Ai IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 If: "- IIM I.I 1.25 i; 12.0 1.8 14 IIIIII.6 % // s '■y y ^^^; # Laitial readers will find in them Mnolusive evidence that the four years of Liberal government in Nova Sootia have been marked by upright and eoonomical ad- miniftration, and by wise aad profrennve lepalatioii, adapted to the requironents of tlMflonntry. Governments, as a mle, grow weaker 1m they grow older. The goveroiqieat ;jri'ess has been made in the collection of the back dues. The arrwars at the end of last year were 997|092.15 — nearly fifteen thousp-ud dollars less than at the close uf 1882. The credit of Nova Scotia has been fiilly establinhed at home and abroad. The isums require I for the public works of the iJiovince are obtained under favorable conditions from otir own people, among whom the provincial debentures are favorite securities. The gov- ernment's business with the ^auks has been placed on a betU^r footing. Moneys required for current accounts are borrowed on the best terms. " TBAVELLINO FKBS," ETO. The arrangements respcicting traveUin^ allowances to executive cnuiicillorsliave been readjusted and pTaoed on a Sound basis, mem- bers receiving their actual expenses. The same policy has been followed in relation to "contingencies" in the departments, the xed grants to the departmental heads being abolished and the province paying for actual ''. services and supplies. These are among the minor matters of administration, and yet wheu we remember that much prominence was given to them in the election campaigns of the past, and that much was spoken and written of them that was calculated te derogate from the dignity of provincial poli- tics, we may with propriety note the fact that they have been placed by the present govem- ment on a sound and unassailable basis. KKFORMS. Many reforms have been effected. The administration of justice has been improved and limplified by the passage of Jhe judica- ture act. The married women's property act has been passed, under which a married woman may hold and enjoy as her own the fruits of her in«lipstrj. The anomalous state of affairs that prevailed for many years in re- ation to the office of sheriff has been brought to an end, and an act passed which guaran- tees sheriffs permaoenoy of office, exoept where ohaiges of misocmduot are made. Measures have been passed te require regis* tration of co-partnerships, to protect the focests from the rava^fes ef fire, to improve the methods of expendug and aeoountiag for the Kwd monejri, to amend the election ]»\i«^mm1 for other uaefnl purposes. Tht «t toll bridge in the province liias been made free. The assessment law, which has been complained of, has been muue the sub ject of careful enquiry, and much valuable information obtained, which will enable the new parliament to deal with this very iin portftut matter. LEGI8LATIVB COt'NCII,. The question of abolition of the legislative council has often been discussed. Opinion has been divided on both sides of the house. The government have deemed it their duty to make new appointments to that body only upon such conditions as will leave the way open for abolition at a future day if such be the wish of the country. , , EXTENSION OF THE FRANCHISE. ' \i The franchise has been broadened. Thous- ands of young men who have hitherto had no voice in the management of the public af fairs of the province will cast their first votes at the approaching election. Unless! I am misinformed, the great inajority of them will deposit their ballots in support of the Liberal party, which has given them the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. It is to be regretted that there is not a uniform franRiise for the Dominion and local elec- tions. One of the Dommion revising barris- ters, in a public letter, saj's : "My observa- tion shows me that much confusion will re- sult from having a franchise and procedure for the local lists different from those of the Dominion." This is unqut-stionaltly tmei But whose fault is it that there is not luii- formity? Not the local governineot's. The public i-ecords show that over a year age, be- fore the introduction of the Dominion fran- chise bill, I addressed a communication to the Dominion premier. Sir John A. Macdon- aki, suggesting that with a view to avoiding suoh confusion, a conference between the ; Dominion and provincial governments be '; held, and an effort made te secure a unifonn ; franchise. The proposal was nut accepted. ] If there is now confusion arising omt of the lack of uniformity in te franehise laMTs, the people will remember that the local gevernment anticipated that con- fusion, and would have prevented it if their effwts had been seconded at Ottawa. IDUOATION. Goaunon scheol education has been mora liberally supported than ever before, amI tlM hig haA las wa wh in,' b&^ tea edi (3) i is highdri results in *attenelanc8 and efficiency have been reached. The records show that last j'ear nearly one fourth of the population Iwas at school. The county academy system, which had lonjr bfen admitted to be very 5 inefficient, was prai)i>k;d with and placed on n ( basis which affords tincouragement to the liest • teachers and pives an uniJeiua to advancptl j education. Sjiecial recognition has been given to the needs of the French speaking partion of the population. An important I 6tep has been taken in tliedireccion of techni- cal education in the department of agricul- ture, with results which will probably war rant an extension of the principle to other de partmentB of industry. The education of the blind and the deaf and dumb has rnceived speeial consideration andlieen well sustained. The Iwimane institutions have been liberally supported and are now to be brought more directly under the control of the government. Valuable improvements have been made in the hospital for the insane. Legislation hasbefin enacted for the removal of »., the harmless insane t^Jj^cal institutions, which will have the effect of relieving the' Hospital from its crowded state, and aflfordint? room f»r the treatment of patients who in recent years have soinetimes been excluded for want of room. , THE BOAll AND BRIDnS SKnVICE. Roads and bridges have received the ut- most attention. Unfortunately we have not had so much money for this important ser- vice as in the good old days when Nova Sc ties road, which but for this would have been closed, and the money granted was most carefully expended, resulting in substantial improvement in the condition of the line. THK RAILWAY ACT OF 1886. After many months of negotiations with railway companies and other capitalists the government were able to present to the legislature a comprehensive scheme for the completion of the Western Counties railwaj and the consolidation of the lines between Halifax and Yarmouth. If the Dominion government perform their part of the arrangement in relation to the Windsor branch, the running power* from Windsor junction into Halifax, &o., wa believe this scheme will at an early day be carried out. The government have to assume certain obligations to accomplish their p^ir* pose, but the interests of the province are" so well guarded and protected by cash deposits, by the earnings of the road and by general control of the undertaking, that there is practically little or no risk, and it is con* fidently believed that the arrangement can be carried out without costing the projvinoe anything. • A general provision has been made where- by the government may in their discretion grant aid to the extent of $3,200 per mile and 2,000 acres of crown land per mile to tmj company building a new railway. This pro- vision is well guarded, so that while it will be a valuable and to any bona fide company, having a Dominion subsidy and other re> sources, it cannot be touched by speculative companies, with no substantial means. OAPR BRETON. In addition to these measures the govern* ment recognized the claims of Cape Breton by granting $256,000 for railways in that island, either as a subsidy to a company for a through line from the Strait of Canso to Sydney or Louisburg, or for such sections of the line as by connection with the waters of the Bras d'Or Lake would afford improved means of communication between the main* land and the principal places in the island. These proposals were so mantfe^Iy fai^ to* Cape Breton that they were receiveil witk mmm mmt^ i 'vwK Mia - ive- if w to of J of led Itlk ]1 inuoh favor by the reprM«fit«tivoB sf the island. The cry of "Ju«tioe to Cape Breton'' in the matter of railwpyn was stilled by the meaaure. No Cape Breton man haa atteinpt«ed to flhow that any more liberal railway ]x>licy eould in justice be auked from the local government. I am matiafied that the intelli- gent and thoughtful people of the itiland will see in these liberal (rrants, which can be nHed to aid branch lines if the Dominion government construct the main line, the most ample guarantee of tlie desire of the local government to deal fairly with the olaimK of Cajie Breton. It is one of the most remarkable facts in the history of railway legislation in our pro- vinces that the act making the provisions in relation to railways east and west, to which I have just referred — a measure of the largest character and utmost importance — after a thorough discussion in the house of assembly, after the most searching examination that could be given to it, was caiTJed un animou sly. Only one or two opposition members spoke against it, and before the discussion closed they evidently changed their views and con- cluded that they could not afford to record I their votes against a measure so wisely I devised and so well guarded. The result A of the railway debate was a crowning triumph : \ of the Liberal party's four years of valuable I \ legislation. AN UNASSAILABLE BRCORD. The closing session of our parliamentary term is always the crucial one. On the eve of the appeal to the people, the opposition call the government to account for their errors, and place before the country the grovmds on which the government are to be assailed. What is the record in this respeot of the session just closed ? Our opponents ditional f«roe^ because they are made in the presence of the governiaant, with all the public docmnonts at hand and all the facts available. When the constituted and well organized opposition fail to lying in the pro* par way any charge Against the govenunent, when in the most tryiag session, on the eve of the appeal to the piioplB, not a resolution is 'tabled assailing the conduct of the admin- istration, it is imiiOHsible to resist the con* ulvsion that the government'srecord is a'good one, that the attacks »f irresponsible writers are unfounded in fact, and could not safely be made in the legislative halls. The government might with the utmosii confidence have appealed to the «ouatiy on the record which I have thus hastily reviewed. But another issue of paramount importance has forced itself u[>on the attention of the country. REFBAIc In the opinion of the governwient the time has come when the people of Nova Scotia should once more make an effort to obtain a release from a union into which they were forced, and which has been produstive of j little good and much evil. There was j once a party in Nova Scotia which was satisfied with confederation. To-day no disinterested man can be found to say tliat He is satisfiecl. Dissatfsfaclioiir is so wide and deep that many are heard to say that no change could be for the worse. Some of those who were the warmest ;ad- vocates of confederation in 1867 are now the^;;^ most outspoken in their expressions of hos- tility to it. After the failure of the repeal agitation of 1867-9 to accomplish its main purpose, the^ people settled down, not very cheerfully it must be admitted, to make the best of the situation. "Give the union a made the most searching enquiry into they fair trial," said some. It has had a long and government's acts. Information was asked and given on every point in which the oppo- sition saw the faintest hope of finding a ground of attack. And what was the result ? The government were found to occupy an un- assailable position. Not a charge was brought against them for enquiry. Not a motion was tabled challenging the uprightness or the itHsdom of their course. A partisan press may fling charges broadcast and persuade the ignorant that there is something in them But the intelligent and right-thinking elector looks to parliament for the enquiry into mat- ters of this kind. If ohargM can be SMde with tmth they will have ad- more than fair trial, and the verdict against it is more emphatic than before. We were assured by the fathers of confed- eration that the affairs of the Dominion could be carried on for twenty years or more at an annual cost of eleven or twelve million dol- lars, equal to $3. or less per head of the pe> pulation. The expenditure in the first year was nearly thirteen r.ad a half millions, and it has been increasing by leaps and Iwands until it now exceeds the enormous sum of thirty-five million dollars. "Nie interest and charges in connection with the public debt alone absorb neaiiy as Bracb as we were told would pay the tatal eopeaMr I V i^ < I («) of government. Who is fthore in Nov* Scotia that will say that this rant increane of the public expenditure, oinimon government should build objections which were urged against the a railwi *y through Cape Breton or assume terms of union at first apply v/ith still greater )n8ibility of securing it^ construction force now than in the first year of the union. The Dominion government the loca tion of t Macdon the reap* by a CO mpwjy fMhjgo^ i» do more than they had done and sent the '*'^^*y promotsra to the local gov- emmeat • '^^ minister of railways said that government should contribute a por- he subsidies. The premier. Sir John aid, expressed regret that the Domin- on eove ™»°®'*t ^^^ granted any subsidy. This wai P *^*' P^sitio* down to the time of the Pftsimro <**' '^* repeal resolutions. The action of gyj nj '.sembly brought the Ottawa govem- XQiuxt to f * ■•"86 I'f the situation. They sud- (j^y i^jjiiandonedtheir policy of subsidies and f^m » do4*^ *** the hoiiie of commo'^"'with a motion to provi3eToi tHe construction way through Cape Breton as an extensio •* **' *^* Intercolonial railway. With ■eet result of the repeal move- thia dii ment bef wflliad finnijr in plaee. oiii them, the people of Nova Scotia every reason to assert their rights the contest that is about to take 1)U DIBCOXTENTIO THAN BVEB. hranclies of the legislature in 1884 placed on record the following and the feeling of discontent with regard to the financial arrangement is now more gen- eral and more deeply fixed than ever be- fore." , , , . ; In the presence of this statement, s«pport- ed by the unanimous vote of both houses, what is to be done? Submit in silence? Some " would do se. If the people of Nova Scotia are satisfied with the fruits of confederation, they will have the opportunity of recording the fact by depositing their ballots on the 1.5th tf June. But if, as we believe, theyare deeply dissatisfied with their position in the union and determined to bring about a better state of affairs, they will doubtless feel that they can best advance the true interests of this provinee by sustaining the rei)eal policy which the h)cal government submit for their approval. 1 have the honor te be, ' Gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, W. S. FlKLDINO. Halifax, May 25, 1886. \ \ J '(," ■ ■ I HALIFAX ELECTION. .lit LIBERAL CANDIDATES HON. W. S. FIELDING, J'ROVINCTAL SECRETARY, :."r^:/" M. J. POWER, WILLIAM ROCHE, JR. Election, Tuesday, June 15, 1886. f.«':^-,H,-f!' / y / / Public Arcliives of Nova Scoti? iriALIFAX, N- S- m I Si-