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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmte en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la darniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur !a dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, seilon le cas: le symbols — ►signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimis it des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich«, 11 est film* A partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le .lombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 The EDITH and LORNE PIERCE COLLECTION of CANADI ANA % ueens University at Kingston ^mm^ Imtitrfittg KINGSTON, ONTARIO 5oi^ v% -o,-.^ Ym^vp to eav a few words on the interest. 1 wisn lhul a navi ^^ci'^v. i.-^--- ^- - - value of this improvement. It is of very great importance W t ♦ *-~r'* I, i V'-4 t S\ < i ^ •* THE LOCAl, ELECTIONS. / indeed, and will yearly become, under good government, more extended and valuable. Let me say that it serves two purposes —one. well understood, the drying of wet lands ; the other, perhaps still more useful, the softening and enriching of hard clay lands, of which Ontario has much— land apparently dry but apt to " bake." I will also say a word on what I— myself an old settler in by-gone days— would like well to say more on— our progress in backwoods clearing. As you know, Ontario has no longer her vast blocks of rich land, covered with solid beech and maple. These have been mostly occupied, but we have still a vast govern- mental territory, with a great deal of very good land here and there— land which in Europe would yield high rents. Govern- ment is doing much to explore and settle this. They have spent nearly three-quarters of a million on what we call colonization roads, piercing these wildernesses in all directions. Over a thousand miles of these have been made since 1871. This re- presents a vast amount of settlement— of cleared townships- farms where forest was— villages where had been no inhabitant. In the matter of education much has been spent, and much secured in return. Since 1871 there has been spent on common and separate schools, high schools, collegiate institutes, libraries, maps, &c., over two and three-quarter millions of dollars. For this, matters are so arranged that now every child in the land can, free of charge, obtain an education which twenty or thirty years ago none but the rich could secure. Altogether, it is calculated that— of matters which might rank as surplus distribution, things which, if the government had kept its surplus cash in the bank, it might have avoided payin^r, or to a great extent avoided— there have been nearly eighteen millions of dollars spent in Ontario since 1871, which, added to the rail- way expenditure encouraged and often produced by govern- ment aid, give the vast amount of tiwrfc^ millions of dollars spent in Ontario during the last few years— an expenditure the most opportune and most beneficial, diffusing money at the best time for the workmen and the best time for obtaining value in the work, of any recorded, perhaps in American — certainly in \ 8 THE LOCAL ELECTIONS. I would ask you to consider what has been the result of all this. The whole Province has been so chequered by railways 'that most farmers are near them, while macadamized, gravel, and graded roads connect in all directions. We have a far larger number of schools, and they are each far more efficient than the old ones. We have added to the Province as it was in '71 a newer belt of cleared farms along- all its northern border. Many and costly reformatory, prison, refuge and asylum buildings have been erected. Villages are towns, and towns cities. (Think of Toronto as it was ten years back : it seems more than double now.) Population and wealth, business and revenue are much greater. Spite of the depression, Ontario's yearly imports and exports are over twenty millions more now than ten years ago. In fact, any one going through the Province could not fail to see we are much better off now. This is not the result of good crops or high prices— they have been rare. The Province for the last few years may be compared to a farmer who, finding little sale for his crops— and poor growing seasons— devotes most of his energies to improving his farm buildings, his drainage and fencing. His farm is then more valuable, and when good farming seasons return will be doubly as valuable. That is wha^t Ontario, through what appears to me, after a good deal of investigation, to be a decidedly honest and capable govern- ment, has been doing. When the good times return we shall find the profit of our improvements. And remember, we have not gone one cent into debt ; but, on the contrary, have still a surplus of some four or five millions left. For this fact, without asking any other evidence, or holding a commission or audit to audit our auditors, we have Mr. Mowat's personal word —the word of a good law3'er and an honest man. I am sure you must recognize the value of having in such a position a man of whom we can say ^s much ; nor can you be unaware of the lack of patriotism of many— of the contemptible personal motives of many— who, knowing how few his equal we have had in office in Canada, would try to drive him from power. I trust well it is impossible they can succeed. I wish to remark here that all this is that inrrpaq^ nf <»vo««,i;, ture to which the opponents of the Mowat Government pretend 'J m '.t THE LOCAL ELECTIONS. 9 to object. It 19 only a pretence. These vevy opponents demanded the same course— the only proper one. Had *^?^f "■ ment chosen, the whole expense could have been reduced below even Sandficld Macdonald's mark. The.' might nave kept the cash in hand, and not assisted the people— might have merely attended to the business of legislation and admmistration, lelt as much as possible on the counties, and had much less expense and labour. But in that case, every county, tov^nship and riding would have been put to mach greater expense for schools, for law, for roads, for asylums, for prisons. And all this they must have met by direct taxation on their own assessment roll every year. Would they be consoled for this by the knowledge that'government still had cash on hand which would do sonie day for their children > They would think it very ill saved. Well, this is simply the meaning of the cry of increased expense the Opposition raises. Government has taken on itself much expenditure out of its own income, which otherwise the counties, towns and cities must do for themselves, or do— very badly— w'thout it. J, 1 ui The present Administration has done, undoubtedly, valuable work for the country, work which, if I am not mistaken, the Opposition could not have done, certainly not with such ability. They have settled the boundary question, thus giving us another territory in the North- West as large as the Ontario we beiore possessed— a territory containing much valuable timber where timber is most valuable, on the road to the pineless prairies- containing also many large lakes and rivers, and having great mineral and agricultural resources. They have consolidated the Statutes, a work of much labour, and a work which saves expense to every suitor at law. They have increased the repre- sentation where needed, and it is a proof of their honesty that they gave members principally to Opposition districts, which returned Oppositionists before, and have since returned additional ones. They have introduced the vote by ballot, which is work- ing well, and have passed an act concerning voters' lists, which has been of good service and will be of more. They have repealed the stamp duties in the Division and County Courts, antrprovided for the payment of witnesses in criminal cases, which you all know was much wanted. They have also passed laws to secure titles to property after certain years, to prevent insurance companies avoiding payment, and to give mechanics a lien on the property they benefit by their, labour— all acts much needed. But I have not space for the detail of all, and o-u fViof '.rt-inir r»tV>PT valiiahlp ar.tf? \vere oassed ._1. siiiipiy may vcm by t.iCn). 10 THK LOCAL KLECTIONS. If you take the list of your own municipal expenses throughout Canada for the past eight years, and you will find that the average; increase in the whole has been 87 per cent., while your local governmental increase has been but 32 per cent., showing more economy in governmental increases than in municipal ones. And the fact is we have had an economical, government, and si. .mid recognize it as such. It is not often we have such in Canada. Now, concerning these expenditures, 1 want to make you two little statements of considerable interest. The first is, that by either their opponents' or the Government figures there has been^ no increase whatever in the total expenditure since 1873 — Mr Mowat's first year. That year stood $2,940,000; 1879 stands $2,902,000, counting eveiything, surplus, distribution, and all. And, noticin^^ what has been paid out of the surplus, and deduct- ing it, you will find that every year of his regime shows a de- crease on the first. So much for Mr. Mowat's increased expenditure. Here are the full and plain expenditures under the Supply Bill (meaning without the surplus expenditure), certified by the Provincial Auditor : 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. $2,460,000 .$2,342,000 12,063,000 $2,1.55,000 .$2,363,000 $2,408,000 Now consider the increased work in some departments : In the Secretary's Department, letters, references, reports, returns, circulars, licenses, &c have swelled in six years from 4,000 to 36,000 annually ; i.i che Administration of Justice Audit, from 5,000 to 35,000 ; in the Treasury Department, from 9,000 to 21,000 ; in the Attorney General's Department (many being files), from 1,400 to 7,000. Total, from 19,000 to 99,000. I am sure you must allow that, with this increase of work, and neces- sarily paying more clerks and higher salaries to get it done, Mr. Mowat must have economized very closely in some Departments to keep 'the totals so near their original level. I doubt very much if there is a government in America whose people have in the last six years been engaged in improvements as we-haye^ can show anything like so non-increasing a supply bill. Second : Remark what we really pay for our Local Govern- ment. We were by census in 1870, 1,620,000 people : probably now about two millions. The expenditure is, surplus and all, about three millions of dollars. So. even spending on works, &c., as we do, the whole cost to each of us is a dollar and a half a head — without the surplus spending it would be less than a v.f •• *fi r THE LOCAL Fl.tCTK)N>. II v.t *.• m r dollar v.'om[':;re this with the -... "diture of Toronto— fifteen v,r sixteen dollars per head , er year. Perhaps I may ir.ention here that there is no fear of dirccc taxation for Local Gov^niT nient purposes. That is a cry got up by those who would like to have it all at Ottawa again, to treat us as they used to. Our subsidy from the Dominion purse annually is a m-lMon and a tiiird. Our other receipts generally r^ise it to two and a ha'f or three millions Hut remember this.— If we chose to confine our- selves to mere ordinary governmenta! expenses, the Dominion subsidy would more than cover all. THa INOAPAL'ITY OV TUB OPPOSITION. If Government are not eustained, who will get m i Perhaps one of the least competent Oppositions which has sat in a Canwlian Parlmment. It cannot, I think, be fairly said that any one of thorn has eyiMr been able to take up any question and handle it in a manner which proved himself so capable, and the Govcrnmeut so mistaken, as to uitluence popular <''^'ding largtiy in his own favor. They have abused the Govern- ment in h.eaningless spoeches, but have never been able to show »vhat better they could have done. They speak against what has done the country good— the increased expenditure— but when brought to the point they could but suggest som** very small economies, and those such as conclusively proved themselves unable to handle such matters, or reason soundly on them. In all our expenditure of three millions they only proposed one or two per cent, reductions, and these ridiculous ones. They actually proposed to reduce the emigration grant by doing without our agents here, who send the labor to the farmer as it arrives— thus pro- posing to bring men here and then leave them to hang round the towns in poverty— the very evil most complained of. They proposed to abolish the insurance on our public buildings - a thing, considering the dangerous state of these buildings, very unwiso. They proposed to reduce many official salaries ten per cent., which would have saved $16,000, lost tis the services of many of our trained employees, by whose npetence and honesty we can alone hope to manage rightly our large expenditure, and filled their places with cheap and perhaps dishonest men, who won d have lost us more in a dav than the salary reducuons saved in a year. This is really about all they have found to propose. When they got a committee to investigate something they declared a great over expendi- ture it provad, as in the Cuse of the Government House fence, that tlie work was cheap enough, while the useless committee cost more than the alleged over-outlay. One of their leaders, Mr. Morris, coming here with a flourish of trumpets to set things right, has Dad a whole session in which to speak, has had the party newspapers and the public halls at hi8 hand and has never used one of these opportunities to bring forward any plan of improvement— 0-, indeed, any nlan at all. Another leader, Mr. Meredith, goes round the country praising th« Dominion leaders, and ^g.„igyjr,„ p.onfi should speak against ihem, caring nothing for the fact tharbringing the whole Pacific Scandal Cabinet back at the first chance /ji 12 THE LOCAL ELECTIONS. wa3 the most unwise political action ever committed in Canada, and that, in speaking as he does, he is practically telling the people it is right ill sworn Crown advisers to accept large sums for election purposes, and promise contracts. What could we expect, when the Opposition leader makes it his business, and goes out of his way, to praise the doers of such actions, but that if the Opposition he leads get charge of our revenues, they will follow the example he praises ? In the matter ot their own salaries, a matter where, if they had the public spirit they claim, it would have shown itself, what did they do? Asked the Gov- ernment to increase them— a majority of the Opposition two years succes- sively voting for the increase -and now declare the Government respon- sible, and try to make political Capital against them out of the very act they themselves desired, approved, and shared in the gain -of. If this Opposition be returned to power, all future Oppositions in Ontario may say to one another, " Do not try to be competent, economic, useful to the Province, able in debate, or sound in judgment ; that is not what Ontario people like, for. remember, they put Mr. Meredith's followers in power for no discoverable reason except that they evidently possessed far less of these qualities than did their opponents." THE WEAK ATTACK OF GOLDWIN SMITH. Two men have attacked the Government— Senator Macpherson, a man of business, and Prof. Goldwin Smith, a man of letters— of many letters. Place for the stranger ; we will hear Mr. Smith first. He is one of the most powerful writers in the world. I have never known a weak point of his opponent to escape him. If there were one solitary iota against the Local Government he would have stated it most forcibly. But what does he do? He writes a letter of a wh^.e column, evidently intending ,to do his best against Mr. Mowat's Administration, but can neither make one charge against it, ..or say one word in favor of its opponents. Now, doing his best, what is the only real point he makes, his only ground of accusation, his only and sole weapon? Jusl this, that endorsing Mowat will be endorsing Free Trade, because Mr. Mowat and others of his colleagues last election spoke, as they had a perfect right to do, their opinions in favor of Mr. Mackenzie's tariff system, and that they will oppose Protection if they can. Therefore we are to turn out capable men from managing our local affairs, put in those whom the Professor does not say are capable, and possibly suffer the loss of n>.illions ot money, and the disrepute of our whole local system, lest the Local Government should oppose the new tarifl' system, a thing they havf, no possible means of doing. After this the Professor may say to an applicant for a toot- man's place, *'You don't know Greek, and I do. Though I don t know how it can possibly interfere with me, nor how you could do it, yet it you were to put a stone on the track of my Grecian studies, it might— indeed I don't know exactlv what it might. Good morning. Well, he ii,:_i._ 4.V,-. «i„^*;^v,« ,.,;n tnm nn tV^ft N^nf.innal Policv. That is to say that because a great number of Reformers voted against a Reform Govern- ment when they diffeied from it on the great question of Protection, they will vote against one when they do not differ from it at all. It is to say 13 I , * * \ / V (T'Vii-^-^C s \ s'' >--' X THE LOCAL BXECTIONS. 19 lit ^*^ rSi that if a man step out into the mud to pick up a guinea there, he will step into it again when he knows there is no guinea ^he^e. What is to be hoped and expected is that the local elections will be decided m accordance with the merits of the Local Government and the lacK ot merit of the Local Opposition. THE WEAK ATTAOK OF iSBNATOR MACPHEBSON. Then comes the Senator with a pamphlet. When you have measured him by a rule I will give you, you will see how little there is to be said from a business man's stand against Mr. Mowat. The pamphlet is worthless. I will show you three points proving this. -First— He prints a long table of f -es he know most people will skip. Then he says " You see this proves 260 per cent, increase in the expenditure. It does not His own figures do not; they show 160 per cent, increase, counting all the surplus spending, but the Senator adds the increase to the sum increased, and calls it all increase. This is an untrue statement. Next read his comments ; you will find nothing but spiteful suppositions of evil all through ; not one solid charge, much less proof of one. ihird —In conclusion he says we have a deficit every yeur. He gets it by adding what we are spending of the surplus to our ordinary expenditure, and takinc^ the ordinary receipts from the sum. Now notice that if we were so rich as to have a hundred millions of old surplus to spend on improve- ments each year, by his plan we would find nearly a hundred millions deficit each year. In fact he would prove that the richer we were the poorer we were. Now this shows plainly that there is nothing to say against the Mowat Administration in matters of economy or finance, tor if there were this gentleman, used to figures all his life would have found it out and exposed it. The fact is, as I told you, the Mowat Government has been careful and economical beyond most others, while these gentle- men both of them violent abusers of partyism, take a stand against it on pure party grounds. No other. For, both men of abi ity, they compass sea and land to show some cause why we should change the Government, and utterly fail to produce one vestige of proof in support of their case. If not for partyism, why should they take these pains against an evidently lonest government 1 THE ABOLITION OP THE LOCAL LEGISLATURES DESIRED. It has often b^en declared that prominent Conservatives have long desired the abolition of the Local Legislatures. The indications of pre- ^ent hostility are also plain. No more distinct attack on our Provincial independence could be made than the Letellier atlair, in which, spite ot the fact that the matter was one purely local to Quebec Province, and that Governor Letellier's action has been endorsed by the people ot that Province Sir John Macdonal.l proposes to deprive him igno.nmiously of office for an act which, besides that endorsal, received that of the pre- vious Dominion Parliament. If this were permitted. Local Governmtnts will exist but in natne, the mr^re shadows of Ottawa ; and then it indeed well be said there, "Oh, the things are mire Ottawa bureaux now may we control them here ; do away with them." This Letellier stroke is the % 14 first tap to the wo THE LOCAL ELECTIONS. idge. And then come back, it is hoped, I fancy old when for many years our Upper Canada representatives were con^plefcely ignored, the majority of outside votes-you remen,her Mr Cartier's '' Call in de °^«"f f; "^^X^rf' ov rather mismanaging, all our local business for us. But tor that Ontano would, twenty years back, have thriven as she has since she broke loose They deny tU intention. But do their actions deny it? What does it mean that Sir Jchn Macdonald refuses to ratily the award ot the ter- ritory given Ontario to the west, if he be not jealous ot Ontario s pro- gressV What did Mr. Morris say the other ni naiir1lfl«r.p 'Will of protection oi ho\ue mausincs tnai. i-^ ^ i^^ j - '- -—" --- think of such a thing as avowing himself a Eree Trader. But I say the present men are so spoiling the job of Protection that, if their Admm. istration complete its term, Protection will be unfairly discredited heie lJ.J .>- THE LOCAL ELECTIONS. 15 for years, for a failure committed in its name, but for which responsibility it had none. I say they have not given you a policy of Protection, but of Extortion ; that instead of the, National Policy they have given you a National Humbug. For if Sir John had not, on attaining power, cast from him every man who could have helped him, and formed his Cabinet of men who could not, and who have not, you would have seen around you to-day the signs of prosperity on every side. Wliat was said in Par- liament 1 Mr, Casey said, " You rejected tlie Protectionists from your Cabinet, and came to the sea-side for a man who for years had made it his boast that he was the chamjiun Free Trader of the Dominion." I ask you, Canadians, whether Keform or Conservative, is it fair to blame Protection for failure when placed in such hands 1 I ask you to remem- ber that, just after the elections, when by remaining silent I might have easily had good place and salary, I publicly warned you that what has happened would happen if the National Policy were placed in incapable or hostile hands. And I ask you to look round now, and see if every prediction is not verified, , i The issue here to-day is of other matters. You are asked, I again say, to reject men who have managed your local affairs more economically, more successfully, more beneficially, than any government in Canada, and few in the States, have succeeded in doing. You are asked to place in their stead men who have given few proofs of competence, and many of incompetence. 1 trust you will, however, show by your votes that these things have not escaped you unappreciated, but that you recognize the merits of the men who have honestly toiled in your service, who have done the country much solid good, and are likely, if given the opportunity, to do it much more. ERRATUM. Iv^ Page 7.— Instead of ^hirtjrjmilHons beneficial expenditure during the last few years in Ontario, read jortvjii ill! ons. re «,*!««..■««■.■•,»««■■.