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OF- 
 
 J.R.STmTON,iM.P.F. 
 
 -ON- 
 
 THE FINflNGtS Ol 1116 PROVINCE, 
 
 Delivered in the Legislative Assembly, 
 Wednesday and Thursday, February 15th and 16th, 1899 
 
 The following is a more extended report 
 of the speech delivered by Mr. Stratton in 
 the budget debate in the Ontario Legisla- 
 ture : 
 
 Mr. Stratton, on rising to continue the 
 budget debate, was heartily applauded. 
 He said that in entering upon his contri- 
 bution to the budget debate, he desired to 
 offer his congratulations first to the Pro- 
 vincial Treasurer, for the clear and favour- 
 able financial statement he had so ably 
 presented, and to the Government, to 
 whose judicious and careful management 
 of our affairs the possibility of such a 
 grand showing was due. He also wished 
 to congratulate the House and the country 
 upon so magnificent a showing. It must 
 be exceedingly gratifying to both the 
 House and to the country that, after thirty 
 years of Liberal administration, after 
 most liberal expenditures upon necessary 
 
 services, it was possible to present, so ex 
 ceedingly favourable a balance sheet. It 
 must be concluded that the expenditures, 
 while they had been sufficient, had not 
 been excessive considering the undertak- 
 ings that had to be, and have been, accom- 
 jilished. 
 
 Referring to the previous speaker on the 
 Opposition side, Mj. Mathieson, it was re- 
 marked that the history of the past had 
 furnished great financiers and great finan- 
 cial critics, but none of the peculiar cali- 
 bre of the hon. member for South Lanark, 
 who for patient and persistent ingenuity, 
 for sinuous adaptabilfty to burrowing 
 among figures, seemea to be with- 
 out a peer. (Laugh tex). It was said that 
 figures would not lie, but under the 
 manipulation of the financial figiu-e-head 
 of the Opposition- at a wave of the sword 
 of the gallant colonel— a whole regiment 
 of figurative Ananiases stood on parade. It 
 was difficult to decide which to admire 
 most, 
 
 THE FINANCIAL ABILITY 
 
 of the honourable gentleman or, to quote 
 the language of the leader of the Opposi- 
 tion, used in an address at Whitby, the 
 "colossal cheek and monumental gall" 
 that permitted him to arrive at the won- 
 derful conclusions he arrived at. Mr. E. 
 Stone Wiggins, the great scientist and 
 sage, had a good deal of the honourable 
 member's sanguine trust ir the adaptabil- 
 ity of figures to meet an demand that 
 might be made upon the*. . Mr. Wiggins 
 had demonstrated not long since, beyond 
 doubt, that he had performed the wond 
 ful mathematical feat of squaring thi? 
 circle, but competent mathematicians had 
 
 t 
 
easily shown that Mr. Wigp;ins* figures were 
 fallacious. The financial critic of the Op- 
 position had been engaB;ed in squaring the 
 provincial financial circle for a great 
 many years. He had been ham- 
 mering away with commendable dili- 
 gence upon financial statements and pro- 
 vincial finances and, according to his 
 claim, has demonstrated the fact that, 
 financially, the province was going 
 to the dogs. By wonderful juggling 
 with figures, with pathetic self-delusion he 
 had piled up deficits and i)lunged the pro- 
 vince into a hopeless quagmire of bank- 
 ruptcy, and if the condition of the country 
 had been anything like he sought to show, 
 if his splendid deficits had been anything 
 but airy financial phantoms, the province 
 would have been sunk under a load of debc 
 that would have covered it several fath- 
 oms as the waters covered the face of the 
 great deep. It was doubtless the military 
 side of the hon. gentleman, which led him 
 to sympathize with the great Napoleon 
 who accounted for his Waterloo by the 
 fact that he had on that occasion defeated 
 the English three times, but they 
 
 DID NOT KNOW ENOUGH 
 
 to know it. In a similar way, according to 
 the showing of the honourable member for 
 South Lanark, the provmce had been 
 repeatedly ruined, but the province, under 
 the efficient management of the Govern- 
 ment that havi ruled it for the past thirty 
 years, had marched serenely along pain- 
 fully unconscious of its ruined condition. 
 The province goes on paying its way,hand- 
 somely attending to every public need, 
 developing the resources of the countrj', 
 caring for the helpless and afflicted, edu- 
 cating the young and stiffening the back- 
 bone of the country,agriculture, and yet we 
 still had "a shot in the locker." (Applause) 
 Yet the honourable gentleman figures out 
 what he calls deficits, that we were half a 
 million short in the current year's opera- 
 tions, while as a matter of fact we had 
 half a million to our credit in the bank. 
 The honoarable gentleman might air his 
 delusions in the House, but let him take 
 his stand before the bank vault where our 
 money is deposited, and he would find that 
 he could not talk away $4.50,000 in cash, 
 charm he never so wisely. (Applause). Mr. 
 Stratton went on to point out that what 
 we wanted in the conauct of the affairs of 
 the province, on the part of both Opposi- 
 tion and Government members, was prac- 
 tical politics, not fine-spun theo- 
 rizing. As the honouraDle the 
 Provincial Treasurer remarked in his 
 budget speech, the country did not take 
 Mr. Mathieson seriously. He had been 
 preaching the dreary gospel of despair for 
 years, he had been evolving theories in 
 the face of facts and if a hundredth part 
 
 of what he had from time to time declared 
 had been true, the sheriff would long ago 
 have been 
 
 ADMINISTKRING THK AFFAIRS 
 
 of the Province. What the honourable 
 gentleman hoped to gain by such a course 
 was as di/Hcult to understand as his 
 financial philosophy. The honourable 
 gentleman had another Napoleonic trait, 
 the great general beat his enemies in 
 detail and the honourable gentleman pours 
 in a great deal of hot shot in the way of 
 detail. His versatility was admirable— he 
 could split a hair or fell a pine with equal 
 facility. He could jump from the discuss- 
 ion of fractions of dollars to millions of 
 dollars with surprising agility. Ho was 
 not satisfied with cramming the public 
 accounts with unnecessary details, but 
 must have the noses counted in the public 
 institutions t© see if the employees were 
 there that were mentioned in the public 
 accounts. This suspicious spirit was un- 
 worthy of the honourable gentleman. Into 
 all business transactions the element of 
 trust entered largely -everything could 
 not be reduced to record. We could not 
 consider every Government employee a 
 thief and set a guard over him. T e desire 
 of the honourable gentleman was without 
 doubt to reach this side of the House. 
 Then his financial criticisms would be 
 justified, for i nstead of imaginary deficits 
 we should then have real, live, tangible 
 deficits. And his desire to reach this side 
 of the House was evident from the con- 
 cluding portions of his speech, in which in 
 some respects he struck high ground for a 
 minute or two. But with all the fine 
 sentiment he uttered, his real desire to 
 cross the House cropped out. It was very 
 natural that he should feel such a desire. 
 The children of Israel, after wandering for 
 forty long years in the wilderness, were 
 anxious to 
 
 f.^TTLE DOWN TO A REGULAR DIET 
 
 of 'lilk and honey. So the honourable 
 gentlemen opposite, after wandering for 
 30 jrears in the wild jungles of Opposition, 
 amid blasted pines and blasted hopes, are 
 naturally becoming hungry and developing 
 ravenous appetites for the sweets of office 
 and longing for the day of entering the 
 promised land. If those on the Govern- 
 ment side of the' House had the honour- 
 able gentleman's facilities for dreaming 
 and raising ghostlv deficits, they might 
 imagine they saw the Opposition grouped 
 •n some mount— say Mount Pisgan— 
 gazing with longing eyes upon the 
 promised land, flowing with che milk 
 and honey of office, and by a little 
 further stretch of imagination they 
 might see the financial critic of the 
 Opposition, waving his baton and leading 
 
 his 
 
 '•§,i 
 
 Ml 
 
 iBxaif 
 
 bf til 
 
 LanI 
 
 forcl 
 
 genf 
 
 one I 
 
 refei 
 
 Notl 
 
 the 
 
 nasi 
 
r 
 
 time declared 
 ould lonf? ago 
 
 FFAIRS 
 
 e honourable 
 such a course 
 tand as his 
 honourable 
 oleonlc trait. 
 I enemies in 
 itleman pours 
 I the way of 
 dmirable —he 
 e with equal 
 k the discuss- 
 ) millions of 
 ty. He was 
 g the public 
 details, but 
 in the public 
 iployees were 
 in the public 
 pirit was un- 
 itleman. Into 
 3 element of 
 'thing could 
 ■^e could not 
 employee a 
 I. Ti e desire 
 was without 
 '■ the House. 
 s would be 
 nary deficits 
 ve, tangible 
 ich this side 
 om the con- 
 in which in 
 P'ound for a 
 all the fine 
 al desire to 
 It was very 
 3h a desire, 
 ndering for 
 rness, were 
 
 k^R DIET 
 
 honourable 
 iderin^ for 
 Opposition, 
 hopes, are 
 developing 
 ts of office 
 itering the 
 he Gorern- 
 le honour- 
 dreaming 
 ley might 
 n grouped 
 Pisgan— 
 upon the 
 the milk 
 a little 
 ion they 
 of the 
 d leading 
 
 f 
 
 
 his colleagues in chorus in the lusty sing- 
 ing of the good old Methodist hymn : — 
 '* O, how I long to be there ?" (Laiighter.) 
 Mr. Stratton said he did not propose 
 lexamining in detail the financial criticisms 
 of the honourable gentleman fi-om South 
 Lanark. These had been eifectively and 
 forcibly dealt with by the honourable 
 gentleman from Algoma. But there were 
 one or two points which he wished to 
 refer to more fully than had been r'one. 
 Not only in the House but in the country 
 the statement was made that the province 
 has millions of debt, yet we are in the 
 comfortable position of receiving this year 
 ^272,414.48 as interest on moneys due 
 Ontario held by the Dominion and $31,- 
 646.37 interest on other investments. On 
 Thursday the honorable member for South 
 Lanark stated that "of the $272,000 re- 
 ferred to there was at least some $140,000 
 odd that 
 
 WAS NOT PAID AS INTEREST, 
 
 but was increased subsidy granted by the 
 Dominion in 1884. The money, he tsaid, 
 was called subsidy in the act of 1884 
 and it could not therefore be interest." 
 Mr. Stratton went on to point 
 out that when Sir William Mere- 
 dith was leader of the Opposition 
 16 discussed this subject more 
 ntelligently, and said that the sum of 
 : ^2,848,000 was an act of generosity by Sir 
 Leonard Tilley and his friends, but it was 
 rather an unusual proceeding for the 
 Dominion Government to give Ontario a 
 grant of $2,848,0(X) unless it was 
 a settlement of some claim— which in point 
 of fact it was. As to a name 
 it was immaterial what the money was 
 called, but in reality it was a settlement 
 of Ontario's claims of sums due the Pro- 
 vince by the Dominion. Now, how did we 
 get this $140,000 ? Was it not in the old 
 way ? Was it not a pa\ment of interest in 
 lespect of "capital owing"? That was 
 what the Act passed by Sir Leonard Tilley 
 in 1884 says it w \a the principal yielding 
 the $142,400. (Hear, hear.) No one says that 
 one dollar of the principal has come to us 
 —stronger still, Mr. Mathieson says we 
 cannot get it, but in the same breath he 
 asserts that we get in some way or other 
 $140,000 odd, the $2,848,000 being mysteri- 
 ously connected with it. Could not the 
 hon.gentleman find the missing link ? Had 
 it never dawned on his mind that 5 per 
 cent, on $2,848,000 is $142,400 ? Therefore 
 "the $140,000 odd" is interest on amounts 
 due Ontario by the Dominion, as this side 
 of the house has all along claimed. (Hear. 
 
 Coi. Mathieson— It is subsidy all the 
 
 me. 
 
 Mr. Stratton— My hon. friend cannot be 
 prevented from calling it what he chooses, 
 but 
 
 INTEREST IS NOT SUBSIDY 
 
 and subsidy is not interest, but what is of 
 most importance to the people of the pro- 
 vince is, that they get the interest half- 
 yearly, and if my honourable friend will 
 turn up the blue Dooks he will see that the 
 province receives from the Dominion 
 $71,200, half yearly, as the interest on 
 this sum." Mr. Stratton continuing said 
 that Mr. Mathieson claimed that we owed 
 the Dominion $2,000,000, but it was, in 
 fact, a much less sum, The statement, 
 however, showed it as deducted, leaving 
 the provincial surplus at $5,001,613.19. 
 But if the honourable gentleman would 
 not accept the $2.()00,(X)0 as paid, when it 
 was already credited, he must admit that 
 the surplus should he seven mill ions instead 
 of five millions. Now he wishes to borrow 
 money to pay off two millions, which, 
 from the fact of its being credited to the 
 Dominion, the province in reality 
 does not owe. The treasurer's state- 
 ment showed that the province 
 had already deducted this from the 
 amount due the province by the Dominion, 
 which being already paid, why 
 should we borrow money on sixty years 
 debentures, bearing 3 per cent, interest, as 
 the honourable gentleman suggested. We 
 did not, Mr Stratton pointed out, require 
 to borrow money. We had $450,000 in the 
 banks, and we had our old Parliament 
 buildings site, and the proceeds of uncol- 
 lected Crown Land balances, which 
 
 WOULD MORE THAN PAY OFF 
 
 Mr. Matheson's amazing $2,000,000 lia- 
 bility, leaving our $2,848,289 intact, 
 which at the rate of five per cent, 
 payable half yearly, would in forty 
 years amount to $5,698,000, or at 3^ 
 per cent, $3,702,400, or a difference in forty 
 years of $1,993,000 It was always thought 
 that the wise msu came from the east, but 
 in the case of the honourable gentleman 
 for South Lanark, in regard to financial 
 matters, this opinion would have to be re- 
 vised. Every dollar received by the pro- 
 vince .vas trust money, and there was no 
 difference between the trust funds at 
 Ottawa and the funds controlled by the 
 l']xecutive at Toronto— they were t^^ust 
 funds administered for the benefit 
 of the people. (Hear, hear.) The to- 
 tal expenditure for last year was 
 $3,803,081.35, and was $343,000 less than 
 anticipated, so that the Legislature knew 
 a year ago, when the money was appro- 
 priated, that the income would fall short 
 of the estimated expenditure. At the 
 same time it was known that the Pro- 
 vince had $605,850 cash in the bank, and 
 that it would be necessary to draw upon 
 that to meet the expenditure, and the re- 
 ceipts being short $150,000 the bank bal 
 ance was reduced by that amount to meet 
 
f 
 
 the expenditure of the year. Both sides of 
 the House were responsible for this course 
 of action. The eHtiniates deliberately asked 
 ^209,0(X) more than anticipated receipts, 
 yet hon. gentlemen claim a deficit for the 
 year, when the excess of expenditure over 
 receipts 
 
 SIMPLY MEANT A RKOUCTION 
 
 of the cash on hand. The hon. member for 
 South Lanark in condemning the Govern- 
 ment was condemning himself and his 
 colleagues, (Hear, hear) for, with the ex- 
 ception of $47,0fK), thev approved of the 
 whole expenditure, and the condemnation 
 of one member meant the condemnation 
 of all, as upon full deliberation the esti- 
 mates were adopted by the House. (Ap 
 plause.) Then if they desired to discuss 
 matters from a fair standpoint they would 
 take into consideration any extraordinary 
 expenditure during the year, and they 
 would find that stich unusual expenditure 
 would include the Consolidation of the 
 Statutes, $44,00(); the grant to the 
 Russell rtre suflerers, $5,0U0 ; a simi- 
 lar grant to the British Columbia 
 fire sufferers, $2,500, and the general 
 elections $ll)0,()00,making in all a sufficient 
 sum to account for the difference com- 
 plained of. (Hear, hear.) Where did the 
 Dad financing come in ? The best finan- 
 ciers bring their receipts and expenditures 
 as close as possible, and the foregoing was 
 about as close as these could be brought in 
 financial operations involving such large 
 sums of money. The placing of $128,000 
 of annuities was complained of, but these 
 assisted in the retirement of $2.50,000 of 
 railway certificates and annuities, and 
 that was the policy decided upon by the 
 House several years ago, and there was 
 nothing extraordinary about it. The Oppo- 
 sition had been talking buncombe with 
 regard to our finances. They did not them- 
 selves believe what they say. Their sup- 
 posed facts were fancies, and the railway 
 obligation they complained of was incurred 
 
 UNANIMOUSLY BY THE HOUSE 
 
 for the benefit of the people. Who had 
 reason to complain ? Nobody was com- 
 plaining, but honourable gentlemen oppo- 
 site, who wanted a theme for fault-finding. 
 The public want economy, but they don t 
 want parsimony. They want liberal aid 
 granted to develop the resources of the 
 country. They don t want buncombe reso- 
 lutions condemning expenditures that are 
 absolutely necessary. A number of reso- 
 lutions were moved in concurrence last 
 year by some honourable gentlemen appo- 
 site, that attacked necessary and proper 
 expenditures, and could only be justified 
 by the fact that a general 
 election was approaching. As a result of 
 these resolutions, where are the gentlemen 
 who moved them? We miss the gen)al 
 
 Eresence of Messrs. Willoughby and 
 [ems, of Messrs. Mag wood and Meacham, 
 of Messrs. St. John and Langford and ot 
 others who might be mentioned. They 
 were "talking to the gallery," and the 
 gallery " turned them down." (Laughter.) 
 Speaking in reference to the receipts in 
 relation to the total expenditure of 
 $3,80;i,081, Mr. Mathieson had ingenuously 
 argued that if we deducted the amount of 
 drainage debentures, the $(K),0(M) " bor- 
 rowed '■ from the Dominion, the receipts 
 from Common School lands, the amount of 
 annuities, the bonus on timber, amount of 
 sale of Toronto Asylum lands, etc., last 
 year's deficit woulci be swollen to over 
 $500,000. To show the fallacy of such a 
 line of argument, Mr. Stratton more 
 extensively applied Col. Mathieson's style 
 of reasoning. He pointed out 
 
 IF WE DEDUCTED THE SUBSIDY 
 
 and special grant of last year,$], 196,872.80; 
 if we deducted last year's receipts of in- 
 terest on investments, $304,(XK).89 ; if we 
 deducted Crown Lands receipts, $1 112,- 
 582.16 ; if we deducted the receipts for 
 Algoma taxes, law stamps, licenses, 
 education department, sale of lands, 
 $440,040.97 ; if we deducted casual 
 revenue, $116,568.96 ; if we deducted 
 succession duties and drainage works as- 
 sessments, $214,'306.91 ; if we deducted 
 drainage debentures,tile, sale of annuities 
 and Agricultural College refund, $168,- 
 807.16; if we deducted all these we should 
 have a deficit equal to the total amount of 
 the expenditures, which was an absurdly 
 misleading way of argument. (Laughter 
 and applause.) The real question to con- 
 sider was, were the estimates now before 
 the House prepared with a proper regard 
 to economy. He (Mr. Stratton) believed 
 they were. There was a decrease in every 
 department but four. If honourable gentle- 
 men opposite wanted consistent grounds 
 of complaint they should complain of this 
 reduction of expenditures. It was natural 
 for them to complain, for where was the 
 evidence that any Conservative govern- 
 ment under the canopy of heaven had ever 
 reduced expenditure? (Applause.) Mr. 
 Stratton pointed out that the estimates 
 showed decreases in civil government, 
 legislation, public institutions, immigra- 
 tion, hospitals and charities, maintenance 
 and repairs of public buildings, charges on 
 Crown lands and miscellaneous expendi- 
 ture, aggregating $138,495. The increases 
 were education, agriculture and public 
 works. Mr. Stratton indicated how we 
 spent our moneys in 1898. We spent upon 
 public institutions $815,744, or $2,235 per 
 day ; on education $735,098, or 
 
 OVER $2,000 PER DAY ; 
 
 in hospitals and charities, $184,402 or 
 $500 per day ; on Agriculture, $206,688 or 
 
 we 
 
lloufj;hby and 
 111(1 Meachatn, 
 iR'ford and oi 
 ;ioned. They 
 ery," and the 
 
 (Laughter.) 
 18 receipts in 
 xpenditure of 
 d ingenuously 
 the amount of 
 $()(),(XK) "bor- 
 
 the receipts 
 the amount of 
 )er, amount of 
 ids, etc., last 
 ollen to over 
 icy of such a 
 tratton more 
 thieson's style 
 It 
 
 SUBSIDY 
 
 r, $1,196,872.80; 
 receipts of in- 
 1,(K)().89 ; if we 
 leipts, $1 112,. 
 
 receipts for 
 nps, licenses, 
 lie of lands, 
 icted casual 
 we deducted 
 age works as- 
 
 we deducted 
 e of annuities 
 refund, $168,- 
 lese we should 
 >tal amount of 
 IS an absurdly 
 it. (Laughter 
 lestion to con- 
 ies now before 
 proper regard 
 tton) believed 
 jrease in every 
 durable gentle- 
 stent grounds 
 tnplain of this 
 It was natural 
 yhere was the 
 rative govern - 
 ;aven had ever 
 )plau8e.> Mr. 
 
 the estimates 
 
 government, 
 ons, immigra- 
 1, maintenance 
 igs, charges on 
 eous expendi- 
 The increases 
 e and public 
 3ated how we 
 Ve spent upon 
 , or $2,235 per 
 Qr 
 )AY ; 
 
 , $184,402 or 
 re, $206,688 or 
 
 J 540 per day ; on Administration of 
 ustice, $413(5,276 or $1,110 per day ; on 
 Colonization Roads, $107,450 or $a00 per 
 day. There was no evidence to show that 
 these amounts were not honestly and 
 economically expended. If the sums pro- 
 posed to be expended were too much it 
 was the 
 
 DUTY OF EVERY REPF ESENTATIVK 
 
 in the House to state his views and work 
 for their reduction. But it was impossible 
 to please honourable gentlemen opposite. 
 If the expenditure WrtS increased they 
 complainca and complaint was made 
 if they were decreased. The country be- 
 lieved that the expenditures of the prov- 
 ince were honestly and economically made 
 and the return of the Government to 
 power was to be regarded as evidence that 
 che people were well satistied and that 
 they had practically said to the Govern- 
 ment " Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vants,— you have done well in the past ; 
 we will trust you in ♦^he future." 
 (Applause.) Turning his attention to Mr. 
 Hoyle, the member for North Ontario, 
 Mr. Stratton congratulated him upon the 
 fluency of his address, which he had be- 
 gun by congratulating the financial critic 
 of the Opposition upon the fail-, candid 
 and general character of his criticism. It 
 was indeed very general, so general in 
 fact that he jumped at conclusions, 
 ignoring facts in support of his 
 conclusions. The honourable member 
 from North Ontario had continued his ad- 
 dress with an interesting chapter on 
 "Action," impressing in the beginning of 
 his speech a character, which he consist- 
 ently maintained to the close. In his fic- 
 titious explanation of the trust funds, the 
 honourable gentleman said that Mr. Con- 
 mee had much to learn, but Mr. Stratton 
 feared that if he depended upon Mr. Hoyle 
 for enlightenment on the subject, he was 
 doomed to remain in ignorance. (Hear, 
 hear !) The honourable gentleman from 
 North Ontario, in discussing the Common 
 School fund left the House a liberal choice 
 in the matter of name— it was first called a 
 "fiction," then a "fund," then an "obliga- 
 tion."— a specimen of hair-splitting that 
 would make even Mr. Mathieson himself 
 look to his laurels. (Hear, hear). Mr. 
 Hoyle might deny that he called this fund 
 a ' 'fiction " ana put the responsibility 
 upon Mr. Blake, who, as counsel, was do- 
 ing a little special pleading, but Mr. 
 Stratton assumed that Mr. Hoyle 
 
 WAS IN SYMPATHY AVITH 
 
 Mr. Blake's contention, and should accept 
 the responsibility. If this fund Avas a 
 " fiction " it was a fiction of the right des- 
 cription, for who had even heard before 
 of an interest-bearing fiction ? (Hear, 
 hear and applause.) A fiction 
 
 that yielded to the Province jH'O.OOO 
 a year was the kind of fiction we 
 wanted; "and Mr. Speaker," said Mr. 
 Stratton, "if you can load the shelves of 
 the parliamentary library with works of 
 fiction of this sort you will be conferring 
 an inestimable benefit upon the Province. 
 (Applause.) The hon. gentleman t'so ob- 
 jects to the $10,000 appropriated for arbi- 
 tration expenses. In a matter of thi.s kind 
 where millions of dollars are involved, the 
 best interests of the Province demanded 
 that only the best available counsel should 
 be selected. In no other connection could 
 economy be more emphatically misplaced 
 — a moment of weakness or slackness on 
 the part of a cheap and inefficient counsel 
 might represent incalculable loss to the 
 Province. If th«» Hon. Mr. Blake hi.d not 
 been employed on the occasion referred to 
 by the hon. gentleman for South Ontario, 
 he would not have made the remark 
 quoted, and Mr. Hoyle would have been 
 robbed of his subject for a speech. 
 
 Mr. Stratton said that he or any other 
 business man would adopt the course of 
 going to an expense for counsel and ad- 
 vice in proportion to the magnitude of the 
 inl-erests at stake. He, or any other busi- 
 ness man, would do the same in their pri- 
 vate affairs, and the same reasons 
 
 JUSTIFIED THE PKOVINCT^: IN GOING 
 
 to the expense of $10,000 in securing several 
 of the best counsel for a most important 
 and protracted arbitration. It had been 
 fortunate for the province in the past that 
 we had Provincial Treasurers who had 
 estimated these matters at their true 
 value and had employed competent coun- 
 sel, with results that compensated for the 
 expenditure involved a thousand fold, 
 (Hear, Lear.) The honourable gentleman 
 had apparently worked off part, at least, 
 of an election campaign speech. In a burst 
 of eloquence he had depicted the terrible 
 burdens Ontario was labouring under. The 
 bonded municipal indebtedness he placed 
 at fifty-one millions, the cost of legislation 
 at three and a half millions, municipal 
 taxation, annually, twelve millions, and 
 Ontario contributed to customs fifteen 
 millions annually, and the fee system was 
 responsible for a million Mr. Stratton 
 pointed out that in respect of the bonded 
 municipal indebtedness (although there 
 was in reality no such thing) and the 
 municipal taxation, these were something 
 that the Legislature could not control, 
 except to the limited extent that was 
 
 Eossible through the restrictions that had 
 een placed upon the borrowing powers of 
 municipalities. The cost of legislation, 
 by which the honourable gentleman evi- 
 dently meant the governing of the pro- 
 vince, was not at all excessive. With regard 
 tp the customs duties imposed by the 
 
6 
 
 Dominion Government, tliat was some- 
 thing which this Legislature had no power 
 to deal with, and > 'hich Mr. Hoyle and his 
 party bad forced upon the country in the 
 shap* of excessive protection duties. With 
 regeurd to the fee system, that 
 
 WAS HETTI,ED UV THE PF:0PI.E 
 
 long ago. With reerard to the provincial 
 expenditure, if that was considered 
 excessive, when the estimates were 
 broutrht down that was the time for the 
 Opposition to object. (Hear, hear.) They 
 should put their objections in specific form 
 and not sit silently, consending to the 
 expenditure adopted, and then afterwards, 
 when it was too late, find fault for the pur- 
 pose, apparently, of making party capital. 
 (Hear, near.) Mr. Hoyle nad made it 
 plain that it was not to the expenditures 
 on education and agriculture that he 
 objected, but to the results. This was a 
 singular objection for anybody with the 
 slightest practical knowledge of 
 these subjects to urge. How were 
 we going to set down a 
 specific statement of the results in either 
 of these branches ? If a farmer sowed a 
 certain amount of seed on an acre of 
 ground he could get specific results- a 
 yield of so many bushels and pounds, but 
 if he applied a fertilizer to increase a crop 
 how was he going to estimate the exact re- 
 sults, although he might have the best of 
 evidence of beneficial effects ? As to the 
 results in education, we know that our 
 people are educated better than the people 
 of almost any oth«r country in the world. 
 (Hear, hear.) Was it not satisfactory 
 proof of good results that the graduates 
 of our universities who came through the 
 Public and High Schools 
 
 WERE GIVEN PROMINENT POSITIONS 
 
 in the colleges of the United States? Was 
 it not a proof of the benefits resulting from 
 the administration of the Department of 
 Agriculture that Ontario had gained the 
 position^of being the best producer of agri- 
 cultural products in the world, that her 
 cheese and other products had no superior 
 in the British markets ? (Hear,hear.) The 
 hon. gentleman did not point out any 
 improvements that he would like to see 
 effected. He only vaguely complained 
 of unsatisfactory results. He would sur- 
 round the Minister of Education with an 
 advisory board. The minister had now an 
 excellent advisory board. He had the 
 benefit of the opinions of educational ex- 
 
 Eerts, of school inspectors, etc., etc., and 
 e had the Legislature as an advisory 
 board, and what more did he need ? As 
 well might advisory boards be provided for 
 the other cabinet ministers. Whs.t we 
 wanted was a responsible ministe* re- 
 sponsible to the House, and through the 
 Efouse to the people. We wanted no sys- 
 
 shirk his responsibility 
 shelter himself behind i 
 
 tem whereby a Minister of Education could 
 
 to Paliamenfc and 
 an advisory board. 
 (Applause.) Complaint, too, was made of 
 excessive examinations, but there were but 
 
 TWO EXAMINATIONS THAT 
 
 could be rogan'ed as compulsory— that for 
 teachers' certificates; and the entrance ex- 
 amination was not compulsory except the 
 pupil desires to reach a certificate through 
 the High School. It was the policy of tue 
 Department to interfere as little as possible 
 with trustees in the domestic management 
 of their schools. Mr. Stratton said he was 
 glad the honourable gentleman approved 
 of something and spoke in praise oi Prof. 
 James' text book on Agriculture, which, 
 Mr. Stratton believed, it was the intention 
 to authorize if it had not already been 
 done for use in the Rural Schools. This 
 book the honourable gentleman looked to 
 for the education of the farmers' sons and to 
 help the farmers pay off the mortgages on 
 their farms. While the teaching of agri- 
 culture in the schools was to be commf^nd- 
 ed, the Government had taken the 
 
 READIEST AND MOST PROPER WAY 
 
 to help the farming industry. Public and 
 elementary schools had long been in ex- 
 istence, but it was only now that 
 technical branches were being intro- 
 duced. It would be a long time 
 before the leaching of agriculture in 
 the schools could have any practical effect 
 upon farming operations. The system of 
 the Government was a practical one in 
 relation to agriculture. Through the 
 medium of the Farmers' Institutes and 
 the regular system of bulletins, and the 
 Experimental Farm the special knowl- 
 edge needed was made at once available to 
 the farmers for practical application. 
 (Hear, hear.) Complaint was made by the 
 Opposition critics tnat our surplus assets, 
 were fast disappearing. We nad heard 
 the same cry for the past thirty years. In 
 regard to the surplus the honourable mem- 
 ber had asserted that the contention of 
 the Opposition was that the only proper 
 surplus was such as that ahown oy Sand- 
 field Macdonald, " who had a genuine 
 cash surplus " of over three million dollars. 
 The Opposition objected to the sale of 
 timber, yet the boasted Sandfield Mac- 
 donald surplus was derived chiefly from 
 that source and if Sandfield 
 
 HAD PAID HIS OBLIGATIONS 
 
 his surplus would have been gone. This 
 was information that was in the possess-- 
 ion of every school boy and one 
 would have thought that it 
 had penetrated to North Ontario. 
 The honourable gentleman had made com- 
 parisons of expenditure. If he wanted to. 
 continue his "comparisons" he had only to, 
 
 > 
 
lucation could 
 'aliament and 
 ivisory board. 
 , was tuade of 
 there were but 
 
 THAT 
 
 sory— that for 
 } entrance ex- 
 )ry except the 
 [Icate throoch 
 5 pohoy of the 
 itleatj possible 
 ! mana(;cment 
 in said he was 
 nan approved 
 •raise or Prof, 
 alture, which, 
 
 the intention 
 
 already been 
 Schools. This 
 nan looked to 
 irs' sons and to 
 
 mortgages on 
 ching of agri- 
 
 be commi^nd- 
 jn the 
 
 )PER WAY 
 
 r. Public and 
 g been in ex- 
 
 now that 
 being intro- 
 
 long time 
 jn:"iculture in 
 ractical effect 
 'he system of 
 oticai one in 
 rhrough the 
 istitutes and 
 tins, and the 
 3ecial knowl- 
 e available to 
 application. 
 4 made by the 
 urplus assets 
 e had heard 
 ety years. In 
 curable mem- 
 Kontention of 
 only proper 
 own by Sand- 
 d a genuine 
 illion dollars. 
 I the sale of 
 .ndfleld Mac- 
 chiefly from 
 
 iTlONS 
 
 gone. This 
 the possess-. 
 y and one 
 that it 
 th Ontario, 
 id made com- 
 be wanted to. 
 e had only to* 
 
 > 
 
 investigate, and he would And out that 
 from 180H to 1870 the increased percentage 
 of expenditure was greater than in any 
 corresponding period since, except the 
 years in which the Parliament buildings 
 were being erected. Severe criticism had 
 been directed against the expense of the 
 administration of justice, and against the 
 increased cost. Mr. Hoyle wanted the 
 judicial districts enlarj?ed. Would he have 
 an enlargement of the judicial districts of 
 Nipisslng, Algoma and Muskoka? Mr. 
 Hoyle object to junior judges— that there 
 was not work enough for two judges in 
 some districts. He should recollect that 
 when they were appointed he did not 
 object- when his objections mights have 
 had more weight— when his political 
 friends were in power at Ottawa. If he 
 had objected then he would have shown 
 some consistency in entering his protest 
 now If the people were not n ore heavily 
 burdened with taxation than through the 
 judges, they would not consider them- 
 selves very heavily taxed, though Mr. 
 Hoyle complained that the people 
 of Ontario were taxed thirty-one 
 millions a year, a circumstance for 
 which this House is not responsible. 
 Mr. Hoyle laid considerable emphasis upon 
 the anxiety of the Government supporters 
 
 TO COMPARE THE COST 
 
 of maintaining Ontario public institutions 
 with those of the several States, greatly 
 to the advantage of Ontario, but he as- 
 serted that a comparison of the cost of the 
 executive in Ontario with large States 
 would show Ontario's expense as excess- 
 ive. Mr. Hoyle asserted that the cost of 
 the executive, the cabinet ministers, in 
 Ontario, was !p35,000, while in the State of 
 New York, the cost was only f 31,000, and 
 in Michigan $7,400. Mr. Stratton pointed 
 out that the comparison was in every way 
 unfair and misleading, because the respec- 
 tive administrative systems were totally 
 diverse, and it was impossible to institute 
 anything like a fair or intelligible compari- 
 son. (Hear, hear.) All that could be done 
 was to compare the general expenses 
 of the states in the matter or the 
 salaries of departmental officers as 
 against Ontario. For instance, the work 
 done in Ontario in the Provincial Secre- 
 tary's office.was In New York State,dlvlded 
 between forty and fifty highly paid 
 officials, very few of them drawing less 
 salary and some of them three times as 
 much as the corresponding Ontario 
 officials. Mr. Stratton then submitted a 
 list relating to the officials of New York 
 State, of wnlch the first seven were elect- 
 ed by the people. The salaries of these 
 seven aggregated $31,000 as mentioned by 
 Mr. Hoyle, but that gentJenian did not 
 
 point out that there were over twenty 
 other highly paid officers who were 
 
 REALLY THE liXKCUTIVB 
 
 officers of the State and attended to mat- 
 ters similar to those performed by the 
 several executive departments of Ontario. 
 Some of these officials have salaries as 
 large in some cases as Cabinet Ministers 
 and the aggregate of their salaries is 
 
 ? 230,000, not including the salaries of a 
 ost of assistants and clerks, who receive 
 in many cases five times the salary of the 
 highest departmental official in (Jntario. 
 It is no wonder then that the total an-i 
 nual expenditure of New York State isover 
 twenty millions of dollars. (Applause.) 
 " We don't want that kind of expenditure 
 In Ontario. That is not the way our econ- 
 omy has been practised." (Applause.) The 
 honourable gentleman from North Ontario 
 preached a very nice, little, moral sermon 
 on the I'air, and candid criticism of pro- 
 vincial questions, but in view of his mis- 
 leading, unfair and utterly impossible 
 comparison of New York state with On- 
 tario, his high morality and his elegantly 
 rounded periods became as "sounding 
 brass and a tinkling cymbal." (Hear, 
 hear.) 
 
 With regard to the policy which has 
 been adopted by the House in the matter 
 of restrictive legislation, affecting our tim- 
 ber resources, It would be necessary to pro- 
 vide a source of revenue to take the place 
 of that temporarily decreased by the appli- 
 cation of the patriotic manufacturmg 
 policy introducea by the Government and 
 adopted by the House. 
 
 No one disputed the fairness of the prin- 
 ciple of levying succession duties. The 
 whole Anglo-Saxon world does so. It was 
 the true principle that till large estates, en- 
 joying the protection of the laws, should 
 pay at the death of the owner a fair per- 
 centage as a slight acknowledgment of the 
 protection afforded, and when, as in 
 Ontario, the results of such payments are 
 devoted exclusively to assist in the main- 
 tenance of charitable Institutions, the 
 principle of succession duties becomes ad- 
 ditionally defensible. (Applause.) There 
 was no revenue more just, more popular 
 and less burdensome than the one paid on 
 the succession of property. This prlnciplei 
 admitted, Mr. Stratton asked why all cor- 
 porations should not be brought within 
 the operation of a similar duty and bear 
 their share of the expense of the protec- 
 tion and other conditions that make their 
 successtui operation possible? Corpora- 
 tions endeavoured to evade all such re- 
 sponsibility as soon as they are incorpoif-. 
 ated, and some gf 
 
[■ 
 
 ii 
 
 THESE' CREATIONS OK THE I.K(USLA.TIVE 
 POWER 
 
 act AS If they wore superior to the creator. 
 (Hear, hear.) Ah a rule the first aim of 
 these Krcat bodies in to escape municipal 
 or other taxation, and in this way obtain 
 exemption from taxation in another form 
 than that voluntarily conceded to manu- 
 facturina industries, and it would take the 
 Hou.se all its time to circumvent all the 
 dodges adopted by these corporations to 
 evade paving. Mr. Stratton said he had 
 no hostility to these institutions, for he 
 was connected with several of tiiem him- 
 self. He believed that ail banks, insur- 
 ance companies— fire and life— trust com- 
 panies, telegraph, telephone and electric 
 railway companies should pay some- 
 thing for the great privileges they 
 are enjoying at the hands of this 
 House. tn regard to financial cor- 
 porations, Mr. Stratton said he held, 
 speaking for himself alone, that the^ 
 snould pay duty upon their paid up capi- 
 tal and their rest account. With regard to 
 this question of revenue it was only when 
 we come to a situation that necessi- 
 tated a temporary provision for increased 
 revenue that we felt impelled to look to 
 what other countries are doing in this 
 matter. If we did so we should discover 
 that in nearly all the States of the Union 
 
 THE CHIEF HOUHIK OF IlKVENUE 
 
 >vas a tax levied upon local municipalities 
 and in the State of Indiana this was al- 
 most the only source of revenue. In the 
 States of New York, Connecticut and 
 Massachusetts corporation and inheritance 
 taxes formed a very large part of the 
 revenue. The same condition prevailed in 
 Pennsylvania also. Now in Ontario, Mr. 
 Stratton pointed out, we had not yet be- 
 gun to exploit for revenue. The bounty of 
 Providence had endowed us with great 
 natural resources which yield a large 
 revenue, but without full development are 
 not all suflHcient sources. When these 
 sources of revenue ceased we should have 
 to look for other revenue. Mr. Stratton 
 said that apart from sources of revenue 
 which he would refer to later, a study '^' 
 the sources of income of the various 
 American States showed to a surprising 
 extent the sources of income the various 
 States had in the way of direct taxation : 
 The State of Massachusetts received last 
 year $9,500,771, about three times the total 
 revenue of Ontario, made up from State, 
 Corporation, Savings Bank, National 
 Bank, Excise Tax on liife Insurance, In- 
 surance Companies— Fire and Life, Collat- 
 eral Legacy, Liquor Licenses, Fees for 
 Corporation Certificates, Hp-vvkert and 
 Pedlars' Licenses, and the Massachi setts 
 Hospital Life Insurance Company. Only 
 
 three of these wore a similar source of 
 revenue to some of that of Ontario. 
 
 ▲ i/lanco at New York State showed the 
 aggregate receipts during the year 
 amounted to aVnost $.'i;{,()0(>,(XK», over 
 seventeen and a half million dollars being 
 direct revenue upon corporations, only 
 three sources of revenue being similar to 
 ours. It was also to be observed that the 
 Manhattan Uallwa;v and the New York 
 Central Railway paid almost 
 
 HALF A Mil, I. ION DOLLARS, 
 
 while the Bank of Montieal paid nearly 
 «:«),000 and the Bank of Commerce f 10,(X)0, 
 The revenue of the State of Connecticut 
 for a similar period amounted to two and 
 ahalf million dollars, all levied by direct 
 taxation, with the exception of the Col- 
 lateral Inheritance Incomt. The State of 
 Ml'ihlgan received five and a half million 
 dollars. One half of this amount was 
 from direct taxation upon municipalities, 
 and the other from railroad. Insurance, 
 telegraph, telephone and express com- 
 panies. The State of Texas had nn Income 
 of three million dollars, one million being 
 from sales and leases of lands 
 which would be similar to our 
 Crown Lands Revenue. In this State 
 almost every kind of occupation 
 except thni of farmers, printers ana man- 
 ufacturers is made to pay revenue. Even 
 the lawyers are caxeo, .-vud this is about 
 the only state that seemed to get even 
 with the learned profession, and although 
 the speaker did not recommend the adop- 
 tion of the United States system, still, he 
 thought, we might do worse in Ontario 
 than to receive some direct advantage 
 from the legal profesNion. The receipts 
 for the state of Indiana amounted to seven 
 and a quarter million dollars, three and a 
 half million of this sum being direct taxa- 
 tion, the balance coming from benevolent 
 institution fund, state debt sinking fund, 
 educational Institution fund and school 
 revenue fund. The state of California had 
 total receipts of about eleven million of 
 dollars, eight millions being direct taxa- 
 tion received from county treasurers. Rail- 
 road companies paid a million and a quar- 
 ter, so that a superficial glance at the 
 revenues derived by these states men- 
 tioned will show that almost every state 
 in the Union has had 
 
 A SYSTEM OF DIRECT TAXATION 
 
 for many years. The honourable gentle- 
 man from North Ontario was very anxious 
 to go to the United States for a model of 
 an economical administration. Was the 
 policy of taxation just referred to, 
 whicn prevailed in the United States, 
 what Mr. Hoyle wished to serve for a 
 irodel in Ontario? To amplify the com- 
 
 Sarison which the honourable gentleman 
 ad instituted, comparison might be niade 
 
iliir source of 
 Unturio. 
 ate showed the 
 ifjf the year 
 {,(KK),(KK», over 
 11 (lolhirs beinK 
 orations, only 
 iiiK similar to 
 tcrved that the 
 he Now York 
 
 LLARS, 
 
 il paid nearly 
 imerce <J10,(K)0. 
 )f Connecticut 
 id to two and 
 ied by direct 
 bn of the Col- 
 
 The State of 
 \n half million 
 
 amount was 
 iTiunicipalities, 
 id, insurance, 
 
 express corn- 
 had an income 
 
 million being 
 es of lands 
 ilar to our 
 In this State 
 if occupation 
 ters ana man- 
 fvenue. Even 
 
 this is about 
 id to cet even 
 , and although 
 lend the adop- 
 ^stem, still, he 
 rse in Ontario 
 !ct advantage 
 
 The receipts 
 anted to seven 
 s, three and a 
 ig direct taxa- 
 >m benevolent 
 sinking fund, 
 d and school 
 California had 
 'en million of 
 g direct taxa- 
 asurers. Rail- 
 m and a quar- 
 ^lance at the 
 
 states men- 
 st every state 
 
 lXATION 
 
 arable gentle- 
 I very anxious 
 or a model of 
 3n. Was the 
 referred to, 
 nited States, 
 serve for a 
 ilify the com- 
 le gentleman 
 light be made 
 
 with the cost of the state biiildings of New 
 York at Albany, which had cost between 
 twenty and twenty-live millions and were 
 uot yet llnished, with the Parliament 
 bulldlngH of Ontario, which were llnished 
 within the specKled time without a dollar 
 corruptly spent and without a rotten brick 
 or a crooked nail in the whole structure. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Matheson— Has the honourable 
 
 fjentleman ever heard that the floor of the 
 ibrary was not safe i 
 
 Mr. Stratton— Oh, my honourable friend 
 th'nks many things are unsafe. He thmks 
 that our annual surplus of half a million 
 is unsafe. (Laughter). 
 
 Mr. Stratton, went on to point out that 
 we in Ontario ha 1 
 
 EXCKl'TIONAL NATURAL RESOURCES 
 
 that have enabled the Government to 
 maintain the institutions and develop the 
 resources of the countrv without placing a 
 dollar of burden directly upon the people ; 
 and this province could be conducted on 
 similar lines in the future to that of iiie 
 past were it not deemed wiser to adopt a 
 greater policy of development and a more 
 patriotic policy of Ontario for Ontarians, 
 and to secure the necessary revenue re- 
 
 ?|ulred to compensate for the loss accruing 
 rora the restrictive legislation of last year. 
 Howr^er, this matter might be more fully 
 I. ■ ied when the bill making provision 
 for the expected loss of revc.iue came up 
 for consideration. xVlr, Stratton said that 
 the Speech indicated the possibility of a 
 decreased revenue from Crown Lands, 
 which arose from a decreased demand from 
 what was for many years our largest 
 market, as well as from a decreased cut, 
 resulting from the restriction which the 
 Government and the House almost 
 unanimously, with a patriotic regard for 
 the provincial interests, saw fit to have 
 adopted. That was a policy which public 
 opinion strongly endorsed and still 
 approves of. The highest test of patriot- 
 ism was a willingness to pay for it. This 
 public spirited policy had oeen adopted 
 and it was impossible to rece.ie from it. 
 (Hear, hear). The policy of Canada for 
 Canadians and Ontario "for Ontarionians 
 in this regard must prevail. (Applause.) 
 It might lead t« decreased revenue, but it 
 would conserve interests of paramount 
 importance and above all it was right. At 
 any rate the deficiency must be met. Two 
 sessions ago the speaker had pointed out 
 that our largest source of revenue, which 
 is of a fluctuating nature owing to the 
 quantity cut and the demand of the trade, 
 was bound in the lapse of time to grow 
 smaller and that it could not be depended 
 upon ; that it would 
 
 SOON HE NEOEHSARV 
 
 to cast about for new sources of revenue. 
 The expenditure would, as the flevelop- 
 ment of the P'ovince expanded, neces- 
 sarily be greuter. We were now confront- 
 ed V ith tlie doul)le problem of not onlv 
 conserviuji but strengthening them and 
 wo must provide revenue for an increas- 
 ingly expansive and necessary public ser- 
 vice. There were many services that 
 could not 1)0 neglected without a corres- 
 
 fonding injury to the interests concerned. 
 t was not possible that our charitable and 
 other institutions could be efHciently 
 maintained at less cost, for they were 
 now managed at a less cost than in any 
 other civilized state. At i general glance 
 it 'vas not easy to see where a reduction 
 could be nmde. On the other hand it 
 might be necessary, and, he hoped to 
 show before he had done, justi- 
 fiable, to greatly increase the expendi- 
 ture. He would endeavour to show that 
 in the matter of permanent interests, in 
 order to ellect proper results a greater ex- 
 penditure would be advisable. Though 
 what he might have to suggest might not 
 (!'-"^tly or appreciably increase the rev- 
 enu ;t wjuld, he believed, create ccndi- 
 llon^ I aat would, while materially advanc- 
 ing tie conditions of the province, leaf! in a 
 'irge degree to the solution of the pro- 
 blem <.r prov^^'^iug "the sinews of war." 
 Mr. Strat*^! i said that this brought him to 
 the co.u;ideration of what seemed to him a 
 vpvy 1 iportant matter. At the present 
 tLiiie there was a disposition abroaa in the 
 W(,-.d to seek closer relations by nations 
 possc-^ing reciprocal conditions of natural 
 alliance. In the broad sense the bitterness 
 of national feeli*!,'* in notable instances, 
 was, all would recogxa/e, becoming less- 
 ened, and 
 
 A TENDENCY SHOWN 
 
 in the line of a general desire for cosmo- 
 politan ppaeeful relations. In view of 
 this it seemed to the speaker that we in 
 Ontario, we in the House, should by 
 mutual consent drop the bitterness of 
 party spirit which frequently largely pre- 
 vailed, which antagonized both sides of the 
 House and, to a large extent, paralyzed 
 their energies, or diverted them into a 
 direction not only fruitless of results, but 
 an actual source of injury to provincial in- 
 terests. In the mad wrangle of party war- 
 fare important interests were lost f'ght of. 
 It rwas time, Mr. Stratton thought, 
 that the petty intensity that marked party 
 feeling should be eradicated. Those on the 
 floor of the House, Conservative and 
 Liberal alike, were responsible for the 
 development of the resources of this pro- 
 vince, responsible for the faithful dis- 
 charge of the trust committed them by 
 the people. We boasted, with good rea- 
 
10 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 son, of the great and almost infinite 
 natural resources of this province, and no 
 member of the House will be guiltless of 
 breach of trust if, through unworthy de- 
 votion to petty party squabbles, he inter- 
 fered with the magnificent opportunities 
 presented for the improvement of the 
 province- of developing the great natural 
 resources of the prov>, ce. Mr. Stratton 
 said he did not altogether deprecate the 
 party spirit ; it was as proper as it was 
 mevitable under our system of govern- 
 ment. But it should be "kept in its proper 
 place— in a place subordinate to the great 
 mterests of this country. Hs remarks 
 might not meet with universal approval, 
 but he was sure that 
 
 EVERY RIGHT THINKING 
 
 citizen would endorse them. In this re- 
 
 Sard the speaker felt he was justified in 
 emanding on behalf of the best interests 
 of the province, a cessation of petty party 
 warfare— in demanding that the great 
 abilities of both sides or the House, should 
 f'.nd a higher employment than absoluce, 
 cibsurption in parish politics -that the 
 ability and energies of both sides of the 
 House should be unitedly directed in the 
 main -though as to detail there might be 
 differences of opiaion-to the development 
 of the illimitable natural resources of 
 Ontario. So that great as had been our 
 
 Srogi-ess in the past, proud as was our con- 
 Ition at present it would bp as noth- 
 ing compared to the greatness that 
 would come from the harmonious co- 
 operation of our public men. He appealed, 
 and he wished it, be it understood, in his 
 personal representative capacity alone, to 
 both sides of the House, to drop to their 
 proper subordinate place, petty politics, 
 and to unite as one man in the adopt- 
 ion of a big, broad, progressive policy, 
 looking to the development of our un- 
 surpassed material resources. All great 
 movements required that the public should 
 be educated up to the standard of appre- 
 ciating them and movements that repre- 
 sented a criKsis in public affairs demanded 
 that a government, no matter what its 
 political complexion, should have a strong 
 support on such questions, and it devolved 
 upon members to educate their constitu- 
 ents on such a subject so that the House 
 and Government supported by the people 
 on such a policy as that suggested would 
 be able to carry big things through. In 
 regard to the policy spoken of he was not 
 the man to outline such a policy, but such 
 a policy was possible when there was an 
 honest union of intention, an honest aim 
 to so broaden our provincial policy so th.it 
 the only goal in view should be the acoori- 
 plishment of the best results. Let suci 
 a policy be decided upon -let It not be th < 
 
 policy of one party nor the other, let it be 
 the policy of the 
 
 UNITED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE, 
 
 Let it be so broad that no honest citizen 
 of whatever political stripe could not sub- 
 scribe to it with his whole heart. Let it 
 be the policy of the country with the cen- 
 tral idea, that whatever else eomes, the 
 united energies of the people and their 
 representatives shall be devoted to its 
 advancement, with the clear eut under- 
 standing that whatever party interest con- 
 flicts with its enforcement shall go to the 
 wall. Let S'lch a policy be a sacred thin|^ 
 that no pi '\ne hand shall touch. It 
 shall belong to no party, but be the 
 property of the people as the Interests to- 
 promote which It is adopted are the 
 property of the people. Put such a broad 
 provincial policy upon so high a plane that 
 party warfare shall rage as fiercely as It 
 will in lower regions, it must not touch 
 higher issues ofpolicy to which both and 
 all parties are committed. Mr. Stratton 
 said he no practical or even academic out- 
 line of sucn a policy to submit to the 
 House ; he only urged the acceptance of 
 the principle with full confidence that the 
 combined wisdom, the combined patriotism 
 and the combined earnest endeavour of 
 both parties would be able to evolve a 
 policy, which, intelligently applied, would 
 make our past progre8s,great as it has been; 
 that will make our present position, proud 
 as it is, mere suggestions of the possi- 
 bilities which may result. As before re- 
 marked, Mr. Stratton said he spoke only 
 his own mind on these questions, ana 
 though some of the phases of such a policy 
 as he had suggested were embodied m the 
 policy of the present Government, he ap- 
 pealed for a wider and more dependable 
 support than even the best party govern- 
 ment, under generally prevalent condi- 
 tions, could hope to secure and retain. He 
 yvould aim at 
 
 SOMETHING MORE PERMANENT 
 
 than the most loyal partlzau— (using the 
 word In Its best sense)— support which ai>y 
 government, no matter what its complex- 
 ion, could command. In this connection 
 Mr. Stratton pointed out that in Great 
 Britain Whig and Tory fought earnestly 
 over domestic politics, out wnen the peace 
 and Interests of the country were threat- 
 ened, when the crisis came, both sides 
 forgot their party politics and stood 
 shoulder to shoulder in defence of the Em- 
 pire. (Applause.) A provincial policy that 
 could command such unanimous suppoit 
 was one in the best interests of the coun- 
 try. We wanted large questions consid- 
 ered on their merits, a condition that had 
 not unfortunately prevailed in the past. 
 The Opposition had not on seme occasions 
 
 take 
 
 have 
 
 Gove 
 
 prop 
 
 one 
 
 mine 
 
 and 
 
 P 
 
11 
 
 )ther, let it be 
 
 THE PEOPLE, 
 
 lonest citizen 
 Bould not sub- 
 heart. Let it 
 with the cen- 
 e eomes, the 
 •le and their 
 ivoted to its 
 ir eut under- 
 r interest con- 
 lall go to the 
 sacred thinj;^ 
 11 touch. It 
 but be the 
 interests to- 
 ;ed are the 
 such a broad 
 t a plane that 
 fiercely as it 
 it not touch 
 ich both and 
 VIr. Stratton 
 oademic out- 
 bmit to the 
 cceptance of 
 2nce that the 
 5d patriotism 
 mdeavour of 
 to evolve a 
 plied, would 
 IS it has been: 
 sition, proud 
 )f the possi- 
 s before re- 
 1 spoke only 
 Jstions, and 
 3uch a policy 
 todied m the 
 lent, he ap- 
 dependable 
 .rty govern- 
 ilent condi- 
 retain. He 
 
 L.NENT 
 
 -(using the 
 ; which any 
 s complex- 
 connection 
 ; in Great 
 b earnestly 
 n the peace 
 ere threat- 
 botli sides 
 tnd stood 
 of the Em- 
 policy that 
 18 suppoit 
 the eoun- 
 ns consid- 
 that had 
 the past, 
 i occasions 
 
 
 [taken such broad views as they might 
 : have taken. The Engledue phase of ths 
 Government's policy was a great and 
 proper step in the direction of developing 
 one of our m»st important resources, the 
 mineral. Yet the leader of the Opposition 
 and his friends bad not accorded that 
 support which, having regard to the great 
 issues at stake, they might have done with 
 perfect consistency as regards their posi- 
 tion in the HoUse. The main question was 
 largely lost sight of. Anything but a 
 patriotic attitude was taken by the Oppo- 
 sition upon the Boundary Award matter, 
 which involved the possession of millions 
 of aeres of land, which would, with the 
 adoption of a big policy of development, 
 yield in the future millions of revenue. 
 (Hear, hear.) Strong opposition was given 
 the project of the Wabigoon pioneer farm, 
 which results had very amply justified. 
 The opposition objected to the appoint- 
 ment of a Clerk of Forestry, an oflftce asso- 
 ciated with our most important interest. 
 Opposition was also given the appoint- 
 ment of a Road Commissioner, whose ser- 
 vices and the results flowing from them 
 would save millions to the country. (Hear, 
 hoar.) These were all projects looking to 
 the development of the country, and upon 
 which there should have been no two 
 opinions except as to matters of mere 
 detail, and the policy for which appeal 
 had been made should involve matters of 
 common agreement looking to the opening 
 up of our country. At the root of all trade 
 development lay the question of trans- 
 portation. No other subject was at pres- 
 ent receiving so wide and earnest atten- 
 tion, and deservedly so. Access to our 
 immense undeveloped resources was the 
 first condition of rendering latent wealth 
 
 A LIVE COMMERCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 This, of course, meant new population, 
 which involved in turn demands upon 
 the industrial resources of the older 
 portions of the province, and thus 
 the circle was completed. This transport- 
 ation problem, apart from the question of 
 moving our Nortliwest crops, is a tremend- 
 ous one. This province was geographically 
 so situated as to receive the greatest 
 amount of benefit from the improvement of 
 transportation facilities represented by 
 the deepening of our canals, and the con- 
 struction of such works, as the Parry 
 Sound Railway, the proposed Ottawa and 
 Georgian Bay Canal, the Trent Waterway, 
 theproposed short lineconnectingGeorgian 
 Bay and Lake Ontario, etc. Though these 
 were mattern of Dominion responsibility, 
 they were matters of the deepest concern 
 to this province. In passing, Mr. Stratton 
 paid a tribute to the government of Sir 
 John Macdonild for the construction of 
 that great trftns-contlnentftUraflic Unk the 
 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, though the 
 details involved were ground for differ- 
 ence of opinion, and he went on to add a 
 word of warm praise of Hon. J. Israel 
 Tarte, Dominion Ministerof Public Works, 
 who was doing more than any one past or 
 present for the improvemnt of the great 
 transportation facilities of the country. 
 (applause.)And the transportation question- 
 needed every attention,e8pecially when we 
 remembered that Ontario was paying 
 yearly in ocean freights over one- 
 and a half millions of dollars more than her 
 American competitors, by wny of Boston 
 and New York, on the same extent and 
 character of products. This province has- 
 inexhaustible stores of wealth distributed 
 in profusion over wide areas and of the 
 most varied kind. Upon the development 
 of these depended the prosperity of the 
 older sections, and development depended 
 in the first place upon facilities of ingress 
 and egress. Facility of transportation was 
 the touchstone of tne highest commercial 
 civilization, and in this view the extension 
 of railways became the most important 
 feature of a big provincial, non-partizan 
 policv. We must tap the heart of the 
 resources of our outlying districts, if we 
 would get the benefit. Our wild lands— 
 those which are arable — should be peopled 
 with settlers, and with railways and 
 other communication turnished, the 
 problem of development would be 
 greatly simplified. Capital would see 
 its way clear to engage in the 
 development of our great resources 
 in farming lands, timber and minerals. 
 Of these resources, there was practically 
 no end. Beyond the Height of land there 
 was a vast unknown land— but unknown 
 only in detail. There was, according to 
 the report of Mr, Niven, land surveyor, on 
 the slope of Hudson Bay, a belt of land 
 120 miles deep, 
 
 RICH AGRICULTURAL LAND 
 
 that doubtless extends across Ontario and 
 Quebec to Manitoba. If this were opened 
 and peopled the result upon the industrial 
 interests of older Ontario would be incal- 
 culable. Then there was in addition the 
 wide and fertile Temiscamingue and 
 Rainy River districts. If these great 
 areas were thrown open to settlement by 
 means of railway communication they 
 would become tributary to older Ontario 
 and would demand her industrial products 
 to the great improvement of every line of 
 commercial activity. We were told that 
 our timber was fast disappearing, bui that 
 was beyond the fact. Tnough in the past 
 this policy has been properly pursued of 
 disposing of our timber on a revenue pro 
 ducing basis, rather than allow it to be 
 destroyed by fire or natural decay, Mr, 
 
r 
 
 i 
 
 S ■ 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 12 
 
 Stratton was sure that taking our whole 
 timber area, with what has been cut for 
 commercial purposes, there was at present 
 as ^reat a value if not bulk of timber ex- 
 istiuK as there was when cutting first 
 began. The natural growth of timber over 
 millions and millions of acres could com- 
 pensate for an immense amount of dimi- 
 nuti n by actual cutting. 
 
 It has also been said that we were sell- 
 ing our timber as though it was grown for 
 another purpose than to be cut and used 
 in some way. It would surely be the 
 height of folly to let it stand and decay or 
 burn up. It is wiser to sell the more 
 valuable timber to be removed bv the 
 lumberman and tuus assist the farmer in 
 clearing his land for general agriculture. 
 This has been the policy, and large tracts 
 of land have been opened up for settle- 
 ment, possibly some areas have been 
 settled upon that had better been left in 
 timber, but in the main the method of dis- 
 
 Eosing of the pine timber in this province 
 ad not only produced a very large revenue 
 year by year, but had been of immense 
 benefit to the hardy pioneers, who have 
 carved farms and homes out of the forest. 
 And our timber is by no means gone. 
 There are still immense quantities of white 
 pine to be cut, and we have one of the 
 
 MOST EXTENSIVli SPRUCE FORESTS 
 
 in the world. In the Temiscamingue 
 country, around Lake Wahnipatae and 
 and Lake Nepigon, and farther west lie 
 large tracts of pine still unsold, while over 
 the height of land will be found a great 
 deal more, besides the great quantities 
 under license, still uncut upon which dues 
 are still to be collected. Of the 147 millions 
 of acres comprising the province only about 
 23 million acres are sufficiently settled to 
 have some form of municipal government, 
 and though a large portion of our posses- 
 sions lie in an unkindly latitude, it was 
 probable that there was a very small area 
 that did not contain in paying quantities, 
 under favourable conditions, important 
 deposits of mineral or other wealth. It had 
 been the practice to regard our white pine 
 as our only valuable timber for general 
 commercial purposes, and in the early his- 
 tory of our country the mistaken senti- 
 ment existed to regard timber as a natur- 
 al enemy of the settler, to be destroyed 
 ruthlessly by fire. But it seemed to the 
 speaker that our timber resources were 
 capable of utilization to an extent that 
 cannot be appreciated without exhaustive 
 investigation into their extent. In the 
 process in years past of clearing the now 
 cultivated acres, there had, it is safe to 
 say, been enough fuel wasted by Ire to 
 olear the soil of it, to make charcoal to 
 smelt the iron for the construction i f the 
 war navies of the world. In the earl ' his- 
 
 tory of this country the exports of ashes 
 (potash) derived from the destruction of 
 our original forests, were fifty per cent, 
 greater than the exports of wheat. In the 
 ten years from 1832 to 1842 ashes to the 
 value of nearly six millions of dollars were 
 exported to England. What an incalcul- 
 able waste of wood that represented ! If, 
 instead of being burned to ashes, the wood 
 that cumbered the land had been convert- 
 ed into charcoal what smelting operations 
 would have been possible I In this idea 
 seemed to be the germ of a new policy to 
 apply to our hardwood timber to be re- 
 moved from our arable lands. If it were 
 made a condition of settlement that all 
 wood removed in clearing land, not other- 
 wise profitably disposed of, were to be con- 
 verted into charcoal, and if transportation 
 facilities were extended, the hardwood 
 that now goes to waste absolutely, would 
 not only be a source of revenue to the set- 
 tlers, but would assist in solving one aspect 
 of the mining problem. We not only want 
 to preserve and increase our forest growth 
 but 
 
 TO MAKE THE BEST USE 
 
 of that which it seems wise policy to con- 
 vert to commercial purposes. Our timber 
 is our great national heritage, and there is 
 hardly a tree that grows but can be con- 
 verted to some commeicial use. Though 
 our present crop of white pine should be 
 cut away, that does not exhaust our tim- 
 ber resources. The recuperative powers of 
 nature are tremendous. Pine will grow 
 again, and is growing throughout the pro- 
 vince where the ground is not cultivated. 
 Large areas unfitted for farming, from 
 which the original crop has been removed, 
 and on which a new crop of pine is now 
 growing, have been, and are now being, 
 set aside under the Forest Reserves Act, 
 and with fair management long before the 
 old crop is gone from the province, a new 
 one on these reserves will be ready for the 
 axe ; and it will be very valuable. 
 
 At present our most productive asset was 
 in the matter of timber — white pine— and 
 while the circumstances mentioned have 
 caused a diminished provincial income 
 from this source, there are other timbers. 
 The Government wisely foresaw the com- 
 ing importance of spruce, for since 1892 it 
 has been reserved by the Crown. We 
 should lay our plans to make a rich harvest 
 of our spruce areas. Spruce is gaining in 
 demand by leaps and bounds, and beJfore 
 ten years Ontario will probably have a 
 corner on spruce on this continent, and we 
 should lay the ropes to give Ontario every 
 cent of profit from the exploitation of our 
 spruce areas, from the stump to the news- 
 paper. (Hear, hear.) It would be wise, it 
 seems, to insist that all manufacturing 
 operations in the conversion of spruce 
 from the wood into the paper web should 
 
 
13 
 
 (orts of ashes 
 destruction of 
 ifty per cent, 
 vheat. In the 
 
 ashes to the 
 )f dollars were 
 b an incalcul- 
 resented ! If, 
 hes, the wood 
 
 been convert- 
 ng operations 
 
 In this idea 
 new policy to 
 ber to be re- 
 ). If it were 
 iient that all 
 id, not other- 
 ^ere to be con- 
 ransportation 
 he hardwood 
 )lutely, would 
 le to the set- 
 ing one aspect 
 not only want 
 forest growth 
 
 USB 
 
 policy to con- 
 Our timber 
 , and there is 
 b can be con- 
 ise. Though 
 ne should be 
 LUst our tim- 
 iive powers of 
 Qe will grow 
 hout the pro- 
 ot cultivated, 
 rming, from 
 een removed, 
 pine is now 
 
 now being, 
 leserves Act, 
 3g before the 
 >vince, a new 
 ready for the 
 ible. 
 
 ive asset was 
 ;e pine— and 
 tioned have 
 icial income 
 her timbers, 
 aw thecom- 
 since 1892 it 
 Jrown. We 
 rich harvest 
 s gaining in 
 I, and before 
 ably have a 
 lent, and we 
 ntario every 
 ation of our 
 to the news- 
 d be wise, it 
 nufacturing 
 
 of spruce 
 web should 
 
 be performed in Ontario by Ontario work- 
 ingmen and operatives. (Applause.) The 
 ^eat paper making material of the future, 
 in fact of to-day, is wood. Of all the 
 woods for this purpose 
 
 SPRUCE IS HY FAR THP: IJEST, 
 
 and Canadian spruce, because of its pecu- 
 liar fibre, is more valuable than that of 
 any other country. Immense establish- 
 ments for the manufacture of wood pulp, 
 very properly encouraged bv the Gov- 
 ernment, have recently been established 
 at Sault Ste. Marie and Sturgeon Falls, 
 using large capital and employing many 
 men. Yet, their product, large as it will 
 be, is a drop in the bucket to what is year- 
 ly imported into Great Britain alone. In 
 1897 Great Britain imported 38;i,;304 tons of 
 wood pulp valued at $9,700,000. Of this 
 amount Canada sent her only 28,873 tons, 
 of the value of about $700,000. Norway 
 sent the larger quantity, but as the better 
 quality of our pulp is likely to make up 
 for the extra freight charge there is no 
 reason why we cannot supply the bulk of 
 the British market in wood pulp as we 
 now do in cheese. Aside from the British 
 market we hold the key of the situation, 
 30 far as this continent is concerned. The 
 consumption of spruce for wood pulp in 
 the Vnited States is enormous, and it will 
 be only a few years before they will have 
 to come to us for pulp to supply their paper 
 mills, but we should arrange that thev 
 come in vain. We should decide to sell 
 them our paper, but not one stick of spruce, 
 not one pound of pulp. (Applause.) We 
 have motive power going to waste all over 
 the country. We can and must manufac- 
 ture everything A^e can, must get as far as 
 possible beyond the raw material. The 
 same methods of wholesale cuttmg that 
 characterized American lumbermen are 
 employed by the pulp men, and in a very 
 few years their spruce timber will be gone, 
 with no provision made for a new crop. 
 The near approach of the extinction of the 
 timber and pulp supplies in the United 
 States, and Canada s independence of 
 them, has at last begun to dawn upon our 
 cousins over the border, and if the Joint 
 High Commission, now about closing its 
 labours in Washington, fails to make a 
 reciprocity treaty it will have at least 
 served the useful purpose of convincing 
 our kinsmen that we can get along very 
 well without them if we choose to do so. 
 In this conneotion tbp spenkf r pointed oat 
 that the American lumbermen who did 
 not want Outario logs had 
 
 ▲ LAROER AND STRONflER " PULL " 
 
 «rith the Senate than the few American 
 lumbermen who had been Retting our 
 lofrs for their mills on contlRuous shores 
 and in oonsequenoe of the resulting ob- 
 
 struction to trade we must look to see our 
 trade diverted to other channel?. The 
 speaker hoped to see it diverted. We bad 
 learned by experience that there is a mar- 
 ket in Eogland for almost everything we 
 have. It was a little more trouble to get 
 to that market, but once there it was better 
 than the American. If the Americans 
 wished to play the hog or shut us out, we 
 must meet them in the world's market and 
 beat them in other things as we had done 
 In cheese, (applause.) It must be admitted 
 that building up this trade would take 
 time, and in the meantime our rerenues 
 might suffer. But before the House as- 
 sembled again it was possible that we 
 should be able to load 14 foot vessels and 
 run them to England without breaking 
 bulk. Of course in the carrying of grain a 
 14 foot vessel could not compete with a 25 
 or 30 foot vessel, but it is yet to be known 
 that lumber cannot be crrried more cheap- 
 ly In a 14 foot sailing vessel— with a crew 
 of four or five. The opening of our canals 
 to 14 feet promised to help the lumber 
 trade considerably and combined with 
 other thinga demonstrated that we can 
 get along without our American cousins. 
 They might " out" us now, but they might 
 be made to pay dearly for renewing the 
 acquaintance. The Americans had an- 
 tiquated notions of Canadians derived from 
 50-year-old school books and till they learn 
 to know us better by a little bitter trade 
 experience It would be best for us to 
 establish ourselves in a better market. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Another great Interest that should be a 
 prominent feature of the great policy 
 suggested was our mineral interest. Ot 
 course ocular demonstration of the extent 
 and value of our mineral deposits was not 
 as easily available as in the case of our 
 timber areas, but there was no doubt that 
 if the full truth wi>re known the minerals 
 of the Province of Ontario are as great, it 
 they are not a greater, natural asset than 
 our timber resources. Nature performs 
 no purposeless work and the great 
 stretches ot inhospitable rock, plentifully 
 distributed, are the safe deposit vaults of 
 untold mineral wealth. We only want the 
 key to unlock them— only need the com> 
 binatlon to make them available for our 
 purposes and the purposes ot the world. 
 In a general way the 
 
 KEY TO OUR MINERAL DEPOSITS 
 
 is a golden one— capital. In regard to the 
 development of our mineral resources 
 progress is gradual, owing to the lack ot 
 capital, and until mining properties are 
 opened up so as to allow ot large bodies ot 
 ore being mined cheaply the volume ot 
 production must naturally be limited. But 
 advancement is steadily being made and 
 results are full of encouragement. Gold 
 
u 
 
 I II 
 
 areas are enlarging and during last year a 
 number of properties in Ontario were 
 proven to be valuable. lb appeared to be 
 the case that most of the ore was low 
 
 S'ade i yet it was all— except in one region, 
 astings county— free milling, and was 
 capable of being worked at a good profit if 
 right methods were adopted. The best 
 paying gold mines in the United States 
 were those of the Homestake group in 
 South Dakota, where the yield was not 
 more than $4 per ton. Its supplies of 
 water were drawn from a distance of 11 
 iniles and wood fuel costs ^8 per cord. Yet 
 the Homestake paid last year $636,000 in 
 dividends, and in the last twenty years it 
 had paid over $7 000,000. Five or six years 
 igo its dividends did not exceed 9150.000 a 
 year, but as the result of new and 
 economic methods of treating the orrs the 
 dividends advanced to $256,000 in 1894, to 
 1344,000 in 189&, to 9375.000 in each of the 
 next two years, and $636,000 last year as 
 already stated. la Ontario our mining 
 men were largely without experience, and 
 If it is the case that our ores were low 
 grade it was very important that the best 
 methods should be introduced to mine and 
 mill them so that the gold may be won 
 at the lowest possible cost. To the 
 speaker's mind, we should haye a policy, 
 generally accepted, that it is the duty of 
 the government of the day, to procure 
 this information, so that every miner and 
 mill owner should have the advantage of 
 it. The result would doubtless be that 
 
 RICH RETURNS WOULD ACCRUE 
 
 to the country, far outweighing the neces- 
 sary expense involved in procuring the in- 
 formation referred to. We were all inter- 
 ested in the mineral develrpment of our 
 province, and no better service to enter- 
 prise could be rendered by any government 
 than to show how capital may win the 
 largest possible earnings. It was evident 
 also that one way to the speedy settlement 
 of our northern districts was to build up a 
 successful and profitable mining industry. 
 There was no other branch of the business 
 80 fall of attractions as gold mining. We 
 can't get too much gold— there is no fear 
 of overproduction, and every ounce of it 
 that is won can be sold witibout the help of 
 a commercial trayeller or a middleman. 
 By making gold mining profitable by 
 proper methods we had all the natural 
 conditions— we make gold mining popular 
 and population follows, creating demand 
 tor agricultural produce, which means the 
 settleasent of our agricultural areao, which 
 in turn become centres of consumption of 
 the industrial products of older settled por- 
 tions. 
 
 There has never been a time, it la said oa 
 good authority tsince the nickel and ccpper 
 mioM of Onlarlo have bean opened ap ttwt 
 
 they have been so busy or prosperous as 
 now. One company in the Sudbury Re* 
 gion employ about WO men and Has a year- 
 ly pay roll of more than 9300,000. The 
 great superiority of the American battle- 
 ships as shown in the war with Spain last 
 year, has demonstrated to the world the 
 value of nickel steel in the manufncture of 
 armor plate, and to this,perhap8 mare than 
 to any other cause is due the present activ- 
 ity in our nickel mines. But copper ores 
 have also largely increased in value 
 owing to the enlarged use of 
 copper as a transmitter of |eleotrioIty, 
 and we are only beginning to see the uses 
 to which electric energy may be put as an 
 efficient agency in the development of in- 
 dustries. It therefore needs little foresight 
 to 
 
 PREDICT A. •RE4T FUTURE 
 
 for our nickel and copper mines of the Sud- 
 bury country, where both metals are found 
 contained in the same ores. If, however, 
 a practical method can be found tor saving 
 the iron as well as the nickel and copper 
 in those Sudbury ores there can be no 
 doubt whatever ihat a great future awaits 
 us in the works to be underraken, especial- 
 ly with the invaluable resources we pos- 
 sess in our water powers. It is claimed 
 that the secret of so treating the Sudbury 
 ores as to save the three metals has already 
 been discovered, and if this is the cane we 
 may look for great developments. In re- 
 gard to iron Mr. Stratton said that, to his 
 mind, It was a mistake to attribute the 
 great prosperity of the American iron trade 
 to protection. It was rather due to the 
 presence of vast quantities of Iron ore In 
 the Lake Superior country, which was 
 water-borne at nominal cost bo m«>et the 
 coal of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois. 
 We had as good ore as our neighbors, ex« 
 aotly, it ifl said, the kind that E igiand 
 wants. With 14 foot canals we miotic ex- 
 port our richer ores and perhaps be able to 
 make re-haudling at Montreal pay. Once 
 in the British market it would be a mere 
 question of perfecting our methods of min- 
 ing and handling. The flourishing smelting 
 works at Deseronto and Hamilton use per- 
 haps nine-tenths of American ore. Capital 
 had not yet taken a fancy to our iron ore 
 and there were questions of transportation 
 and Incidental oonvenlencies that affected 
 the development of our iron deposits. Cor- 
 sundum was another mineral which recent 
 exploration shows that we posavst in 
 great abundance. In Peterborough county 
 as well as in the adjaoant oountlps of 
 Hallburton and Hastings and In Renfrew 
 there was an area of several hundred 
 square miles of corundum-bearing lands. 
 The nie of corundum as an abrasive, inde- 
 speneable In the metal working artB,lB well 
 koowD, for next to Che dianond It is the 
 
 bar 
 tail 
 flft 
 be I 
 
 vp' 
 
 88 
 
 pos 
 but 
 in 
 pro 
 
 8kil 
 
m 
 
 prosperous ai 
 e Sudbury Re- 
 and hAs a year- 
 9300.060. The 
 mertcan battle- 
 with Spain last 
 the world the 
 manafHctureof 
 baps more than 
 e ptesenb aotly- 
 ^t oopper ores 
 eei in value 
 ^ed use of 
 
 of leleotrioity, 
 to see the uses 
 ij be put as an 
 lopmebt of in- 
 i little foresight 
 
 PUT0RE 
 
 ines of the Sud- 
 tetals are found 
 . If, however, 
 9und tor Having 
 [el and oopper 
 Here can be no 
 t future awaits 
 raken, especial- 
 )urae8 we pos- 
 it is claimed 
 ig the Sudbury 
 bals has already 
 is the cane we 
 ments. la re- 
 lid that, to bis 
 attribute the 
 loan iron trade 
 ler due to the 
 of Iron ore In 
 7, which was 
 t to meet the 
 I and Illinois, 
 neighbors, ez« 
 that E taland 
 we mi»<bb ex- 
 laps be able to 
 lal pay. Once 
 lid be a mere 
 ethods of min- 
 bing smelting 
 nilton use per- 
 I ore. Capital 
 our iron ore 
 transportation 
 8 that affected 
 deposits. Cor- 
 1 whicb recent 
 ^e possess In 
 orough county 
 b counties of 
 d In Renfrew 
 reral hundred 
 tearing lands, 
 ikbrasive, Inde- 
 Dg arts,Ia wall 
 mond It Is the 
 
 hardest substance in nature. But con- 
 taining as It does more than fifty 
 fifty per cent, of aluminum there should 
 be a poasibllity of using it as the oreof that 
 vr'uable and useful metal. Mr. Stratton 
 BS i he did not assume to speak with any 
 
 Sosltive knowledge upon such a subject, 
 Ht he was told that there are difficulties 
 In the way of recovering aluminum by any 
 process at present known, but suienoe or 
 skill, which as a rule, 
 
 HAD NEVER BEEN BAFFLED 
 
 In the pursuit of its researches into the 
 workings of nature, would if a fair chance 
 was afforded, be able to overcome the 
 difflouliies in the separation of corundum 
 and aluminum and work out a practical 
 and economleal method. In view of the 
 Immense eoonomio importance of alum- 
 inum and the developments that have 
 been made in its production one might be 
 justified in insisting upon the necessity of 
 some practical steps being taken to sim- 
 plify the process of its production Much 
 has been done in this direction and more, 
 he was sure, can be done. During the 
 ten yeara ending with 1897 tbe total pro- 
 duction of aluminum in the United States 
 had risen from 19,000 pounds to 4,000.000 
 pounds. At the same timn the price per 
 pound paid dropped from ^.42 cents per 
 pound to 37^ cents. If, in that time 
 with only the incentive of the ordinary 
 commercial reward, so much advance had 
 been made what might we not expect from 
 an elaborate and definitely directed at- 
 tempt to solve the problem (hear, hear). 
 This was a matter of such immense im- 
 portance that he felt the Government 
 would be warranted in departing from its 
 usual course in dealing with it. We have 
 schools of science which are liberally sup- 
 
 Eorted by public grants, and it appeared to 
 im that the services of their professors 
 might be requisitioned to find out a way to 
 solve this metal-working problem. There 
 are doubtless some works whicb our state- 
 endowed universities and schools might 
 do besides the not very elevating one of a 
 daily round of lectures to tell what some 
 irealiy capable and original mind found out 
 long years ago. We want advancement ; 
 we want to keep In step with the require- 
 ments of our time and countr jr ; we want 
 to find out some new and useful things, 
 and not merely to mark time by doing over 
 again in various ways what has already 
 been done many times by otheM. But this 
 matter of the 
 
 UTILIBATION OP CORUNDUM 
 
 as an ere of aluminum is so full of large 
 .psjsiblUties for us that, speaking for him- 
 self, Mr. Stratton said he would not hesi- 
 tate to take an entirely new departure to 
 -discover a method. He would not anly ask 
 oar own scientists to study tbe problem. 
 
 but would invite the competition of the 
 world's men of science. He would offer a 
 premium to the Inventor of an economio 
 process, subject to conditions in the inter- 
 ests of the province— $5,000, $10 000, 920,- 
 000, or 9SO,000 if need be,— confident in the 
 belief that if the process was discovered 
 tbe Industry which could be established 
 with the help of it would reward us a 
 thousand fold. Mr. Stratton said there 
 was another interest in which he wished 
 to enlist the sympathy of the House. He 
 referred to our fisheries. As all were 
 aware Ontario's supreme and exclusive In- 
 terest in these had baen conceded, and 
 this circumstance placed another great 
 responsibility upon the representatives of 
 the people. As in regard to our other 
 great resources, an aggressive policy in re- 
 gard to our fishery interests should be 
 adopted, keeping in view that whatever 
 commercial or revenue profit might be 
 derived from the fullest development of 
 our great fisheries should accrue, and 
 accrue alone, to the people and to the pro- 
 vince of Ontario. In tbe broad sense, both 
 In regard to this as well as other great 
 interests, we should make " all fish that 
 comes to our net" and our care 
 should be that everything possible Is 
 brought to our net. He felt strongly upon 
 tbij subject. We all admit that the natural 
 resources of this province are practically 
 unlimited. And what has baen done 
 during the hundred years that cover 
 the period of settlement of the country 
 to make them available? In regard to 
 minerals we had barely touched the 
 fringe ; there was a great work to be done 
 in the interest of the people. We have 
 in the past been too greatly divided on 
 party lines, and in the intensity of the 
 struggles such a division begets, we lost 
 sight of greater things. " We might be 
 politioians but let us," aald Mr. Stratton, 
 " first of all be patriots, placing tbe good of 
 cha country before the advancement of 
 party." It was on this ground that the 
 speaker appealed for the union of both 
 political parties in this House— to unite 
 upon a large, broad comprehensive policy 
 that shall have for Its main object the 
 rapid development of the general Interests 
 already referred to. We were certainly 
 public spirited enough to unite on 
 some such policy that shall not be 
 tbe policy of any party but the 
 
 Bolioy of the province. "Let us map out » 
 road road which all may travel; we shall 
 have left enough of minor matters to 
 squabble over." But where our country is 
 concerned let us 
 
 HATE A BIO POMOT— 
 
 an unchanging policy, so that no matter 
 how we divide on party lines on lesser mat' 
 tecs, we shall be as one man In regard to 
 
 >,;* 
 
 ,lMu 
 
16 
 
 tbe main conslderatioD, so that no matter 
 what tbe political oomplezion of the Gov- 
 ernment of the hoar, icp face shall be eet 
 resolutely to the goal of a strong provincial 
 policy, confident that In following the way 
 agreed upon, it may count upon the solid 
 support of every member of this Houst. 
 Surely there were some great issues we 
 could strive together for, surely there was 
 common ground which men of both 
 parties could stand upon in the promotion 
 of the common good, (Continued 
 applause.) 
 
 After concluding his speech Mr.Stratton 
 said he wished to refer to a paragraph In 
 the Mail and Empire of that morning. 
 He did not complain of newspaper orit!- 
 olsm, but be hardly thought the Mall and 
 Empire was fair in stating that he had 
 evaded a rpplv to Col. Matnieson's oharate 
 that the $60 000 teoeived by the Govek-'L- 
 ment and credited in the receipts was sub- 
 sidy and not interest. He did not wish 
 the honourable gentleman or the country 
 to think that he had shirked the question 
 and he would like to aek Mr. Matbleson 
 then to repeat the question. 
 
 Col. Mathleson— I said yesterday that 
 the $60 000 waa a loan and not interest. 
 
 Mr, Stratton— Well, yesterday my 
 honourable friend said subsidy, but we 
 will accept his statement tbnb be said it 
 was a loan. Tbe House will remember that 
 
 I stated positively that it was Interest. 
 However, to prove that the $60,000 was 
 not a loan, that it was not a subsidv, but ^ 
 an actual payment of interest, I will '^ 
 read the following letter, dated July, 1898 : 
 
 " PiR,— I have the honour to enclose herewith 
 check No, 7,964 in your favour on the Bank of 
 Montreal, Ottawa, for 160,000, being a payment 
 OQ account of intere at doe your proyince. (Ap- 
 plause.) This approximate amount i!< arrived 
 at as fallows: Interenton truat funds for two 
 years to June 3i)lh, 1898, $335,212.96, leas amount 
 already paid, S110,000, and leaa Intereat on ap- 
 proximate debt ; balance $1,700,000, at i per 
 cent, for two years" (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Stratton— So my hon. friend will see 
 that the statement I made that the f 142,- 
 000 that we considered in the receipts as 
 Interest was tbe interest on the |2,848.000, 
 and that this $60,000 was Interest, as I 
 said to himself yesterday. 
 
 Mr, Whitney— Who signs the letter ? 
 
 Mr. Stratton— W. Fitzgerald, Assistant 
 Deputy Finance Minister. 
 Z Col. Matheson held that Mr. Fitzgerald's 
 statement was extraordinary, as the rate 
 of Interest mentioned was not the rate de- 
 cided upon by the trust funds award. 
 
 Mr. Whitney— The writer acted under 
 orderp. 
 
 Mr. Stratton— He is a Conservative ap- 
 pointee, and carrying out laws passed by 
 the Conservative Government. (Applause.) 
 Col. Matheson Is " In the hole " and he bad 
 better admit it gracefully. (Laughter.) 
 
 WMl 
 
 
 'W^^n: 
 
 -r^-^i/ 
 
 
 m Mi^ m miim ; >■ ■ ^ rf i. i mtm^KMUmmi'lfm'f^ 
 
 •MiMMMMNMiUilMMtMW^ 
 
it was Interest. 
 
 the 960,000 was 
 >t a subsidv, but 
 f Interest, I will 
 dated July, 1898 : 
 
 bo enolose herewith 
 ur on the Bank of 
 ), being a p*yment 
 Jur proTinoe. (Ap- 
 Etmount is arrived 
 U8t fands for two 
 ,212,96, less amount 
 JBB interest on ap- 
 fl.roo.OOO. at i per 
 rs.) 
 
 o. friend will see 
 a that the 9142,- 
 the reoefpts as 
 )n the 12,848.000. 
 8 interest, as I 
 
 18 the letter ? 
 erald. Assistant 
 
 Mr. Fitzgerald's 
 iry, as the rate 
 not the rate de- 
 ads award, 
 er acted under 
 
 onservative ap« 
 laws passed by 
 ent. (Applause.) 
 >o)e " and he bad 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 
 J