purchasing, and after such sale to take action against all those who failed to avail themselves of the chance thus afforded them of acquiring the land, and yet persisted in their illegal occupation and cultivation. Notices were accordingly published in the Manitoba and other newspapers during the past summer, warning squatters of the action proposed to be taken. At the close of the season lists were prepared from the reports of the school lands inspector, and from the applications received from time to time comprising those quarter-sections shown to be illegally occupied, and also those for which applications had been made, and which were valued at not less than $5.00 per acre, the upset price being determined in each case, not only after actual inspection of the land by a properly qualified officer of the department, but also upon an independent valuation by a competent appraiser. With the consent of the Governor in Council the dates and places of sale were fixed as follows, due public notice of which was given in the newspapers, and also by posters widely distributed, viz. :— Morden, 25th January, 1893; Pilot Mound, 27th January, 1893; Deloraine, 30th January, 13; Glenboro', 2nd February, 1893; Minnedosa, 8th February, 1893; Portage la 1rairie, 11th February, 1893; Brandon, 14th February, 1893; Winnipeg, 16th February, 1893. The returns of these sales have not yet been received and therefore the result cannot be embodied in this report. No auction sales of school lands have been held in the North-west Territories during the past year. Following is a statement of the school lands accounts for the twelve months ending the 31st of December, 1892: Balance 31st December, 1891.... Sales, 12 months ending 31st December, 1892. Timber dues, hay, &c., 12 months ending 31st December, 1892. Cost of management at Ottawa, 12 months, to 31st December, 1892. Expenses, being examinations, valuations, auctioneers' fees, printing, advertising, &c. Interest paid to the Manitoba Government to 30th June, 1892. The usual statement of receipts is submitted, showing the revenue from 1st July, 1872, to 30th June, 1892. to learn that their knowledge and experience lead them invar steads for themselves in either Manitoba or the North-west T I am led to make these observations by the fact that farthing of the advance made to these people has been repaic. $96,400 of principal money borrowed, but $33,986.53 of int e last ¡y the ing a land by a properly qualified officer of the department, but also upon an independent tement of receipts is submitted, showing the revenue from 1st 0th June, 1892. THE MENNONITE LOAN. Early in 1872, shortly after the transfer of the North-west to Canada, when the Government began to look abroad for settlers to turn our great inheritance of prairie into practical use as a field for settlement, attention was called to the fact that an isolated people in Russia, the German Mennonites, a race of farmers, were casting their eyes to the far west, looking for just such a place as we had, and with their wives and little ones to be able to live in peace and quietness, which was no longer to be vouchsafed them by the Government of the Czar. An agent was sent to Russia to confer with these people, and they were requested to send delegates to Manitoba, persons from among themselves in whom they had confidence, to see the country and judge of its resources. This they did in 1872 and in 1873, with the result that in 1874 a large number of families came out and settled in what is known as the Eastern Reserve, a few miles south-east of Winnipeg. These were fairly well supplied with money, and therefore able to settle without assistance; but there were hundreds of others desirous of following who were deterred from the fear of being stranded in a strange country without the means of settling on land. At this juncture, the Waterloo Society was formed, consisting of about 150 wellto-do Canadians farmers of German extraction, in the county of Waterloo, Ontario, who offered themselves and their farms to the Government as security for the repayment of any money which the Government might be pleased to advance by way of a loan to these people, to assist them in settling in Manitoba. On the strength of this security, the Government advanced a principal sum of $96,400, on the understanding that no part of either the principal or the interest was to be collected until the Mennonites to whom the advance was made had been able to get a fair start in their new homes. This branch of the Mennonite colony settled in townships immediately north of the International Boundary, lying between the Red River on the east, and the Pembina Mountain on the west. At that time it was a treeless prairie, rich, with the exception of timber, in everything which contributes to make agricultural land desirable for settlement. The settlement of this reserve was commenced in 1875, and for the first few years the area brought under cultivation was small, the labour in preparing shelter for the winter and the difficulty in getting supplies of all kinds being very great. The first year's crop was injured by grasshoppers, and the two or three subsequent crops by excessive rains, but the people never lost heart. Each year saw new additions to their numbers, and a larger area under cultivation. Their villages increased in size and numbers, they built roads and bridges, and generally each season witnessed such an advance compared with the previous one that to-day what was 17 years ago a treeless prairie without a solitary settler is now perhaps the most thickly populated piece of farming country in the whole North-west. Not only, moreover, is it thickly populated but it has begun to overflow. A new generation of Canadian birth has grown up, with a thorough knowledge of the climate and language of the country and the agricultural methods best suited to the soil; and it is very pleasing to learn that their knowledge and experience lead them invariably to look for homesteads for themselves in either Manitoba or the North-west Territories. I am led to make these observations by the fact that during the year the last farthing of the advance made to these people has been repaid, including not only the $96,400 of principal money borrowed, but $33,986,53 of interest as well, making a |