Alexander Fraser

“ A central office, in which papers from all departments of the Government are lodged after they have passed out of current use, examined, classified, and filed by a staff familiar with their contents, need only be brought into use to become indispensably serviceable in the carrying on of public business; but in addition, the archivist, knowing the contents of the documents in his custody, is able to direct and help in a manner that can not otherwise be done, that portion of the public interested in the information contained in the Government archives. ”

“ Every document does not contain truth, yet even such a document may, in effect, be a fact in history, and training and experience lead to a reasonably true interpretation.
The Ontario Bureau of Archives, organized in 1903, is equally related and attached to all the Government departments, and receives all papers and documents of record value or of historical interest, not in current use, from all branches of the public service. When possible, these documents are classified, calendared, and indexed. ”

“ The most interesting archives emanating from the public-works department are the records of the early colonization roads—arteries of settlement and trade routes and the title deeds, plans and specifications, contracts, maps, and documents relating to Crown property, buildings, and institutions, a finely conditioned collection. ”

“ Of these agriculture is the greatest, and the records of its growth and development have a special value to the student of economics. The statistical branch, formed in 1882, issues annual reports dealing with agricultural and municipal interests—assessment figures, population, areas assessed, taxes imposed, annual receipts and expenditures, assets and liabilities, chattel mortgages, proving of value to municipal debenture holders and the public generally.
Of all our departments, the bureau of archives has drawn most largely on the documentary treasures of the department of Crown lands. ”

“ The journals of the proceedings of the legislature of Upper Canada from 1792 to 1818, so far as we have been able to find them, have been published and the series will be issued to the year 1824, from which year printed copies are in existence. The journals of the legislative council concurrent with those of the legislative assembly down to 1816 have also been published, and one volume in each series, now in the press, will complete the work. These journals are simply indispensable, being the original evidence of all our legislation. ”

“ Our constitutional development and the history of our legislature can not be studied or understood without them. I may be pardoned should I refer particularly to one of many interesting questions dealt with in the closing years of the eighteenth century as shown in these journals. The legislative assembly, following the rule of the Imperial House of Commons, claimed the power of the purse, and objected to their supply bill being amended by the legislative council or upper house. ”

“ The British régime is touched by the French and the French by the Indian.
In carrying out this plan the bureau aims at the collection of documents having, in the widest sense, a bearing upon the political or social history of Ontario, and upon its agricultural, industrial, commercial, and financial development; the collection of municipal, school, and church records; the collection and preservation of pamphlets, maps, charts, manuscripts, papers, regimental muster rolls, etc., bearing on its past or present history ”

“ These documents are not generally accessible to the public, as they relate to the private concerns not only of deceased but of living persons, but they are a valuable addition to the surrogate courts' records which are a mine of genealogical information.
The great staple enterprises of Ontario are agriculture, industrial production, lumbering, mining, and in general, trade and commerce. ”

“ In each of these divisions there is much work to do. Each has its own distinctive features, and there is abundance of minor incident.
Material of special interest to Ontario bearing on the French régime is contained in the "Correspondence Générale," in the papers of the "Collection de Moreau St. Méry," which have been transcribed from the Paris archives for the Canadian archives, most of which has never been published in printed form. There is also valuable Ontario material in the "Haldimand Collection of papers," the "Bouquet Papers," and the Colonial Office records bearing on this period. ”

“ The material of historical interest here is exceedingly varied and valuable, embracing the records of the surveys of the Province; the original maps, field notes, and diaries relating to the survey of all the townships dating back to 1784, and reports of all the explorations made within the limits of the Province since that date ”

“ Our public charter is an imperial statute entitled the British North America act, and to-day, when there are nine fully constituted, autonomous Provinces within the Dominion of Canada, it is interesting to recall that when the British North America act became law in 1867 the subtitle set forth that it was "An act for the union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the government thereof ”