January 10, 1868

COST OF ONTARIO ELECTION

Hon. Matthew C. Cameron (Provincial Secretary) tabled a return in the Legislature yesterday showing that the Government paid a total of $26,347.18 in the operation of the late provincial election. The individual payments to returning officers around the province ranged from $200 to $806 with the largest sum being paid once each to the returning officers in Addington and North Simcoe.

COLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD

A report from the Québec Gazette shows that the month just closed was the coldest yet experienced in many years and by a significant amount with a mean temperature of 5.4 degrees, compared to December of 1866 (the warmest in recent memory) which had a mean temperature of 21.2 degrees. Despite the variance the mean temperature for the entire years of both 1866 and 1867 was an identical 40.7.

Since 1860 the annual mean temperature at Québec has varied only slightly from a low of 40.2 in 1861 to a high of 41.3 in 1864.

These figures are provided by Mr. Heatley of the Québec Observatory.

WAGES DECLINING

The Hamilton Evening Times reports that wages in the mechanical branches of industry in both England and the United States are declining owing to a slow down in available work. Manufactory owners are contracting work hours in a bid to avoid having to contract employment as a consequence.

Mechanics wages in Canada, the paper says, are already sufficiently low that they are unaffected by this particular development in the economy but says that the cost of living Canada reflects that of more prosperous times and calls for a reestablishment of equilibrium.