it to supply their local needs, and there is a
tendency, especially pronounced in Ontario on account of the excellence
of her municipal system, to devolve the burden of educational payments,
and others more properly provincial, upon the municipal authorities on
the plea of decentralization.

_Commerce and Manufactures._--Since 1867 the opening up of the fertile
lands in the north-west, the increase of population, the discovery of
new mineral fields, the construction of railways and the great
improvement of the canal system have changed the conditions, methods and
channels of trade. The great extension during the same period of the use
of water-power has been of immense importance to Canada, most of the
provinces possessing numerous swift-flowing streams or waterfalls,
capable of generating a practically unlimited supply of power.

In 1878 the introduction of the so-called "National Policy" of
protection furthered the growth of manufactures. Protection still
remains the trade policy of Canada, though modified by a preference
accorded to imports from Great Britain and from most of the British
colonies. The tariff, though moderate as compared with that of the
United States, amounted in 1907 to about 28% on dutiable imports and to
about 16% on total imports. Tentative attempts at export duties have
also been made. Inter-provincial commerce is free, and the home market
is greatly increasing in importance. The power to make commercial
treaties relating to Canada rests with the government of Great Britain,
but in most cases the official consent of Canada is required, and for
many years no treaty repugnant to her interests has been signed. The
denunciation by the British government in 1897 of commercial treaties
with Belgium and Germany, at the request of Canada, was a striking proof
of her increasing importance, and attempts have at various times been
made to obtain the full treaty-making power for the federal government.
The great proportion of the foreign trade of the Dominion is with the
United States and Great Britain. From the former come most of the
manufactured goods imported and large quantities of raw materials; to
the latter are sent food-stuffs. Farm products are the most important
export, and with the extension of this industry in the north-west
provinces and in northern Ontario will probably continue to be so. Gold,
silver, copper and other minerals are largely exported, chiefly in an
unrefined state and almost