statement of accounts. The books and accounts of the society shall be open to the inspection of any member or person having an interest in the funds of the society at all reasonable times.

(7) The council.-In addition to the committee, there may be a council of control consisting of at least six members, who shall not be members of the committee, likewise elected semiannually by the members at the general meeting. Its members shall receive no salary or remuneration. The council shall have free access to all accounts, documents, minutes, and other records of business done on behalf of the society. It shall meet at least once every three months to audit the accounts, review the business transacted by the committee, satisfy itself that all rules have been complied with, and discharge duties to be named hereafter. The council shall annually report to the general meeting, and may, in cases which appear to it to demand urgency, call an extraordinary general meeting to lay any matter before it. (8) Officers of the society.-The committee may appoint a secretary and also a treasurer, who shall both be liable to dismissal by the same authority. The same person may discharge both offices, and as treasurer may, with the approval of the general meeting, draw a salary. But the treasurer shall not in any case be a member either of the committee or of the council, or have a vote affecting the disposal of money. At the discretion of the committee, the treasurer shall be required to

find security or sureties.

(9) Election, retirement, and expulsion of members.—Application for membership shall be made to the committee. In the event of the committee refusing election, an appeal shall lie to the next general meeting. A member may withdraw, upon three months' notice, provided that he has satisfied all claims in respect either of money or of suretyship which the society may have against him; but such withdrawal shall not take effect in respect of the member's liability to make contributions under rule I, until twelve months thereafter. A member having, in the opinion of the society, committed any action calculated to injure the society, may, upon proper notice given to every member, be expelled by resolution of a general meeting of members summoned a fortnight before the day of meeting. A member leaving the district shall cease to be a member of the society upon discharging all claims which the society have against him. Members expelled from the society, or retiring by leaving the district, or by notice, shall lose their right of voting as soon as the expulsion or retirement takes effect, but shall remain liable for any claims which the society may have against them.

(10) Loans.-Any member desiring a loan shall make his request in writing to the committee, stating the object for which the loan is required, the term for which it is asked, and also the security which he is prepared to offer. The committee shall consider the application at its next meeting, but shall be entitled to reserve its decision for inquiries. If satisfied of the trustworthiness of the applicant, of the sufficiency of the security offered-whether by surety only or by some additional pledge or guaranty-and of the profitableness, by productiveness or saving, of the employment, it shall be empowered to grant the loan, against note of hand or otherwise, and for any length of time which may appear to be requisite for the purpose, within the limits permitted by the general meeting; provided always that loans granted for periods longer than a year shall be repayable by regular installments of equal amount. In the event of a loan being applied for of a larger figure or for a longer term than the general meeting has given the committee authority to agree to on its own responsibility, the committee shall have power to refer the case to the council (or the general meeting) and with its sanction to grant the loan. The committee shall have power to secure the society in respect of loans granted in any manner which it may deem desirable under the circumstances, such as a stipulation that a beast or animal purchased with the money borrowed shall be

insured in such society as it may approve, and that the borrower shall be bound on every demand to satisfy the society or its officers that the money borrowed has been employed in the way agreed upon, by producing the beast or article purchased, or supplying any other proof which the society may hold to be sufficient. It shall be the duty of the council to ascertain from time to time if the rules here laid down have been complied with, to inquire into the position of borrowers and their sureties, alike as regards solvency and trustworthiness, and to satisfy itself if the assets of the society continue good. Should it find that the security has deteriorated in respect of any claim against a member, it shall be its duty at once to call for additional security, and, if that be not forthcoming, to report the case to the general meeting or else to call in the loan without delay and secure the society in such a way as it may find practicable. More particularly shall it be the duty of the council to satisfy itself, by means of the powers referred to above, that loans granted to members are employed in the manner agreed upon, and, should it find that this is not the case, it is at once to demand repayment of the entire loan, with all interest due, within four weeks, making the sureties answerable, if necessary, or satisfying itself from the security in its possession. Borrowers shall in any case be required to pay interest punctually at the periods fixed, and shall be punishable for any default in respect either of interest or of principal with a fine, to be fixed by the general meeting; and upon such default may, at the discretion of the committee (subject to an appeal to the council), be required forthwith to repay the loan. In cases of repeated defaults the council shall have power to move the expulsion of the defaulting member under rule 9.

(11) Reserve fund.-The entire surplus accruing after defrayal of expenses shall be carried to reserve, which reserve shall not in any case become divisible among members. The reserve fund shall, however, be available, if the general meeting so decide by special resolution, due notice being given to every member at least a clear fortnight before, for making good deficits which may occur.

(12) Deposits.-The society shall have power to receive deposits from members not exceeding two-thirds of the total sum for the time being due the society from members who have borrowed, and pay interest upon them at such rates as the general meeting shall authorize. It shall not, however, be held pledged to absolute secrecy under penalty of a fine to be fixed by the general meeting, not exceeding ———. (13) Property of the society.-All the properties, both real and personal, acquired on behalf of the society are vested in the society, and the society may contract and sue as a corporation.

(14) Audit of accounts.-The committee of management shall once at least in every year submit the accounts, together with a general statement of the same and all necessary vouchers up to the 31st of December then last, for audit, to the public auditor appointed under the act, and to two or more persons appointed as auditors by the members at a meeting.

(15) Dissolution of the society.-The society may at any time be dissolved by voluntary proceedings where the members of a solvent society desire to wind up business, or by order of court in the case of an insolvent society.

PROJECTED RAILWAYS IN MANITOBA.

I have the honor to report that, judging by present indications, there will be great activity in railroad building in Manitoba this. season, and that this will be a fruitful field for contractors and dealers in railroad materials. During the recent session of the

Manitoba legislative assembly, several important measures were enacted, designed to aid and encourage railroad building, and as a result some 500 miles of road will be constructed in the near future, about one-half during the present year. One line to which aid was extended is the Manitoba and Southeastern, running from the city of Winnipeg to the Lake of the Woods, or to the mouth of the Rainy River. This line is located to a point 80 miles southeast of Winnipeg, and will be completed that far this summer. From that point it will either cross the Lake of the Woods at the Narrows, or pass around the south end of the lake to the mouth of Rainy River, as may be shown to be the most feasible by surveys. If the latter course is adopted, the road will run 35 or 40 miles through the State of Minnesota. This road is designed to be part of a line connecting Winnipeg with the waters of Lake Superior, and when completed to Rainy River will, in connection with roads now in operation, lack but about 60 miles of making another all-rail route to the lake.

Another line of road to be built runs from the town of Sifton, on the line of the Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company's road, generally known as the Lake Dauphin Road, north to the Saskatchewan River, a distance of about 250 miles. This is another link added to the long-contemplated "Hudson Bay Road," which will undoubtedly be completed to the bay in the near future.

Both these lines of road run through good agricultural lands for the greater part of their course, but they will also open up large bodies of timber and mineral lands of immense value. On both of these lines the Province of Manitoba guarantees the payment of principal and interest of their first mortgage bonds to the amount of $8,000 per mile and exempts the railroad properties from taxation for the term of thirty years. This aid is given in addition to liberal land grants and subsidies heretofore voted to these roads by the Dominion Government.

The provincial legislature also voted a subsidy of $1,750 per mile and a lump sum of $20,000 to the Northern Pacific Railway Company for an extension of their Brandon branch from the town of Belmont to Hartney, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, a distance of about 50 miles. This last-mentioned line is in the southwestern part of this Province (Manitoba) and runs through as fine a belt of wheat land as can be found on the continent. These several lines, converging as they do at the city of Winnipeg, will be of great value to the city and will materially assist in promoting its prosperity, as well as that of the Province of Manitoba.

WINNIPEG, April 30, 1898.

WM. H. H. GRAHAM,

Consul.

RAILWAYS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Consul-General Stowe transmits from Cape Town, under date of April 18, 1898, the following letter in response to a request for information from a railway journal of New York:*

The steam railways in South Africa are as follows:

The Cape Government Railways. General manager, C. B. Elliott, Cape Town.

The Orange Free State Railways. Director-general, E. R. Brounger, Bloemfontein.

The Netherlands South African Railway Company. Managing director, G. A. A. Middelberg, Pretoria.

The Natal Government Railways. General manager, D. Hunter, Durban, Natal.

The Bechuanaland Railway Company, Limited. Secretary, J. A. Stevens, Cape Town.

The Indwe Railway Company. Managing director, Colonel Schermbrucker, Cape Town.

The New Cape Central Railway Company. Agent, Sir Thomas Scanlen, Cape Town.

The Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway (in construction). manager, G. Mayo, Pretoria.

General

Sec

The Grand Junction Railways, Limited (in construction).

retary, S. Tonkin, Cape Town.

Kowie Railway Syndicate.
Portuguese Railways, Mozambique.

Manager, H. Putt, Grahamstown.
Engineer director, C. Al-

bers, Lorenzo Marquez, East Africa.

Particulars of the Cape Government Railways I have pleasure in appending, but for details as to the other railways mentioned I must refer to the principal officers named in each.

The principal officers of the Cape Government Railways, besides the general manager, are: Engineer-in-chief, John Brown, Cape Town; chief locomotive superintendent, H. M. Beatty, Salt River; chief traffic manager, T. R. Price, Cape Town; financial secretary, James Easton, Cape Town; accounting officer, A. J. Robb, Cape Town; chief railway storekeeper, W. Sinclair, Cape Town; agent general in London, Sir David Tennant, Westminster; commercial agent in New York, M. Berliner, Whitehall street.

The Cape Government Railways are divided into the following four systems:

Western system, 592 miles open, from Cape Town to De Aar,

* ADVANCE SHEETS of report have been sent to the journal.

including the Malmesbury, Sir Lowrys Pass, Wynberg, and Simonstown branches.

Midland system, 704 miles, from Port Elizabeth to De Aar, including the Grahamstown and Colesberg branches.

Eastern system, 331 miles, from East London to Bethulie Bridge, including the King Williams Town and Aliwal North branches. Northern system, 273 miles, from De Aar to Vryburg; principal station, Kimberley; no branches.

There are at present no lines under construction by the Government or by contractors on behalf of the Government. Several routes are, or have been lately, under survey; but I am not at present in a position to say anything as to the prospects of building.

COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS IN CAPE COLONY.

DOCK FACILITIES.

There appears to be a feeling among some, at least, of the export commission houses in the United States, that unnecessary delay in unloading vessels sailing from the United States is caused by partiality on the part of the dock authorities.

I have been unable to discover, after much inquiry among merchants who buy American goods, that delay in unloading is caused by any favoritism; it is rather due to inadequate dock facilities. I am pleased to report that these have been materially improved. New and commodious docks are being built, with large warehouses thereon. Several traction engines have been purchased, each capable of hauling heavily loaded drays or wagons. I therefore believe that the complaints mentioned will soon be of the past.

steamers that Coal of good

All coal used in this colony and on several lines of touch here is brought from Cardiff, South Wales. quality has been found here, and 200 tons per day is now being delivered in Cape Town. If, on full trial, this coal proves to have the necessary steaming qualities, the present dock, with the extensions now in course of erection, will be more than ample. Vessels that are now obliged to go out in ballast can then load with coal if they wish to enter other ports, which will be a source of revenue not only to the colony, but to the owners of vessels as well; and freight rates, which are now based on outward cargo alone, can then be reduced on part at least of the homeward cargo.

Again, the difference in the price of coal will be of advantage to owners of vessels homeward bound. Seven dollars and twenty-five cents per ton is the present price of Cardiff coal, against $4.12 per ton for Cape Colony coal, which will lessen as the output increases.