THE OMINECA MINER, ‘SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1916.

The Omineca Miner

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT HAZELTON,. THE CENTER OF THE
’ Great OmmNeCA DISTRICT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

A. R. Macdonald, Publisher and Proprietor. |

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada and British Possessions, Two Dollars a
year; Foreign, Three Dollars a year, - .

ADVERTISING RATES: Display, $2.50 per inch per month; Reading
Notices, 20 cents per line for each insertion... Legal notices inserted at B, C.
Gazette rates.

VoL. Vv. = SaTurDay, JUNE 3, 1916. No. 40
ALL SOLDIERS MAY VOTE

No British Columbian now with the colors, whether still in the
province, stationed with any-.corps anywhere in Canada or the
world, in England or the front, will be deprived of his right of the
franchise at the coming provincial elections. By the terms of a bill
introduced in the legislature by Premier Bowser the necessary
machinery for taking the votes of the men who have enlisted is
provided.

The short title of the bill i is the “Military Forces Voting Act.”

_It provides that every male British subject serving in the. military
forces of Canada or in any corps attached thereto, raised for service
in the present war, who has fesided in any electoral district in the

_provinee for not less than one month,or who resided in the province
for six months immediately preceding the date on which he left the
province for the purpose of enlisting and within such six months
resided in any ‘electoral district for not less than one month, shall
be entitled to vote.

Immediately candidates are nominated in the various ridings,
the names, addresses, and description of such candidates will be
cabled to the agent-generat at London, who will have the necessary

ballot papers printed and name presiding officers for the holding of | it.

a poll at each military camp, at each hospital or convalescent home
ip England where British Columbia men on service are stationed.
For men in Canada and Bermuda the Heutenant - governor-in-
zouncil will appoiné the presiding officers to take the vote. in the
case of the men actually within the fighting zones, the practicability
or otherwise ‘of taking the vote will be passed upon by the war
office, and, if found practieable, arrangements will be made by the
agent-general.

- Each man applying for a ballot paper, upon taking the declara-
ation accompanying it, will be allowed to cast a ballot in respect of
the electoral district in which he, upon the facts disclosed in the
affidavit, is entitled to vote. There will be no question of whether
the man was on the voters’ list. The presiding officers will seal up
the ballots and return them to the agent-general.

In order that every soldier may have an opportunity of voting,
the present elections act is now amended ‘by a bill, whereby the
customary period between nomination day and election day will be
extended six weeks. At the end of six weeks, which will be the
date of election day in this province, the poll will close so far as the
candidates are concerned. - As regards the prohibition and woman
suffrage referenda, the time for the soldiers’ vote (for those otttside

the province) will be extended to the end of the year.

As soon as the votes ‘are counted at London hy the agent-
‘general in London, he will cable the results and they ‘will be made
public. Similar returns will be received from various camps
elsewhere in Canada or Bermuda, where men entitled to vote have
done 8, 2... ”

- There will be scratineers for the oldiers’ vote, ‘two appointed
by the government and two by the leader of the opposition, as well
as two by .Whatever other political pavty desires it, one of such
scrutineers to officiate at London and one at Victoria. The ballet
papers will be forwarded by the agent-general.

- Premier. Bowser said he did not consider it necessary to justify

the government for its action in bringing down the measure. The

soldier, not only in ‘the province, but. elsewhere on service, should
‘be assured of his right bov vote. Those in the province would riot
: bé asked to go-to the expense ' ‘of. going back to” their electoral
districts, but would be permitted to vote wherever they might. be
stationed. There will be-no question of whether: the soldier i ig on
the voters’, list, : -.He.will be entitled to ‘vote’ ‘go. long as “he has
enlisted and i is in uniform, ’ That wae the premier believed, to be
the proper stand to take",
In’ the ‘working ‘out of ‘the, details of: the plan t the sovernmeit
endeavored to be as fair, ag possible without reference to political,
‘color. - The sole deaire was that no sdldier desiring to vote ahould
‘be precluded from, doing 80, ’ ‘No effort’ tas. been ‘spared’ ‘to ‘make
the ‘voting: process - ag ‘bimple: as possible; with, the: one idea of],

‘permitting: the_ ‘Boldier’- the untramméled right to “vote (AB isl):

conselence dictates,

BEEF CATTLE *
~ AND ECONOMY

“Big Falling Of In Beef
Cattle’? is. avery significant
heading on page 108 of the Agri-
cultural War Book for 1916... On
page 91 there is this paragraph
of equal significance:

‘It is in the interests of the
Empire that everything possible
should ‘be done to foster the
Canadian live stock industry. In
Canada the number of cattle is
about 6,000,000, besides 2,000,000
sheep-—a total which, having re-
gard to the population of the
Dominion, does not at present
leave a very large margin for ex-
port. With the probability of
preferential trade in food within
the Empire, there are great pos-
sibilities in the expansion of
Canadian live stock production.”

There was once an English
bishop who, being called upon to,
preach a sermon in aid of an!
orphan asylum for boys and girls,
pointed to the children arranged
in full sight of the congregation,
and, saying ““They’re there’’, left
the pulpit. The quotation of the
two foregoing paragraphs should
in like manner almost -be suffi-
cient to indicate to Canadians the
opportunity and duty that lies
before them.' There is,however,
go much matter of similar import
and pointing in the same direc-
tion in the book: that it is well
worth while to look further into
_ As to the falling off, the
statistics show that the decrease
in beef cattle during the years
extending from 1910 to 1914
totalled 992,662, or 7,388 fewer|-
thdén a million, or upwards of 23
per cent. .Meantime, the popula-
tion increased and people went
on eating as much beef as ever,
The decline in numbers of cattle

| for the Great Northern
“terior oe

by provinces was: Nova Scotia,
31,920; New Brunswick, 11,133;
Ontario, 658,919; Manitoba, 62,999;
Alberta, 293,005; British Colam-
bia, 6,149, Against these de-
creases there has to be reckoned
an increase of 26,681 in Quebec,
of 43,272 in Saskatchewan, and
of 8,400 in Prince Edward Island.
It will be noticed that the decline
was in the: provinces -nearest to
the United States and -where
packers are most in evidence..

Two morals are to be gathered
from the foregoing figures con-
sidered in conjunction with ex-
isting conditions. One is that
we must produce more, and the
other that we must eat less beef,
that is if we have any desire to
take rank as. overseas exporters
of live stock or live stock prod-
ucts of any importance. . To ac-
complish the one farmers. will
need to ‘pay additional. attention
to thejr. breeding cows and prize
them to.'a. greater. extent than
official. returna would imply they
have been doing. -In connection
with the othe, it will be‘ neces-
sary for people.to cultivate and
eat more field and garden produce,
a3 well.gs'to be more. thrifty. in
their treatment of. ‘scraps and
seemingly waste pieces, such as
bones, ‘skin and-fat.’. — They will]
need, so the War Book suggests,
to produce all:‘they can; to bay
aa little as. possible; to réplace

| meat by mall ,cheege, peng, beans,

‘Jand lentils; to’ use more veget-
ables and to. at, more: fruit, ..

[ STUART J Je MARTIN |

_ Erovinedad Aseayer .

HAZELTON . ; :

The Distributing Point |

* we

Prospectors, Miners,

Landseekers, Surveyors
and Sportsmen will find

the merchants of Ha-. |

zelton prepared to meet

‘every requirement —in

outfitand supplies, Hav-

ing been engaged for

many years in outfitting

: partiesfor the Northem,
7 Interior, Hazelton busi-
hess men are qualified

to give valuable advice |
and assistance to new-
comers. : . . mo

Hazelton j is situated at.

the confluence of the |
Bulkley and’ Skeena.:
-Tivers, a mile and a ~
. quarter from Hazelton ~
station on the Grand

Trunk Pacific railway,
--Enguies, may. be. ad-