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I appreciate the fact that it comes not from a political ,#*"~>U5 society, but from a body in which both political parties are represented. With all my heart I thank also the Reform Association for the address which they have presented to roe. I don't take to myself as my due the strong expressions of appreciation which the Town Council and the Reform Association have been good enough to employ, but their addresses show to me, at all events, the kind feeling that exists towards me on the part of your Council and on the partof your Association. They tell me what I ought to aim at in my public life ; and all that I have to say is that ever since I entered public life I have endeavored to do my duty, that I have always felt a great interest in my native Province, and that it has been my purpose throughout to do what I could for its advantage. I like to see it prosper, I like to see its people happy, I like to see them advance in well-being and well-doing in every way. What power your confidence has given to me I have endeavored to employ in advancing your btst interests. There will always be differences of opinion about public matters. Conscientious men do not always take the same view, and therefore I have not had the support of the whole population, but at all events the majority of the people of this Province have, ever since I became Premier, given me their confidence. I am very grateful to them for this, and their confidencer repeatedly iranifested, has increased very much my interest to them and my desire to act for their advantage. I. - 2 This ia a day appointed by the Governor-General in Oouiioil to be observed as a day of thanksgiving throughout th» Doininion. In the e%dy days of the Dominion it was thought nob to be within his sphere to appoint a day for this purpose ; the duty was left to the Lieutenant-Governor of every Province that chose to have such a day ; and it so happened that the first public document which I signed as Attorney- General was a proclamation by the Lieutenant-Governor of this Province appointing such a day for Ontario. An advance in public sentiment on the subject has since been made throughout the Dominion, and no day is' proclaimed by the Governor-General for the whole Dominiuu. The proclamation does not give sacredness to the particular day selected, but a yearly day of thanksgiving for past blessings is agreeable to right-thinking people, and, by the day being selected and named by the Queen's representative in Canada, it is, as a matter of convenience and respect, observed in all the churches and by the whole population. 1 believe there is no law of Church or State as to how exactly a day so appointed should be observed. A morning service in the ch arches is appropriate and general. Family unions afterwards are another commendable characteristic of the day. It is in other re3[)ects made a holiday in various ways. As a matter of sentiment,' some of us would hive preferred another day (or our present meeting, if it could have been so arranged ; but there is no incongruity in holding a wpII- conducted meeting like the present on the evening of the day appointed by the Government for general thanksgiving. Quite the contrary. We have met %re to consider the proper way of exercising on this occasion that great right of freemen, the elective franchise, and there is nothing earthly which more strongly calls for thanksgiving than the blessing of freedom, and the blessing of the franchise ; nor is there anything which is more obligatory in point oi ot'.hics than to ascertain how the franchise Bhould be used at our elections. This meeting has for its object to cjiU to mind what there has been of good in the Provincial Government in the past, what in that respect demands thanksgiving, and how the franchise should in the interest and for the good of the country be used at the coming election in this riding. The occasion of the election we deeply regret. Your late member was not long enough a Oiember, and had not the health, to make his mark in the Legislature before his death, but we all regarded him as a sterling man of moral excellence and good parts ; we all got to' like him and appreciate him ; and we all mourned his death. I congratulate the Reformers of the Riding on the choice they have made of their candidate for the vacancy. Mr. Pearson bas been an earnest and active Reformer all his life ; he is well spoken of by all as a man of integrity and uprightness, he is well informed on political subjects, and able to state hia views with clearness. The esteem and confidence of his township have been shown by his having been for several years the Reeve ; and his election as Warden shows the estima- tion in which he was held throughout the whole county. At this election there are three candidates — the candidate of the Reform party, the candidate of the Conservatives, and the candidate aominated by the Patrons of Industry. JH f \ \ '), 3 Prbviods General Elections, and the Reform Record. Until now the contests at the Ontaria elrctiona for the laat'^tweiity- years have been between Reformers and Conservatives wherever the election turned on principle ; and tbe Provincial Liberal party have had the verdict of the country as a whole in their favor at every general election during that period. At past elections everything which could be said against the Ontario Government was said. ' Must of the things said against us by the Conservative press and by the Conservative sec- tion of the Patrons was said at one or other or at all of these past elections; and a good many other groundless charges were made against us, which when investigated were so plainly unfounded that they are not repeated now. The public read or heard what our opponents urged at those former elections , and the result at every general election demon- strated that the people were satisfied or more than satisfied with our record of useful legislation, of our fairness to all clisses, of our prudent, economical, efficient and honest administration, and successful main- tenance of every important Provincial rights, territorial and constitu- tional. We showed, and the verdict of the people was, that during Qur long term of oflice the Reform Government and Legislature had been active and not unsuccessful legislators ; that we had availed ourselve^ of every legislative jurisdiction, which under the B. N. A. Act a Province has, to promote the well being of all classes of the people. We had passed Acts for enlarging the electorate from time to time as public opinion was prepared for the enlargement ; Acts giving to the Province the ballot, first at Provincial elections, and afterwards at Municipal and certain School elections ; and Acts for improving our election laws in other important respects. We had passed other important Acts for the special^benefit of farmers ; Acts for the benefit in various ways of mechanic^ and wage-earners ; Acts respecting the public health, which, as administered, have already saved hundreds of lives ; ' Acts for reforming and simplifying the administration of justice ; Acts for improving the laws of property ; and Acts for impioving the laws on every other subject within Provincial jurisdiction. We showed to the satisfaction of the people that we had employed usefully and beneficially the revenue and means of the Province, that we had executed with economy and due regard to the public interest the public works of the 'Province, and that we had observed like economy and care in all other expenditures with which we had to do. We showed that our institutions relating to agriculture, and to the public health, and our institutions for the insane and the blind and for deaf mutes, had been managed with an efficiency which had from time to time been observed and remarked upon by experts from other countries who had visited these institutions. We showed that this efficient management had been effected with ua, economy which had no known parallel in governmental management anywhere. We showed that the administration of justice bad been carried on with a vigor and an energy which had defied attack. We showed that whatever matters of admire- itration or legislation admitted of just comparison with like matters ,xse where, the comparison was never against Ontario, and, especially in matters of administration, was in our favor. 4. Our record since the last genoral election has corresponded «rith our record previously. The work of useful legislation has been con- tinued, and the work of honest and prudent administration in public affairs. In every session since there has been important legislation in the public interest. Every subject v/hich has been ripe for advantageous legislation has been dealt with, and dealt with in a manner giving gen- eral satisfaction. . • The Patrons of Industry. At this election for North Bruce the '• Patrons of Industry " have nominated a candidate in opposition to both the Reformer and Oonservu- 'tive. A new element has thus been introduced which requires attention. The Patrons of Industry constitute an important organization. They include a considerable number of farmers and others in soiae of the constituencies, and they include Reforraera as well as Conservatives. I heartily and gladly acknowledge the honesty of the great body of Patrons, and the honesty of (so far as I know) their prominent leaders and speakers. I acknowledge also the importanfd of some of the objects set forth in their platform, and the fitness of a union of farmers of all parties in order to accomplish common objects on which they are agreed and which may not be obtainable otherwise.^ But, with ail respect to the organization, I think it clear that a majority are acting under a mistake on some essential points, and that those Patrons who are" Reformers have been placed by the rules of the organization in a false position as regards Provincial affairs. My long experience in public life enables me to point out these mistakes on the part of some of my toUow-Reformers, and £ wish to take this opportunity of doing so, so far as this can be done in the hour or so for which I am to occupy your attention. Independbnce op YotifpS' Compared. The idea is sedulously cultivated that a Patron is more independent than a Conservative or a Reformer, and this hhs an attraction for many who have join jd the association. But i.) it dO ? Have the members of the association greater independence in voting than others have ? What do their rries say 1 Here they are, as stated in The Canada Farmer's Sun of 31dt October : " The action taken by the Grand Association pro- vides that if a candidate is nominated by a Patron convention in any con- stituency, either for Parliament or the Legislature, the duty of every Patron shall be to support that candidate, and to use every influence in his power to secure his election. If a candidate is put in tne field, it shall be the duty of every Patron to support that candidate. It is not compulsory that every member shall continue to be a Patron. . . . If a majority of the delegates at any adjourned convention declares that it would be unwise to have an endorsed candidate, it would then, hut ncl until then, be permissible for any and every member to vote as he pleased or not to vote at all ; but the committee muat be appointed, p.^id the adjourned convention must be held before liberty of action in the matter uf voting is conceded by thi resolution to indioidual members," No Reformer or Conservative who does not join the association is under any such obliga- tion to his party. His liberty of voting has no restriction. Notice what the rules of this new organization involve — a Patron from the / Reform party is bound to vote for the chqioe of the majority, though the candidate nominated or endorsed should be a Conservative and sure to vote with the Oonservatives in the House. He muBt vote for the candidate of the majority thrugh he may have no confidence in such candidate, and though the Reform opponent of the Patron candi- date may hold to every doctrine in the Patrons' platform, may have been a tried representative of the people, and may in the judgment of tue voter be more reliabld in every respect than '.he nominee of the association. That surely ia not independence. To an oitsider it seems slavery rather than independence. Partyism. Partyiam is said to have been and to be " a curse to the country." Ts that so in reference to the support which Reformers have given to the Ontario Government of Reformers 1 Do the Ref ormt rs who have joined the Patrons of Industry think so ? I do not believe that they do. I do not think that one intelligent patron who has been a Reformer has any such thought. The partyism which he thinks to have been bad and a " curse " is, the partyism of Conservatives in opposing a good Reform Government, and the partyiam which in Dominion affairs induced Conservative farmers to go for the N-. P. against the interest of all farmers, and, as many of us believe, of the Coventry generally. It is said by representative Patrons that men should vote unshackled by party. But that is the very thing which the constitution of the Patrons absolutely and emphatically forbids. The " bondage of party- ism " is spoken of. Could there be any greater bondage oi partyism than that provided for by the rules which I have read ? Has there been in any political party heretofore any ' bondage ' equal to it ? I ask my brother Reformers who are Patrons to consider these things. The partyism of this new party, the partyism which it demands, is far beyond that' of the parties which the organization wants to supplant. Again : it is said that for want of union amongst farmers one farmer ' ^ills ' anotter's vote. Is it not right that if one farmer votes wrong another farmer should ' kill ' the wrong vote, by himself voting right 1 Would it not have be»n right in 187i.> to kill a Nations^ Policy vote by voting for the candidate who was against the N, P,? The propriety of voting with i r against our neighbor depends altogether on circum- stances. Why should Reformers not have • killed ' Conservative votes for the Provincial House during the last 21 years'! Reformers believed that the Reform party was giving them good government, and so believ- ing their ' killing' the votes of those who voted against the Reform candi- dates was a duty, not a crime ; was a good and right thing, not a curse. Is there as regards Provincial a'Saira sooie great object to ba obtained by Reformers which is worth this sacrifice of their personal indepen- dence 1 And the sacrifice of the Ret'^rm party, which the organization, if it should be successful, would accomplish in Weatern Ontario ? Primary Objects of the Patrons. I understand that the primary object of tae Patrons' organization was to strengthen the movement in favor of reciprocity between Canada and the United States, and of a reduc'aon of cu.itoms duties to the basis of a Revenue Tariff. These objejts are ot special interest to farmers, whether Conservatives or Refoimers, as enabling them to 6 * get more for what they produce, and to pay less for articles they have to boy ; and in the present depression these objects are of special importance to the farming community. 80, also, all were ipterested in such legislation as would protect farmers from combinations and monopolies ; all were alike dissatisfied with the Dominion Franchise Act ; all wanted the voters' lists for the Dominion as well as the Province to be prepared by the municipal otHcers. In general they wanted the Senate to be abolished, or reformed, as being in its present condition useless and expensive ; they were against the Donrinion redistribution of the electoral divisions ; and they favored confining the electoral divisions to county boundaries. They con- demned the Dominion railway grants, some of them having been a scandal ; and the only apparent remedy being the entire nbolition of Dominion railway grants. They were also against other points of Dominion policy ; and, in opposition to the Dominion policy, they were for the reservation of public lands for actual uettlers ; for purity of administration ; and for rigid economy In the expenditure of the revenues of the country. Thesie particulars constituted a large and important platform for the new party on which there could be the must cordial and unobjectionable union of Conservatives eLnd Reformers who held these views, and I flhould think might well have contented the leaders of the organization without other questions being introduced. But all these matcers relate , to Dominion politics. Many Conservatives in consequence of their dis- ^ satisfaction with the policy of their Conservative leaders and the Con- servative government were disposed to oppose them, but were not dis- posed to go over to the Reform camp. Some half-way house was the desideratum. Reformers, on the other hand, had no quar 'el with their levemment and Reform party. The problem appears to have been, hov could Reformers be induced to take ground against their party to the extent necessary, whatever it should be. The cry of being independent of party presented sne means, and on this I have remarked. Fauhbbs' Well Represented Albbadt. Another cry is that farmers are not sufficiently represented in the Ontario AsiWmbly, and that their interests are consequently ignored or disregarded there. Nothing could be more unfounded than this. There is not and never has been in the ProWncial House on farmers' questions a particle of antagonism between the farmers of the House and those members who are not' farmers. There is not a farmers' question on vhich a division on those linss has ever occurred in my time,^ or, rjks far aii I knoT, at any time. In a House which has to deal with the ts:iff qviestiou there might be room for such a division, as the interest of some manufacturers may as such be antagonistic to the interest of fairmers. But the Provincial Legislature has in its jurisdiction neither that question nor any other yet suggested in which tho farmers and the rest of the community have not a common interest. Tho object of the Patrons is said to be to get 25, or from 25 to 30, farmerjs and Patrons in the House of Commons at Ottawa, and in the Legislative Asveiqably at Toronto, at the next general election. The i ' Patron leaders and speakers have surely overlooked — at all events I have seen no allusion to the faot — that in the Ontario Assembly, as it stood before the recent vacancies occurred in Bruce and Larabton, there were at least 28 farmers, and these include some of the best farmers in the Province. Mr. Dbydbn : — The number is 32. Well, the Minister of Ajjriculture is likely to know the exact num- ber better than I do. Either number in an AHsembly of 91 would be a larger proportion than, according to the last census, farmers and farm- ers' sons bear to the population of the Province. Then of the membeis who are not farmers, several are the sons of farmers, and all their sympathies are with the occupation which their fathers followed. Further : Of the eight members who constitute the Government, five were brought up on a farm, and in the"-' early days worked on a farm ; six of the eight are sons of men who followed farming for a living, some of them during their whole lives, and some for part of their lives ; and one of the eight has been a practical farmer all his life, is a practical farmer still, and is now Minister of Agriculture. If you ask him he will tell you that he has never found his colleagues or the House indifferent, not to speak of hostility, to any proposal v ich appeared to. him calculated to benefit the farming community. It ha' always been among the farmers that my own strength as a membf- l*arliament has lain. When I represented South Ontario, the co own, where farmers had little or no influence, used to give a maj v i gainst me, though my majorities for the whole riding varied from about uuO to nearly 800. In North Oxford, which I now represent, the county town in 1883 gave a small majority for me, and in 1886 a small majority against me, while in the whole riding my majority in 1883 was 883, and in 1886 was 1,157. My other four elections in North Oxford have been by acclamation. Reform MsAeuREs for Farmers. It is out of the question to suppose that a House and a Government constituted as I have described, could be hostile or indif- ferent to the interest of farmers. On the contrary, the Ontario Legis- lature in its attention to all that concerns the interest of farmers is in advance of every State of the American Union, and almost every country in the world. Let me remind you of some illustrations of our active interest in matters specially affecting farmers. More than thirteen years ago the Ontario Government appointed an Agricultural Commission, consisting chiefly of farmers. The commis- sioners investigated the whole subject of agriculture and kindred pur- suits. They held sessions in various parts of the Province, took the evidence of leading agriculturists, stock-breeders, dairymen and others, as to the condition of the several industries which the witnesses repre- sented. They also investigated the condition of agriculture and of similar pursuits in the United States, Great Britain and other countries. After concluding their investigations they made a report which is universally acknowledged to have been of vast value in disseminating useful information on the subject of agricultural pursuits ; and their report has been a text-book for farmers, dairymen, stock-breeders, apiarists and others ever since. 8 // To supply the demand for oopiea we bad to print leveral large editions of the work for distribution to the farming community. Then the Agrioultural College and Model and Experimental Farm at Guelph have been carried on suooessfully, and it is now admitted everywhere that the institution is one of the foremost of the kind, if not the very foremost, in existence anywhere. Then take the travelling dairy established by the Minister of Agri- culture, which has proved an unqualified suooeciS. Its meetings have bucn held in every part of the Province. No matter what the political com- plexion of any district might be, the travelling dairy has been at its service upon the application of the local dairymen ; and the highest testimony to the efficiency and usefulness of the work comes alike from political opponents and political friends of the Govemment. Again, a Bureau of Statistics was established some vears ago by the Ontario Government and has also done great service to the agricultural and industrial interests of the Province. Bankers, financial agents and tHisineHS men generally unite with farmers and others in praise of its operations. Further : We have appropriated for the drainage of farm lands a permanent fund of $550,000 to be lent to municipalities for drainage purposes ; and as the money lent is returned to the treHSury it is again lent out to other municipalities for the same purposes. In this way the loans for drainage purposes since 1872 inclusive have amounted to nearly a million of dollars ($994,969.80). An immense quantity of farm land in all parts of the P''ovince has by this means been drained, rendered more fertile and increased greatly in value. Nor should it be forgotten that by the success of this Government in securing the once disputed territory, many thousands of acres of fine agricultural lands were secured to our Province. In the Rainy River district alone there is a sufficient area of agricultural land for several large counties ; and this land, let me say, is equal to the very best in the Province, not excepting that of the County of Bruce or of Oxford. These are only a few of the things that the Reform Party, through its representatives, has been doing in the interest of the farmers of the Province. I am more than interested in them. As a Canadian I am proud of the striking evidence recently given at Chicago of the achievements of the farmers of Ontario. In this respect Ontario has literally led the world. No State in the Union and no country in Europe has achieved like success. Ail the Provinces of Canada did well, but the lion's share of honors came to Ontario. In horses, cattle, pigs, she* p and honey our Province carried off a large proportion of the highest prizes. In cheese, Ontario literally swept the 'loard. Let me mention also that in its educational exhibit, a part of which was agri- cultural, Ontario won the highest possible award; and so high an authority as Sir Richard Webster, tiie Exposition representative of Great Britain, declaied this exhibit to be the nearest to his ideal r! perfection that he had ever seen. Gbants for Aqbicultdbal Purposes. In further illustration of the interest taken by the Reform Party in all tiiat sptcially concerns farmers, let me tell you something of the annual grants made out of the Provincial exchequer for n t. n 1 S( P fc n 9 •gricultural object!. MoHt, or all, of the Provindnl exp<>ndittire is for the purposea of common interest to all olasBes, including farmers. On this point I have but to mention the expense necesfiarily incurred in carrying on the Government, and in legislation, in the administration of justice, in the maintenance of the asyluroa and central prison and in the assistance heretofore given to railways, to hospitals and charities, as well as everything else for which appropriations are made. In all these farmers have a common interest with the rest of the people. But, in addition to the expenditure which is for the common needs or common interest of all classes, there is a large expenditure by the Province every year for the special benefit of farmers. This expenditure in 1892 amounted in all to more than $200,000. The particulars appear in the published accounts. The first item is for the department of the Minister of Agriculture, his officers and expenses, amounting to « ^\ 5,97b 8^ Drainage Oommission 4,381 88 Dehorning Commission 2,770 50 . Electoral Division Societies ; 72,200 00 Grants to other associations 18,716 45 Farmers' Institutes 8,191 03 Incidentals, chiefly for printing bureau re- ports and bulletins, etc 8,458 80 Forestry 1,881 23 Tree-planti»g 773 70 Bureau of Statistics < 3,844 1 1 Agricultural College 22,205 70 Buildings at Agricultural Oolloge 27,156 00 Model and Experimental Farm proper .... 9,467 71 Experiments 5,534 47 Dairy 10,092 64 Oarden 4,644 44 Mechanical 1,270 86 ■ Total $217,567 13 Every item on this list was considered and approved by the numerous farmers on the Reform side of the House ; and I do not recollect that any of them was disapproved of by any of the farmers on the Oppo^tion side. The totB^l amount paid out during ray Premier- ship in the special interest of farmers and farming has aggregated millions of dollars. The Patrons' Platform. Now, in the face of all the tacts which I have mentioned, how is the statement to be made good that the Reform party has neglected the special interests of farmers ? Is there anything in the Patrons' official platform which points to such neglect ] As first published the plat- form was somewhat different from the platform as now circulated, and if the reason has been explained I have not been fortunate enough to see the explanation. Some of the changes appear to me to indicate Tory manipulation. I notice that the revised edition gives a less prominent place to the tariff and reciprocity articles. These in the first edition followed immediately the article as to British connection, but in the revised edition they are down as Nos. 8 and 9 instead of 2 and 3. Again, • 10 there was an article in the first edition demanding in large terms " prompt and rigid civil service reform ; " and a Patron who spoke at one of the meetings seems to have understood this as leferring to the superannuation system in force in the Dominion, and whioh he condemned. But civil service reform is dropped in the second edition except as !xmitod to the appointment or election of some county offic> ials now appointed by the Provincial Government. Is no civil service reform necessary in the case of the Dominion 'I The first edition called for *' a uniform franchise for all legislative purposes, whether munici- pal, Provincial or national." This is omitted from the revised edition. Is this demand abandoned? Were these omissions manipulated by Tory Patrons in the interest of the Dominion Government 1 In the first edition there was a demand fur ' legislation to secure a more equitable monetary system by which the high curreat rates of interest will be reduced for productive purposes.' This article is omit- ted in the second edition. Is the demand abandoned 1 In the first edition there was an article not in the second calling for " a reduction in the number of legislators and County Councillors." Is this demand abandoned 1 Another article in the first edition and ?ot in the second called for the abolition of the subsidy received from the Dominion. Is this demand abandoned 1 In the platform, as it now stands in the revised edition, is there anything which shows that, in spite of all we have done in the interest of farmers, we have neglected their interests, and that the new party must^take the matter in charge 1 ^ |^ On this point let it be noted that not one article of the thirteen in ^ the revised platform affects farmers specially, or otherwise than in common with all other classes. Of the articles affecting Provincial mat- ters, one only is not in accordance with the policy and practice hitherto pursued by the Ontario Reform Government and Legislature ; and that one is the patronage article. The first article in both editions is ' Maintenance of British connection.' Happily this is a principle not peculiar to the Patrons of Industry, but common to the two historical parties as well. The second article is ' The reservation of the public lands for the actual settler.' That has always been our policy and practice, bat has not been the policy or pracdce of the Dominion. The third article is ' Purity of administration and absolute independence of Par- - liament.' This also is the doctrine of the Reform party, and has always been the practice of the Ontario Government and Legislature. The fourth article is ' Rigid economy in every department of the public service.' This also is the Reform doctrine and practice. One iliustra^ tion of this is, that our institutions are carried on with unsurpcMsed . efficiency at a less cost per head than similar institutions in the tJnited States, where the democracy rules. This expenditure is a large item in our total expenditures, amounting in 1892 to $&1 8,435. Another illustration is the case of the new Parliament and departmental building, which has been put up without any extras, a feat which a public cor- poration or community or private individual is seldom able to accom< plish when erecting a large building for any purposo. No boodling was permitted ; and the smallness of tho cost of the buildings is an astonishment to every one competent to judge. Gome American gentlemen who visited the building have declared tha,t with them it would have cost twice or thrice what it has cost to us^ /•, .I.S.V. -I'.v^ifTi*--.'^ ternui spoke ing to loh he xiltioa offic- ii The fifth article is ' Simplifioatioa of the .iws And a general reduc- tion of the machinery of government' What reduction of the machinery is meant does not appear. As to the simplification of the laws, every party is in favor of this to the utmost extent practic- able. With a view to it the whole statutes of the Province were revised and consolidated in 1877, and again in 1887 ; and since 1887 some of the most important classes of statutes have been again revised and con- solidated. Then, as to a ' general reduction in the expenses of the Government' : The expense of the Provincial Government is now as low as is consistent with the efficiency of the public service ; and I am prepared to prove this in regard to every branch of the Government in reference to which the contrary may be alleged. The sixth article is the abolition of the Canadian Senate. This refers to Dominion politics exclusively. The 7th article is 'A system of civil service reform that will give each county power to appoint or elect all county officials paid by them, except County Judges.' This is the only civil service reform which the framers of the platform can suggest Civil service reform in Dominion afiairs is abandoned. As to co'inty officials paid by the county, there is now but one officer I know of who is paid out of municipal funds and not appointed by the municipality, namely, the gaoler, whom the sheriff has always appointed, he being responsible for the gaol and prisoners, and the appointment being subject to approval by the Government, in order to prevent the chance of sheriffs being misled into appointing a personal friend who may not be qualified for the duties. Thisistheonly article in the platform which takes ground antago- nistic to the Reform party. There have always been in the Reform party some who have favored, more or less, as matter of theory, the local election or appointment of the local officers of Government, or some of them ; but this did not occasion their withdrawing or being excluded from the Reform party. The 8th, 9th and 10th articles are the articles as to the tariff, reci- procity, combines and monopolies, all of which refer to the Dominion only. The 11th article is, 'Prohibition of the bonus- ing of railways by Government grants, as contrary to the public interest.' I presume that this article refer; to Dominion grants, because the policy of the Ontario Government and Legislature has for some years been against further Government grants to any rail- way, except colonization railways through lands belonging to the Pro- vince in the unorganized territory. Grants were made by the Ontario Legislature as well as by municipalities to procure the building of railways in the settled parts of the Province until these parts were pretty well supplied with railways. Farmers were amongst the strongest advocates of these railway grants, and farmers as a. class profited most by the railways aided. On the other hand, some of the grants made to rail- ways by the Dominion Government in the settled parts of the Dominion, and perhaps elsewhere, have been under circumstances which made them a scandal. The twelfth article is, 'Preparation of the Dominion and Provincial voters' lists by municipal officers.' The Provincial lists have now and always have been prepared by the municipal officers. It 12 is the Dominion lists which are prepared otherwise. The thirteenth article is, 'Conformity of electoral divisions to county boundaries, as -constituted for municipal purposes, as far as the principle of representa- tion by population will allow.' This, also, I presume, has reference to the Dominion. Not only has Ontario legislation in giving additional members not distegarded county boundaries where they had been observed in the distribution made in the B. N. A. Act, but in several csmes we limited or extended electoral divisions to county boundaries where these had not been followed in the B. N. A. Act. This was so as regards the Counties of Feterboro', Victoria, Lambton and Kent. For this purpose we abolished Bothwell, which was . one of the electoral divisions created f6r the purpose of the B. N. A. Act, and not following municipal county boundaries. We have not seen our way to re-arrange all the constituencies which by the B. N. A. Act and pr->vioue legislation did not conform to county boundaries, nor has any one pi )posed that we should, but we have diminished the num- ber of such irregular constituencies. On the other hand, the Dominion Parliament's redistribution of 1882 increased their number and disre- garded the municipal county boundaries wherever any political advant- age could be obtained by doing so. The platform thus contains nothing as to any special interest of Patrons beinj; neglected by the Reform Government or tneir support- ers, and sets forth no purpose of the organization which calls for the abandonment of the Reform party by Reformers. But, whatever may have been the original purpose of the organization, the organization is now used against the Ontario Oovernraent and Reform party in the pending elections for North Bruce and East Lambton, and there is an evident purpose on the part of some of the leaders of the new party at the next general election to throw the whole force of the organization against the Ontario Gov- ernment and the Reform party in Reform constituencies, though thi^ action in those constituencies should result in sending Conservatives to the House instead of Reformers. OcuKTY Expenditures. Another document is more specific in charges against the Reform 1jrov3rriment and the Reform party supporting it. This document could not have emanated from a Patron who had any sympathy with the Reform party, or who was familiar with the facts. The document originated in the east* rn part of the Province, and is said to have been adopted by many lodges there, and i-o be about to be submitted to the lodges of the Province generally. It has, I believe, bscu copied into the Canad^i Farmer's Sun, with words of approval. This document deals altognher with Provincial matters, and pretends to set forth grounds of complaint which the Patrons have against the Ontario Government and its Reform supporters. The document states " that the ratepayers of Ontario, more particularly the farming classes, are much subjected to heavy burdens at the hftnds of the Ontario Legislature, by being compelled to contribute to the erectic And maintenance and support of public build- ings, tlie Administration of Justice expense, the support and salaries of Provincial and municipal officers; all of which should be assumed by the Government, as is the case in the neighboring Province of Quebec, notwithstanding che fact that the latter Province has a much smaller now 13 source of revenue than Ontario." This is the first time during my Premiership that the Province of Quebec has been held up as an exam- ple to Ontario. Does it not occur to those Patrons vrho are Reforraersi,. if not to those who are Oonservatives, that there must be some mistake in holding Quebt c up as an example to Ontario in legislation or financial management. The mode of payment there has involved that Province in a public debt of $25,842,117. A-gainst this amount there are clamed to be assets, $10,277,700, making the clear admitted debt $15,564,447. Is that an example which Ontario should have followed,, or should follow now ] Is it not on the contrary an example to be shunned ? As to the Administration of Justice. A considerable part of what - the counties pay in the first instance is and always has been repaid by the Province to the counties, as shown by the Public Accounts brought down and printed every session. If the Province were to assume that part .of the county expenditure which is not repaid, and to assume the salaries of all municipal officers as this document claims, how is the Province to find the money to do this and yet meet its other expenditures 1 Early in my administi-ation we distributed amongst the municipalities as much of the Provincial assets as we thought could safely and properly be diverted from Provincial objects. The amount so distributed was large, being considerably upwards of $3,000,000 ($3,388,777). It is not in the general iriterest to distribute more of the Provincial money in that way. To assume such expenditures as now proposed would but have the efiect of throwing on the muni'oipalities other expenditures now made by the Province. Thus the ir unicipalities now pay but part of what is paid for education. The Province pays, for education $653,161. For the maintenance of our public institutions such as Central Prison, Asylums, etc., $818,435. Qrants to Agricul- ture and Arts, $167,282. These sums are over and above what the municipalities pay for like objects, and it W3uld be impossible to pay 'out of Provincial funda these exp^nditnrcd, and other expenditures in which farmers are as much interested as any other class of the com- munity, if in addition to its present expenditures the Province were, as proposed, to assume what counties now " contribute to the erection, maintenance and support of public buildings, the Administration of Justice expenses, and the salaries of municipal officials." This con- sideration is wholly overlooked in this indiclment of the Reform Government and its supporters. MiSLRADiNG Statements. Looking through the reports which have come in my way of Patrons meetings I find many misleading statements which are made at some of these meetings ; and I do not assume that the speakers who made ihese statements were aware of the facts. Thus, one Patron told his audience that the doctors " had a tariff of fees, and that tariff was legalized by the Provincial Government." I dare say that he believed this, but the fact is that no tariff" of the doctors has been legalized by the Pro- vincial Government or Legislature. The statute confines them to " reasonable charges," and what ^re reasonable the Act leaves in^ case of dispute to be decided by the Oourt or Jrry, as in the case of alK other demands by one man against another. 14 MuxioiPAL Assessment .Trincipal, the reason being that the practical effect of taxing the mortgagee for the principal was thought to be that he would always take a covenant from the mortgagor that the mortgagor should pay this tax as well as all other taxes, and the poor mortgagor would thus be taxed twice — first on his land, and secondly on the money he borrows on it. Mortgagors find it hard enough to pay the one tax, with out having to p&y two. fiut the question of tax- ing the principal is a fair one for discussion and honest difference of opinion ; it has never been a party question. Another Patron speaks of " millions of dollars worth of property in the shape of bonds, notes and mortgages," being exempt from municipal taxation. Bonds and „ notes are not exempt any more than any other unspecified personal property. \ The Public Accounts. A speaker at one of the meetings is rsported to have made this state- ment : " One object of the Patrons is to find out where the public money goes. Patrons (he said) do know where the money which they pay to t^eir lodges goes. Detailed accounts are given every year. Could he tell us where every cent of the money which finds its way into the hands ■oi the different parties in power finds its outlet 1 There must (the speaker averred) be a big hole in the bottom of the chest somewhere. Better let the Patrons try and find it." Now, detailed accounts of all Provincial expenditure showing where every cent goes, are given every year, and as regularly as like accounts may be given to lodges. More- over, every year a Committee of the House is appointed to examine these accounts. Of this committee, besides the Government supporters thereon, the ablest members of the Opposition aro members, and they do their best every year to find out anything wrong, or an/thing which they may persuade people is wrong.' Vouchers are inspected ; witnesses Are called and are publicly examined. Patrons could not be more zealous than these members are, and for want of experience would not be nearly «c m ta tl ii 81 P b 15 ner has to rho holds eat on the espects in complain tU horses, owner or le general As for municipal saleable- of munici- 10, but of ;en8ion of jeen com- holder of hold. A lufacturer hitherto that the hought to that the i the poor secondly enough to on of tax- erence of 'on speaks ads, notes 3onds and „ . I personal ^ this state- >lic money ey pay to Could he the hands must (the mewhere. ats of all ren every I. More- examine upportera and they ag which witnesses re zealous be nearly «o efficient in the investigation. The detailed proceedings of the odm- mittee are published every year, and if there has been no discovery of anything wrong, it is because there was nothing wrong to be discovered. If such statements as I have quoted are believed by these- 1« w4iom- they are made, it js a case of the blind leading the blind. I find in the reported speeches and in newspaper articles much more of the same sort. In a word, and as a conclusion of the whole matter, I claim that the Reform party has always been specially a farmers' party, while faithful to every other class as well ; and that the Reform party is the true farmers' party. The candidate of the Reform party is a farmer, and I claim for him as being a Reformer and a farmer, the support of the electors of North Bruce. ,