V} m A 'e^. e: **^ /I No. II. ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1894. 'R:E}FiLr^ TO THE TORY CAMPAIGN PAMPHLET -A.S TO CBRT.A.I3Sr CROWIV imm MATTERS. In the Tory campaign pamphlet considerable space is devoted to an attack on the Crown Lands Department in connection with the settlement of the wild lands of the Province. Some of the statements are manufactured out of whole cloth, in others the facts are distorted, whilst in others the truth is concealed. It is always a difficult matter to deal shortly and clearly with the ingenious falsehood or half -lie, and as these are the ' main characteristics of the pamphlet in question it would require considerable time and space to trace out the sinuosities of the numerous mis-statements, exaggerations and con- cealments. It is not, therefore, proposed to do more than take some of the moat salient charges and expose their unfair and untruthful character. The Charges as to Crown Lands Expenditure and Settlement. One of the principal charges is that from 1875 to 188b, the expenditure in connection with the Crown Lands Department was nearly $900,000, and during that period 5,863 .persons are reported as having settled in Ontario free grant localities ; that from 1884 to 1892 the expenditure in connection with the Crown Lands Department was over $1,000,- 000, while the number of settlers was only 2,838 ; that in 1891, when the expenditure was 50 per cent, more, the settlers were 100 per cent, less in number, (See page 24 of pamplilet. ) The answer t — It would be a difficult matter to cram any greater quantity of non- sense into a paragraph of this length than is here done. The number of persons actually located on free grant lands between 1875 and 1883 inclusive, was 12,071 — not 6,863. Nine hundrec. thousand dollars would represent probably 90 per cent, of the total ex- ' penditure of the Department for all purposes during this period — salaries in the Depart- ment, salaries for the outside service, timber agents, forest rangers. Crown l^nds agents, inspections, survey of lands, mining surveys, timber surveys, etc., etc. — but here it is all lumped as against free grant locations. The actual cost of the Free Grants Branch of the Department, and of the outside agents and tncir expenses for ,thi8 period amounts to about $80,000, or less than $9,000 per annum, and this is really what should be charged against that particular service. In the second period, that is, from 1884 to 1892 inclusive, the nuiaber of locations on free grant lands was 7,793; not 2,838 as stated in the pamphlet. Here again, one million dollars is placed against this service, whereas the actual cost of this particular service would not be more than $90,000. The sttitement that the diiference between $900,000 and $1,000,000 is an increase of per cent, carries its own refutation, and how it is possible that after a decrease of one Km^redper cent (which must wipe out everything) there should remain 2,838 locations stilvo the good, as stated in the pamphlet, it is difficult to understand. The charges as to Patents and Cancellations. The next question dealt with is Patents and Cancellations. The statement is as fol lows : " In 1892 there were issued to settlers 352 patents for Crown lands, while during the same year 39(> lots, the locations of former ytars, were cancelled, the cancellations being more numerous than the patents issued. During 1893 there were 322 patents issued to locatees or settlers, and 35G lots, the locations of former years, were cancelled for non-performance of the settlement duties." (See page 24 of pamphlet.) The answer ; — Now what are the facts. In 1892, 840 patents were issued. 803 of these were lor agricultural lands, 22 for mining lands, and there were in addition 99 min- ing leases . It is true 396 lots were cancelled, but a crnsiderable proportion of them were cancelled to allow the settler to sell his improvements to a new settler, and every one of the 396 lots were immediately re-located to new settlers. In 1893 there were 894 patents and leases issued, 768 being patents for agricultural lands, 22 mining patents, and 12(J mining leases. The 356 lots cancelled were all immediately re-located to settlers. This is a case in which the facts are much more eloquent than fiction. The chari^es as to the cost of the €rown Lands Department. The next charge is in connection with the cost of the Crown Lands Department. The statement is "The expenditures of the Crown Lands Department are alarming. There are 34 clerks in the various offices, drawing annually $39,960, besides the Com- missioner and Assistant Commissioner, the latter receiving a salary of $2,800." The answer : — The Crown Lands Department is a large revenue collecting depart- ment. It is also a large spending department. It has collected in the last two years revenue for the Province amounting to $4,099,923, and it has expended in the same period $516,616, or a total volume of business of $4,616,539. Not one cent of this large sum went astray, and every dollar has to be received by the Commissioner or Assistant, and every dollar disbursed approved by the same authorities. There is no institution, financial or otherwise, conducting such an immense business over so large a territory, managed as economically and with as small a staff. Managers of large financial institu- tions, who receive four or five times the salary paid to the Commissioner of Crown Lands or the Assistant Commissioner have not nearly the labor or responsibility resting on the head officers of this department. The Charges as to Crown Lands Agents. The next subject dealt with is the Crown Lands Agents on page 25. The alleged sales made by certain agents for a period of three years are taken and compared with the salaries paid for the same periods, and a great outcry is made because the salaries exceed the sales by a few hundred dollars. The answer: — The deceptions practiced by the Conservative manifesto under this head are of several kinds. One arises in this way : Many of the agents are agents both for the sale of Crown Lands and for the location of free grant territory. The pamphlet I takes the salaries paid in full, but separates the work done under free grants and by way of sales, that is to say, it pits the salaries against, first, the free grants, and, secondly, against the sales ; in effect doubling the salaries and halving the work. The fact that they occupy both positions, viz. , locating free grants and making sales, is carefully concealed by the pamphlet. Again, all the work done by the agents under the Mining Act and in connection with mining sales and by way of correspondence with settlers, imparting information and exhibiting maps, plans, etc., is also carefully withlield by the writer of the pamphlet. The pamphleteer is compelled in order to give an appearance of large salaries to go back to the years 1890 and 1891 . He has taken care not to state that in 1891 the salaries of several agents were red viced as follows, vie : The agent at Sault Ste. Marie from $500 to $200 ; the agent in Algoma East, Mr. Day, $600 to $100 ; the agent at Port Arthur, $400 to $260 ; the agent in Addington from $500 to $200, that one agency was closed and that the Commissioner of Crown Lands announced during the session of that jer tliat further and other reductiona were being made where the sales had fallen off. 8 The reason for these reductions was, that in most of these cases free grants lands or [lands on sale had been taken into what is known as "tre railway belt," and instead of Ibeing given away on account of free grants or sold at from 20 to 60 cents per acre, were [placed on sale at ^2.00 per acre as being within a limited distance of a railway. The sales [practically stopped and the agents therefore did comparatively little business. The salaries [were in consequence reduced in 181)1, the reductions to come in force on January 1st, [1892. In addition the pamphlet fails to tell that in nearly all the newly appointed agencies, [the salaries are put at a very small figure. For instance, the agent appointed at Fort [Frances, Rainy River, in 1892, receives a salary of but $100 ; the agent at the upper part lof Rainy River, $200 ; the agent at the lower part of the River, $200 ; the agent for St. jjoseph's Island, $200 ; the agent at Rat Portage, $200 ; the successor to Mr. Brown at [Sault Ste. Mario, $200, and Mr. Wood, successor to Mr. Dawson, at Plevna, Addington [County, had the salary of $200. Other reductions will be made as business falls off from any cause. Again, many of the Crown Lands Agents are furnished with maps, lists of lots open for sale, mining locations sold and all other information at short intervals, so that mining explorers, settlers and others may resort there for information which they would other- rise have to obtain from the Department, entailing upon them expense and delay and Reaving the door open to innumerable complications. An applicant can through the igent learn the position of a lot in hve minutes, instead of entering upon correspondence dth the Department. It is not the policy of the Department to raise revenue from the lands in Algoma )i8trict, as they are sold to actual settlers at prices ranging from 20 to 50 cents per acre. The land is for the settler. The agents, although they furnish information, are not lUowed to close the sales of mining lands. The sales are completed at and money paid ko the Department, and thus, although the agents di a large proportion of the work, phey do not get credit for the sales made of or moneys paid on account of sales of mining %ads. The Sales Agents. For instance, in the pamphlet Mr. J. D. Cockburn is stated to have sold 6,707 acres |t $3,353.76, but there were also sold in the vicinity of his agency for mining and other )urpo8es, about which he would have to furnish all the information, 5,000 acres addi- tional at a value of $8,046.60. Mr. D. G. McDonald is credited with the sale of 8,580 acres at a value of $1,848.22. Jut there were also sold in the vicinity of his agency, about which he would furnish infor- lation, 4,538 acres at a value of $9,024.37. Mr. J. F. Ruttan, Port Arthur, is stated in the pamphlet to have sold only 761 acres Lt a value of $530, but there was sold in the vicinity of his agency, at the Department, [bout which he had to give information, etc., 12,711 acres at a value of $25,483.95. The jinfaimess of only giving these agents credit for the sales which are carried out by them, rithout considering the amount of labor involved in furnishing information in connection ^ith the other lands sold in his agency, and doing much general work, is apparent. The Free Grants Agents. The same remarks which have been made in connection with the sale agents will jply to the free grants agents. They also act as disseminators of information about the i)untry in which they reside, its nature, prospects and resources. They are also avail- Die for inspections, adjusting disputes, and as fishery overseers and game wardens, and le mere making of locations is a very small part of their duties. The Attack upon the Outside SerTice. The next attack is upon the outside service. The Fire Rangers are stated to have 3Bt the Province $31,976, presumably for the year 1892. But it is carefully concealed iat one-half of this amount is by law payable back by the timber licensees, and is duly icted, and that the actual cost of the Department was only $15,988. The immense value of thia service is admitted by all, and it is not too much to say that since its esta- blishment in 1885 millions of dollars worth of timber have been saved from destruction by Hre. Further, the idea is conveyed that those Fire Rangers are selected and appointed by the Government. This is untrue. The fact that they are selected and nominated by the owners of the timber limits (a large proportion of whom are Conservatives) is also concealed. The Government merely formally ratify the selection made by the owners, and have no voice whatever in the selection. The limit owner pays one-half of the charge and the Government the other half. Free Grant ToM^nsliips. It is stated that there aie now 150 townships open to free grant settlers, many of which have not a single sottlement. The facts are that there are 150 townships open for settlement as free grants, in every one of which there are large settlements. The Charge as to Colonization Bridges. Pages 28, 29 and part of 30 profess to deal with payments to the bridge builder or bridge overseer in several cases where suiall bridges were being built or repaired, the object being to show that the overseer drew a large proportion of the expenditure, in ■ome cases more than the expenditure upon all the other labor connected with the bridge. The answer t He is treated in the pamphlet as simply an overseer. The facts are very simple : A bridge builder is employed to do special bridge building or repairs. It is his business ; he is an expert. He is not merely an overseer, he is a bridge builder and does most of the work himself — all the work that requires skill in framing, joining, preparing the timber and work of that character. Comparatively little additional labor is needed on these small bridges. Other labor is only employed to do filling in, and the coarse, unskilled work. The bridge builder is paid at the rate of $3.50 per day, boards himself and travels great distances to reach his place of work at his own cost. One of the cases citad in the pamphlet is whore the bridge builder himself received $133, and other labor $69.82. Another, where he received $24.50 and other labor $14.62. Another, where he was paid $241.50 and other labor $312.27. Two or three other small bridges are mentioned of a similar character, but the reasons above given fully account for these. In some cases the bridge builder scarcely requires any other labor than his own. The pamphleteer, however, is compelled in all tliese cases to go back as far as 1891, thus practically admitting that they have no charges to make even of this chai-acter in respect of the years 1892 and 1893. It would be absurd to employ more labor than was needed, and $3.50 per day for a skilled master workman is only the amount allowed by the Dominion Government to Messrs. A. F. Wood and E. F. Clarke, M.P.P.'s for hotel expenses, over and above their $10 per diem and their railway fare. A Policy of ** Oppression and Stagnation ! " Another charge is as follows : "In respect to those Districts, that is Algoma f.ad Nipia- sing, the policy of the Government has been one of oppression and stagnation. Hundreds of settlers who went into Algoma in years past have been driven out and forced to seek homes elsewhere, because of the illiberal, greedy and blundering policy of the Go-^em- ment." (See page 23.) The answer : It may safely be said that the policy of the Government towards the regions in question has been broad and liberal, and as a matter of fact there are no parts of the Dominion of Canada which have made greater advances in population or more sojid progress than the District of Algoma and the Free Grant territory generally. The answer to the charge can best be given by quoting the figures of the census of 1871, 1881 and 1891 : 1871. 1881. 1891. Increase. Algoma District 7,018 24,014 41,856 34,838 Nipissing 1,791 2,090 13,168 11,372 Muskoka , 1,786 14,391 17,651 15,865 Parry Sound 5,133 12,813 19,167 14,034 Totals... 16,728 53,308 91,837 76,109 * ■ In the first ten years the growth was 37,580, and in the second it was 38,529, or in the twenty years 7(),109. A region which has incnaased in population nearly 500 per cent, in twenty years can hardly be said to be stagnated, depressed or depopulated. The ^'IlUberar* Policy of the Governniciit ! The next charge is that " owing to the illiberal policy of the Ontario Government, disputes between down Timber Agents, timber licensees and the settlers on farm lands are of frequent occurrence. Families seeking homes in our unsettled v/estern country cannot be induced to remain long in a place where they are obliged to pay dues to the (iovernment on every stick of pulpwood, cedar, spruce, otc. , that they sell to get a little ready money to help them in their pioneer days." (Page 23.) The answer ; The regulations passed by the Sandfield Macdonald Government prohibited locatees or purchasers from cutting or selling a stick of any kind of wood be- yond the limits of their actual clearing before the completion of settlement duties, on pain of having the timber seized as cut in trespass. The policy of the present Govern- ment with respect to settlers is entirely different, and much more liberal. Under it, the settlers are allowed to cut and dispose of in any way they see fit all kinds of wood grow- ing on their located or purchased lands, except the pine, and they are not charged one cent in the way of dues, bonus or anything else. They are also allowed to cut and use free of any charge whatever pine timber they may recjuire for building or fencing upon their lands, and to cut into sawlogs or timber and dispose of any pine timber which they have to remove in clearing their land ; upon the latter, when sold to lumbermen, they are only charged the ordinary dues, although the lumberman on whose limits the timber is cut may have paid considerable sums in bonus o the Government. There are no disputes between the Crown Timber Agents and the settlers. Some- times disputes arise between the timber licensees and the settlers, and it occasionally happens that the Department is appealed to to decide the dispute, when it sends a Crown Timber Agent to make an investigation and to see that the settler gets his rights, what- ever they may be. But the Government, has gone even further to assist the settlers, and has undertaken, where settlers have squatted in townships which have not been opened for settlement and where they really have no legal standing, to protect them, provided they are bona fide settlers and not mere speculators. These squatters are also permitted to cut and sell, free of any charge for dues, all timber other than pine upon their lands, and power has been taken by Order in Council authorizing the Crown Lands Department to withdraw any lot from a timber license for everything except the pine timber, should that be necessary to protect the settler. In practice it is found that the lumber- men rarely object to the boiuifide settler cutting and selling the timber other than pine, and considering the thousands of settlers resident in the newer parts of the Province, the cases where friction does arise are very few in number. Another False Charge. The next charge is the voting down of the I'ollowing resolution : " That whenever the quantity of pine timber growing upon any lot is less than 50,000 feet board measure, such lot shall be withdrawn from license, and the locatee, on obtainins; his patent, be entitled to such timber under such regulations as may be passed for the purpose of securing as far as practicable the same being retained as a timber reserv* for local use." (See page 24). The answer t It will be seen that under this resolution the timber was not to become the settlers' property, but was to be retained by regulation as a " timber reserve for local use. ' Now the Government had already tried this policy in a more liberal spirit than this resolution proposed. It had lots inspected, and whenever it found less than 40,000 feet of pine on them, withdrew them from license, leaving the pine standing for the settler's own use. A large number of lots wer') so withdrawn, but it was found that in nearly every instance the settler sold th* timber to the timber licensee from whose limits the lots had been withdrawn, the effect being that no local supply was reserved, and the timbw licensee had to buy his timber twice over — once from the Government by public auction, t ; ( »■■: and again from the settler, to whom it had been allotted for building purposes. Under this state of affairs the practice hud to bo almndoned, and it was becaune of this exi)erit)nce that the above motioji was rejected. Supplies of timber for local uso are now granted by authority of Order in Council, after an ins])ection of the locality and a report by an oflicer of the Department as to what amount per annum is necessary to serve the use of tho locality, and this policy has worked reasonably well and is not open to abuse. It can hardly be maintained that a policy is illiberal or greedy which contains the following pro- visions : 1. The absolute gift of 200 acres of land. 3. A.11 the timber growing thereon, except the pine. 3. The right to cut and use, free of any dues or any other charges, all the pine timber which he may re(]uire for building on his land, 4. The right to sell any pine timber which he may have to remove in cleaning his land, without any charge for bonus, subject only to $1 per thousand feet when sold to a lumberman. 5. A refund of one-third of the Crown dues on all the pine timber cut on his land, after the 30th April next after the issue of the patent. 6. Payment to township councils for road and bridge o^airs of two per cent of all the Crown dues collected on all pine timber cut within the boundary of the township. 7. The construction of roads and bridges — opening up the country for settlement. 8. Money grants to railways, to induce them to build and open up the new territories. 9. The payment by the Government of all the costs of Administration of Justice in the free grant territories. 10. Liberal grants to the poor schools and agricultural societies. A Specimen Brick. The pamphlet states — Crown Lands Department, in 1872, cost ^32,563 00 Crown Lands Department and Bureau of Mines, in 1893, cost 56,540 00 The cost in 1893 includes extra clerks, travelling expenses and all contingencies of the Crown Lands Department and the Bureau of Mines. The corresponding items for 1872 are given in the statement of the cost of the Department contained in the Public Acts for that year, but they are conveniently dropped out in the above comparison. Had they been added, as they should be in a fair comparison, the statement would be — Crown Lands Department, in 1872, cost $55,762 24 Crown Lands Department and Bureau of Mines cost, 1893. 56,540 00 Showing that with cost of Bureau of Mines added, which had no existence in 1872, the increase is only $777.76. Or omitting the Bureau of Mines, the cost of the Department of Crown Land at the two periods would be — Crown Lands Department cost, 1872 $55,762 00 Crown Lands Department cost, 1893 49,655 65 Or a decreased cost in 1893, as compared with 1873, of ... . 6,106 35 Copies of this Pamphlet can be had from Alexander Smith« 34 Victoria Street, Toronto. T : purposes. Under e of this experibnco xre now granted by report by an officer rve the use of tho to abuse. It can the following pro- irges, all the pine ve in cleafing his eet when sold to a >r cut on his land, per cent of all the > township, for settlement, he new territories, bion of Justice in 2,56.3 00 8,640 00 contingencies of londing items for 3d in the Public omparison. Had i^ould be — ►,762 24 5,540 00 ice in 1872, the the Department i,762 00 •,655 65 i,106 35 r Smith,