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1 2 3

The EDITH and LORNE PIERCE
COLLECTION o/CANADIANA

Slueerfs University at Kingston

FA CTS FOR THE TIMES.

li. ..T '

' J ,

RECORD OF LIBERAL ADMINISTRATION

YLo^w the Joly Ministry Governed the Province. — The
V Financial Question.— Liberal Scandals.— The
Joly Policy. — The Rail^vay Question.
The Chapleau Policy.

,,v

THE FINANCIAL QUESTION.

The circumstances which led to the
formation of the Joly Administration are
too fresh in the minds of the people to
refjuire any reference to them now, and
in dealing with the sijecial feature of its
policy which we propose to refer to to-
day, we shall not in any way allude to
those circumstances. Mr. Joly tO' -k office
upon the declaration that he would make
expenditures and revenue meet without
having recourse to any new sources of
revenue. That was the promise upon
which he appealed to the people, and it
was in consequence of that promise, and
from a willingness to afford him an oppor-
tunity of fulfilling it, that he succeeded in
carrying thirty-one out of tlie sixty-five
constituencies, in May of last year. He
has been in office for twenty months,
certainly a sufficient time to enable him
to fulfil his promise if he was able to do
so. Has he fulfilled it? Tliat, it seems
to us, is an important question at a time
when the peoi^le are asked to reject the
new Ministers because of their success in
defeating the Joly Government.

There is a question which may be refer-
red to briefly before we enter upon the
financial question, viz : the extent of re-
sponsibility which attaches to each party
for the position in which the Province
finds itself. We are wont to hear about
the embarrassments which have been
brought upon the Province in consequence
of the policy of the former Conservative
Government. It is a sufficient answer to
this charge to point out that with the
single exception of the objection to as-
suming the North Shore railways, the
policy of previous administrations was

all sanctioned by the Liberal party in op-
position, under the lead of Mr. Joly. No
single grant by way of subsidy to any rail-
way met with opposition. Indeed, so far
from opposition being offered, the Kouges
sought to embarrass the Governmout by
complahiing that they were not sufficient-
ly liberal in their dealing with the sub-
sidized lines. The policy of aiding rail-
ways was not a party policy, but a patriotic
one, which not only received its strongest
support from Mr. .Joly and his friends,
but which, if their motions in the Legisla-
ture had not been defeated, woukl have
been greatly extended. In so far, there-
fore, as. the present financial embarrass-
ment arises from the grants by way of
suljsidy to railway companies, including
the grants to the North Shore Eailway
Companies, the Liberals are as responsible
for it as their opi)onents.

Only ui)on the policy of assuming the
North Shore liailways, and completing
them as Government works, on the fail-
ure of the companies, was issue joined by
the two parties, and the Liberals may
claim that financial embarrassment would
have been avoided had the Government
refused to take over the roads. That is
true, but it is also true that in tha' ise
the Province would not have had the great
advantage of these railways, the advances
alreatly made by the Government and the
municipalities woidd have been absolute-
ly lost, and we should have had simply
the ruins of a half finished railway to show
for the expenditure. The Conservatives
may fairly, therefore, claim that their pohcy
was in the interests of the country. If
there was any doubt upon this point, how-
ever, Mr. Joly himself has removed it.
The roads were still unfinished when he

//^ r-

Fyofzx /<f'/5 (!'/XX

took office. He could have saved some-
thing by stopping them. It would have
been a foolish thing to do; but only in de-
gree not in principle more foolish than to
have permitted them to remain uniinish-
cd on" the failure of the companies. He
tlid not do this. On the contrary he is
actually claiming to-day special merit that,
under his administration of the depart-
ment, these roads have been pressed on
to completion. But Mr. Joly went further
than this. He did not ?o.itenthim-<ef with
completing the contracts actually let ;
he incurred expenditures to which the
action of his j)redecessors in no way bound
him, and to that extent has further em-
barrassed the financial position as the re-
sult of these railways. His construction
of the Loop Line at Three Rivers, his con-
tract for tlie briilge at Hull, and his ex-
tension of the line to Aylmer, are all
-works beyond the obligations imposed up-
on him by his predecessors in office. We
are not condemning these works. They
may be all very valuable — that is not the
point with which we are dealing at this
moment. What we urge is that their
having been undertaken by Mr. Joly, of
his own motion, without the assent of the
Legislature, and in excess of any obliga
tions incurred by Mr. DeBoucherville, de-
stroys all right on his part to complain
that his embarrassments arose from the
obligations which he inherited from his
predecessors, and which, his friends al-
lege, had he been in office all the time
would never have been incurred.

It is not necessary to say this much in
relation to the plea that the financial em-
barrassments are the result of a policy on
the part of the Conservatives when in
office, to which the Liberals, then in oj)-
position, were opposed. We come now
to the question : Did Mr. Joly succeed in
doing what he promised the electors at
the May election he would do, n^store the
equilibrium without recourse to any sys-
tem of imposts to increase the revenue ?
If he did, if he even made a reasonable
approach to doing it, then he may claim
that he should have been ponnittod to re-
main at the head of the Government. Jf
he did not, then he has failed in his mis-
sion, the COM/) d'e/a/ of March, 1878, is
without even the semblance of a result
to justify it, and he has been properly
restored to the position of leader of the
Opposition which for so many years he
adorned.

Mr. Langelier at the last session of the

Legislature, subjnitted a number of
statements in order to show the receipts
antl expendituies of the province during
the year ending ,30th June, 1879, — a year
at the commencement of which the late
Government had got safely seated in their
saddles, and should have been able to
make their skill felt in producing those
wonderful financial results whicli were
promised. The first thing which strikes
us in dealing with this subject is the ex-
traordinai'y differen(;e between estimate
and expenditure under the Joly Adminis-
tration. The late Mr. Bachand promised
important economies when he submitted
his estimates for the year, and we had any
extent of rejoicing in the Ministerial press
at this wonderful result of a chanre of
Government. People contrasted the esti-
mates of Mr. Bachand with those of his
predecessor, Mr. Church, and cried out :
See how these Liberals efi'ect econo-
mies. But as months rolled on, and the
day of reckoning arrived, it was found that
their savings were only figures of speech,
and not figures of arithmetic. The late
Mr. Bachand undertook to carry on the
Government, proceed with contemplated
public works, and meet the interest and
charges upon the public debt, with a sum
of $2,314,041. In his budget speech he
was very emphatic upon this point, say-
ing : — " The present Government engages
" to fulfil all the obligations of the Pro-
" vince, legitimately contracted, vithout
"injury to the public service, by the
" adoption of a policy of economy and re-
" trenchment well applied, and w^ithout
"recourse to direct taxation." He pro-
ceeded to show in what manner, and to
what extent, and to what branches of the
public this policy was to be applied, and
he concluded his statement by the de-
claration that he anticipated that the
financial year closing the 30th of June,
1879, would show all the obligations of
the Province honestly met, the public
enterprises faithfully carried out, and a
surplus in the Treasury of $17,495. He
also "pledged his word that the ex-
"pendituro of the various branches
"of the public service would not ex-
"ceed the amount estimated by him.''
He unhappily was not spared to see the
results of the year's administration ; but
when the figures came down, it turned
out that the actual expenditure for the
same services reached the sum of $2,685-
340, a larger sum than has ever been
spent in one year on ordinary ex-

\\-

1 ,y,

■\\^ t

;;(l

penditure in the Province of Quebec,
and no less than $371,291) in ex-
cess of the revenue. Then looking at
the statements submitted by Mr. Lan-
gelier, what do wo find ? In order to con-
ceal the utter failure to make ends meet,
we have a sum — an exceptional item
which in the course of the debate which
followed the budget i-peech, the Trea-
surer liimself admitted could not be
cLaimed as ordinary revenue, — of half a
million, obtained from the Dominion
Government, on account of a claim
arising out of the unsettled assets and
liabilities of the Provinces of Ontario and
Quebec respectively, classed as an ordi-
nary receipt. We had the balance on
hand at the commencement of the year,
amounting to $227,622, treated in the
same way. And we have another item of
$79,515 claimed as a receipt, because it
was held that in 1872 it had been impro-
perly paid out of the Consolidated Fund
to the Richelieu, Drummond & Arthabasca
Railway, and, as a mere piece of book-
keeping, that fund was now credited with
it, the sum being charged against the
Consolidated Railway Fund. And then,
on the other side, we ha I the interest and
sinking fund of the public debt charged
to capital account. Correcting these
gross errors — this discreditable system of
cooking public accounts — we have the
following as die result of the first year's
administration of Mr. Joly and his col-
leagues : —

Receipts $2,832.07(5

Less: Dominion Government. $500,000..
Balance on hand at com-
mencement of year. . . 227,fi22

Bookkeeping item 79,515

807,137

Ordinary receipts $2,024,941

Payments 1,958,213

Add : Interest Public Debt 727,097

$2,6*5,310
DEFICIT 9<i60,401

That is the result of the first year's ope-
ration of this Government which proposed
to make ends meet without resort to tax-
ation, whose only raison d'etre, in fact, was
that they would accomplish this work.
There are a number of other items includ-
ed among the receipts in this statement
of Mr. Langelier's which cannot properly
be classed as ''ordinary receipts;" but
we have only deducted those which are
absolutely undisputed. The actual defi-
cit of the first year's operation of Mr. Jo-
ly's Government will, we have reason to
believe, come much nearer to three-

quarters of a million than to the sum wo
mention. But the figures we have given
are beyond ilisputo. According to them
we have, as the result of one single year
of Liberal rule, an addition to tluj public
debt, on account of ordinary expenditure,
of nearly half a million of dollars. And
these are tlie gentlemen who undertook
to make ends mtset !

Did they promise any bettor for the
future? Let us see. Here are the esti-
mat(!s for the present year, as coui[»ared
with tlie expenditures of last : —

1879. 18K().

Legislation $ l.>3,l:« $ 14I,r)(X)

Civil (iovornment 157,710 157,9(fc>

AdmlnLstration of Justice . 3!H),770 375,932

Police 14.400 ll,r>>>

Reformatories 57,060 5(>,30()

Inspection. 2,723 5,500

Public Instruction 353,035 320,210

Literary and 8clentlflc In-
stitutions 8,680 8,ir)0

Arts and Manufactures 10.000 10,000

Agriculture Gt,087 70,000

Immigration and Repatria-
tion 14,800 5,000

Colonization ']H,4M 4.5,f)00

Public Works and Build'gs . 1!M).0(18 2.58,886

liUnatic Asylums 210,542 180,000

Chari ties 60,677 m,'£H)

Miscellaneous 26,084 15,000

Pension Fund 6,081 1,950

Heed Grain Loan. 7,700

Charges on Revenue 187,319 188,401

Interest and Sinking Fund. 727,097 683,181

$2,685,340 $2,595,661
Although these figures .show a nominal
decrease in the estimated expenditure of
the present year as comi^ared with the
actual expenditure of last, there are some
features of the tables which show that
not much dependence is to be placed
upon them. For instance, in one item of
interest and sinking fund on the public
debt wo have an apparent decrease of
$43,916. But the debt has not lessened;
on the contrary, it is quite clear that th^.
works which the Government have actu-
ally undertaken cannot be completed
without increasing it. It is true that the
interest on temporary loans, amounting
last year to $95,594.76, has been, as to
the difierence in the rate, saved by the
payment of the loans from the proceeds
of the permanent loan since effected.
But inasmucli as the works actually
undertaken or promised by Mr. Joly
will involve another loan of at least two
million^', if not three, to say nothing of
the new financial method of borrowing
money to i)ay interest, it is quite clear
that there will be no decrease in the
amounts of this claim when the public
accounts are made up.
The difference between Mr. Bachand'.s

estimates and the actual expenditures to
wliich wo have ref<irred, warn us not to
accept too readily the statements of a
government resolved to cover up tneir
failui'e by a process of financial cookery.
Here are some details of chat difierence :
— In the matter of the auministration of
justice, the expen<liture exceeded the
estimate by $50,719; in education Vjy
nine thousand (lollars; in public works
by forty-four thousand dollars ; in chari-
ties by four thousand dollars ; in miscel-
laneous by sixteen thousand dollars; and
in charges upon revenue by sixty-three
thousand dollars. These are illustrations
of the difference between estimates and
expf,nditure8, and show very clearly how
fuLile is the attempt to judge of the latter
in advance by tlie former. Indeed al-
ready we had, in the supplementary esti-
mates, a proof that all these economies
were not expected to be realized.

But assuming, for the sake of argu-
ment, that the estimates are not exceed-
ed in the expenditures, was the equili-
brium between revenue an<l expenditvu'e
established ? Mr. Langolier assumed that
he would have receipts to the amount of
three hundred and sixty thousand doUai's
in excess of his expenditures. But un-
fortunately the estimates of receipts in-
cluded sums that there was not the least
chance of his getting, and others which,
if obtained, did not Vjelong to the ordin-
ary receipts and could not therefore be
lield to justify the claim that the era of
deficits had disappeared, lie claimed
that he could obtain another half million
from the (xovemmt^nt on account of dis-
puted claims with Ontario and the
Dominion. That certainly is not an or-
dinary revenue. Then he estimated that
lie would obtain $2()(),0()0 from contribu-
tions by the municiiialities on account of
the Municipal Loan fund, a very substan-
tial description of "tax" by the way, upon
those municipalities if the same was col-
lected from them. He promised during
the budget debate to bring in a bill to
enable him to collect this money. But
he never produced the bill, and thus
abandoned this item of revenue. And
finally he estimated another $200,000 as
the result of the lease which was to be
given to the famous syndicate as a re-
ward for valuable electoral services. But
as the lease was abandoned, this sum be-
comes an uncertain one. Here, then, are
$9(K),(.K)0 of receipts which Mr. Langelier
claimed in his statement, which are

either not applicable to ordinary revenue,,
or the legislation to enable him to obtain
which he never attempted to ontain. So
that instead of a surplus of $360,000 wo
have an estimated deficit of $540,000 f
And that is assuming that his estimates
of expenditures are not exceeded by the
result, and that his expectations of
revenue are fully realized, contingencies
in which 1 e was certain, in both cases, of
being disappointed. As the result then
of twenty months of administration of
Mr. Joly and his friends, we have instead
of a re-established equilibrium between
revenue and expenditure, as we were
promised, two enormous (leficits, involv-
ing an addition to the public debt of over
a million of dollars, on account of ordin-
ary annual expenditure. That is the
financial result of Mr. Joly's term of of-
fice. Contrasted with his promises, we
are quite sure the public verdict will bo
that it does not entitle him either to the
sympathy or to the support of the people
of this Province.

The claim to economy on the part of
the Joly Administration we have already
reviewed. An expenditure in the only
complete year of its administration of
over three hundred thousand dollars, in
excess of the estimates which the Trea-
surer jsolemnly pledged himself would
not be exceeded, and a deficit of over
six hundred thousand dollars, as the re-
sult of the year's transactions, are the
best possible answers to that claim. We
come next to the plea on their behalf
that their administration has been a pure
one. " For twenty months," we are told
by the organ of the Jolyites in Montreal,
they have " economically and righteously
'' administered the affairs of this Pro-
" vince." — " Honest and pure Govern-
ment" — are the terms in which the
twenty months' record is described. Let
us see what claim there is to the title : —

THE TURCOTTE PURCHASE.

Mr. Joly was beaten at the polls at the
general elections, and he knew it. If he
had loyally accepted the popular verdict,
he must have retired. He did not loyally
accept it. On the contrary his very first
act was an act of shameless corruption,
the purchase of a public man to betray
his constituents. Mr. Turcotte was elect-
ed as an opponent to Mr. Joly. He could
not have been elected on any other
ground. Even the suspicion that he

4 «

•>>

■niif»ht possil)ly temporize, aronsod such n
feeling in his constituency that he was
compelled to write his letter of indignant
Tej)udiation of being other than aCojiser-
vative and an opponent of the .loly (lov-
crnment. After his election he was in
communication with the loader of the
■Opposition, and three hours before he
TOted himself into the chair, as the
nominee of Mr. Joly, he was still a de-
clared opponent of the Ciovernment. And
by means of the vote thus purchaseil, and
not by means of poj^ular support, the re-
sult of the elections, Mr. Joly kept him-
self in office. The attempt to establish
an analogy between the case of this miser-
able culprit Turcotte, and that of the
gentlemen who recently voted against and
defeated Mr. Joly, is utterly futile. No one
pretends to say that a man being elect-
ed as a friend of a (rovernment,
is bound during the Parliament to sus-
tain that (lovernment irrespective of
what its policy might be. To hold that
view would be to destroy altogether the
whole theory of responsible government.
Oentlemen elected to support a Govern-
ment, must give that Government such
support as will enable them to fully de-
velop their policy; but if that policy,
when developed, is not in accordance
with their view of the public jnterest, or
if the Government fails in carrying out
Its programme, they are not only ab-
solved A*om any obligation to support it,
but are bound as honest men to oppose
it. That is an essential feature of the
theory of our system of Government,
which is that Ministers are continuously
dependent for their continuance in office
upon the confidence — based upon an in-
telligent appreciation of public policy —
of the people's representatives. So, a
gentleman elected to oppose a Govern-
ment, either because of the disapproval
on the part of his constituents of its past
policy, or of the manner in which it ob-
tained office, is bound in honour to use
his vote to defeat that Government, when
the opportunity to give it occurs, even
if, afterwards, he should, as he may, give
to its measures, or to such of them as
he approves, a general support. This
distinction is so plain that no one, who is
not dishonestly interested in misrepresent-
ing the case, can fail to see it. The lat-
ter was Mr. Turcotte's case. There was
no doubt about the constituency of Tliree
Elvers being against the Government.
There was no doubt about his having ob-

tained his election upon the solenui as-
surance that he shar»'<l that feeling of o|)-
position ; and it was simply by nutans of
a disgraceful i)in'chase that he was in-
duced to bet"ay his constituents, and
keep ^fr. Joly in office against tlie will of
the i>oople, as oxpi'cssod at the elections.
That was Mr. .loly's initial stop. It was
a shamelessly corrupt one, and it paved
the way for others to which we will
refer.

THE ASBESTOS LAND JoB.

The conduct of the Government in
connection with lot 27 in the Townsliip of
Thotford, is an illustration of the kind of
" honest and piu'o'' Ciovernment we have
been living under for the last twenty
months in tlie Province of Quebec. We
give the facts of the case as stated
l)y the Commissioner of Crown i^inds
himself A Mr. Johnston, of the Township
of Thetford, had, in tho fall of 1 S77, i)ur-
chased lot 27, as an agricultural lot, at
thirty cents an acre. Subsequently a Mr.
Sinister, an American, called upon Mr.
I^ngelier as Commissioner of Crown Lands,
informed him that the lot contained valu-
able deposits of asbestos, and was in fact
not an agricultural lot, as understood by
the rules of the Department, and urged
that it should bo put up at public auction
along with other lands about to be sold,
and that he was prepared to bid liberally
upon it. Mr. I^ngelier, upon these repre-
sentations, cancelled tho sale to Johnston,
and advdftised it to he sold by public
auction at Quebec on the 5th ,Iune. On
that day the Americans, who wished to
purchase the lot, wont to Quebec to attend
tlie sale, and were astonished to learn
that it had been withdrawn. The reasons
for the withdrawal were thus stated by
Mr. Langelier in the House of Assembly : —

"In the meantime a number of residents of
Megantic, including the Rev. Mr. Ball, Presby-
terian Minister, called on hlra (Mr. Langelier),
to express their indignation at the cancellation
of the sale to the Johnstons. The member for
Megantic also protested against this injustice
in mvor of an American speculator to two set-
tlers. Convinced of these representations he
withdrew the lot from public sale, and the de-
posits of asbestos on it. He made the Messrs.
Johnston pay the amount chargeable to settlers
for land containing mineral deposits, $1 per
acre, deducting their previous payment of .30c."

That Mr. Johnston's neighbours, includ-
ing his minister, were opposed to the can-
cellation of the lot is quite likely ; but we
presume it will hardly be urged that that
was a good reason for its withdrawal. The

lot was oithor a luiiioral lot or it was not.
If it was, tlion tlio n^asons which iruhu-od
Mr. Latigfilior to canr(>l tho Halo to .John-
ston, and a<lvortiso it at public; atitUion,
woro not romovod })y tho n i>ro.sontationH
of the Kov AFr. Rail and his noi^hhorH. If
it was not, then tho sale should have boon
confirmocl os an agricultural lot at thirty
conts an j'.>'ro. It was n<^)t conHrin<'d. Mr.
L'ln^olior by his own actdoolared it to be
.1 niin !ral lr)t, and havin<^ done so, ho loft
hinisoll" without the sha<low ol'an excuse
for having withdrawn it from public
sale. Wliat was the motive for this ac-
tion ? Tho subsequent facts sufljcnontly
establish that the whoU* thing was done
in tho interests of a prominent supi)orter
in the JiOgislatiu'o, Mr. (loorgo Irvine.
Ifero is tho proof: — According to tho re-
cords in the registry office at Inverness,
it appears that on tho 1st October last,
Mr. Johnston sold to the Hon. CJeorgo Ir-
vine and John Mooney two-fifths of the
lot, or about ninety-one acres, for $100;
and curiously enough in the deed of sale,
tho following passage occurs: — "This
" deed is made subject to and inconform-
" ity with a certain agreement made be-
" tween the said parties at Quebec on the
"seventh day of June last" (1878). We
have thus these facts established: — (I) A
sale of lot 27 in the Townshij) of Thotford
as an agricultural lot at thirty cents an
acre. (2) The canc(illation of this sale
on the ground that tho lot was
a mineral one, and its advertise-
ment to be sold at pubUo auction
on the 5th June. (3) The with-
<lrawal of the lot on the morning of the
sale, notwithstanding the i)rosence of per-
sons willing to bid upon it, at the solici-
tation, among others, of Mr George
Irvine. (4.) The sale of tho lot, by pri-
vate sale, not as an agricultural, but as a
mineral lot, to Mr. Johnston at a dollar
an acre, on the 8th of June. (5.) The
sale by Johnston to Messrs. Irvine and
Mooney on the 1 st of (October following ol'
two-fifths of the lot, in pursuance of an
agreement made on the 7tli of June, two
days after its withdrawal, at Mr. Irvine's
instance, from public sale, and the day
before its private transfer by the Crown
Lands Department. (().) A Io.ss to
the Province of over eleven
tlioiifi^and 4lollar»4, as Messrs. Sinis-
ter and lioss wore prepared to give at
least fifty dollars an acre for the land, the
minerals upon it being of very great
value. The whole proceeding was simply

a scandalous job, the money sacrificed
being more than all tho savings otlected
in the Civil Service, incduding the reduc-
tion of Ministers' .salaries, m one year,

THE NUT-LOCK SCANDAL.

Duiing their sliort term of office the Joly
Ministry succeeded in piling uj) so many
scandals that they may fairly claim to havo
carried out tho peculiar political theories
of the LilxM'al party to a greater extent
than oven the Mackenzie Administration
at < )ttawa had done. The most glaringly
corrupt of these is known as tho Nut-
Lock Scandal, and the evidence adduced
as to the relations of the (lovernment in
the transaction shows them to have been
guilty of sidling a public contract for
money with which to assist their friends
in the elections then pending. In No-
vember last Hon. Mr. Joly roconunended
to Mr. Peterson, Engineer-in-Chief of the
Government railway, the trial on ten miles
of the road of a nut-lock, patonto^l by a
Mr. Mackay, a clerk in tho Railway De-
partment. The cost of the new lock was
to be thirty dollars per mile, the Govern-
ment bearing the expense of placing
them, but for some reason or other, Mr.
Peterson did not act on the suggestion of
the Premier, probably because he regard-
ed the proi:)osed outlay as useless, and
nothing more is heard of Mr. Mackay and
his nut-lock until the following May, when
Hon. Mr. Joly being absent in England^
and that distinguished purist, the Hon.
Mr. Starnes, discharging the duties of the
Commissioner of Railways, an opportunity
was afforded for the hatching of a job. On
May 15th, on the recommendation of
Hon. Mr. Starnes, an ordor-in-council
was passed directing that the nut-lock
be supplied over the whole length of the
Government railway, sidings and branches
included, at a cost of fifty dollars per mile,
the contractor providing the labor. It
is important to notice that the first offer
of the inventor was to furnish the nut-
locks for thirty dollars a mile, so that in
his second proposition, that accepted by
the Government, he allows twenty dollars
a mile for the labour of placing them.
The order-in-council having been passed,
and no obstacle interiaosing to prevent
the carrying out of his little scheme, Mr.
Starnes wrote to Hon. Mr. McGreevy, con-
tractor for the eastern section of the rail-
way, urging that the work should be gone-
on with, but in the meantime a more pro-

HtaMe course of proooedin^hailsuggoHtcd
itself to the fertile imagination of Mackay,
which he apparently roninuuiicated to
Mr. Starnos and received his assent to it ;
for on Juno 5th wo have Mr. Sturnes
writing to Mr. Peterson that Mackay
thinks the work would be bettor done by
the regular section men, and asking I'or
an estimate of the cost of placing the
nut-locks. This letter was answered by
Ml. Scott, the Superintendent of the rail-
way, who said that the cost of putting on
the locks would bo five dollars i mile, but
recommended that three or four dollars
shoidd be taken ott'the contract price per
mile, and that the (government bear the
cost of placing the locks, if Mackay will
consent to such an arrangement. But
Mackay declined to allow more than two
dollars per mile for the expense of
I»lacing the locks. Let it be remembered
that this man had oft'ered to supply the
Government in November last with these
nut-locks at thiity dollars a mile ; that in
Ills second tender he had claimed twenty
dollars a mile for the costof placing them,
and that now ho demanded forty -eight
dollars a mile for the lock, and was willing
to allow the Government only two dollars
a mile for labor for i)lacing them, and an
idea of the nature ofthejoh can be formed.
And Mackay did not in vain demand this
exhorbitant i)rice for the lock which he
was anxious to dispose of a few months
previously for thirty dollars. The corres-
pondence shows that Mr. Starnes dirf^cted
that the amount of forty-seven dollai's a
mile should be allowed to the inventcn--
and that he did this against tlie advice of
the Chief Engineer, and with the
knowledge that he was sacrificing the
money of the people. On June 7th, after
learning from Mr. Peterson that Mackay
would only allow the Government two
dollars a mile from the contract p.iice, for
the performance of the work of placing
the locks, Mr. Starnos writes to the Chief
Engineer requesting liim to comply with
the original terms of the contract, but ad-
ding that if three dollars a mile will do
the work to proceed with it himself, Mac-
kay, who clearly w&z working in harmony
with the Acting Commissioner of Kail-
ways, having consented that the Govern-
ment should do the work. To this letter
Mr. Peterson replied, " I don't think the
" nut-lock can be put on in anything like
" an efficient manner for three dollars,"
and yet in the face of that statement, Mr.
Starnes orders the Superintendent, Mr.

Scott, to proceed with the work at the «'X-
pt'Hse of the Government, and to notify
Mr. Peterson of the arrangement.
Coulil any job be more palpable?

]Wr. NtariiOM, knowing that the
work could not he done for
three dollarN a mile, knowing
that him arrangement lironght
the eoMt to the Citoverniiient of
the lockH conMiderahly in exec^iii
of the contract price, fllHy dol-
lars i>er mile, knowing that ho
was giving the inventor forty-
seven dollars per mile for an
article that he had heen anx-
ions to dispose of for thirty <loN
lars, 4loliherately goe<4 on with
his arrangement in the lace of
the adverse opinion of his engi-
neer, and procee<ls to make a
Hcandaloiis waste of public
money,

That the Acting Commissioner of Rail-
ways was in collusion with Mackay is evi-
dent from the rapidity with which tho
locks were forwarded, after Mi. Starnes,
failing to get the consent of Mr. Peterson
to the job, determined t) carry
it through on his own responsibility.
In a letter to Mr. Starnes on
June 0th, the Chief Engineer had written
of Mackay, *' he is under the impression
that under his contract he will get a good
many extras, and that altogether it will
be to his advantage to do the work him-
self.'' How true this was is shown by a
letter from Mr. McGreevy on June 14th,
enclosing a re[)ort from one of his section
men, who says that the nuts of the fish-
plates were unscrev-'ed to put the lock on,
and not screwed back far enough to be
safe from the danger ot the engine
wheels running upon them. Beside the
danger to life and damage to rolliag stock,
he threate.ns to charge the Government
for the expense of extra men to ; crew
them up. He also says that Mr. I^Iac^kay
was proposing to take off the fish-jjlates
on a length of from half a mile to a milo
at a time, causing so much danger as to
make it necessary to stop trains alto-
g«ither, for which the Government is again
threatened with damages.

There were thirteen miles of the western
section of the Railway furnished with these
nut-lo;'ks, the cost of placing wliich was.

$I74.'.I(», or 1 1 .'{.45 por milo, whilo tlio
(lOvcnmuMit undertook to rcliovt! \ra<'kay
of tlw cxpciise oC i>liu'in>i tli«> l(jrks, aii»l
to perform tho work for-^.i peruiilo. Thus
Mai'kiiy pocketed $17 ii mile for a luit lock
ho had ollen'd for ^iJO per mile, and th<^
(Government, in addition to this (worhitant
j)riee, had to assume an additional expense
of fl;! a mile for placing the nut-locks, the
total cost biung thus fOO p(U' mile.

WIIKKK TIH'; MONKY WKNT TO.

A Committco of enquiry into this trans-
action was ask(Ml for in tho Assembly and
refused by tho (iovornmont, l)ut tho Legis-
lative Coimcil. taking cognizance of the
matter, appoint(Ml a special committee to
ascertain the truth of the charges made
against the Ministry. On August liTth a
meeting of this Conmiittee was held, at
which C/'ol. F. C. Farijana being sworn,
deposed as follows : —

I mot Dr. McKay on a')th July at Ottawa, ami
convtM'Kcd with hltn at tho UuhsoI Mouse on this
nut-lock quoMtion for about half an hour. He
told nie he had made a very good transaction,
but that he had made nothing up to the pre-
sent, as he was obliged to divide a (iortaln
amount between members of tho (jovernment.
He would, however, bo all right in the future.
Ho said the nmount he had to divide was be-
tween iji4,(H)() and $i"),(K)o, and that it was to be
used for election purposes.

il. Did ho mention tlie names of tlioso mem-
bers of tho Government? A. Dr. Mo Kay told
mo that ho divided tho money between Mr.
Langelier and Mr. 8tarnos for election purpose.
There being two Langeliers in the House I do
not know wiilch lio meant. Dr. McKay men-
tioned Mr. liangelier and Mr. Starnes in regard
to another transaction wltli Mr. Mcliroevy for
building a portion of the road. Dr. McKay, a
few weeks before tho electlons,told me he could
get my claims settled if I gave him $3,000 (or
election purposes to support tho Government.
The $5,000 were to bo taken out of my contract
claim. I told him it was useless, as I had writ-
ten to Mr. Joly and had received a reply which
obliged me to go to court.

Q,. What was tho amount of your claim ? A.
$28,000 against Mr. McGreovy; but I claimed
ft against tlie Government under clause 9, by
which the Government were responsible to me
as a sub-contractor. On the Government re-
plying that I should go to law, I dropped every-
thing with the Government ; and entered pro-
ceedings against Mr. McGreevy.

Q. The Government was to pay you in full,
and Dr. McKay was to get $5,000 ? A. Yos.

Q. Did he tell you to whom, the money
would go ? A. Ho said that was none of my
business, but in a friendly way ofTered to get
the claim settled for $4,000. Ho told me if I had
told him before, he could have had it settled
without loss of time or trouble.

That testimony remains unimpeached.
Although every effort was made to sub-
poena Dr. Mackay, in order that he might
give his own version of the transaction,
he could not be found, having been spirit-
ed away from Quebec to prevent the ex-

posures his evidence woultl necessarily
nuike.

WHAT MACKAV WAS TAID.

In August last, tlireo months after Hon.
Afr. Starnes had given out the contract,
Mackay had deliv((r(>(l to the (lovernment
only$i,')0() worth of jiut-locks and not
more than thirteen mih's of the railway
had be(>n fmished with them, yet at that
tiuK^ no less a sum than $ I (),')()() had been
paid l)y tho (lovornment to Mackay, of
whi(!h, according to the evidence, $;'),(XX)
was paid back l)y Mackay to assist the
liiberal candidates in the elections in
June. Mr. Mac Evvan, cashier of the Union
Baid<, deposed that lie had advanced
Mackay $"),()00 on tlie strength of the fol-
lowing letter : —

(ii'KnKC, May 27, 1S79.

To P. M vrEwAN, Esq.. C!iishier Union Bank of
Iiowor ('anada:
Siu,— Dr. Ma<-ka\ being, as I understand, de-
.■■irous of aiJplying to you for an advance to en-
able him to carry out his contract with the
CJovcrnmcnt for tlie placing of "nut-locks" on
th(! North Shore Railway, I undertake at his
request to retain from the moneys coming to
him under the said contract the sum of (^'i.OCK))
five thousand dollars, to be applied tf)wards tho
payment of any advance which tho Bank may
think proper to make to him.

1 remain yours truly,

H. RTARNES,
Commissioner ad interim.

Tn addition to this amount, Mr. Ed.
Moreau, Secretary of the Railway Depart-
ment, deposed that he had paid Dr. Mac-
kay $5,()()() in rlune by a cheque signed by
Hon. Mr. Joly, and later he had paid him
a furtlier sum of $500. We add the evi-
dence of Mr. A. L. Light, who deposed : —

" I am Government Engineer on the Eastern
Division of the North Shore Railway between
Quebec and Montreal ; I know Dr. Mackay's
nut-locks ; I am not aware that a contract was
made by the Government with Dr. Mackay on
account of his nut-locks to bo placed on the
road in May last ; I don't know personally if
these nut-locks were put on the road since May
last on my division between Quebec and Mont-
real ; if anything of the kind had happened, I
think I would have known it; no report was
made to me ; section men may have consider-
ed it their duty not to report, and I do not
know anything of it : as a general rule any-
thing important concerning my section is re-
ported or should be reported to me ; in May
last I have not been consulted about that nut-
lock contract by the Government ; I have not
seen one nutrlock put on the road In my section
in May last or since."

Such is the history of this scandalous job.
It is as glaring a piece of corruption as
ever disgraced a Government in this or
any other country, a direct sale of a pub-
lic contract for election purposes. No
link is missing in the chain of evidence ;
the record is complete and unimpeach

(

iihlc, nn<l .stamps tho Ministry wiiiclinouM
|)ori»otriit<* such a Job as muvortliy f^t tlu»
oonfidciico ot tlio pooplo of this I'ro-
viiico.

TFrE G()WK\ THANSACTIOX.

During tho session of tho riOgislaturo
wliifh has just closo<l Mr. Tartc, Af.IM*.,
from liis placo in tho House ma»l(t serious
charges against tho (Jovornmcnt in con-
nection with the sale by them of tho claims
of tho Crown on Notro Damo <los Angi's
property, aske<l for a committees of en-
quiry, and Messrs. Irvine, Lynch, Flynn,
8heyn, I/)rangor, Kacicot and Taillonwere
appointed to ascortain tho truth of the
charges. Wo i)ropose liero to <loal solely
with the report of tho committee, pre-
pare<l after many days laborious and
searching examination into all tho details
of the transaction, and which cannot be
claimed to bo j»rejudicod presentations
of the evidence elicited. The charges '"
Mr. Tarte were ( 1 ) that tho Government
had disposed of claims of tho Drowp
amounting to $1 7,(MK) to I Tammond fio^en^
a brotherin-law of tho Premier, for $r X) ;
(2) that Gowen ha<l borrowed u^ on the
cL i ns so a'^quired $9,6(J() on tho day of
their transfi r to him ; ('6) that an otfev of
$S,(XM) had been made a few months pre-
viously by Gowen for tho same claims and
refused by the Government, and (4)
that in thus disposing of the
claims for $.5,()(K) the Government
had wittingly sacrificed the praperty of
the Crown. The report of the committee
is divided into two parts, one relating to
the transfer of the rights of the Govern-
ment on Bickell's bridge and the other to
the sale of the claims on the Notre Dame
des Anges farm. As regards the transfer
of the rights of the Crown on the bridge,
the committee appears to have been unani-
mous in the opinion that the Government
had no riglits whatever which were affect-
ed by the transaction, and that therefore
they were quite justified in making the
transfer, but the report goes on to state
that " if the usual practice of obtaining
" from the law officers of the Crown a
•" written opinion of the Government
■*' claims had been followed, and if the
^' terms of the transfer to Mr. Gowen had
" been more explicit than they are, the
" difficulty whidi has arisen respecting
" the matter might have been avoided."

As regards the sale of the claims on the
Notre Dame des Anges farm, however, a
-different stoiy has to be told, one which.

in every |)articular, beais out the state-
mont made otj the floor of tho nous»» by
.Mr. Tarte. The farm, sinc(» it was first
granted by letters-patenl to Mr. Charles
Smith in ISiiS, for tho principal sum of
$H,S(K», and an annual n-ntal of .fH(i, has
passed thiough various hands, until sev-
eral years ago it came into the possessioji
of William Biekell and Ffanunond (iowen,
as joint owner,*. In the meantime, tlio
claims of th(! (Jovermnenton the farm for
rent had ))een rapidly ac(Mnnulating, only
ou(5 payment having been made since
iSli.i, andat i\\o close of tho year IS77
tho DeBoucherville Goverinnent com-
menced proceedings against Gowen and
Biekell for the payment of tho lialanco
of arrears then due. In conse-
quence of this proceedijig, on .lan-
luiry 2'Jnd, 1H7S, <iow«'n wi-oto to
the then Commissioner of Crown I^nds
Hon. P. (^larneau, offering eight thou-
san<l dollars for the claims of tho (iovern-
Mient on tho Notre Damo des Anges pro-
perty. This offer was referred to Mr. P.
JIuot, ager.t of tho .Jo.j'iits' estate, who, on
Januai l;;")th, reported that the Govern-
aenc would i'o justified in accepting an
Tor from Gowen of eleven or twelve
thousand dollars. On February "ith, 1X7!^,
Gowen wrote again to the Department,
asKing for a reply to his offer, but no
answer set-ms to have been given, and
nothing further occurred imtil a year
later, when, on February ]'Mh, 1H79, Mr.
Dechenes, advocate, of Quebec, who had
been the attorney of Biekell in all his fiti-
gation with Government, wrote to Hon.
F. Jjangelier, then Commissioner of Crown
I^nds, offering $4,5()ij for the claims of
the Government on behalf of his client
Biekell. This ofTer of Biekell like tho
former one of Gowen, was referred to 'lir.
P. JIuot, who reported that it could not
be accejited, inasmuch as it did not cover,
as he says, one-half of the Government
claims, and, further, that the offer of
Gowen was still open, and that Gowen had
since expressed his willinr/ness to pay ten
thousand dollars for the claim. In March,
or about five weeks later, Hon. Mr. Mar-
chand became Commissioner of Crown
Ijands, and as such Mr. Gowen was intro-
duced to him by Hon. Mr. Ijangelier.
Gowen then pressed upon Mr. Marchand
the acceptance of Mr. Bickell's offer,
made through Deschene, and we are told
that although the Commissioner knew
that Gowen was a brother-in-law of tho
Premier, he was not aware thatDeschene's

«M

ofter of four thousand five hundred dollars
was really made on behalf of
Gowen. Be this as it may, we
cannot but regard the conduct
of Hon. Mr. Marchand at this
juncture as singular, for after being urged
to the accej)tance of Deschenc's otfer by
Gowen, we find him referring the o^'er to
Mr. Iluot with special insirucfions " to re-
" port as to the amount which would be
" realized from the Government claim if
" judicial jiroceetlings were taken against
" the actual proprietors of the land. As
" to the means, if any, to obtain payment,
" ai^art from the seizure of each of the
" lots conceded by Bickell «fe Co., and
" seeing the difficulties and cost which
" would attend these proceedings, v^hat
" amount in cash he would advise the
" Government to accept for the claim on
" the property." The whole tone of this
letter shows a desire to obtain an opinion
from Mr. Huot that the Government
would do as well to accept Bickell's offer,
through Deschene, which it must be re-
membered was really the otfer of Mr.
Joly's brother-in-law, as to force the pro-
, perty for sale ; and Mr. Marchand suc-
ceeded in his purpose, for the reply of j
Mr. Huot was, as anyone would expect, to '
the effect that the property, if sacrificed
in the then depressed state of the real
estate market, could not be expected to
realize anything like its real value. Act-
ing on this Avarrant, Mr. Marchand
expressed to Gowen his willingness
to accept $5,000 for the Government
claim, which amount was paid over by
Gowen antl the transfer of the Crown
rights completed, the transfer being made
first to Bickell and then by him to Gowen,
and on the same day (May 15th) Gowen
borrowed $9,600 on the security of
the property, the
which, amounting
had jurt purchased
ernment for $5,000,
Mr. Marchand had agreed to ac-
cept the offer of $5,000, we are told ihat
the Commissioner, discovering that Gowen
had a personal interest in the transaction
and knowing that he was a brother-in-law
of the Premier^ and desiring for that reason
to take what he considered exceptional
precautions, informed Gowen that a valu-
ation uxust be made of the property. The
names suggeste<l by Mr. (irowen as valua-
tors were Daniel McGie and William Big-
nell, N.P., who were accepted by the Com-
missioner as competent and reliable men.

first claims on
to $17,(X)0, he
from the Gov-
Shortly after,

We pass over comment on the farce of
accepting valuators named by the buyer
of the claims whose interest was to depre-
ciate their value, and turn to the report
of the committee to ascertain their opin-
ion of this i^roceeding. Here it is: —

"The valuation of Iflesarj^.
«« McGie di Bignell bad little
'' value inasmuch at the former
^' never having seen the proper-
'' ty, and being unaware of itm
'^extent, was incompetent, to
'' liidge of its value, and the
'' wife of the latter having a by-
'' potbec on the property subse-
'^'^ Quent to the claim of the Oov-
'' eminent, he was interested
'' that it should be reduced in
" amount."

To substantiate the case against the
Government it is necessary to make two
more extracts from the report of the Com-
mittee, as follows : —

"Your Committee after examining a
" large number of witnesses, and after
" giving this branch of the case submitted
" to them their most earnest considej
'^ ration, beg to report the following facts
" as satisfactorily established :" —

(1) " That on'the 1st May, 1872, when
the discharge of the Government claims
on the Notre Dame des Anges fixrm, was
virtually concluded, such claims consist-
ed of the following sums : — 1 . Eight thou-
sand, eight hundred dollars being the
principal of the rent created by the let-
ters-patent of date the 24th June, 1828.
2. Eight hundred and sixty-one dollars
and sixty-six cents, being the amount for
which the seignorial tenure on the said
farm was commuted on October 7,1854. 3.
Five thousand eight hundred and sixty-
six dollars and sixteen cents, being the
balance of the arrears of rent due on the
said two principal sums for past twenty
three years, making a total of $15,527.82-
of these constituted rents, were not
exigible and were proved, assuming this
security to be gootl, to be worth the full
amount less a discount of one-third : the
Government had only a prior hypothe-
cary claim for five years, namely, for $2,
455 as regards subsequent hypothecary
creditors.

(2) That considerable difference of
opinion exists among competent persons
as to the value of the property in ques-

:?,

tion, but your committee are of opinion
that it offered a tolerably safe security
for the greater portion of the Oovern-
ment claim, and they are principally
lead to this conclusion by the
fact that at the time the tran-
saction in question had been agreed upon

a loan for ^9,000 had been ne-
gotiated, secured npon tlie same
property and wliicli had been
a^sj^entetl to by persons of busi-
ness capacity."

Thus it will be seen that the
conclusions of the committee sustain to
the fullest extent the statements of Mr.
Tarte in the Legislature, and in doing
that, they convict the Government, or
more properly, perhaps, Hon. Mr. Mar-
chand, of gross neglect of the most ordi-
nary precautions in conducting the busi-
ness of his department. It is true that
the judgment of the committee is a lame
and impotent conclusion to the evidence
given before it, but it goes so far as to
charge the Gouernment with an error of
judgment, and in administrative acts a
blunder by a Government is akin to a
crime. For what in a word does the com-
mittee report ?

That tliis claim for sixteen thou-
sand dollars, which the coniniit-
tee, from tlie evidence, consider-
ed amply secured, has been sold
to a brother-in-law of Hon. Iflr.
Joly for fiTC thousand dollars.
That was the charge of Mr. Tarte ; that is
the finding of the comnittee. The pro-
perty by all the evidence is proveci to
have been ample security for the Govern-
ment claim, on the very day of the trans-
fer nearly ten thousand dollars having
been borrowed on it; and the Commission-
er of Crown Lands, Mr. Marchand, is
shovni throughout the whole transaction
to have acted without the slightest regard
to the interests of the Province, and ap-
parently with a single purpose to meet
the vtrishes of the Premier's relative. So
far as the statement is concerned, that
the Government would not have realized
a larger amount than five thousand dol-
lars for their claims, had the property
been forced to sale, it is an uttei'ly absurd
one to advance in defence of the action
of Mr. Marchand. Every one knows that
valuable real estate at auction has been
disposed of during the past three years

for a mere song, and it is puerile in the
last degree to draw a conclusion favorable
to the Government transaction from the
fact that a forcetl sale of the Notre Damo
des Anges farm would not have realized
anything like its real value.

The facts remain that the claims
of the Goveritment were dis-
posed of to a brother-in-law of
the Premier for less than one-
third their value, and that
through the incapacity and
negligence, not to use harsher
terms, of the Commissioner of
Crown I^ands, more than ten
tlioiisand dollars of the people's
money has been S4]iianderetl.

THE GALE FARM PURCHASE.

One of the remarkable transactions
with which Mr. Joly signalized his admin-
istration of the Public Works Department
was the purchase of a portion of the (Jalo
F\arm property for the use of the railway.
Whether it was wise to purchase this pro-
perty or not is a (juestion open f )r discus-
sion. It is a matter of public policj' upon
which opinions may faii-ly differ. Mr. Joly
claims that he had the reconmiendation of
Mr. Walter Shanly for making the pur-
chase, and we are quite ready to a<lmit
that on sucli n^commendation no seiioiis
fault could be found with him for obtain-
ing the land. What is cnm})lainod of is
that when the necessity for procuring it
arose, instead of paying for it a reasonable
price, he, knowing that one of his col-
leagues, Mr. Starnes, was interested in
the i^roperty, cfSnsented to pay tlircHi
times its real value. The history of this
property is as follows : — In IS74 the farm
was purchased by Messrs. Ilogan Sc Beau-
fort, Mr. Starnes, we believe, subsequently
becoming interested in it, for $;^3( ),()()( >,
$25,()(M) being paid in cash, anothei'$2."),(HM)
on the 1st November, 1S74, and the bal-
ance, $28(),(X)(), in ten years from the said
1st of November, with interest at seven
per cent., payable annually. The property
was divided into three parcels-, numbered
in the official i)ljin 147,ir)2 and 14S, tho
first containing 5,980 feet, the second
Ii0,()54 feet, and the third fjf)2 arpents, or
24,2«)2,.'5()2 feet, and to secure the jiayment
of the balance unpaid, the hypothec op
vendor's privilege resulting from the sale,,
was limited as follows: — First, to the sum
of six ccMits per superficial scjuare ibot

upon the lots 147 and 152, and upon
that portion of the lot 148, extend-
ing to a depth of two arpents from
the highway or turnpike road; sec-
ondly, to the sum of five cents
per superficial square foot upon this por-
tion of the lot No. 148, lying between
the distance of two arpents, and four ar-
pents from the said highway or turnpike
road ; thirdly, to the sum of four cents
per superficial square foot upon the por-
tion of said lot. No. 148, lying between
the distance of four arpents, and six ar-
pents from the said highway or turnpike
rpad ; fourthly, to the sum of three cents
per superficial square foot upon the por-
tion of the said lot No. 148, lying between
the distance of six arpents, and eight ar-
pents from the said highway, and the sum
of one and a half cents per superficial
square foot upon the rest of said lot No.
148. The purchasers had the right at
any time, within ten years, to make pay-
ments of not less than f 1(),0()(), and on
such payments being made, vendors
agreed to release such portion of
the estate, as purchaser might
choose within the hypothec. Thus
it will be seen that the highest price
paid for any portion of this property — the
favorite portion of it — amounted only to
six cents a foot, that is, the purchasers
had a right at any time to obtain posses-
sion of the very best part by the payment
of that price. The average price paid for
the whole property was a fraction over
one and one-third cents per foot. That
was the price paid for this property in
1874, when, as every one knows, pro-
perty in the vicinity of Montreal was
bringing fabulous and speculatiye prices.
In 1876, the Railway Commissioners had
occasion to purchase the right of way
through the property, having obtained
1,134,000 feet of this land, for which they
paid $53,154.80, or an average of a shade
over 4'^c. afoot. Property generally contin-
ued to go down in price until 1878, when
bottom prices may be said to have been
reached, and yet in spite of tLI^ reduction
in the value of the land, Mr. Joly paid for
1,140,556 feet the enormous sum of $141,
375.02 or an average of over 12 4-10 cents
a foot. The purchase made by Mr. Joly
was as follows : —

1,074,446 feet at 12 cents,
. 38,870 " " 25 "
27,240 " •' 10 "

$128,033.52
9,717.50
2,724.(X)

1,140,556 ' $141,375.02

Thns while the railway commissioners

were able to purchase 1,134,000 feet for
§53,154.S0 In 1876, Mr. Joly has paid the
same vendors In IH7H, property having.
In the meantime, decreased In valne, the
enormous sum of 9141,375 for 1,140,356
feet of adjacent property.

In other words, while the commissioners
arranged for this property at four and
two-thirds cents per foot, Mr. Joly has ac-
tually paid an average of twelve and
four- tenths of a cent a foot for
practically the same land. Or,
while in 1 874 the vendors had the power
to obtain the choicest corner of the land
at six cents, Mr. Joly has paid now as
high as twenty-five cents. It is true that
the price of the property was fixed by
arbitration, but the arbitrators were all
strong partizans of the Government and
intimate friends of Mr. Stames, who was
deeply interested in effecting a good sale.
If this were even not so, no one is bound
by an award which bears injustice, if not
fraud, upon the very face of it. The idea
of property which had been purchased
when values were inflated at less than two
cents a foot, the right of way through
which had been purchased two years
afterwards at 4'| cent.^ a foot, which had
been offered to the former Government at
seven cents a foot, being paid for at
a period of the greatest depression,
when the land was worth comparative-
ly little — at over twelve cents a foot
— is simply preposterous. The result
of these transactions to the gentlemen
who purchased the land was eminently
satisfactory. They purchased this pro-
perty, as we have seen, in the days of
wildest speculation, for $330,000. They
have, in consequence of this happy hit,
already received for parts of it, assuming
the sales to private parties to be bona
Jide, the handsome sum of $243,938, and
they still retain 21,482,420 square feet,out
of the 24,362,362 square feet contained in
the original purchase I And the country
has lost, taking into account the real
values of this property, from $75,000 to
$100,0(K), simply from the accident that
Mr. Starnes happened to be a Minister
with a pliant chieftain willing to sacrifice
public interests for the advantage of him
and his friends.

THE NORMAL SCHOOL FURNITURE

JOB.

Another instance of the reck-
lessness of the late Government
was what our readers will recollect as the

e )

«9

Jacques Cartier Normal School contract
job. Attention was called to tlie matter
by Mr. Taillon, on the 1st of August,
while the House was in Committee of
Supply. The contract had been given to
one Berger at $18,3()(), although it was
proved beyond cavil that Mr. I^vigne
had offered to do the work for $10,()(X) or
$8,30() less. Mr. Lavigne was, moreover,
informed by the Premier that the con-
tract could not be awarded without a pre-
vious advertisement for tenders, yet, sub-
sequently, without anything of the kind,
it was given to the above men-
tioned contrator for the sum named.
In the investigation, at which
the witnesses were examhied un-
der oath, Mr. Lavigne testified that in
June and July, 1878, he went over the

building,

measured the rooms, and got

thereby, as well as from the specifications,
a thorough itlca of what was wanted. He
then offered to do the work for $10,000,
and ho exi^ected to make a handsome
profit out of that. He had done similar
work for the' Catholic Academy, and had
a cai)ital idea of what was wanted, and
what it would cost. However, in the in-
terviews he had with Mr. Joly, ho was
told that the Government would not like
to spend any sum over $1,000 without ad-
vertising for tenders. Notwithstanding
this assertion, made to him in all appar-
ent honesty by the late Premier, he was
not a little astonished and disappointed
to learn that the job — in more senses than
one — had been awarded, without tend-
ers, to Mr. Berger, who was only a joiner,
for the nice little sum of $8,300
more than he, expecting to have a fair
profit, had previously asked. It also came
out in the evidence that the si)ecification
on which Berger worked proved to be a
dujjlicate of that on which Lavigne had
based his offer. Mr. Lavigue's testimony
on this point, as on all otliers, was corro-
borated by that of the Abbe Verreault,
the Priiicii)al of the Jac(|ues Cartier Nor-
mal School, who stated that he had hand-
ed one specification to Ljivigne and the
other to Berger, both being exactly alike.
The charge was, therefore, fully jiroven in
the face of the House and of the country
at large, while Mr. Joly and his Govern-
ment had been nauseating with their
loud and perpetual professions of hon-
esty and economy, and Mr. Marchand
was stricken dumb, and did not even at-
tempt to excuse himself. Let us recapit-
ulate the simple facts of this case as

brought out in the evidence before the
Public Accounts Committee, the Govern-
ment having refused a special committee ;

(1). Last year L'Abbe Verrault, the
Princijial of the Jacques Cartier Normal
School with the assistance of the (Jovern-
ment Arcliitect, prepared specifications
for the furniture of the new building, and
duplicates were given to Mr. Ljivigno
and Mr. Berger respectively, the former
being one of the best known cabinet
makers, the other a carpenter and joiner.

(2). In July, 1878, Mr. Lavigne went to
Quebec, saw Messrs. Joly and Marchand,
and offered to do the work for $10,0(.)0 or
$12,000, the latter sum including the
altar, balustrade, etc., for the chapel.
The answer was that no contract exceed-
ing $1,(MX) in amount could be given with-
out tender.

(3.) Mr. I^avigne saw Mr. Joly again in
Montreal in the beginning of Autumn,
and renewed the offer. He was referreci
to Mr. Marchand who, the Premier said,
was specially charged with the matter.

(4.) Mr. Lavigne subsefjuently met Mr.
Langelier, the treasurer, on the Quebec
steamer, showed him his plans, and re-
newed the offer. He received for answer
that the furniture was too exi)ensive, and
that the Government coukl not afford to
pay so much.

(5.) In January last Mr. Lavigne saw
Mr. Marchand in Montreal, and once
more renewed the offtM'. He was then
told that he (^Marchand) would have to
consult the political lVien<ls about the
distribution of patronage.

(6.) And in March the contract was let
to Mr. Berger, without tender, and at
$18,300, $8,30(J more than Mr. I^ivigne
had offered to do it for ! Mr. Lavigne in
liis evidence stated that he had examined
the contract, that it was for the same
work, and that he would, had he obtained
the contract at $10,000, have made $3,(KJ0
[)rofit. And this was done by the " i)uro
and honest" Government whose defeat
we are asked to dejjlore.

THE GOVERNMENT POLICY.

We have already shown that in the
matter of the administration of the
finances the Joly Administration utterly
failed to fulfil the promises with which
they took office ; that their first estimates
of expenditure were exceeded by over
$300,(XJO by the actual results ; that so
far from their making ends meet, rostor-

ing the equilibrium between revenue and
expenditure, their first year's transac-
tions showed a deficit Vjetween ordinary
receipts and expenditure of over $G0(),-
0(XJ ; that by their estimates for the sec-
ond yoai-'s business, taking ordinary re-
ceipts and expenditure, and even assum-
ing that they had better luck than in the
former year, and did not exceed their
estimates, there was a prospect of a defi-
ciency of nearly half a million ; and that,
therefore, as to their leading raison d'etre,
they have utterly failed in fulfilling the
pr'omises which they made to the people,
and upon the strength of which they
carried thirty-one constituencies in
May, 1878. We propose now to
show that in other respects their
policy has been equally at fault. Failing
as financiers they have equally failed as
legislators. Take the last session alone
as an illustration. In the Speech from
the Throne, with which the session was
opened, they promised several very im-
portant measures, among them being : —
(1) A bill for the abolition of the Legisla-
tive Council ; (2) a bill for the organiza-
tion of public instruction ; (3) a bill for
the regulation of the Municipal Loan
Fund; (4) a bill for macadamizing the
public roads ; (5) a bill for the establish-
ment of a petition of right. These mea-
sures really comprised the progi-amme of
the Government, and strange to say, they
were either not introduced at all, or if in-
troduced were withdrawn. The bill for
the abolition of the Legislative Council
was not introduced, and if any evidence
were needed that tlie clai)trap in which
they are indulging in relation to
tliat body is utterly insincere, this
fact would establish it. It is somewhat
remarkable that the question of the abo-
lition of the Legislative Council never was
a party question until the session of 1878.
When Mr. Holton was elected for Mon-
treal Centre he advocated the abolition
of the Council as a prominent plank in
his platform, but he never ventured to
challenge the oi)inion of the Legislature
ui)on the subject. In the elections of
1875 the sul)ject was scarcely mentioned ;
anil only when it became necessary as
part of the conrpiracy between the Lib-
eral party and Mr. Letellier to strike out
some new platform did the party take the
question up. The bill was introduced last
year and, as every one expected, and
as in fact in the case of so great a consti-
tutional change, was, in accordance with

precedent in England, rejected by the
Legislative Council. But the Ministers
ought to have introduced the bill again if
they were sincere. They did not do so,
and that was the first of the measures
l)romised and strangled in its birth. Then
the bill for the organisation of public in-
struction was never introduced, as our
readers are aware. The abolition of
school inspectors fonned a prominent
plank in the platform of the party at the
elections of 1878. During the first ses-
sion the Government did not venture to
touch the question, but in the interval
they made strong eflorts to induce the
Council of Public Instruction to modify
their view upon the subject, going so far
as to offer to the Roman Catholic Com-
mittee that they would hand over the in-
spection of schools to the Roman Catholic
cures throughout the Province. That
suggestion was indignantly declined by
His Ijordship the ArcLbishop, who very
properly took the ground that already
there was a complaint of too great inter-
ference on the part of the clergy
with the secvilar concerns of the
people ; and it was not desirable
to increase the opportunities for that
complaint. Notwithstanding, however,
this failure, the measure was promised,
but as in the case of the Legislative Coun-
cil, it never was permitted to see the
light. So that, what Mr. Joly meant by
the better organisation of public instruc-
tion remains one of the enigmas of pro-
vincial politics. Then the Municipal Loan
Fund bill was never produced. Mr. Lan-
gelier, in his budget speech, assumed that
he would receive $200,000 as the conse-
quence of this measure. When asked if
he intended to introduce the bill, he an-
swered in the affirmative, intimating that
it was in fact already prepared ; and yet,
although forming a part of " Ways and
Means," announced in his budget speech,
and although, therefore, an essential fea-
ture of that larger part of the Govern-
ment's policy relating to finances, the bill
never was introduced, and to-day tho
people are left in ignorance as
to the manner in which Mr. Lan-
gelier jjroposed to fulfil the pro-
mise that there should be no taxes while
taking out of their pockets an additional
$200,000 to meet the requirements of the
public service. The bill providing for the
macadamizing of public roads was intro-
duced, but the Ministers appear to have
become alarmed at the sight of the evi-

»
I

)

them settled
the same way
the Dominion

dence of their own temerity, and the bill
was withdrawn. The same thing occurred
in the case of the bill relatin<; to the pe-
tition of I'ight. It was introduced, but
abandoned. In this latter case we can
hardly believe that there was any sin-
cerity on the part of the Ministers in con-
nection with this bill. The object of it
was to enable c:)ntractors with tlie (Jov-
erument, having disputed claims, to get

by the Courts in
as is providjd by

Act conferring ui)on
the Court of Exchequer authority to
settle such disputes. If Mr. Joly really
intended to bring in this bill, then as-
suredly the claims of Mr. Macdonald
ought not to have been submitted to the
arbitrament of Mr. Walter Shanly. A
few weeks' delay would not have been a
matter of much consequence, and so im-
portant a claim ought, if there had been
any serious intention to introduce the
measure providing for the petition of
right, to have been reserved for decision
by the courts. These are the results of
one single session's operations — a session
of more than ordinary length, and in
which certainly Ministers could not com-
plain of want of time in which to bring
down their measures. Of a truth, there
never was a Government to which the
title of the Government of frauds and
hypocrisies could with more justice
be ai)plied. They had no policy.
They simply carried on the af-
fairs of the coimtry at haphazard
in a species of hand to mouth style, dis-
tributing patronage to their friends,
squandering the public money in dis-
graceful jobbery and leaving a record of
nothing, so far as the statute book was
concerned, as the result of their two ses-
sions' work, of which they may well feel
ashamed.

THE RAILWAY QUESTION.

B'lt it is claimed that Mr. Joly has suc-
ceeded in arranging the disputes with the
municipalities on the subject of their sub-
sci'i])tions to the North Shore Ixailvvays.
In the speech troni the Tbrone, we liad
this extraordinary announcement upon
this subject : — "The Government of this
" Province has succeeded in effecting an
" amicable settlement of the most impor-
" tant claims against the municipalities
" pledged to aid the building of the Mon-
"■ treal, Ottawa & Occidental Kailway."
Let us see how those "amica-

ble i> .angements '' have been made.
In lae first place, so far as
Montreal was concerned, it is well known
that the strong ground of opposition in
the city to the payment of any money
was that the line instead of being brought
in direct by tlie houi de Vule route, was
diverted by the way of Terrebonne.
When Mr. -Joly took office, instead of
stopping all works upon the Terrebonne
section west of Maskinonge, until he had
made a full in(|uiry into the matter, he
permitted work to go on, thus increasing
the difficulties of reverting to the bout de
Visle route in the event of the Engineer's
deciding it to be the bettor one. Then
he induced Mr. Walter Shanly to make a
report upon the subject, the result of
which was that the decision of his prede-
cessors in office, which had formed
throughout the elections the special
battle-cry against them, was confirmed,
and we have Mr. Joly to-day claiming
special merit upon the ground
that he has pressed forward the work
by that route. His arrangement with the
City of Montreal was simply an abandon-
ment of the claim which the Government
had upon the city, because $50,0(X) which
they were to give him would be more than
swallowed up in the work of bringing the
railway to a point not "^ " w way contem-
plated in the original agreement. Thart
undoubtedly is an easy way to settle dis-
putes with the city.

As to other places the cases are still
more extraordinary. The City of Quebec,
for instance, owed $790,000 on account of
its railway subscription. Mr. Joly had
occasion to purchase some land from the
city for the use of the railway, the amount
agreed upon being $120,000 ; but as Quebec
was indebted to the Government in a very
much larger sum than that, it is quite
clear that they should simply have been
credited with the amount in the
general settlement. Instead of that,
however, what do we find ? That Mr.
Joly, in his anxiety to be poj^ular with the
municipalities and to ai)pear to have the
knack of settling things in a more excel-
lent way than his pi-edecessors, deliber-
ately ignored altogether the indebtedness
of the city of Quebec to the Government
on account of the railway and paid to
them in cash for this land, less a debt on
another account of some $40,(XX). That
is a kind of " amicable settlement " which
we fancy the public at large will not con-
sider entitles Mr. Joly to any special

merit on the part of the people. The re
suit has. been not to lessen the embarrass-
ments of the country, but to increase
them. Although the railway to-day is
built and running according to Mr. Joly's
own contention ; although, in fact, he was
arranging to take it over from
the contractor as a completed work, the
city of Quebec still owes on account of
its subscription $6()(),0(X), which might at
least have been reduced by the $80,00()
paid in cash out of the public treasury
had Mr. Joly thought more of the interest
of the Province and less of his own per-
sonal popularity among his surroundings
in the ancient capital.

The other important place where there
was a difficulty was the city of Three
liivers. The Government was entitled
to receive from the city $10(),()(X) when
the Piles Bi-anch was completed. The
Piles Branch was completed the moment
the connection was made between the
city of Three Rivers and Grand Piles, and
yet, what do we find Mr. Joly doing in
his effort at " amicable settlement ?"
In order to get half the sub-
scription, $50,(X)U, and that in bonds
of the city and not in cash, he un-
dertook without the authority of the
Legislature to complete the loop line,
upon which he has already expended $90,-
(XX), and which, before its completion, will
involve another expenditure of probably
$50,000 more. So that, as a matter of
fact, Mr. Joly might have made the city
of Three Rivers a present of its subscrip-
tion of $100,0(X) to the railway and still
have saved $40,000 to the Province had
he simply done nothing. That, again, is a
kind of " amicable settlement" for which
the public at laige will hardly be prepared
to give him credit. The County of Otta-
wa is another of the counties concerned.
It is being to-day sued by the Government
for $200,1)00 subscription, not a cent of
which has been paid. No approach even
to an " amicable settlement " has been
made with that important munici-
pality, while as to other and
smaller subscriptions they stand exact-
ly in the same position in which they
stood when Mr. Joly took office, not one
dollar having bean collected from them.
We ask the electors of the Province of
Quebec in all sincerity whether this re-
cord is one which entitles Mr. Joly to

claim, in so fonnal a document as a
Speech from the Throne,that he has " sue-
" ceeded in effecting an amicable settle-
" ment of the most imi)ortant claims
" against the municipalities pledged to-
" the building of the Montreal, Ottawa &
" Occidental Railway."

THE POLICY OF THE NEW GOVERN-
MENT.

We have to-day the policy of the New
Administration, and we are quite certain-
that if at the end of twenty months their
record shows equal failures with those of
Mr. Joly they will be entitled to the same
condemnation which has so justly
come upon him. Uijon this point, how-
ever, we have no fears, as we believe the
(jovernment sincere in the declaration of
its policy, and amply able to carry it out..
Here it is : —

I. Financial Reform.

(a). Sale of the North Shore Railway
to the Federal Government.

(6). To press the just claims of the
Province on the Dominion.

(c). To liquidate the Municipal Loan
Fund. . , , .^

(d). Reduction of expenses.

II. Development of our Be*
sources.

(a). Encouragement of manufacture of
beet sugar.

(6) Encouragement of the manufacture
of cheese.

(c). Encouragement of phosphate min-
ing.

(tZ). Revision of general mining laws. "

(e). Attention to education.

This is no clap-trap general promise,
but a statesmanlike expose of a wise and
prudent policy, and it must be remem-
bered that the Cabinet is composed of
men able to carry it out. No one can
doubt the financial ability of the Hon.
Joseph Robertson, who is no novice in the
art of administering well the public
finances, and the other members of the
Government are all men of unblemished
reputation, high character and great
ability.

With this well-devised policy and the
guarantee for its performance afforded by
the personnel of the Government, the suc-
cess of the Administration must be re-
garded as certain.

rfe