^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 11.25 ■tt lU |22 2.0 us lU u lAO ^ ^F-^- ^ '/ PhotograpJiic Sciences Corporation ^"'^2%'^ ^.V^ 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WIUTH.N.Y. 14SM (716) •73-4S03 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical IMicroreproductiont / Inatitut Canadian da microraiiroductions historiquas \ \ Tachnical and Bibliographic Notas/Notas tachniquaa at bibiiographiquaa Tha Instituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of tliia copy which may ba bibiiographicaUy uniqua, which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction. or which may significani^y changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow. D D D D D D D Colourad covara/ Couvartura da couiaur r~l Covara damagad/ Couvartura andommagia Covara raatorad and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raatauria at/ou pallicul4a r~l Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua Colourad mapa/ Cartaa gtegraphiquaa wn couiaur Colourad inic (i.a. othar than blua or black)/ Encra da couiaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noira) Colourad piataa and/or iiiuatrationa/ Planchaa at/ou iiiuatrationa wn couiaur Bound with othar matarial/ RaliA avac d'autraa documanta Tight binding may cauaa ahadowa or diatortion along intarior margin/ La re liura sarria paut cauaar da I'ombra ou da la diatoraion la tong da la marga intiriaura Blank laavaa addad during raatoration may appaar within tha taxt. Whanavar poaaibla. thaaa hava baan omittad from filming/ II aa paut qua cartainaa pagaa blanchaa ajouttea lora d'una raatauration apparaiaaant dana la taxta. mala, loraqua cala Atait poaaibla, caa pagaa n'ont paa «t« filmAaa. Additional commanta:/ Commantairaa suppl^mantairaa; Various pagingt. L'Inatitut a microfilm* la maillaur axampiaira qu'il lul a 4ti poaaibla da sa procurar. Las details da cat axampiaira qui aont paut-Atra uniquas du point da vua bibliographiqua, qui pauvant modifiar una imaga raproduita, ou qui pauvant axigar una modification dana la mithoda normala da filmaga aont indiqute d-daasoua. Thaci to tha |~~| Colourad pagaa/ D Pagaa da couiaur Pagaa damagad/ Pagaa andommagiaa Pagaa raatorad and/oi Pagaa raatauriaa at/ou palliculias Pagaa discolourad. stainad or foxai Pagaa dteoiorias, tachatias ou piquias Pagaa datachad/ Pagaa dAtachias Showthroughy Tranaparanca Quality of prir Quaiit* inigaia da I'imprassion Includas suppiamantary matarii Comprand du material suppiimantaira Only adition availabia/ Saula Mition disponibia r~~| Pagaa damagad/ I — I Pagaa raatorad and/or laminatad/ Fyl Pagaa discolourad. stainad or foxad/ I I Pagaa datachad/ r~^ Showthrough/ r~1 Quality of print variaa/ |~~| Includas suppiamantary matarial/ rn Only adition availabia/ Tha ill poaalt of tha fllmif* Origin bagini thalA aion, ( othar firatp aion, < or Uiu Pagaa wholly or partially obscured by arrata alipa. tissuas, ate. hava baan rafiimad to anaura tha bast possibia imaga/ Laa pagaa totalamant ou partiailamant obacurciaa par un fauillat d'arrata, una palura, ate. ont M fiimias k nouvaau da fapon A obtanir la maillaura imaga possibia. ThaU ahalii TINUI whieli Mapa diffar( antira bagin right raqui: math( This itam is fiimad at tha reduction ratio chackad below/ 10X iwuin ■III w •I III IIIW ■ 14X u lau M uv IWUU btiwn 18X inun fUW >> i-uvs •wua 22X 2tX »X , - ■ y 1IX 16X aox 24X 28X 32X 1 ! 1 Th« copy fMm«d hw has Imwi r«pro«lue«d thanks to th« o«*Mrasity of: LakalMMi Univanity Thunder Bay Th« imogoa •ppoaring horo or* tho boat quality poaslbia conaidaring ttia eondMon and tagibility of tha original coinr •ntf in Icaaping with tha filming contraat apacifieationa. Original capias in printad papar eovars ara flimad baginning with tha front eovar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- sion. or tha back cover whan approprlata. AN othar original copiaa ara flimad baginning on tho firat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- slon. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraaaion. L'axampiaira film* fut raproduit grica k la g4nirosit4 da: LaktlMMd Univtnity Thunder Bay Las imagas suivantas ont it* raproduitas avae la plus grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattatA da l'axampiaira film*, at an conformit* avac las conditions du controt da filmaga. Laa axamplairas originaux dont la couvartura an papiar aat imprimia sont fllm4s an commandant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant salt par la darnMra paga qui somporta una amprainta d'impraasion ou d'illustration, sdt par la sacond plat, salon lo cas. Toua laa autras axamplairas originaux sont filmte an commandant par la pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illustration at on tarminant par la darniira paga qui comporta una taila amprainta. Tha laat racordad frama on oach microficho shall contain tha symbol •^^ (nrwaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol ▼ (moaning "END"), whichovor appHaa. Un das symbolas suivants apparattra sur Is darnlAra imaga da chaqua microficho. salon la cas: la symbols — ^ signifia "A SUIVRE". la symbols ▼ signifia "FIN". Mapa. plataa, charts, ate., may ba fHmad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba antiraly included in ona axpoaura ara fNmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand comor, loft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa as raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha mathod: Las cartas, planchas. tableaux, ate. pauvant itra fiimiC' .ii das taux da reduction diffirants. Lorsqua ia document est trap grend pour Atre reproduit en un soul clich*. il est film* i partir da I'angia supirisur geuche, de gauche i droite. et de haut en bes. en prenant la nombre d'imeges nicessaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 3ZX 1 2 3 4 5 6 111 Ml I f 111 Ts W mm 'Wfe. Wv if ii fe BUDGET SPEECH DELIVERHr BY . JOSEPH SHE TREASURER OF THE PROVINCE, IN THE \ LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF QUEBEC, n \ ON THE '11 'i . ' %. QlJKBKC. 1887. ( lit ■P" 'mK^^Msm ff %: .:yrw ^6> ^0 J /— '?^, ' Oi^D BUDGET SPEECH " 57 DELIVERED BY HON. JOSEPH SHEHYN, TREASURER OP THE PROVINCE, IN THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF QUEBEC, ON THE / 12tla. ,A-E=»ieir-, ISST-. [ H-?^^^ 1887. property" OF Vtv t "•ii" BUDGET SPEECH DELIVERED BY HONORABLE JOSEPH SHEHYN, TREASURER OF THE PROVINCE,* IN THE LEGISLATIVB ASSEMBLY OP QUEBEC. 07V THE 12tli APKIIi, 11^87. \ \ I Mr. Speaker, — Before submitting the usual motion that the House do resolve itself into commitee of supply, I beg leave to submit a state- ment of the financial situation of the Province. The task which I am about to undertake offers very grave difficultieb, of a multiple and delicate nature, and it is not without hesitation that I enter upon it. The shortness of the time at my disposal , the large quantity of -docu- ments I had to consult, the unsatisfactory state of the financial statistics within my reach, the contradictory statements of my predecessors, and lastly the great number of outstai^ding claims I had to study, constituted so many serious obstacles "which,^ 1 must frankly admit, I had glfeat diffi- culties in overcoming. ■ f In addition, the dryness of the subject which I have to treat and the unavoidable length of the remarks I have to make will necessarily fatigue the attention of the honorable members of this House. I am conseqtiently compelled to solicit their extreme indulgence and to beg them to bear with me as patiently as possible. I propose to speak of the finances of the Province as a business and not as a party man, to avoid recriminations that might wound adversaries whom I esteem, although I may be called upon to condemn their admiu- istration, and to say nothing that might be of a n&ttlrd to disturb the equanimity which it is so important to maintain in a debate of this character. To enable members to follow more easily and with less fatigue the financial statement which I will have the honor to lay before them, it is essential that I should first clearly indicate Ihe order I have adopted : It is as follows : 1. Remarks on the fiscal year 1885-1886 ; • 2. Table of all the cash transactions from 1882, date of the last con- solidated loan, to the 30th June, 1886. 8. Operations and results of the current fiscal year ; 4. Statement of thf^ cash on hand on the Ist of February, 1887, the date of our entry into office ; 6. Complete statement of the liabilities and assets on the 1st of Feb- ruary, 188t ; 6. Estimate of the receipts and expenses of the next fiscal year. Let us now enter upon the examination of each of these points in par- ticular: • Hemarks on the flacal year ISSS-SG. Before entering upon the examination of this fiscal year I desire to note, in order to obviate any misunderstanding, that the public accounts are but a simple record of the receipts and payments of tb d fiscal year to which they apply and that they do not expose the true situation as regards our liabilities and their nature. For information on this head, it is essen- tial to establish at a fixed date the respective amounts of the liabilities and the assets. This is the only way to ascertain the situation exactly. It is easy to do this the. moment we know what is owing to us and what we owe. To find precisely what we owe, it is n'ecessary to examine the cur. rent fiscal year, which will end in a deficit and increase to that extent the figure of our floating debt. In making this examination, accoiint must be first taken of the receipts and expenses, in order to establish if the receipts exceed the expenses or the expenses the receipts, deducting the temporary loans which appear elsewhere under another form. Lastly, in order to compare them with the total expenditure, we must take into account the receipts which are presumed to form part of the con- solidated revenue. Then, if these expenses, whatever may be their nature, ivah the I of this tigae the lem, it is ;ed : last con- 1887, the st of Feb- its in par- desire to » accounts ial year to as regards t is essen- iiities and tly. It is what we ,e the cur. Dxtent the it must be le receipts temporary , we must of the con- sir nature, 6 are found to exceed the receipts of the consolidated fnud, it is manifest that this excess constitutes a deficit which must be made up in one way or another. It must be acknowledged that last year the public accounts were com- piled so as to mislead even those best yersed in such matters. The ordinary and extraordinary receipts were jumbled up together and the expenses, ordinary and extraordinary, were treated in the same fashion. In order to obviate this confusion I have caused to be made in the accounts for 1885- 1886 only one total for the receipts and one for the expenses, which will enable the operations of that fiscal year to be embraced at a single glance and the general result to be grasped in a more rational manner. The public accounts, which have been distributed to hon. members, include a statement of receipts and payments for that fiscal year. To facilitate its comprehension, I have followed the example of my predeces- sors and caused to be prepared a synopsis of these receipts and payments, as follows : Receipts of the fiscal year 1885-86. Dominion of Oanada #1,815,983 "76 GrownLands 620,821 Y6 Licenses 80t,892 28 Justice 219,3'74 63 Percentage on fees of public officers 6,606 38 Legislation , 184 78 Official^Gazette 18,012 12 Asylums — Contributions by municipalities and patients 18,345 22 Public Buildings 1,850 89 Casual Revenue 1,433 95 Contributions to the pension fund 4,931 Vl Interept 54,569 19 Quebec Fire Loan t26 *66 Contributions for inspection of Provincial Assurance Companies v •733 09 Traffic receipts Q. M. O. & O.. 2,031 86 Interest on price of sale of Q. M. O. & O 3tl,8'76 41 Premium, discount and exchange 895 24 Refunds 3;956 86 Total ordinary revenue...... #2,949, 1 26 85 ' y JiK*ii*SL> 6 Trust funds — Marriage licenses, inter- est on deposits, &c., from the Catholic Committee of the Council of Public Instruction | 8,10189 Contributions to Teachers' Pension Fund... 1*7,897 62 Reimbursement of advances 4,500 00 Municipal Loan Fund 102,86160 Proceeds o?Quebec Court House debentures 50,000 00 Befund on account of construction Q. M. O. &0 12,450 It Temporary loans 750,000 00 945,811 18 Total receipts from all sources $3,895,087 58 Payments for the fiscal year 1885-86. Public debt :... $ 977,760 82 Legislation 181,987 75 Civil government 188,675 41 Administration of justice, including police, reformatories, and inspection of public offices 454,178 81 Public Instruction.. B44,785 00 Literary and scien tific institutions 8,887 75 Arts and Manufactures 9,000 00 Agriculture 79,182 89 ^ Immigration 9,089 71 Colonization 161,205 40 Public works and buildings #259,584 40 Less paid out of loan of 1882 and proceeds of debentures 1141,489 29 \ 117,095 11 Lunatic Asylums 280,000 00 Charities 87,776 00 Reform and Industrial Schools 24,382 27 Miscellaneous 29,000 00 , Agent in France 2,500 00 Royal Commission re Q. M. O. & 0. R'w'y- 7,'765 64 Mining Engineers 2,676 90 Crown Lands expenditure 180,000 00 *' Official Gazette" , 12260 77 Stan Peni Mun Lice] Buil Trafl Insp Loan Trus Quel Parli Cons Raib Repa Repa ! 7 Stamps, Licenses, &c $ 12,000 00 Pensions 16,869 07 Municipalities' Fund 288 00 Licenses — Amounts paid by revenue offi- cers out of their collections 18,965 02 Building and Jury Fund — Amounts paid by Sheriffs out of their collections '7,676 11 Traffic expenses, Q. M. O. & 9,999 6t Inspection of Railways 860 60 Loan for seed grain — Repayment of ad- vances made by fiank of Montreal in 18*72, on municipalities' deben- tures 20^80 40 Total ordinary^ expenses |8,088,168 OH Trust Funds — Marriage license fund and #500 of the deposit for Superior Catholic Education '7,910 00 Quebec Court House, from debentures in- vested 66,489 29 Parliament Buildings, from proceeds of loan of 1882 8*7,000 00 Construction of Q. M. O. & O. Railway, from proceeds of loan of 1882 6,46*7 82 Railway subsidies, do 816,668 00 Repayment of guarantee deposit for Que- bec Central Railway out of loan of 1882 180,888 88 Repayment of temporary loans 460,000 00 Total payments of all kinds $4,141,066 60 Which gives the following result : Total payments $4,141,066 60 Total receipts 8,896,08*7 68 Excess of payments over receipts $ 246,028 9*7 The cash account stood as follows : Cash on hand on 30th June, 1886 $1,266,481 66 Less warrants outstanding on 30th June, 1886, but since paid 61,989 24 $1,208,492 32 Excess of payments over receipts as above 246,028 9*7 $ 96*7,463 36 Cash on hand on 80th June, 1886. $1,084,703 49 Less warrants outstanding on 30th June»1886.., t7,240 14 967,468 85 8 m i '. There can be no dispute about the total of the receipts and payments ; bat there may be a difference of opinion as to the extent of the deficit. All depends on the standpoint from which we undertake to make the classifi- cation of certain cash transactions and the distinction between the ordin- ary receipts and exp&nses on the ol' \ Hand and the extraordinary receipts and expenses on the other. Sor™'' . example, contend that receipts de- rived from repayments on capital .ocoun may be used to pay the ordinary expenses and consequently be <>• -a as forming part of the receipts of the consolidated fund. Others ^ tn contrary opinion. On this head, — as, indeed, on many others, — . k.on. member for Sherbrooke has advo- cated both sides of t^ argument in his budget speeches. He maintained the con. in 1879 (Debates of 18*79, p. 199) and in 1883 (Debates of 1883, p. *r28) when he was in Opposition, and he upheld the pro '.^hen he was in the Government and had an interest in putting that theory into practice to cover up or attenuate his deficits, notably in 1880, (Debates of IP""^, pageE 455 and 479) and in 1881. Debates of 1881, pages 652 and 653 ) There are special amounts which have been employed for special ser- vices, but which do not occur again. There are receipts and payments, which, by their very nature, are both ordinary and extraordinary at one and the same time, so that, in seeking to establish the exact proportions of the difference between ordinary receipts and expenses, we necessarily ex- pose ourselves to discussion, that cause us to lose sight of the principal point, which is to ascertain if the expenses have really exceeded the nor- mal figure of the receipts, whatever may be the nature of either. I do not think it would be very useful to enter into all these distinc- tions. After all, it matters little to know whether, for any particular fiscal year, there has been an apparent equilibrium between the receipts and ex- penses as mentioned in the public accounts, since those accounts are only an enumeration of the receipts and payments, but do not indicate whether services have been left in abeyance or any new liabilities contracted during the period to which those accounts apply. Now, this is the whole question. It is easy to make the public accounts show an apparent surplus, when at bottom there is really a deficit. For this purpose, it is enough to leave some service in abeyance or to negotiate a loan. The former operation reduces the figure of the expenses while the latter increases that of the receipts. In such a case, the public accounts will show a surplus, which, however, does not prevent the situation or rather the result of the opera- tions from balancing with a real deficit to the proportionate increase of the debt of the Province. It was unfortunately in this way that our predeces- sors succeedi.'d for some years in showing a situation apparently favorable, when in reality each fiscal year only entailed a considerable augmentation Ol OUT debt. A / V payments ; leficit. All ;he classifi- the ordin- iry receipts receipts de- iie ordinary receipts of 1 this head, e has advo- maintained of 1883, p. 1 he was in ato practice tes of IP^'^, id 653 ) special ser- l payments, inary at one oportions of sessarily ex- le principal led the nor- r. lese distinc- icular fiscal ipts and ex- its are only ite whether icted during )le question. as, when at gh to leave jr operation that of the >lus, which, the opera- ;rease of the ar predeces- y favorable, igmeutation Let ua apply these considerations to the fiscal year actually under review : According to the public Accounts, the normal expenses were..|3,032,*7'71 45 And the ordinary receipts 2,954,226 35 Leaving an apparent deficit of.... ,;... | t8,545 10 This figure does not agree with that of $ 188,436. tl which I gave a few moments ago as representing the excess of the ordinary expenses over the ordinary receipts. This is how the difference is explained : During the fiscal year under review, there was paid, over and above the proceeds of the loan of $200,000 appropriated for that object, a sum of $34,510.tl for the construction of the Quebec Court House. This sum was taken from the revenue of the consolidated fund and is entered as an ordinary expense in the statement I submit, while it figures as an extra- ordinary expense in the public accents. The $20,030.40 paid to the Bank of Montreal in repayment of the seed grain loan in 18*72, and the $850.50 paid for railway inspection, are also entered among the ordinary expenses in the Assistant Ti'easurer's state- ment and figure in the public accounts among the extraordinary expenses, which makes a difference to that extent. Lastly, the public accounts give as an ordinary receipt the $4,500 repaid on accout of the loan to the Longue Pointe Asylum, while in the state- ment of receipts this sum naturally figures among the receipts on capital account. These different sums fcrm a total of $59,891.61, making exactly the difference between $138,436.71, the excess oS ordinary expenses over ordinary receipts, according to the statement in question, and the $78,- 545.10, the excess indicated in the public accounts. As will be seen, the result changes considerably according as certain expenses are included in the ordinary or the extraordinary expenses which proves my contention that the public accounts are merely an enumeration of the receipts and payments, but not a precise indication of the real situa- tion. During the fiscal year in question, we received $54,110.96 of arrears of interest on the subsidy granted by the Federal Grovernment for the con- struction of the railway from Quebec to Ottawa. This sum is a receipt upon which we naturally cannot count another year ; it must be struck from the ordinary receipts. During the same period, a sum of $51,499.45 was paid on account of the redemption of the consolidated debt. At first sight, one might be led to conclude that the payment of this sum involved a reduction of the debt by so much, but, on looking more closely into it, we discover that it amounts simply to the conversion of a consolidated into a floating debt^ 10 fc I inasmuch as the ordinfcry revenue not sufficing for the purpose, these $51,994.45 had to be taken out of the temporary loans. A sum of $108,361.58 was collected on account of the debt due the Province in connection with the municipal loan fund. This sum repre- sents a repayment of capital and I hold that it should not be included in the ordinary receipts. I have included in the ordinary expenses a sum of $100,000 applied to colonization roads. This sum, although specified in the budget as to be taken from a loan, really falls into the category of ordinary expenses It is quiter true that it is exceptional on account of^its figure, but not so on account of its use, since expenses of this nature occur each year. As regards the cash and assets, it is a sum which will not have to be spent over again, but which, nevertheless, must be included in the class of expenses con- nected with the service of the fiscal year to which they apply. The proceeds of the Quebec Court House debentures, $50,000, which were discounted with the money coming from the price of sale of the Q. M. 0. & O. Railway and form a special deposit for the redemption of the consolidated debt, have been entered in the receipts. That is to say, $50,000 were taken from a special deposit yielding interest and entered in the receipts of that fiscal year, and this money was replaced by paper or bonds returning no interest. Theoretically, it is true that certain muni- cipalities are required by law to pay the interest and sinking fund on these debentures, but, in practice, the municipalities do not pay and we are obliged to draw upon the revenue of the consolidated fund for the sum nece8sf the cash receipts and payments for the period which it covers. It indicai 3s whence all the sums received have been derived, as well as the nature of the pay- ments made during the four years. I cau amrm without fear that the whole of the figures are strictly conformable to the entries in v'he treasury books. The transactions of the four fiscal years in question t'how an excess of $5'7'7,7'74.94 of ordinary expenses over ordinary receipts or a deficit to that extent. This is the apparent deficit ; but the real deficit is much heavier. The tdtal Ot the ordinary receipts include the sums coming from the muni- cipal loan fund, $184,942.02 for the four years. As this amount represents a reimbursenxent of capital, of receipts that will not recur, it is unquestion- able that they constitute an extraordinary revenue and that it niust be deducted from the total of the ordinary receipts. This deduction would proportionately increase the deficit, which would thus be raised to $762,- ^ 716.9G or an average of $190,679.24 per annum for these four years. The ordinary receipts, as I have just specified them, include the increase of the subsidies which we obtain from the Federal Government. This increase of the subsidies produced $187,310.68 in 1885 and $301,271.64 in 1886 or $488,682.32 i.i all. It is evident that, without this new source of revenue, the deficit would have been heavier, that is to say, that it would have been much larger under the Ross Government than under the Mous- seau Administration. In 1883, when we were without the benefit of this addition to the Federal subsic'y, the excess of ordinary erpenses over ordinary receipts, including $34,120.10 coming from the municipal loan fund, was $330,614.11 and $256,066.06 in 1884. Taking the 16 ^gnros giren by the hon. member lor Sherbrooke, the fiscal year 1885 shows a surplus of $24,950.04. But the receipts include $244,291.16 derived from the increase of the Federal subsidy and 142,6*71.84 repaid from the muni- cipal loan fund, or a total of $286,968 of extraordinary receipts, as com- pared with previous administrations. If these $286,963 are struck oS from the ordinary receipts, instead of the small surplus of $24,950.04 claimed by my hou. predecessor, the fiscal year in question will be found to show a deficit of $262,012.96. For the fiscal year ended on the 30th June last, state- ment No. 1, actually under review, establishes a shorta^ of $16,044.81. To this amount, there should be also added the increase of the Federal subsidy, $244,291.16 and the $102,361.50 repaid from the municipal loan fund carry- ing: to $362,697.47 the excess of ordinary expenses over ordinary receipts. As will be seen, without the happy windfall which came to him so oppoiiunely from the Federal Governmert and without the contingent from the municipal loan fund which he entered in the ordinary receipts, the hon. member for Sherbrooke would have had to acknowledge much heavier deficits than those of the administration of his predecessor, Hon. Mr. Wurtele. I mention these facts to establish once more that, notwithstanding his professions of economy and good managemeui, the hon. member for Sher- brooke did no better but worse than the others, and that if he gave us statements showing a more favorable situation, it was simply because those statements were prepared for that purpose. He concealed from us liabilities which he could not possibly have ignored and left others out- standing to diminish the figure of the payments, as will be domonstrated by the result of the current year. By such means any one whosoever could have Succeeded in establishing a surplus of receipts. Now, let us examine the general result developed by this table of the four years. The ordinary operiiitions, or those classed as such, show a deficit of $577,774.94. This is the excess of payments over the receipts, designated as All other payments and uH other Receipts in the statement in question. But as indicated by the table, the receipts include the repayments on the muni- cipal loan liind, forming a total of $184,952.02. By striking ofi* this sum from the ordinary receipts or by adding it to the shortage between the ordinary receipts and the ordinary expenses, it will be found that the total deficit on the ordinary operations of these four years amounts to $762,716.96, instead of $577,774.94. So much for the operations termed ordinary. The extraordinary operations or those on capital account show a still worse result. / ;' ; . S^-'V tS^' 10 In 1882, when We Mhctioned the last consohclftted loan, Mr. Treasttrel* Wurtele assured us that with the proceeds of that loan we would pay off our floating debt, that is to say, that we would have enough to settle all the outstanding debts, temporary loans and other claims of that kind, to pay the railway subsidies, and finally to wipe out the claims arising out of the construction of the Q. M. 0. & O. Eailway and the Parliament Build- ings. These details will be found in black and white in Mr. Wurtele's budget speeches. On the strength of those promises, we voted the loan of 1882 and the increase of that loan 1888. We realized on that loan |3,4t9,583.84. In addition, we authorized another permanent loan of $200,000 for the con- sriuction of the Quebec Court House, on which we realized $200,000. In fine, during these four years, we contracted temporary loans to the a,mount of $1,600,000 that for that period the total of those loans, both permanent and temporary, attained the figure of $5,2*79,538.34. This figure cannot be questioned. On the 80th June, 1886, there remained to our debit a balance of $"750,000 of temporary loans, $988,350.65 to pay on the subsidies to railway companies, independently of those cuthcrized by the legislation of last session, and one of $259,420 to complete the Parliament Buildings. There remained also $6*7,021 to pay claims connected with the construction of the Q. M. 0. & O. Railway. In other terms, on the liabilities that were to have been extinguished with the proceeds of the loan of 1882, we were left on the 30th of June, 1886, with the following sums still to pay off: Balance of railway subsidies authorized by legisla- tion previous to 1882 $938,350 66 Balance of claims for constructing Q. M. O. &s 0. Railway 6t,021 00 Total for railways $1,005,371 65 Balance of cost of constructing Parliament Build- ings , 259,420 00 Balance of temporary loans to be repaid *750,000 00 Making a total of $2,014,'791 65 This is what we had still to pay off with the remainder of the pro- ceeds of the loan of 1882. What remained of the proceeds of that loan ? Only $688,711.32. The situation can tJberefore be summed up as follows : Balance of liabilities to be paid ofi' $2,014,791 65 Balance of proceeds of loan of 1882, appropriated to the discharge of those liabilities 688,711 82 Leaving a shortage or deficit of..... $1,826,080 33 17 If you eliminate from this table the balance of the temporary loans remaining to be repaid, — $'750,000.00 — yon will find that there was still a deficit of $576,080.38 on the 80th June, 1886, in the operations on the loan of 1882. But this is not all. The figt.i'es just given apply exclusively to the loan of 1882 ; but, in addition to this loan of $8,500,000, which yielded to the treasuij -8,4*79,583.84, we authorized another of $200,000 for the construe* of the Quebec Court House. At the date I have just mentioned we had realized $200,000 of this loan, but there remained at least $298,700 addi- tional to be paid to complete the worki payable out of the proceeds of that loan according to the law authorizing it, leaving, under this head a shortage of that amount. Let us sum up now all these data : Since 1882, we have received the proceeds of two permanent loans intended to extinguish certain specific liabilities enumerated in the stat- utes authorizing those loans. On the 30th June, 1886, we had taken in the entire proceeds of those loans and there remained on hand only a balance of $688,'711.32 of the loan of 1882 ; but, of the liabilities that wfire to have been paid off with these loans, $2,808,491.85 still remained unextinguished, so that ve had a shortage of $1,619, t80.88 on the extraordinary opArations of those four fiscal years. If to this bo added the shortage on the ordinary operations, as noted a few moments ago, a total deficit of $2,382,50t.20 is reachf;d or one of $'762,'716.96 in the so-called ordinary operations, deduct- ing the amount received from the municipal loan fund during that period, and of $1,619,780.88 in the operations covered by the loans. Thus far I have only dealt wuth the cash transactions, that is to say, with the receipts, ordinary and extraordinary, of the four years in ques- tion, as well as with the payments, ordinary and extraordinary, made during the same period, and have shown the deficit on those operations. But this is far from disclosing the exact situation resulting from the administration of the afiairs of the province during these four years. In addition to the deficit as above noted, there are also the pecuniary liabil- ities which we contracted through the legislation of last sessiOii on the subject of railway subsidies. As I will have occasion to show in a few minutes, the law authorizing the conversion of the land grants into money grants has added, to the liabilities in prospect on the 1st July, 1886, and payable in cash, a sum of about $3,588,550.00. At that date we had absolutely no other means of making good the amount of these liabilities but to have recourse to a loan. It is true we had on hand on the 30th June, 1886, a sum of $1,034,403.49 ; but on the other hand we had the following^ liabilities to pay oflf : Outstanding warrants of 1886-86 $ •77,240 14 Temporary loans from banks t60,000 00 Trust funds, &c 96,626 91 Jacques Cartier Bank claim J0,000 00 $l,028,m 11 Of the cash on hand,, we had really available oijly a trifle of $10,936.38 ; while against this small amount there remained to be set the following liabilities imputable to capital account : Balance of railway subsidies mentioned in the schedule of February, 1888 $ 956,360 66 Balance of claims connected with construction of Q. M. O. & O. Railway 68,0t4 00 Balance of cost of construction, Parliament Buildings 269,420 00 Balance, cost of construction, Quebec Court House. 298,699 90 First half of the subsidies converted into money by the legislation of 1886 I,t94,2t6 00 $3,3t2,119 66 I enter into all these details in order to make the House clearly under- stand that the result of the cash transactions or the dittereuce between the receipts and payments is far from representing the situation as it stood after the four years' administration covered by the statement under con- sideration. At first iiight, in looking only at the difference between the receipts and expenses, one is led to believe that the situation is not really serious, especially when the public accounts indicate a certain amount of cash on hand. Persons little acquainted with the position of things can hardly help believing that this cash on hand represents a surplus of receipts snd that everything is going on for the best. But a very different conclusion is reached when, on sifting matters to the bottom, it is ascertained that the figure of the liabilities to be met exceeds by far that of the cash on hand, and that since the loan of 1882, with which we should have wiped off" all our current liabilities at that date, we have contracted new engagements which have added millions to our liabilities and A'hich we are utterly unable to meet without resorting to a new consolidated loan. This is the real situation. With that calculated ingenuity which characterizes him, ray hon. predecessor called this the restoration of the equilibrium and good order in our finances ; with that skill in whioh he exoels, he managed to disguise the abyss into which he was plunging us, f^d lie^liR4 the cowage to try tp i^^H^e us MI^Yf ^h%^ we were piling up 19 ,240 14 ,000 00 ,626 97 ,000 00 ,1Q1 11 a trifle of 1 to be set sarplases when he knew perfectly well that we were yearly adding large sums to the amount of our liabilities. It is by suck means that he succeeded in burthening us with the enormous floating debt from which we can only now relieve ourselves by a permanent loan of several millions. I think that these explanations and the tables in the hands, of hon. members suffice to clearly show the progress of affairs from 1882, the date of our last consolidated loan, to the 80th June, 1886. Ill Op«r«tioii« and KesulU of the Fiscal Year lfiS«-87. . Let us now examine the current fiscal year ending on the 80th June, 188t. Hitherto the usage has been to pass over the current year in silenoe on account of the absence of complete information on the subject ; but (he exceptional circumstances of the present case have decided me to pursue a difierent course, as it is of the utmost importance to ascertain as accurately 9s possible the position in which the result of the transactioi^s of the present year will leave us. For this fiscal year the hon. member for Sherbrooke calculated his receipts at $3,093,622.80, and the appropriations he asked the House to vote to cover the total expenses aggregated a sum of $3,483,298.55. From the 30th June, 1886, to the Smt Januarry, 188*7, the receipts were $2,093,213.91. But this sum includes $t6,786.26*of receipts not«overed by his estimates, leaving, for receipts from the resources of revenue upon which he counted, 12,012,988.69 of ordinary receipts. In any case, of the sum of $3,093,622.80* at which my predecessor estimated the receipts of the present year, there were still to come in $1,080,634.11 between the 1st February and the 30th June, 1887. But his anticipations will not be real- ized. After a careful study and revision of the receipts upon which we can count for the five months in question, the officers of the treasury have supplied me with a statement showing that those receipts will not exceed $952,989.11, which makes a difierence of at least $127,646.00. The hon. lAember for Sherbrooke estimated the expenditure for this fiscal year at $3,483,293.55 ; this amount represents the aggregate of the credits which he asked the House to vote him last session. Now, between the 30th June, 1886, and the 1st February, 1887, the expenses paid out of those credits had already risen to $2,705,400.94 ; so that, according to his own estimate, there would only reirain $777,892.61 to expend between the Ist February and the 30th June, 1887. But here again my predecessor was widely out in his calculations. The statement prepared by the officers of the treasury shows that for those five months, that is to say, for the unex- pit9^ t^m of the 4^al year firom tl^Q Igt February to th^ 80th June, 1887, 30 the expenses will reach at least $2,0*78,'768.2". Add this sum to the amount of the expenses already paid daring the first part of the fiscal year, that is to say, to the 1st February, and it will be found that the total expenses of the whole twelve months will foot up $4,779,169.17, in other words, that they will exceed the estimate of the hon. member for Sherbrooke by $1,295,875.62. I may be allowed to remark that this is almost incredible. But it is unfortunately the truth, as established by the tables of statement No. 8 now in the hands of hon. members. As may be seen, I have included in the revised estimate of receipts a sum of $30,000 payable by the Ontario Government for interest on the common school fund. Now, this receipt is not at all certain, as for reasons alleged by it, the Ontario Government thus far refuses to pay this amount. The Assistant Treasurer also assures me that the amount estimated by my predecessor from the administration of justice will certainly not be realized. The hon. member for Sherbrooke estimated at $85,000 the amount realizable from the contributions of municipalities and patients towards the support of the lunatic asylum... Since the beginning of the fiscal year, the receipts from that source have ouly amounted to $6,271.53 ; so that to make good his estimate, $28,728.47 will have to come in between the 1st February and the SOth June, which does not appear at all probable. How can we hope to take in $28,728.47 during the last five months of the year, when we are only able to realize $6,271.63 during the first seven ? Of course, this would largely depend on the goodwill of the municipalities, but, even with the best intentions on their part, I doubt very much whether this receipt can be expected to come up to the figure fixed by the hon. member for Sherbrooke. The interest on the price of sale of the Q. M. O. & 0. Railway is set down at $189,057.89 in the estimates of my hon. predecessor. Mr. Machins' revised statement only gives $183,057.89, which makes a difference of $6,000. This error is explained in this way. The hon. member for Sher- brooke, finding himself short of funds, took $200,000 of the $600,000 paid on account of the price of the sale of the road and subsequently replaced the money with Quebec Court House debentures. The law, indeed, requires certain municipalities to pay the interest on these debentures ; but as it has remained a dead-letter up to the present, the Grovernment lost or rather failed to collect the interest on those debentures, which were placed to the sinking fund, in lieu of $200,000 in money bearing interest. Consequently, instead of taking in, according to this estimate, $1,080,634.11 from this to the end of the fiscal year, we shall certainly not leceive more than $952i98941» according to my revised estimate. 21 am to the fiscal year, \, the total *7, in other lexnber for But it is nent No. 8 receipts a :e8t on the aiu, as for to pay this jtimated by inly not be the amount nts towards »f the fiscal 2tl.63 ; '^o in between ill probable, ►nths of the irst seven ? micipalities, very much fixed by the ilway is set [r. Machins' iflference of er for Sher- 600,000 paid tly replaced eed, requires ; but as it aent lost or which were ing interest, is estimate, ertainly not te. A.8 I stated a few moments ago, the hon. member estimated ai $3,488,293.55 the total expenses of the current fiscal year, this being the amount of the appropriations he asked the House to make last session. The revised estimate, supjilied by the treasury officers, shows that the total expenditare will exceed by $1,295,375.62 the amount of the appropria- tions voted last session , thi3t is to say, that for the actual fiscal year, the expenses will amount to 14,779,169.1*7 instead of $3,483,298.56, the figure at which they were estimated by the hon. member for Sherbrooke. These errors chicfty occur in the expenditure on capital account. For the fiscal year under review, my hon. predecessor estimated at $54,420 the cost of the construction of the Court House and at $7^{,700 that of the Quebec Court House (See Budget Speech, 1886, p. 26), which makes $128,120 for the two. Now, between the SO^h Jane, 1886, and the 1st February, 1887, $54,306.08 were paid on account of the construction of the Parliament Buildings, and $70,876.55 on that of the Court House, a total af $125,182.94, or the whole amount of the hon. member for Sherbrooke's estimate, less a trifle of $2,937.06. , What was the situation when we took charge of affairs ? Over and above the amounts paid as I have just explained, there were due on the 1st February, 1887, for work done and accepted by the Government, $tO,000 to the Court House contractors and .$90,000 to Mr. Charlebois, the contractor for the Parliament Building's, that is to say, a total of $160,000 in all, or $157,062.94 more than my predecessor's estimate. This error is simply tantamount to one of 100 per cent. Nevertheless, this is not all. Work on the Court House has been going on since the 1st February, and the works at the Parliament Buildings will be resumed as soon as the snow disappears, that is to^say they will be car- ried on during the two months comprised between the 30th April and the 30th June. We shall thus have still more to pay for them, in addition to the $157,062.94 due on the 1st February, in excess of the estimate of the hon. member for Sherbrooke. According to an estimate prepared with the utmost care by the architect of the Department of Public Works and by Mr Lesage, the Assistant Commissioner the works that will be executed between the 1st February and the 30th June, 1887, will necessitate an out- lay of $52,823.16 for the Court House, and of $40,113.91 for the Parliament Buildings, making a total of $92,937.16, and when this sum is added to the increase of expenses already noted for the 1st of February, it will be found that my hon. friend, the member for Sherbrooke's estimate for these works, $128,120, will be exceeded by $250,000.10. - Mr. Speaker, let me say that this is rather inexplicable. If my hon. predecessor did not knowingly and deliberately mislead the House, the i<' ^2 late G^oTernment gave proof of an incompetence, of a recklessness, which I cannot refrain from characterizing as inexcnsable. That there was inexcusable carelessness on the part of our predecessors in the direction of the undertakings in question we have ascertained be- yond doubt. It is almost incredible, but it is not less the fact that the Worku, ill both cases, were executed partly by contract and partly by the day, in such a way as to leave the Government in reality at the mercy of the contractors. This was a most unwarrantable state of things. The work was done by extras, according to the schedules of prices of the original con- tracts, either upon the estimate of the architect, on the verbal order of the Gomraissioner and sometimes even upon the suggestions of the contractors themselves with regard to certain changes in the original plans of the buildings. It is consequently not at all astonishing, that, under such an irregular system, the contractors should have supplementary claims, but nappily not admitted, amounting to $316,000 over and above the enormous amounts with regard to which there can be no question, since they have been admitted by our predecessors on the certificates of the departmental architect. In the statement of the liabilities which he gave us last session (De- bates of 1886 p. 1021 and 1022) the hon. member for Sherbrooke fixed at $289,700 the amount required to complete the Parliament Buildings and the Quebec Court House — $135,000 for the former and $154, TOO for the lat- ter. On the same head, he expressed himself as follows in his budget speech : — " The balance of debt is a little larger than per last statement oc- casioned by the increased estimate of the cost of completing the Parliament Buildings and Quebec Court House, and the furnishings of these buildings, but I thought it better to give the figures large enough to fully complete these buildings, furnishing and heating, for which no estimate was previously given." — (Budget Speech, p. 15 of the pamphlet and p. 1022 of the Debates.) If the hon. member was sincere, if he was not deliberately misleading the House, what should we think of his competency and that of his col- leagues? His " large enough " figures to fully complete these buildings and the furnishing and heating, form a total of $289,700. He made this positive declaration to the House on 'the Tth May, 1886. Now, according to the ofiicial statements prepared with the greatest care by the officers of the Pnbli- "W^orks and Treasury Departments, on the 30th Juno, 1886, or less than two months after the making of that declaration, $259,420.00 were required to complete the Parliament Buildings and $293,700 to finish the Quebec Court House, or a total of $553,120 for the two structures. Such was the situation when we took office. ' and the i $18£ of tl : spee 1 surv 23 iss, which I wedecessors jrtained be- etct that the iTtly by the le mercy of . The work riginal con- order of the contractors lans of the ler such an claims, but le enormous e they have epartmental session (De- fke fixed at ildings and ) for the lat- his budget atement oc- Parliament e buildings, y complete ;imate was L p. 1022 of misleading of his col- ) buildings made this /, according le olficers of no, 1886, or 420.00 were finish the JS. And note well, Mr. Speaker, that these $653,120.00 are distinct from and in addition to $316,000 of further claims not admitted, but fyled by the contractors, that is to say, $127,000 fur the Parliament Buildings and 1189,000 for the Quebec Court House. This example, or rather this incontrovertible fact, gives us a good idea of the way in which my honorable predecessor used to make his budget speeches, as well as of the value of the information he gave the House. The statements supplied by the olficers of the Public "Works and Trea- sury Departments establish that, when completed, the Quebec Court House will cost $528,210.'71 and the Parliament Buildings $579,684.14. A com- parison of these figures with the prices stipulated in the original contracts gives the following results : Court House. Cost of works, as above established $ 628,210 71 Price of work according to contract, as established at page 223 of the Report of tJie Commissioner of Public Works for 1883 $ 135,000 00 Excess of real cost over contract price $ 893,210 71 Parliament Buildings. Cost of work, as above established $ 669,584 14 Price of work aooording to contract as established at page 222 of the Report of the Commissioner of Public TTorAs for 1883 ?!.. $ 185,160 64 Excess of real cost over contract price $ 394,423 50 As will be seen, the two buildings were to have cost, according to the original contracts, $320,160.84 ; but, thanks to the unpardonable careless- ness with which the works were supervised and directed by our predeces- sors, these two undertakings are going to cost $1,107,794.95 or $787,634.21 more than their contract price. I ask you in all sincerity, Mr. Speaker, whether it was possible to give more absolute proof of want of competence and administrative capacity ? There is a consideration, wjj^ich lends a very strange and suspicious appearance to everything relating to these two undertakings. The Que- bec Court House and the Parliament Buildings are the only public works of importance out of the common which have been executed since 1883 under the supervision and direction of the department in charge of such work. Now, inconceivable or at least inexplicable circumstance, while the reports of the Minister in charge of that department enter into the most minute details relative to the execution of the most trilling colonization !,', .ft r li 24 works, carefully and elaborately specifying whether the smallest bit of road or the most trifling piece of bridging has been built by contract or by the day, not a single word of information can be obtained from them re- specting the modifications made in the contracts with Messrs. Whelan and Charlebois. They contain nothing whatever to show at least how the works are being executed or to explain how it happens that works given out by the job for $820,160.84, are now executed in part by the day and are going to cost $l,10(r,'794.85 or $78t,634.21 more than their original con- tract price. There is in this something strange, something inconceivable and, short of supposing that men who rendered themselves guilty of such impardonable, conduct, were completely ignorant of the most elementary duties of their trust, I have a right to say that if they withheld all the necessary information which should find a place in their reports, it was be- cause they were perfectly aware that their conduct was extremely blame- able, utterly reprehensible, and that they sought by this unwarrantable silence upon the most important transactions, to escape from the reproaches which the public would not have failed to make against them, if their acts had been laid bare. Many things, Mr. Speaker, are explained by all these facts. Especially, do they aflbrd us an insight into the manner in which the affairs of the country were managed by our predecessors. They fully explain how the hon. member for Sherbrooke was enabled to declare to this House, particu- larly last session, that he had succeeded in restoring the equilibrium in the budget, when he knew perfectly well that the position was growing worse from day to day, and they explain further how that hon. gentleman had the singular courage to officially proclaim, on his word as a Minister of the Crown, on the tth May, 1886, that the present fiscal year would show an excess of $145,429 in the receipts. {Debates of 1886, p. 1031 Budsel Speech, p. 26 ) When in less than ten months afterwards the officers of the depart- ment he controlled establish by an official report prepared with the great- est care, that the very same period will result in a shortage of $1,732,966.15 upon the operations of the twelve months. I defy him to contradict the correctness of this statement, and to deny that the total expenditure for this fiscal year, instead of being $3,483,293.55, as he estimated it, will be $4,*r79,169.1'7, which involves an error in his estim.^te of over $1,296,876.62. I defy him to deny that the total receipts of this year, instead of being $3,098,622.80, will be $3,046,203.02, involving a shortage of at least $47,- 418.78 in his estimate. How the facts have come to give such a crushing contradiction to the hon. member's estimates and declarations is easily explained. According to his usual habit, he wanted the House and the people to believe that he had succeeded in establishing an equilibrium in his budget. For that pur- 25 pose, he adopted a rery simple proceeding. He submitted an estimate of expenses which left in abeyance or unprovided for service and liabilities for which provision must now be made by a supplementary budget of $910,332.57 to supply the insufficiency of the credits which he asked the House to vote him. Such a state of things must be very humiliating to those who were responsible for it. It clearly proves that our predecessors pursued a financial policy which was simply fallacious and opposed to every principle of political economy, and that they burthened the Province, in a single fiscal year, with liabilities to the extent of over $1,120,'779.12, without proposing or making known to the House the ways and means by which so enormous an outlay was to be met. A glance over the revised estimate of the expenses, prepared by the Assistant Treasurer, will show that an additional sum of $43,000.00 will be needed for the interest service. This is due to the increase of the temporary loans and the withdrawal of certain deposits. All the other items of the supplementary estimates afe required to cover the deficiency in the appropriations voted last session. Here again we have a striking example of the course pursued by our predecessors and their way of equalizing the receipts and expenses. In the supplementary estimates there is a sum of $486,000 to pay on account of subsidies to railway companies. This estimate is based on a report prepared by Mr. Moreau, heretofore secretary of railway afiairs. On the strength of this report I have every reason to believe that the whole of this sum will be needed to pay the subsidies due in virtue of the schedule of February, 1883, and of the legislation of last session, arising from the conversion of the land grants into money grants. Such of the hon. members as were in the House last year will recdl how energetically we protested against this abnormal legislation, which imposed upon us obligations out of all proportion to our resources and made provision for the ways and means to raise the funds necessary to meet these new subsidies. Owing to the spirit which then animated the majority of the members of this House, no attention was paid to our protests, so that the responsi- bility for our present pecuniary straits falls upon our hon. friends of the Opposition. These embarrassments are the fruits of their recklessness and of their fallacious practice of giving us misleading statements of the situation. Our predecessors thus increased both the consolidated and the floating debts, while proclaiming before the House that the era of deficits had come to an end. 26 Now let US sum up the results of the operations of the current year and the way in ^hich it is going to affect the situation : According to the revised estimate, as given in the table, the balance of payments for this fiscal year, that is to say, the expenses to be incurred from the Slst January to the 80th June, 188t, amounts to I 1,194,290 38 We must deduct from this sum the credit voted for the sinking fund rendered useless by the legislation of last session, or »•••• 30,864, 6t Leaving $ 1,163,488 66 But the amount of the supplementary estimate must be added 910,882 5*7 Making a total expenditure for the five months of ^ 2,0'78,768 29 as enumerated in the table prepared by the treasury officers. To meet these expenses, we only have the balance of the receipts for those five months as estimated by the treasury officers, in the same table, namely 952,989 11 Thus leaving a shortage of. I 1,120,7*79 18 for which no provision whatever was made in my predecessor's budget. This is how the operatione of the present fiscal year ariB going to come out. How are we to cover this enormous deficit, this heavy excess of expenses over receipts ? We have no other resort but a loan. On the 81st January last the figure of our temporary loans had attained $500,000 ; with that which must be contracted to cover th . deficit just established, thie figure must be raised to $1,620,'7'79.12, that is to say, that, at the end of the present year, we shall owe upwards of a million and a half in the shape of temporary loans. It is clearly impossible to continue to live on temporary loans, especially. whenit is recalled that we shall shortly have to meet other heavy liabilities for which no provision was made by our predecessors. A system of the kind would be simply ruinous, and we must, therefore, of necessity consolidate this enormous amount of floating debt to regulate our position and put our afiairs in order. This is the task that devolves upon us. The situation is not very bright — far from it ; but with the good will and help of the House, with the eneijgy we are determined to throw into the work, we shall find means, I trust, to surmount existing difficulties and to extricate the province from its present embarrassments. Special Warrants. I said that the estimates of my hon. friend from Sherbrooke were insufficient. He has himself admitted this by issuing special warrants for 125,142.72 from the 13th October to the 31st December, 1886, as appears by I current year 27 the statement which it is the Auditor's duty to lay before the House. Those warrants were issued for the following purposes : Eastern Townships Agricultural Association (Sherbrooke Exhibition) ; ', |6,000 00 Aid to fisheimen of the North Shore of the St. Lawrence to re- move and settle them with their families in Beauce, after their arrival Natashquan, and elsewhere, on board one of the Federal G-overnment's steamers 6,000 00 Central Health Board, Montreal 1,142 12 Election Expenses 13,000 00 125,142 12 The othe/ items are more or less excusable ; but the $13,000 for election expenses seem to me more than extraordinary. The cost of a general election is perfectly well ^own, and, if there was no extravagance, I cannot understand how my hon. predecessor could make such a mistake in an item so easily 'forseen. Supplemiulary Budget for 1886-87. " But a still more striking proof of the inadequacy of the hon. member for Sherbrooke's estimates is furnished by the additional credits which I will be forced to ask the House to vote, and which compose the |S10,332.5'7 required to complete the year's service. The following are the details of the sums needed to meet the inevitable expenses of this fiscal year : Public debt $43,000 00 Legislation 21,43'7 22 Civil government "7,430 19 Administration of justice 10,000 00 Police 750 00 Reformatories, reform and industrial sohook 4,000 00 Public instruction 6,410 00 Literary and scientific institutions 7,599 16 lAgriculture 606 00 Lunatic asylums > 13,000 00 I Crown Lands expenditure 17,600 00 Royal Commission tw re Q. M. O.&O 6,000 00 [Aid to North shore fishermen 3,600 00 ) 1 .^^ .■ 28 Public Works and Buildings — Rents, repairs, insurance $10,000 OO Construction, Parliament buildings 130,000 00 Construction, Quebec Court House 120,000 00 Purchase of ground for enlargesient of Montreal Court House 18,000 00 ■ 2*78,000 00 Teachers' Pension Fund, six annual instalments, according to Act 43-44 Victoria, chap. 22, sec. 12 6,000 00 424,382 5*7 Railway subsidies 486,000 00 ♦910,332 5t The amounts required for the interest on the public debt and the sub- sidies to railway companies are statutory appropriations which do not need to be voted ; but I include them in the supplementary budget, for purposes of information to show the House all that is short in my predecessor's esti- mates. The inadequacy of the sum appropriated for the interest service arises from the withdrawal of certain interest-bearing deposits and from the payment of large sums on account of the subsidies to railway companies. Under the head of legislation, we are compelled to ask a further credit of 121,437.22 to provide for the payment of certain services which cannot be allowed to stand over. Here are the details : — Writers and messengers ♦ 3,262 30 Stationery 643 06 Newspapers 1,966 13 Sundries 80 25 Printing 3,000 00 Library of the Legislature ,. 8,000 00 Sessional employees *JO0 00 Election expenses 3,785 48 |21,43t 22 The $*7,430.19 asked for civil government are wanted to cover the in- sufficiency of the credit voted last session . Out of the current year's credits for the administration of justice, $10,000 were paid for expenses or the previous year and they would be short to this extent on the 30th June, next, which explains why we ask this supplementary vote. The amount asked for police is also necessitated by the insufficiency of the credit. 29 00 00 00 / 00 278,000 00 The sum asked for reformatories and industrial schools is intended to cover the shortage in the credits voted for those services. The department of public instruction owes 16,410.00 arrears on the purchase of prize books. We desire to pay off all these accounts, in order to square up all these purchases and to see in future that the department does not run beyond its annual appropriation, as has been the constant practice for some years. It is to wipe off existing liabilities and put an end to the system of exceeding the appropriations that we ask the sum just mentioned. A sum of $7,599.16 is asked for lUerary and scierU^c institutions. It is to pay the accounts due for printing the archives of the Province that we ask this money. We want to pay for the work done without further delay and to abolish the system of arrears. The credit for journals of agriculture is insuJB&cient, and it is to cover the deficiency that we ask $606.00. The credit voted for lunatic asylums was sufficient to meet the outlay for the current year ; but #15,000.00 were taken from it to settle expenses of the previous year, which causes a shortage of $13;000.00, and we require this amount to leave no arrears at the close of the present fiscal year. It will require fit, 600 to cover the insufficiency in the Crown Lands service.— #9,000 being for the cadastral service and #8,600 for that of surveys. . Hon. Judge Routhier has sent in a statement showing that, over and above the amount voted last session, an additional sum of #5,000 will be required to meet the expenses of the Commission to enquire into the affairs of the Q. M. O & O. We ask for this amount. By section 12 of the statute of 1880 which establisl^es the Teacher's Pension Fund, the Government is obliged to contribute #1,000 annually towards this fund. For reasons which I ignore those payments were not made by the Grovernments that preceded us, and the credit I ask is to supply this omission. If the Government wants to see the teachers pay in their contributions with punctuality and have this pension system work properly, it must itself conform to the requirements of the law. The accomodation afforded by the Montreal Court House is no longer adequate ; the building must be enlarged or undergo certain improve- ments. Our predecessors had decided upon carrying out these works, and had previously included #50,000 in a budget for the purpose. These improvements are moreover demanded by the Montreal Bar. The #18,000 which I have placed in the supplementary budget are to be used for the purchase of the ground req^uired for these improvements.. 30 i ii,"! m 'l:^^ m il': .1 ; As already stated, there are several items which do not need to be voted, as they are already authorized by law ; but I have included thetn with the others to show the House as clearly as poslible the deficiencies in the different services for the current fiscal yeer. IV. State of the Cash Aeeount On 81«t Jannarjr, 1S87. I was not astonished, but I was a little discouraged at the condition in which I fbiind matters when I assumed the direction of the treasury. "We took the oaths of office on the 29th January and assumed charge of our departments on the 31st. On entering the treasury I asked Mr. Machin, the assistant-treasurer/ for a statement of the cash, as well as of the probable receipts and expenses for the remainder of the current fiscal year. It was handed to me shortly afterwards. I discovered that all the cash we had on hand in bank and available to meet the ordinary expenses of the public service, was the enormous sum of $19,240.49, of which $15,540.86 were in the Union Bank and $3,699.63 in the Eastern Townships Bank. I ascertained also, on the other hand, that on the 31st January, the Government account with the Montreal Bank had been over djawn to the extent of $21,568.05 ; that at the treasury office there were outstanding warrants to the amount of $14,832.88, and an order-in-council authorizing the payment of $35,000.00 to the Bale de Ghaleurs Kail way on account of its subsidy, that is to say, that there were $71,400.98 worth of claims due and payable and only $19,240.49 available to meet them with, leaving a shortage of $52,160.44. As you see, Mr Speaker, even supposing that we were as ravenous as a certain journalist has been courteous enough to represent us, there was nothing for us to take out of the public chest when we opened it. Probably, to protect the country against the disasters of our invasion, our predecessors had taken the precaution te put all the money in a safe place before resigning and to leave us nothing but the key of an empty chest. The outlook for the three months comprised between the 1st February and Ist May was even still more discouraging than the state of the cash. My predecessor had drawn and spent all that portion of the Federal subsidy payable in the month of January. The other heavy items of revenue, the receipts from licenses and timber dues, would only come in in May and June, so that for those three months we had comparatively no revenue to count upon. On the other hand, the payments to be made during those same months were heavy. Besides those connected with the session, there is the half-yearly interest service on a large part of our consolidated debt, which must be »(f^4^ befo^Q May, a§ tl)i§ i^te^^t (a^ls ^v^e \jx ^Hf^-. 31 land on the Ist May. Lastly, the Assistant Treasurer informed m^ that for these three months, it would be necessary to make provision against a shortage of $638,369.44. He laid before me a statement showing that the payments would amount to $1,049,459.93, while the receipts would only aggregate 1411,090.49, including the $19,240.49 cash on hand and available on the 81st January, 188*7. Here is the record of the payments and receipts forming the totals just mentioned : AnumtUs payable from the Zlst Jarmary to the Isl May, 188t. Shortage in the account with the Bank of Montreal on 31st JsSiuary, 1887 I 21,568 05 Outstanding warrants 14>832 88 Legislation, election expenses and the appropriation for the Debates of last session included 84,650 00 Administration of justice - 83,000 00 Reformatories and industrial schools 20,500 00 Inspection of public oflSces 1,000 00 Lunatic asylums 3*7,000 00 Civil government salaries 38,000 00 *• ^ , contingencies 5,000 00 Public instruction 88,000 OO Crown Lands 20,400 00 Immigration and repatriation. 2,200 00 Agriculture 5,350 00 Colonization roads 15,500 00 Public works and buildings, rents and repairs 28,123 00 Parliament House and Court House (more than the appro- priations) 124,000 00 Interest on the loans of 18*74, 18*76 and 18*78 for the five months ending on Ist May, 188*7 26*7,136 00 Expenses and commission on this sum 1,300 00 Interest on temporary loans 14,000 (50 Q. M. O. & 0. Railway claims 8,000 00 Railway subsidies, including $35,000, of which payment was authorized by order in Council 150,000 00 Making a total of.^ 11,049,459 03 The receipts to come in were far from coyerin^ tbi§ amouut, 9» will bo : g^ei^ from tl^e {bUowiog figures : / 32 W' It Receipts from the Slst January to the 1st May 188*7. Cash on hand on 81st January • 19,240 49 Crown Lands 60,000 00 Law and registration stamps 60,000 00 Licenses and other revenues 60,000 00 Interest on pvice of sale of Q. M. 0. & O 182,000 00 Interest for 6 months on the railway subsidy from the Federal aovemment 59,850 00 ^411,090 49 To cover the shortage, there was no other resource left but a loan. My hon. predecessor so well understood this that a few days before the resig- nation of the Ross Government, he instructed Mr. Machin to prepare an order-in-council to authorize him to borrow $250,000. This order-in-coun- cil would have been passed and the loan would have been contracted by the hon. member for Sherbrooke, if the resignation of the Ross Q-overn- ment and the defeat of the Government of the hon. member for Montcalm had not intervened to put an end to the transaction. It is not amiss to note tnat at i\iital, but to the interest merely on this capital, which conse- quently has no right to figure among the assets, and this is the reason why I have struck it out from under that head. I am warranted in doing this by the text of the law itself and the declarations of the hon. member for Sherbrooke. He is thoroughly posted with regard to this affair, since it 36 Was he who arranged it with the Federal Q^overnment. Here is what he stated on the subject in his Budget Speech of 1885 : " I have not entered in the assets the $2»549,213.61, amount of the interest retained by the Dominion Government from 1867 to 1878 but the Bominion Government, after a more attentive examination, acknowledged our rights and consequently allowed us t}ie interest on the amount kept back from us from year to year, with interest at 6 per cent, on the various sums, forming in all $2,549,213.61. We receive no part of this capital, but only the interest at 5 per cent, a year, which interest is used for the maintenance of our provincial institutions, in view of our inability to draw ilie capital to redeem our funded debt. I have considered it as an additional subsidy and not as forming part of our assets." {Debates of the Legislature, 1885, p. 387.) This formal declaration settles the question. It explains why these 12,549,213.61 figure no longer in the table of assets. Let us now turn to the floating debt : Deduct from the total liabilities the $18,155,013.33 remaining unpaid on the five consolidated loans and the $200,000 of the Quebec Court House loan and the result gives us the figure of the floating debt, which, on the 81st January, 1887, amounted to $3,788,434.32. The liabilities composing this amount are clear and indisputable. The first of them includes the temporary loans, $500,000, and the trust funds, which latter amount in the aggregate to $229,227.67, as follows : Deposit, Catholic Committee of the Council of Public Instnic- tion.. $ 9,943 48 Deposit, Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Ins- truction 28,000 00 Teachers' Pension Fund 148,407 19 Marriage Licenses : 8,612 00 Deposits given as security for public officers 6,500 00 Proceeds of insurance on old Parliament House 32,765 00 $229,227 67 By section 2 of the Act 36 Victoria, chapter 6, the Treasurer of the Province fs bound to deposit at interest the balances remaining over in each year on the credits voted for public instruction, and these deposits are shared between the Protestant and Catholic committees of the Council of Public Instruction, who expend them as required or allow them to accu- mulate, but always retain their exclusive control. They are special funds, beyonci the control of the Treasurer, who is bound to hold them at the constant disposal of the two committees and cannot employ them for any 37 e is what he other objects. These are the deposits that figure in the foregoing table at $9,948.48 and |28,000, respectively. By the Act 86 Vic, Chap. 3, the marriage licenses constitute another special deposit in favor of the Protestant institutions of higher education, and the Treasurer exercises no more control over it than over the others just mentioned. When it accumulates, it is credited to the Protestant Committee of Public Instruction, who dispose of it as prescribed by law. The teacher's pension fund — established by the Act of 1880, 48-44 Victoria, chapter 22 — is composed of sums annually retained upon the salaries of the officers of primary education, the common school fund, a portion of the superior education fund, coupled with an annual contribu- tion of $1,000 payable by the Government. These sums are paid over to the Treasurer, vt'ho is bound to invest them in securities of the Province or of the Dominion of Canada and to apply the interest thereon to the pay- ment of the pensions. For reasons which I leave the House to appreciate, this investment has not yet been made ; the money received from this source has been spent in paying the expenses of the public service, and, to comply with the requirements of the law, I must needs find this sum of $148,407.19 diverted from its destination by our predecessors, and invest it in the manner prescribed. It occasionally happens that certain public officers, who are bound to give security, prefer to deposit a sura of money in the hands of the G-ov- ernment, which is only the depositary of the sums thus entrusted to it and must reimburse them when those ofScers furnish another security or leave the service. The amount of deposits of this class, as above mentioned, is $6,500.00. As for the $32,765.00 coming from the insurance of the old Parliameiit House, I believe— if I understand the question rightly — that this sum has been set apart to be handed over, with the site, to the Federal Govern- ment in order to relieve us of the perpetual ground rent of $4,444.00 a year payable on that unproductive property. At 5 per cent, this rent represents a capital of $88,880, which far exceeds the value of the property, and the $32,765 of insurance, so that it would be to our advantage to hand back the whole to the Federal Government. I presume it was with this object in view that my hou. predecessor had included this sum in the special funds before we came into office, and that he had written io the Federal Govern- ment to offer them this sum together witli the property, provided that in future they would pay the annual rent of $4,444. The Federal Govern- ment, however, turned a deaf ear to the proposal and it now remains for us to see what can be done. The outstanding warrants on the 81st January, amounting to $16,196,- 7b, and the deficit of $a70»842.06 on the ordinary operations of the current 38 fiscal year, can only be met by means of loans and this explains why they are entered among the liabilities. They proportionately increase the debt of the province. The sum of !|5t9,732.25 is the balance that still remains to be paid on the railway subsidies mentioned in the schedule of February, 1883. The two next following amounts in that table, forming a total of $1,- 548,428.50, represent the liabilities we incurred through the laws passed last session to convert into money subsidies the land grants made to rail- way companies in 1882. The total amount of these subsidies, whose con- version is authorized, by the law of 1886, is $3,538,550, estimating the land at to cents per acre as the value fixed by the law. As may be seen on reference to statement No. 4, I have entered in the . liabilities specified therein only thehalf of the sums which the conversion of these subsidies represents in money, deducting the $245,846.50 already paid on account, and I leave in the category of doubtful obligations the sum of $1,'794,2'75.00 represented by the 35 cents per acre which we will have to pay to the companies when the lands specially appropriated to these sub- sidies shall have been sold. I do not speak either of the money grants made by the same law to certain companies. . At first sight, one us inclined to believe that the sale of these lands will ' go far to liquidate the debt resulting from the legislation under consider- ation ; but, on looking more closely into what the sale of the lands will bring and what it will cause us* to lose in our revenue from woods and forests, a different conclusion is quickly reached. According to the information supplied by Mr. Moreau, secretary of railway affairs, the subsidies in question form a total of 5.126,500 acres of land or a superficial area of 8,010 miles. What will the sale of these lands bring ? The statute fixes the price at TO cents per acre — to establish the proportion of the sums payable to the different companies ; but it is evi- dent that we cannot sell at that price. From the 30th June, 186*7, to the 30th June, 1886, 2,633,892 acres of Crown lands were sold, and the amount realized from the sales was $1,046,490,90, which gives an average of 39.7 cents per acre. At this price, the 6,126,500 acres, comprised in the subsi- dies convertible into money represent $2,035,220.50. But, to deliver these lands to purchasers, they must be surveyed, which will cost about 17 cents per acre, taking the average cost of such work as done by the Crown "Lands Department from 1867 to 1886. For the 5,126,500 acres, at 17 cents per acre, the cost of surveying will form a sura of $871,605.00. This sum must uaturftlly bo struck off from the gross proceeds of the sale of thq lau4ii wbiob will thmi be reduced tQ the net figure of 11,168,7^.60. 39 There is another consideration which should not be overlooked. In selling these lands for settlement, we take them away from the lumbering' industry and proportionately diminish the receipts from our woods and * forests. Calculating according to the data furnished by the report of the Commissioner of Crown Lands for 1886, the amount thus 161^, to the trea- sury, in the shape of annual revenue, will be $91,954.80. Ci^^italized . tt 5 per cent., this revenue would represent a capital of $1,839,088X)0. That is '. to say that the sale of these lands, which will bring net but $1^163,^15.50, after deducting the cost of surveys, will entail a loss of annual revenue representing a capital of $1,839,088.00 ; so that instead of supplying us with means to discharge the liabilities resulting from the legislation of last session, these sales will occasion a loss of capital to the extent of $675,3*72.50 or the difference between what we shall lose on ourftimber revenue and what we shall derive net from the sale of the lands. ,; This is on the presumption that the lands will be sold immedia^ly. But it will take thirty-seven years to sell them, if the sales are effected in the same ratio as since Confederation. In nineteen years from the 1st July, 1867, to the 30th June, 1886, we could only sell 2.633,892 acres of Crown lands ; and to sell the 5,126,500 acres comprised in the railway sub- sidies, in the same annual projwrtion, it would take thirty-seven years on an average of about 188,554 acres a year. At 10 cents per acre, less the It cents per acre for the surveying, these sales would realize $84,033.02. The interest on the $1,794,2*75, representing the first 35 cents amounts at 5 per cent, for each year to $89,713.75, so that, supposing against the prob- abilities that we should sell the land at 70 cents per acre cash, the liet pro- ceeds would still not form a sufficient amount annually to meet the interest on the half of the sums granted, while leaving nothing for the redemption of the capital. Lastly, it is well known that it is impossible to collect a large propor- tion of the price for which Crown lands are sold. I think it is no exag- geration to say that, to calculate safely, at least 20 per cent, must be struck off the nominal price, which, in practice, would result in our not being able to count with certainty on more than $67,226.90 from the sale of these lands to meet $89,713.75 of interest on the $1,794,275.00 of subsidies pay- able to the companies for the first 35 cents, thus leaving an annual shortage of $22,486.85. Again, these sums will have to bo paid immediately to the companies on acount of the last 85 cents, since by law they are entitled to get the money the moment the lands are sold. It is therefore perfectly clear that we cannot rely on the sale of theee lauds to wipe off the capital of the pecuniary liabilities which we contract* ed through last sestiou's legislatiou and that oousequeatly we hftve no •pooial Miot under tbi9 hei4 to meet tl^ose obliff&tioiLs. \v'v it: The other items of liabiliHes scarcely call for special explanation. The |2*r.o6o lost on the deposit in the Exchange Bank formed part of the ftmonnt receiyed on account of the price of the sale of the Q. M. 0. & O. tCfdlWay and appropriated by a special act to constitute a sinking fund for thd redemption of a cotisolidated debt. As this amount must be kept in- Iftct, 1 am obliged to replace these 12*7,000 and, consequently, to borrow ihe nioney. t stated a few moments ago that, on the 81st January, 188*7, the amonnt of the floating debt, perfectly clear and incontestable, was $8, '788,434.32. Among the liabilities forming this aggregate, there are some which will be only playable in a certain time, but the bulk of them are payable ))e- tween this and the close of the present fiscal year. The list of these liabil- ities outstanding or maturing between thi» and the end of the current year forms a sum of $1,893,223.46 and is made up as follows, always, be it remembered, on the 31st January, 188*7 : Teiiiporary loans from banks and trust funds $ '729,22*7 6*7 Outstanding warrants at the Treasury office Ii8,196 '78 Deficit on current fiscal year, according to statement No. 4... 5*70,842 06 Sum required to complete the Parliament Buildings, of which $90,000 are actually due 130,113 91 Sum required to complete the Quebec Court House, of which $•70,000 are actually due 122,823 16 Balance of claims for construction of Q. M. O. & 0. Railway.. 11.000 00 Loss on deposit in Exchange Bank to be reimbursed to the price of sale of the Q, M. 0. & O. Railway set apart for the redemption of the debt 2*7 000 00 Subsidies to railway compaiuies, payable from the Ist Feb- ruary to 30 Jnne, 188t 486,000 00 Making inall $1,898,203 68 This portion of the floating debt is almost entirely payable between the 81st January and the 30th June, 188*7. The remainder represents rail- Way subsidies, of which a considerable proportion will be earned during the coming summer by the works in progress, so that, between this and the fall, we will probably have to pay 12,600,000 of the sum total of the floating debt. These railway subsidies are earned very rapidly. Thus, from the Ist July, 1836, to the 31st January, l&8t, 1622,464.90 had to be paid Out under this head. This fact suffices to give a notion of what will happen as re- giiVds the balance of #486,000.00. We have already in hand claims for oVe* 1100,000 ftom the Baie des Chaleurs and Uke St, John raiilway com- panies. 41 Now, what had we on the Slst January, 188*7, to meet the $8,788,424.82 of onr floating debt ? The assets specified in the statement nnder consider- ation, less the price of sale of the Q. M. O. Sc 0. Railway and the Federal snbiiidy for the constraction of that road, and less also the $200,000 of debentures representing the Court House loan, that is to say, the balance of the assets, deducting the $10,194,000 represented by the three items just enumerated, and appropriated for the redemption of the debt There remains, therefore, but $580,280.54 of available assets to extinguish the floating debt of $3,t88,484.32, that is to say, the following amounts : Special deposit in Jacques Cartier Bank $100,000 00 Cash on hand on Slst January, 188*7 Il,4t3 10 Property set apart for the reimbursement of the cost of Jacques Cartier Normal School. 188,848 02 Sundry loans and advances ,. fe8,2tl 40 Interest due by Ontario or school fund 100,000 00 Montreal's subscription towards Hull bridge 50,000 00 Due by Montreal for expropriations between Hochelaga and Dalhonsie square 72,188 02 $660,280 54 Most assuredly, I would not like to prejudice the intoicsts of the pro- vince; but the obligatio'i under which I am to frankly and accurately state the situation makes it imperative on me to note that, among the assets just enumerated, there are several sums whose realization is more than doubt- ful. Among such may be included the money loaned to different parties, as follows : Loan for seed grain made to certain municipalities of Charle- voix and Chicoutimi $26,»346 40 Loan to the North shore turnpike trust tcr repair Dorchester bridge 15,000 00 Loan to Trappist Fathers 10,000 00 Total $50,646 40 I very much doubt whether we can ever collect these debts. It is next to impossible for the turpike trust to repay $15,000 they owe us, and I am inclined to look upon the advance made to the Trappist Fathers more as an act of benevolence than a iinancial transaction. As for Lhe $25,646.40 due by the municipalities of Chicoutimi and Charlevoix, it is a clear enough asset, seeing that it is secureu by theit bonds ; but when we note what has been done within two or three years past with the indebtedness to the muxucipal loan fund and when we consider the length of time this debt I 42 has been due, twelve or fifteen years, I believe it is not reasonable to base Any serious hope on the retnrn of these $25,646.40 to the treasury. Mr. Speaker, I desire to be well understood : the Government will do all in its power to collect these different amounts, and I hope it will sue* ceed in securing their reimbursement ; but prudence and respect for the truth compel me to class these credits, at least, in the category of doubtful assets, whose realization may be a cause of disappointment. Such of the hon. members as were in the house last year are cognizant of the difficulties relative to the $100,000 deposit in the Jacques Gartier Bank. That affair was considered by the Public Accounts Committee, and, after the evidence adduced before that committee, the bank demanded and subsequently obtained from the Boss administration a petition of right authorizing it to sue the Government for this amount. If the Hon. Mr. Taillon had not believed that the bank had a prima facie case, he would not have granted this petition of right. If the directrrs of that institution did not hope to succeed before the courts, it is ob\ us they would not have exposed themselves to the risk of incurring useless costs, and if they suc- ceed, their success will involve the disappearance of a sum of $100,000 from the amount of the assets just noted. The $138,340.02 represent, I think, a sure asset. When it was decided to erect a new building for the Jacques Gartier Normal School, it was understood that the cost of the edifice would be defrayed out of the pro- ceeds of the property then occupied by the old Normal School, that is to say, the old Government House, on Notre Dame street, nearly opposite the Montreal Gity Hall. The sale of this property has been put off until the present on the pretext that the circumstances were not favorable to ob- tain its full value. Moreover, the amount entered in the assets does not represent the real value of the property, or rather is not set down as such, but simply indicates the outlay for the construction of the new building and to be refunded from the proceeds of the sale of the property in ques- tion. The explanations I have just given with respet to several of the items forming the $560,280.54 worth of assets, which we have to meet our fl(^ating debt, show clearly enough that it would be opposed to the most elementary rules of prudence to rely upon realizing more than $400,000. As regards the floating debt and the assets we possess to pay it off, we therefore find ourselves confronted with the following situation : Amount of lucontestable liabilities forming the floating debt on the 81st January, 188t f8,*788,434 82 Amount of assets realizable to extinguish or liquidate this uOftticg debt Ml II fit* iiMtiiiiiiiiiinMif ,t,i ikhmihiiii, 400,000 00 ^^t movixit of the floatiimr debt on the 8Ut January, 1887ii $8,888,484 88 U; 43 By adding to this amount the liabilities in perspective resulting from the legislation of last session, that is to say, the |l,'r94,2t5.00 represented by the last 35 cents of land grant n versions into money, we arrive at the total of 15,182,709.32 deducting the $400,000 of assets jiut indicated. Still this is not all. Over and above these incontestable liabilities there is a host of disputed claims against the Grovernment, a part at least of which we shall, perhaps, be forced to pay. Tho most of these claims have already been carried before the courts, and, as far as they are concerned, evervthing depends on the judgments to be rendered. I sincerely trust that these judgments will be in our favor, but if they are against us, it will be so much more to be added to the figure of the floating debt, as I have just stated it. The following is a list of the disputed claims not in- cluded in the credits or supplementary estimates for the current fiscal year or in the statement of the liabilities on the 31st January, 188*7 : Claims connected with the construction and working of tho Q. M. O. & 0. Railway and contested in actions still pending in court. Jacques Cartier Bank $ 100,000 00 Hon. Thos. McGreevy 1,491,483 84 D.Macdonald 1,468,713 00 L. A. Roberge 105.000 00 W.H. Chisholm 16,000 00 L. S. Lemyre 12,000 00 Estate late C. Legge 26,887 00 P. S. Murphy 22,500 00 Isaie Marchand -. 10,000 00 RPaquin 10,000 00 J.O.Paquet 8,300 00 W. 0. Pentland 13,224 00 I 3.283,057 84 Other claims for the same object of which, in the opinion of Mr. Mcreau, only a very small portion can be established $ 135,327 14 ^ 13,418,384 08 S. X. Cimon, contested claim on account of the construction of departmental buildings 76,000 00 Robert Mitchell & Co., contested claim relative to the heating apparatus of the same building... 1,6«>8 00 JV. Charlebois, contested claim, con- nected with the Parliament BQUWMI.M.MMtllllMMM.IMMfl.M 127,000 00 A. Oharlebois, contested claim, aris- ing oaf of the dynamite explo- sion 10,000 00 187,000 00 J. P. Whelan, contested claims, relating to the Quebec Court House 189,000 00 Sundry contested claims, amounting in the aggre- gate to 2^,885 18 Dominion of Canada, a balance of account in dis- pute, 1st July, 1886 *. 68t,ei9 11 14.584,497 96 Mr. Speaker, I am particular in giving all these details in order to make the situation perfectly clear to the House ; but it will be easily un- derstood that, in the interest of the Province, it is better I should express no opinion on any of these disputed claims. All I can say is that these claims have been put in, that the majority of them have been carried be- fore the courts, and that if we are condemned to pay only 30 per cent, bf them, it will add $1,366,349.88 to the amount of our uncontested liabilities forming the floating debt on the Slst January, 1887. Against these doubtful debts, we have as an asset the balance due the municipal loan fund, namely, |1, 41 9,606.59, but we shall certainly never realize this amount from what remains to be collected. From 1880 to the 5th May, 1886, our predecessors called in all the best of the credits of this fund, those due by the Corporations of Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, St. Hyacinthe, St. John, Terrebonhe, in fine by all the wealthy municipalities in a position to pay. On $777,731.23 of these good credits, they only realized |687,027.35. Now supposing that we lose in the same proportion on the balance of $1,419,606.50 remaining to be collected on the 5th May last, we shall lose $496,916.00: — in other terms, instead of deriving from this source $1,419,606.50, we shall only take in $922,690.50. But it is un- questiohable that we shall lose much more than $496,916.00 and I do not hesitate to say that this doubtful asset of $1,419,606.50 will certainly not yield more than we may be called to pay of the $4,534,497.96 of doubtful liabilities enumerated in the list I gave a few moments since. My im- pression, in fact, is that we shall take in less than we will have to pay out. It may therefore be asserted without fear that on the 31st January, 1887, when we took charge of the administration, the net debt of the pro- vince admitted and uncontested was at least $11,389,167.11 or that there was an excess of liabilities over assets to that extent, as established by th.Q atatement No. 4. ' ^ 1 ■■* 46 The last statement of this nature submitted for our consideration was bjr the hon. member for Sherbrooke during last session. It occurs on page 1021 of the Debates of the Legislature for 1886. According to this statement, the liabilities of the province on the 30th June, 1885, were ♦20,590,076.*72. The statement I now produce to the 81st January, 188t, places these liabilittes at 122,148,447.65, which makes for the nineteen months com- prised between those two dates an increase of |l,553,87l.93. These figures apply to the gross liabilities, no deduction made of the assets. Our pre- decessors are invited to account for this increase of the debt. In the statement submitted last session, the hon. member for Sher- brooke estimated the total assets on the 30th June, 1885, at $11,774,645.21. According to the statement I lay before the House, the assets on the 81st January, 1887, only formed a sum of $10,754,280.54 or a diminution of 11,020,364.67 for that name period of nineteen months. Our predecessors are invited to render an account of this diminution of the assets. An analysis of these figures gives the following result : SUitation on the SOth June, 1885. Liabilities : $20,590,075 72 Assets 11,774,645 21 - Excess of liabilities over assets on the 30th June, 1885 | 8,816,480 51 Situation on Slst January^ 1887. Liabilities... 122,143,447 66 Assets 10,754,280 54 Excess of liabilities over assets on 3l8t January, 1887...... $11,889,167 11 Increase of the net debt during these nineteen months $ 2,678,786 60 That is to say, that during the nineteen months comprised between the 80th June, 1886, and the Slst January, 1887, the Ross Ad-ninistration increased the net debt of the province by $2,578,786 60. ( This showing is borne out by the figures furnished by my honorable predecessor himself, for 1885, and by the officers of the treasury, down to the 81st January, 1887. Is !:M dipii 46 Mr. Speaker, I cannot help contrasting this result with the famous declafration contained in the speech from the throne, delivered on the 8th April, 1886. In that speeoh the following passage occurs: " I am happy to inform you that my Government has succeeded in re-estab- lishinf^ the equilibrium in the finances of the Province, which must be regarded as an event of exceptional importance." Where is the equilibrium in the finances V Does it lie in the fact that during the nineteen months, from the 30th June, 1885, to the Slst Jan- uary, 1887, the Ross Government really increased the net debt by |2,5t3,- *iS6.60 ? Is it to be found in the fact that, during the fiscal year 1886-86, the payments exceeded the receipts by $564,118.48 ? Does it consist in the fact that the ordinary transactions of the current fiscal year are going to cul- minate in a deficit of $370,842,06, as established by the official statement , No. 4. It is discoverable in the fact that, for the present year, the total payments will exceed the receipts by $1,732,966.15 ? Where then is the re-establishment of the equilibrium in the finances V I have sought it in vain through the books of the treasury, which only show me deficits in- creasing from year to year, and I only find it on paper — in the speech from the throne. t This result contrasts very strikingly also with the programme formu- lated by the ex-Premier a few months after his coming into power. The Ross Government were sworn in on the 23rd January, 1884. At a great banquet given in his honor, at Three Rivers, on the 24th November of the same year. Dr. Ross said : " The second (article of our programme) is to restore the equilibrium in the finances of the Province. The task is a difficult one. "Preceding administrations have incurred very heavy expenses to give the Province the system of railways, of which it stood so much in need. These gigantic works have thrown our financed into a critical condition. The result has been large deficits for some years. A remedy must be ap- plied to this state of things. " This is why we have firmly resolved to take all the necessary and even the most vigorous means to put an end to these deficits. "The first of these means is the practice of a strict economy. We must prune, retrench, and control the expenditare with unswerving se- verity. It is not an agreeable thing to do ; it is even a difficult one, but "we have began the task and we shall finish it. "I h the famous ed on the 8th ded in re-estab' be regarded as ' 1 the fact that the Slst Jan- bt by 12,673,- ir 1885-86, the sist in the fact going to cul- sial statement ^ear, the total re then is the e sought it in me deficits in- in the speech ramme formn- power. The At a great rcmber of the equilibrium penses to give luch in need, cal condition, y must be ap- aecessary and conomy. We swerving se- ult one, but 47 This success (the increase of the Federal subsidy) has in great measure contributed to one of the principal results we are striving to attain, the equilibrium in our budget." What splendid promises ? But also, what a bitter disappointment was in store for us as the result of the two years and a half administration of the man, who made these solemn promises ! Did he deceive himself or did he seek to deceive the country ? Recollect that instead of the equilibrium so positively affirmed, that Administration gave us nothing but deficits and an increase of the debt to the extent of at least $2,5t3,736.60 during the nineteen months of its existence ! Where then are the retrenchments, the economy, so solemnly promised by the ex-Premier. Upon us devolves the task of paying these debts. We are well deter>- mined to do so ; but, for the purpose, we must be allowed to take the requi- site means to procure the necessary funds. The situaiion is very easily grasped. Besides the balance of the con- solidated debt to be redeemed, we have a floating debt, clear, well defined and indisputable, of #3,788,434.32 in addition to the sum of $1,794,275.00 represented by the last 35 cents payable to the railway companies when the lands appropriated to the grants of 1882 are sold and in addition also to the $4,534,497.96 of claims contested and most of them pending before the courts. What have we with which to honour these $3,788,434.32 of uncon- tested claims? At the most $400,000 of realizable assets, in preasuming on the part of our debtors more good will than they have heretofore mani- fested. We have therefore a shortage of at least $3,388,434.32 of debts actually exigible or which will become so within a short delay. Where is the money to come from to pay these debts ? From the ordinary revenues ? But these revenues do not suffice to meet the current expenses of the ordinary service, since for several years each fiscal year has culminated in a deficit more or less heavy. The cur- rent year will show one of $370,842.06. We have therefore no other resource left to wipe off" the liabilities constituting the floating debt but to burrow. We must either resort to temporary loans or contract a consolidated loan. I regard the system of temporary loans, when it is made a permanent practice, as a most disadvantageous system for the Government and the country, and especially for the commercial class. It is notorious that oh such loans the Government always pays a higher rate of interest than on / IS: m Jf 48 consoliclated loans. Thus, we can hardly borrow from the 1l>anks ai \eM than 6 per cent, for temporary loans. That is the rate that was paid by the member for Sherbrooke and that I have been also compelled to accept. For a consolidated loan, I believe we could find the money at 4 per cent. On 14,000,000, this wond make at once a difference of |40,000 a year in favor of a consolidated loan, that is to say, enough for a sinking fund to redeem such a loan at maturity. I am therefore in favor of a consolidated loan, firstly because the rate of interest will be lower and, secondly, because the class of loan, instead of reducing the capital in the country available for trade, will result in intro- ducing fresh capital into the Province if it be negotiated in the foreign markets. Mr. Speaker, I want the position well understood and well defined. If we desire to borrow, it is simply to pay off the debts and liabilities con- tracted by our predecessors ; it is exclusively to do honor to engagements entered into before we came to power and against a part of which we vigorously protested when we were in Opposition. I wish it to be well understood that in making this loan we do not add one cent to the debt of the Province ; but that we desire simply to convert the floating into con- solidated debt, in order to regulate the position and to pay a lower rate of interest. If we had only to consult our own interests, we would much prefer not to borrow, thereby freeing ourselves from the necessity of find- ing, over and above the ordinary exdenses, the $100,000 additional required annually for the interest and sinking fund service on the new loan. But the honor and credit 6( the Province are at stake and we wish to take the necessary measures for their protection. The Province owes ; it has no money to pay its debts ; we want to pay them and we propose the means necessary for the purpose. This is the situation as we found it when we took over the adminis- tration of the affairs of this country. I submit it with all the sincerity and all the frankness possible. I declare on my word as a Minister of the Crown and a member of this House that the statement on which I base this expose are in strict confor- mity with the books of the treasury and the information furnished by the officers of the different departments. I affirm, on the faith of this official information, that the figure of the unquestionable floating debt is $3,t88,- 434.32, and that the realizable assets we have to pay it off with do not exceed $400,000. Now, whether we administer public affairs or the task be entrusted to others, the Province must always pay off this debt, and, for the purpose, it must of necessity have recourse to a loan. On this head, I defy all serious contradiction, and my conviction is so profound, that I do not fear to risk ont this the duri I 1 1' banks at lefllil us paid by the led to accept, at 4 per cent. ,000 a year in ikiug fund to mse the rate an, instead of suit in intro* I the foreip^n well defined, abilities con- engagements of which we t to be well to the debt of ing into con- ower rate of would much sity of find- nal required loan. But to take the s ; it has no the means Ithe adminis- I possible. I iber of this jtrict confor- med by the jthis official |t is $3,788,- rith do not Entrusted to purpose, it all serious I fear to risk 40 on the subject the reputation I may have acquired as a business man. Of this floating debt, we have to pay nearly two millions between this and the 30th June, nearly a million during the fiscal year 1887-88, the balance during the following fiscal year, and we have nothing tangible to fall back upon to meet it. This is the reason why I most conscienciously declare that it is absolutely essential to borrow. If we are to judge from the tone of their newspaper press and the recent declarations of the leader of the Oppositioi^ it would seem that our hon. friends on the left are not of this opinion. That's their business. If they want to introduce into this country the doctrine of repudiation of State debts, which they themselves contracted ; if they are inclined to take the grave responsibility of the consequences that may result from the placing of the Government in the impossibility of honoring the engage- ments of the Province ; if they are resolved to strike this fatal blow at the honoi and credit of the country, so much the worse for them ; but the Government will not the less do its '^ uty, and its responsibility will be discharged when it shall have indicated what should be done. In fine, it will be for the House to decide if we should, yes or no, take the only means left to meet the engagements contracted by our predecessors in the administration, and I have confidence enough in its honesty to believe that it will say with all honest folk : Let us pay our debts. VI. Estimate of the lleceiptM and Expenses for the Fiscal Tear I estimate the receipts at $3,216,022.80. This estimate is based on the receipts of the last fiscal year. There is a slight increase in two or three items aud a falling off" in others, according to how we can forecast the rise or fall in the revenues arising from those sources. The following are the receipts on which I count : Dominion Subsidy: Subsidy payable in virtue of the Oonfederation j^ct $959,252 80 Interest on trust funds 55,459 32 Special subsidy in virtue of the statute 47 Vic chap. 4 12t,460 68 Interest on the railway subsidy in virtue of 47 Vic.,chap.8 119>t00 00 . $1,261,872 80 t 60 Interest: Interest on the price of sale of the Q. M. 0. & O. Railway 3*75,000 00 Interest on trust funds and deposits 30,000 00 Interest on collections made by Ontario from Common School lands since 1867 60,000 00 $ 465,000 00 Administrution of Justice : Law Stamps .7^..... , $110,000 00 Fees 5,000 00 Building and Jury fund 14,000 00 Contribution for support of vagranis in gaol.... 10,000 00 Gaol guards 4,000 00 Fines 1,000 00 House of Correction, Montreal... 5,000 00 Montreal Court House 5,000 00 High Constable's fees, Quebec 750 00 I 214,750 00 Registration stamps..... 16,000 00 Licenses ." 280,000 00 Crown Lands 657,*700 00 Percentage on fees of certain public officers 6,600 00 do on renewal of hypothecs 500 00 Legislation 4,000 00 Official Grazette.... 21,200 00 Lunatic Asylums : Contributions of municipalities for the fiscal year 1887-88 $ 40,000 00 Arrsars due on these contributions for pre- vious years 35,000 00 t75 000 00 Public buildings, rents, &c 1^000 00 Contributions to pension fund , 6,000 00 Casaal revenue , 2,000 00 Tptal 9T4i|iftry receipts...,.,,, ^,^^^^,^.^^^ |8,020,622 80 ) 465,000 00 214,Y50 00 16,000 00 280,000 00 667,t00 00 6,500 00 500 00 4,000 00 21,200 00 75,000 00 1,000 00 6,000 00 2,000 00 $8,020,622 80 51 Receipts on capital account : Quebec Fire loan % 500 00 Municipal loan fund 50,000 00 Repayment on loan to Beauport Asylum 4,000 00 Repayment on loan to St. Jean de Dieu Asylum 6,000 00 Leduc farm, approximate amount of the price of sale 10,000 00 Repayment by the City of Montreal on ac- ^ count of construction of Q. M. O. & O. Railway and other claims 125,000 00 '■ 1195,500 00 Total receipts from all sources $3,216,022 80 I can state that this estimate har. been prepared with the greatest care and that we hope to take in the whole amount of it. The sums, forming the total to be received from the Federal Grovern- mont, call for no explanation. I estimate at $60,000 the sum we shall receive from the Ontario Grov- ernment for interest on the collections on accoijnt of the conttnon school lands. Since we assumed office, I have placed myself in communication with Mr. Mowat's Cabinet on the head of these collections, and I have the ^onor to inform the House that we have received a favorable answer which warrants the hope that this question will soon be finally and satisfactorily settled. The receipts from the administration of justice will come up to the figure at which I estimate them, if all the officers of that service do their duty. I estimate at $280,000 tho" revenue from licenses. It is slightly less than the amount collected during tho last fiscal year. The information furnished me by the treasury officers gives me reason to believe that we shall take in the sum montioned in the estimate. I have not yet been able to devote the time requisite to a serious study of the license law or to obtaining a personal knowledge of its working, in order to ascertain whether it needs to be modified. I propose to enter up- on this study during the vacation. If I find that it requires to be changed, we shall submit the proposed changes to the House next session. Up to now, the operation of the Scott Act does not seem to have affected the license revenue. That law does not appear to be well appre- ciated in this Province, and its enforcement has made but little progre8s-=- in fact, public opinipi^ seems to be unfavorable to it. f S2 For the current fiscal year, my hon. predecessor estimated at $700,000 the receipts from Crown lands. The information supplied by the officers of the Crown lands department establish that we shall not receive that amount and that the revenue from this source will not exceed $66t,700. I accept this figure as the estimate of the receipts for next year. This esti- mate has been carefully prepared and I have no doubt that we shall take in, under his head, at least $65*7,700.00. I think that we shall get from the municipalities the $75,000 entered in my estimate for the support of lunatics in the asylums ; if we make the necessary efibrts to collect what is owing to us. At the same time I think it well to note for the information of the House, that, as a general rule, the municipalities seem little disposed to pay up what they owe to the Gov- ernment Nearly all over, they wish to saddle the Province with their re- sponsibilities. This tendency must be resisted and I trust, that members of municipal corporations will understand that, in the present condition of the provincial finances, it is imperative that we should collect all that is owing to us and that we are compelled to take every possible means to at- tain this end. We count upon realizing 50,000 from the indebtedness to the muni- cipal loan fund, but I must acknowledge that this receipt is one which falls somewhat into the* category of probabilities. For the current fiscal year, my hon. predecessor calculated under this head on a receipt of $100,- 000. During the seven months from the 30th June, 1886, to the 31st Jan- uary, 1887, he only collected $5,380.00. As may be seen, there is a very considerable shortage. The fact is that most of the wealthier municipali- ties have settled their indebtedness to this fund and that, among those which have not yet come to terms with the Government, there are some which cannot pay without embarrassing themselves, thus rendering the collections more and more difficult. Further, the precedents established by our predecessors in making for the slightest reasons enormous reduc- tions on these credits have become a cause of embarrassment, I might say, one of almost of hindrance to the collection of what is legitimately due to us. TLcro is a sum of $10,000 entered as the price of the Leduc farm. This farm had been promised as a site or as aid for the establishment of a Pro- testant Lunatic Asylum ; but, as it has been considered unsuitable for the purpose, we have decided to give in lieu of it a sum of $10,000 in money, on the understanding that the Government shall recoup itself by selling the property, which will undoubtedly bring the amount entered in my estimate. It will be remembered that in the course of the arrangements respect- ing Montreal's subscription to the Northern Colonization Railway, it was stipulated that that city should pay $50,000 towards the cost of the con- struction of the Hull bridge, and also the diffeience between $132,000, the Sttni tweei Raib 4, ai $122,1 ^andl sl of the 6^ Sttm assumed by the G-overnment and the cdst of tKe expropriations fce- tween Hochelaga and Dalhousie Square, to extend the Q M. 0. & 0. Railway to the Barracks. This difference, as mentioned in statement No. 4, amounts to $t2,188.02 and forms with the other $60,000 a total of $122,188.02 over and above certain other accoupts which increase the •grand total to more than the amount entered in the estimate. Such are the receipts upon which we calculate to meet the expenses of the fiscal year under review. Payments of the Fiscal Year 1887-88. The budget of the expenses of this year aggregates $4,220,T36.00, and is made up as follows : Ordinary expenses : Service of the public debt $1,075,368 67 Ordinary expenses of the administrative service 1,926,466 98 3,000,829 60 Expenses imputable to capital. Railways $806,406 40 Public buildings 389,500 00 Loan and grant to Protestant lunatic asylum.. 25,000 00 1,219,906-40 Grand total < $4,220,736 00 Before entering into details, I desire to specially call the attention of hon. members to the arrangement of the printed budget, which shows at a glance whether the items of expense are increased or diminished. By consulting the heading of each page, the augmentations or diminutions can be at once seen, as compared with the estimate and the reality of the current fiscal year. I deemed it right to introduce this improvement in the budget to better enable hon. members to judge the payments we pro- pose, or, at all events, to exempt them from the trouble of referring to documents of the previous year, in order to ascertain where there is in- crease or decrease. I^t us now go into details : For the service of the public debt, we ask $1,074,363.67, as follows : Interest on the consolidated debt $ 886,018 67" do on other loans 125,000 00 $1,011,018 67 Sinking fund and redemption of liabilitieb 66,846 01 Expensesof management 6,600 00 Total $1,074,363 67 64 There is an increase of 154,514.36 in the interest service. This is easily explained. Short of repudiating the liabilities of the Province, it is abso- lutely necessary to resort to temporary loans or to contract a consolidated loan to pay off the debt:, actually due or which will fall due during the next fiscal year, ^e do not at present pay interest on all these debts ; but the moment we borrow money to wipe them out, we must necessarily pay* interest upon it. This is why I ask a credit sufficient to cover all we may be required to pay for this service. ' For the current fiscal year, my hon. friend from Sherbrooke had only asked $25,000 for tue interest service on temporary loans and trust funds ;. but wh'^n we assumed office on 31st January, this sum had already been exceeded by $8,400.34 and to close the current fiscal year, $48,000 more were required, so that the shortage in the credit asked by my hon. friend will amount to $51,400.34 for that year. This shortage must be covered by s .lew credit in tke supplomentary budget. In order to remedy this and to regulate this service, I at once ask for a sufficient sum to meet all we shall be called on to pay, the interest included on the sum we shall have to borrow to pay the railway subsidies, the cost of construction of the Quebec Court House and Parliament Buildings, and the other expenses im- putable to capitable. The House will readily understand that it is the loans we have to make to pay these expenses and to cover the deficit of the current fiscal year that will necessitate this increase of the interest service. All this re- sults from the policy of our predecessors. "We only borrow to honor the • engagements of their contracting which cannot be met put of the ordinary revenues. There is a decrease of $601.9*7 in the expenses of management and of $28:^^9.02 in the sinking fund service, making a total diminution of $28,970.99 in these tv/o services as compared with the current year. On the whole service of the debt, the increase amounts to $25,543.86. For the current year my hon. predecessor had estimated at $219,960.00 the expenses of legislation, inclusive of $38,500 for cost of elections. These expenses, for the whole year, are going to reach $248,611.74 or $30,651.74 more than his estimate. In this sliortage there are $18,000 for election ex- penses, which were paid by special warrant issued on the demand of my hon. friend from Sherbrooke. There is also a shortage of $16,951.74 in the item of salaries, contingent expenses, &c., of the Legislative Assembly and of $700 in the appropriation for the Library, making in all $17,651.74. This is easily oe, it is abso- consolidated e during the se debts ; bnt icessarily pay* Br all we may dke had only trust funds ;- already been 148,000 more f hon. friend it be covered remedy this m to meet all lum we shall ruction of the ' expenses im- we have to current fiscal All this re- to honor the the ordinary agement and iminution of nt year. On t $219,960.00 tions. These or $30,651. t4 election ex- mand of my 961.74 in the ssembly and 7,651.'74. 55 For next year I ask for the same service a vote of ^ISl.TSS.OO, making on the whole a decrease of $66,826. 74. The items in which this decrease occurs are the following : — Salaries and contingencies of the Legislative Assembly, including $4,000 for the codification $ 1*7,126 74 Library of the Legislature, salaries, contingencies, bind- ing, &c 2,450 00 Parliamentary Procedure 750 00 Election expenses 46,500 00 $66,826 74 For civil government the estimate of the expenses of the current year was $185,420.00 ; but this credit is insufficient. It must be increased by $7,430.19, making this expense $192,860.19 for the current year. It is also the sum we ask for next year. Although asking the same amount, we will in reality effect a saving of $9,600.00. The sum asked includes one of $4,400.00 transferred from the expenses for other services to that of civil government, as indicated by the Detailed Statement of Certain Expenses, in the hands of hon. members. It includes also $3,000.00 for the salaries of new employees named by our predecessors before going out of office, as well as ncreases of salary amounting to $855.00 equally made by our predecessors, without counting $1,350.00 of increases of salary resulting from the operation of the civil service law. This makes in all $9,600,00. It is manifest that if our hon. friends of the Opposition had remained in power they would have added this sum to the expenses of civil government, which would have been thus proportionately increased. For our part we place these additional expenses, for which we are in no way responsible, to tha account of that service for next year, and we only ask the amount of this expense for the current year, so that in reality we are proposing a saving of $9,600.00. Moreover we effectually reduce the contingent expenses by $6,870.00 ; they will amount this year to $47,770, while we ask only $40,900.19 for next year. The administration of justice is coing to cost $374,212.48 this year ; for next year we ask for $365,680.98, or a decrease of $8,637.50. We hope to effect this saving and even more by a reorganization of the service of certain courts and gaols, the necessity of which has been demonstrated by experience and demtnided by public opinion. "We are making a reduction of $750.00 in the police service, and we ask the same credits as those of the current year for reformatories and inspection of public offices. 56 ^■^ i rt These various items^of the budget j form, with the administration of justicejproperly so called, an aggregate_of $480,510.48 for the current fiscal year. We only ask $4tl,l 22.98 for next year, making on the whole a diminution of $9,387 60. The vote asked for public instruction, as compared with the expense of the current year, show*" a diminution of $9,660 00. I desire hon. members to note well that this diminution in no way affects the grant for superior education, common schools, inspection of schools and the other regular credits of this service, which remain at the same figures. Among the expenses of the current year, there is a sum of $6,000 for arrears on the instalments to the teachers' pension fund, $6,410 for arrears on the purchase of prize books, and $160.00 for the convent of St. Roch de I'Achigan, making in all a decrease of $12,660 on the expenses of the current year. We shall have next year to pay $2,000 to the Rimouski College and $1,000 to the annual service of the teachers' fund, which two sums were not paid this year, making $3,000 of new expenses. By deducting these $3,000 from the $12,660 mentioned higher up, it will be found that there is a net reduction of $9,560, which affects in no way the ordinary grants. The payments under the head of Literary and Scientific Instituticnj will reach $27,791.89 for the current year, and we ask but $10,360 for next year or a decrease of $17,441,87. We strike off $3,741.87 from the expenses of the Health Boards, and $200 from the grant to encourage the study of the natural sciences, which makes $3,941.87. The remainder of the decrease is represented by the payment for the London Colonial Exhibition, $6,000, wLioh will not recur, and by the $7,600 paid to discharge the arrears on the copying and publication of the Canadian archives, which will not affect the ordinary grant of $5,000 for that service. Without affecting the regular grant, the expense for Arts and Manufactures is also reduced, namely, $2,000 for the construction of the Quebec School and $500 for the establishment of workshops for the application of science to the mechanical arts. The Quebec School is completed, and it is impossible to establish the workshops in question,, which renders the two credits needless. We ask $76,160 for agriculture iu lieu of the $102,521 which have to be laid out for this serv'^ during the present year. This makes a decrease of $26,371. This decrease arises from the retrenchments wo are making in certain credits, and from the fact that some of the services which occur this foUoj Jourl Aid Aid Butt< Sun( Lectj Moni Aid Aid iistration of nrrent fiscal he whole a the expense m no way spection of aain at the ■ $;6,000 for for arrears 5t. Boch de uses of the ) Rimouski which two )enses. By , it will be 10 way the iuticn'i will r next year ixpenses of ady of the e decrease on, $6,000, arrears on 1 will not Arts and ion of the for the School is question,. h have to a decrease naking in ich occur 67 this year, will not occur next year. The retrenchments aiTect the following services : — Journals of Agriculture $ 1,506 00 Aid to establish a Stud 6,000 00 Aid to the Gazette des Campagnes 760 00 Butter and cheese factories, salaries of professors 600 00 Sundry expenses, subscriptions to treatises, &c 400 00 Lectures on agriculture 600 00 Montreal botanical garden ; 1,000 00 Aid to the Berthier beet-sugar factory 3,000 00 Aid to agriculture , 300 00 $14,066 00 The following items have been struck out, as they will not occur again next year : Veterinary schools, to settle arrears due to the /o«r«a/. % '760 00 Insurance on the Farnham beet-sugar factory 900 00 Permanent exhibition committee, last payment 3,466 00 Bridge over the Richelieu 2,000 00 Sherbrooke agricultural exhibition 6,000 00 $12,116 00 As will be noticed, the grants to the societies, council, and schools of agriculture remain the same ; we have only retrenched upon the services that have become useless or that are of altogether secondary importance. "We reduce to $4,000 the credit for immigration and repatriation, making a decrease of $4,000 in this service, in which there have been abuses and needless expenses. In imitation of the example of the Ontario Legislature, we propose to cut down this expense to what is strictly indispensable. The vote for colonization is placed at $75,000, that is to say, $70,000, for roads and $6,000, for colonization societies. We are bringing the ex- penses under these heads to their normal and ordinary figure. For the current and past fiscal year, my hon. friend from Sherbrooke got the House to vote him much larger sums for colonization roads ; but he declared to us that for each of those years he took $100,000 from capital, or that it would be necessary to raise that sum by means of loans. It is easy to 68 understand that snch a system was simply ruinous. If we were to pursue it only for ten years, we would add a million to our debt. Favorably dis- posed as the Government may be towards all that concerns colonization, it is not prepared to assume the responsibility of a system of this kind. I am even satisfied that my hon. predecessor had not^the slightest inclination to continue this extraordinary outlay of $100,000 a year on capital account. This excessive generosity in favor of colonization roads corresponds too strinkingly with the general elections, and the public cannot fail to see, in this sudden fit of zeal, as well as in the enormous figure of the sums spent, so many electoral weapons, so many measures, to influence a large body of the electorate, and I consider that they would not be far wrong in doing so. I also have not the slightest doubt that, if my hon. friends on the left had remnined in power, they would have at once reverted to the usual credit of i^'70,000 for colonization roads. At the same time, should there be any absolutely pressing wants, we shall willingly increase by $10,000 the appropriation asked for this service. On this head, we shall await inform- ation from the department of agriculture and colonization, which we pro- pose to establish and which will make a more thorough study of the real wants of colonization. For public works and buildings, I ask a vote of $473,406.'76. Of this sum, $389,500 are expenses imputable to capital, leaving |83,906.'76 for ordinary expenses. The outlay on capital account is made up as follows :— Construction, Quebec Court House $ 100,000 00 " new Parliament House TS.OOO 00 " of a building for the Circuit Court in the County of Kamouraska 6,000 00 " of the foundations of the Artabaska Court House and gaol 6,000 00 '* of the enlargement of the Montreal Court House 200,000 00 " of the enlargement of McOill school.... 2,600 00 I 389,500 00 In the ordinary expenses, we make the following reductions as com- pared with the same expenses for the current year : Rents, insurance, repairs, &c. of public buildings in general $ 6,229 00 Inspections 1,000 00 Repairs to Court Houses and gaols 2,t00 00 Insurance do do , 500 00 $ 10,429 00 gm tofd mitl oblil grei 760.1 itei 59 There are no changes in the charities. Many new applications for grants have been made and a number of them would have been entitled to favorable consideration ; but, as the state of our finances does not per- mit us to increase our expenses under this head, we have regretfully been obliged to maintain the statu quo. The expenses of the Crown Lands Department will amount in the ag- gregate to $154,411.00 for the current year ; for next year, we ask $128,- 750.00 or a decrease of $25,661.00. This decrease falls on the following items: Cadastration service , $ 4,000 00 Surveys 8,600 00 Q-eneral expenses 5,661 00 Exploration of mines 2,500 00 Protection of forests against fire 5,000 00 Total !... $25,661 00 "We can carry on these retrenchments without imparing the eflB.ciency of these services or detracting from the receipts from the Crown lands. The need of new surveys, for instance, seems to me more than problemati- cal. On the 30th June, 1886, we had available 6,968,009 acres of Crown lands surveyed and subdivided into farm lots. At an average of 100 acres per family, this would supply enough of land to establish 69,780 families or a population of at least 348,400 souls. No matter how rapid we may suppose the progress of colonization likely to be, it will be admitted that at least ten years will be required to establish all these and to take up the 6,968,009 acres of surveyed land actually available. Then, why incur so much expense for new surveys ? I fail to see their utility. Moreover, we appropriate $30,000 for this service which is more than sufficient for real and immediate requirements. The other items of the chapter Sundry Services show the following diminutions as compared with the expenses of the current year : — To put the Quebec Factory Act into operation $ 500 00 Deschamps, List of Parishes 2,000 00 Stamps, licenses, &c 2,000 00 $ 4,500 00 To which must be added the following which will not o mr again next year : — Aid to distressed fishermen of the North Shore of the St. Lawrence $ 9,500 00 Royal Commission, re Q. M. O. & 0. Railway $10,881 25 $24,881 25 li:. 60 There are increases or rather new credits io the anioUnt of $5,000, of which 12,000.00 are for the Beauharnois macadamized roads company, and 18,000 for the Maritime road of the Sagaenay, which cuts down to 121,881.26 the real decrease in the ordinary expenseb. The other item, the loan of $25,000, for the establishment of a Protestant Lunatic Asylum at Montreal, falls into the class of expenses on capital ac- count. This sum results directly from the resolution adopted by the House on the 13ih May, 1885, with this difference that, instead of a loan of the whole, there is a gift of $10,000 representing the value of the Leduc farm judged unsuitable for the contemplated institution. The expenses imputable to capital form a total of $1,219,906.40. They comprise the following details for the two fiscal years : Railways : 1886-8*7. 188*7-88. Subsidies to companies $1,108,464 90 $787,406 40 Q. M. O. & 0. Railway & inspection.... 34,000 00 18,000 00 $1,142,464 90 $805,406 40 Public Buildings Quebec Court House $193,700 00 100,000 00 Parliament Buildings 184,450 00 75,000 00 Kamouraska Court House 6,000 00 Arthabaska " 6,000 00 Montreal " 18,000 00 200,000 00 Protestant Lunatic Asylum 25,000 00 McGill School, Montreal 2,600 00 $396,120 00 $414,600 00 As will be seen, there is a decrease of $337,058.60 in the paym^^nts for railways and an increase of $17,380.00 in the expenses for public build- ings. According to the information supplied by the architect of the Depart- ment of Public Works and by Mr. Lesage, the Assistant Commissioner, the $175,000 we ask for the Quebec Court House and Parliament Buildings will suf&ce in fully complete those two structures. When finished, the Quebec Court House will cost $628,210.71 or $828,220.71 more than the $200,000 special debentures issued to pay the cost of that building. In one of his budget speeches, Hon. Mr. Wurtele estimated at $300,000 the Pari paic 684. undl row! ■k' yi $5,000, of mpany, and cuts down iseb. The Protestant L capital ac- >ted by the d of a loan f the Led no 6.40. They 7-88. 406 40 )00 00 106 40 >00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 OO 00 OO 00 }0 00 )0 00 mdnts for lie build- Depart- oner, the uildings ihed, the than the ing. In ,000 the 61 I Parliament Buildings and included this amount in the floating debt to be paid off out of the loan of 1882. That building is going to cost $575,- 584.14 or ♦279,584.14 more than Mr. Wurtele's estimate. It wili be easily understood that these excesses of exp->nditure can only be paid with bor- rowed money. My hon. friend from Sherbrooke entered in one of his budgets a sum of 150,000 to enlarge the Montreal Court House, in order to give the additional accomodation demanded by the Bar. That sum was altogether insufficient to pay for the works, and so as not to be compelled to come annually before the House for new credits, we ask at once for the full amounts required. Why not state forthwith what is really needed, and enable the House to judge on the subject with a full knowledge of the state of the case? Moreover we shall see to it that the contracts are prudently awarded ; we shall endeavor to close the doors upon extras, and if we succeed, as I hope we shall, in getting the works done for a smaller sum, it will disturb nothing ; the surplus will remain in the treasury and may be employed for other works of the same nature. As for the railway subsidies, it is very difficult to give a precise estimate of the amount required, For the current year my hon. predeces- sor placed a sum of $250,000 in his budget for this service. On the 31st January he had already paid out $622,464.90, and there remained to be paid up to the 30th June an additional sum of $486,000 ; making a total for the whole year of $1,108,464.90 or $868,464.90 more than his estimate. To not run the risk of a similar miscalculation, I enter in my estimate a sum of $787,406 40, which I deem quite ample to meet all demands that may come in under this head. However, all depends on the rapidity with which the companies will push their works ; but, as these sums can only be taken out of a loan, we will always have at our disposal the money required to meet the demands, even if the latter should exceed the amount entered in my estimate. If the Houses do not consent to authorize the loan, these subsidies cannot and will not be paid and the interested parties will suffer. Lastly, whether these sums be paid next year or another year, they do not the less consti- tute unquestionable debts, the payment of which we may delay, but from which we cannot escape except b^ legislative repudiation. Now, let us sum up the expenses of the current fiscal year and tho^Q of the next year in order to compare them and learn the result i— • I:..' 62 Ordinary Expenses: isse-sT ISSY-SS Public debt 11,048,820 31 $1,074,863 6*7 Legislation 248,61174 181,786 00 Civil Government 192,860 19 192,860 19 Administration of justice, police refonnatories, inspection of public offices 480,610 48 471,122 98 Public iu8tn> ;tion 400,586 87 371,085 00 Agriculvure, colonization, immi- gration and repatriation 265,621 00 156,160 00 Public works and buildings, impu- table to expenses from reve- nue 88,786 79 58,906 76 Lunatic Asylums 243,000 100 230,000 00 Sundry benevolent institutions 39,316 00 89,316 00 Sundry services, including Crc /n Lands expenses 246,792 26 226,260 00 13,254.744 60 $3,000,829 60 Expenses imputable to capital. Railways $1,142,464 90 $805,406 40 Public buildings 396,120 00 414,500 00 $1,538,584 90 $1,219,906 40 Add the ordinary expenses $3,254,744 60 $3,000,829 60 Total expenses of all kinds $4,793,329 50 $4,220,737 00 A comparison of the ordinary expenses of the current with those of the next fiscal year gives the following result : — Ordinary expenses of 1886-87 $3,264,744 60 " " 1887-88 3,000,829 60" Decrease for 1887-88 $253,915 00 The service of the public debt is an uncontrollable expense, at least as regards the interest and sinking fund. By deducting the payment for this service from the total of the ordinary expenses, we get as the result the amount of the ordinary expenses subject to the control of the adminis- tyatpn, thf^t is to say, those on v^hicl^ th© government cj^n eco;^Qn^i?^e or ye-' trel faA Or\ isi Le $87-88 r4,86S 61 n,is5 00 >2,860 19 1,122 98 1,086 00 5,160 00 8,906 76 0,000 00 9,316 00 6,260 00 0,829 60 5,406 40 1,500 00 ),906 40 ,829 60 ,737 00 with those ,744 60 ,829 60 ,915 00 ise, at least ayment for i the result le admin is- n^^e or ^e^ 63 trench. If you make this abstraction, the comparison is still more in favor of next year, as indicated by the following- table . Ordinary expensei. 1886-87 $8,254,744 60 LesB 1,048,820 81 1887-88 8,000,829 60 Less 1,074,868 67 Ordinary uncontrollable expenses. (for public debt) $2,205,924 29 (for pablic debt) 1,926,465 93 Decrease in controllable expenses $ 279,438 86 There is already a large reduction, and I 8incerel7 hope that we shall find means to still further increase its fija:ure. The expenses on capital account are Eihown by the following table for the two fiscal years : For 1886-87 $1,588,584 90 •♦ 1887-88 1,219,906 40 Eedtiction $ 818,678 50 Lastly, the total expenses, both ordinary and imputable to capital, for ihe two years, shows the following result : Total expenses 1886-87 $4,798,829 50 dp 1887-88 4,220,786 00 Decrease for 1887-88 $ 572,598 50 It only remains now to be seen, in order to complete the examination of thd next fiscal year, whether the ordinary receipts will be sufficient to meet the ordinary expenses. In speaking of the revenue on which we count for next year, I hare shown the House that the ordinary receipts will amount to $3,020,522.80. A comparison of this figure with that of the ordinary expenses gives the following result : Ordinary receipts for 1887-88 |3, 020,522 80 expenses 3,000,829 60 Surplus of ordinary receipts over ordinary expenses. .,..,.......,.,!•..,. ...M:vM'—-"f 19,693 gQ 11 If I followed my hon. predecessor's example and entered in the ordin- ary receipts the 1500.00 coming from the Quebec fire loan, the $50,000 from the municipal loan fund, and the $10,000 from the repayments on the loans to Beauport and Longue Pointe Asylums, the whole forming a total of $60,500.00, these ordinary receipts would be increased to that extent and, instead of $19,693.20, they would show an excess of $80,193.20 over ordin- ary expenses, that is to say, that we would have a surplus to that amount. I do not wish to pursue this course, which I regard as erroneous ; but I think I have clearly shown that for the fiscal year in question, we shall at least have an equilibrium between the ordinary receipts and expenses, and that our ordinary revenues will amply suffice to pay our ordinary ex- penses. Of course, the figures I have given are estimates, and, to speak frankly and loyally, it may happen that I may be deceived in my fore- casts ; but I can asssert that those estimates have been carefully made, that they are based on the average of previous years, and that unless there should occur in some of the sources of revenue an extraordinary falling off which it is impossible at present to foresee, I am sincerely convinced that we shall collect the amount of ordinary revenue I have indicated. Until now I have only spoken of the ordinary receipts based on the usual esti- mates ; but I should not omit to add that, by an order in council dated the tth April instant,* we have secured for the Province an additional revenue of nearly $140,000 by raising from $2 to $5 per square mile the ground rents of the timber limits under license. There are actually under license 46,0*78 square miles of limits, the ground rents of which have remained at $2 pe^ mile since 1868. By increasing those rents to the extent of $3 per mile, we shall augment our revenue by $138,234,00 which will raise our fjurplus to $157,927.20. This measure was necessary under the circum- stances and I believe it will be approved by the people. As for the ordinary expenses, we entertain the hope that they will not exceed the figure of my estimate and even that they will not come up to it. we have based it on the average of the two or three last fiscal years. There will certainly be reductions, and we would be warranted, per- haps, in cutting down at once several items in which we are determined to retrench. This would enable us to make a still more favorable showing ; but we desire to proceed seriously and with a full knowledge of what we are about in making these retrenchments, after an exhaustive study of what can and what cannot be done in that sense and, rather than cut down right and left, rightly or wrongly, to dazzle the public with a fal- lacious state of things, we have preferred to be content, for the present, with a result less brilliant and attractive, but grounded on more well-con- cousidered probabilities. Before retreaching, we must ancertain the items of w ca ob 65 a the ordin- 50,000 from on the loans g a total of extent and, over ordin- Lat amount. tneous ; but n, we shall d expenses, rdinary ex- d, to speak in my fore- i'uUy made, nless there r falling off rinced that ted. Until usual esti- 1 dated the al revenue he ground der license )mained at t of $3 per 1 raise our le circum- y will not ome up to seal years. ,uted, per- etermined showing ; what we e study of • thar cut irith a fal- e present, well-con- the items of expense which may be reduced without iinpairing the efficiency of the public service. We are anxious to inaugurate reforms and to economize wherever economy is posssible ; but we do not want to act rashly or to carry into effect reforms and retrenchments which might be of a nature to obstruct the progress of affairs or to lessen the efficiency of the administra- tive service. I think it possible to inaugurate reforms in the administration of jus- tice and considerably reduce the cost of that service. My hon. friend, the Premier, is giving attention to this important ijuestion, and I am satisfied that he will not fail to deal successfully with it, when he shall have the necessary time at his disposal after the session. There is also room for reforms, but not for economy, in colonization matters. The money we spend for this purpose is far from producing the results we have a right to hope from it. We can more easily carry out these reforms with the help of the department we desire to organize. Lastly, our well-defined policy, one of the principal features of our programme, is to exercise the strictest supervision over the expenditure of the public moneys, to closely watch their outlay, to control all the expenses, and to conduct the business of the Province as the business of our best managed financial institutions and great commercial houses are conducted, and according to the rules and the practice observed in those institutions. This is the end we have in view. To attain it, however, we must necessarily take time to seriously and thoroughly study all the details of our administrative organization so as to avoid doing anything that may not be in keeping with prudence and that will not produce solid and last- ing results. I am quite convinced that, by acting with discernment and in accordance with the piinciples of a wise administrative economy, we shall succeed in materially and permanently reducing our ordinary and controllable expenses. But we cannot do all thip single-handed , we must have the assistance of the House, the frank and loyal support of the deputation. Of course, we shall shortly have to face a notable increase of expense for the interest service, when we shall have borrowed the sums required to pay off the bal- ance of the railway subsidies and of the cost of construction of the public buildings now progressing towards completion ; but, with the good will and the patriotic help of the hon. members of this House, and the care and energy which we are determined to throw into the task, we are certain to ; rt ; i" 66 extricate the Province from its present difficult position, if the Legislature gives us an efficient and loyal measure of support. Conclusion. Such, Mr. Speaker, is the financial position of the Province frankly and conscientiously explained, as I understand it, and as it unfortunately is in reality. Certain persons will pretend, perhaps, that it would have been better in the interest of the country, to respect the old traditions, to extenuate things and to not state the whole truth, especially on the eve of putting a new loan on the market. That is not my opinion and I am convinced that it is not the opinion of the House or the country either. The time has come to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth ; the people anxiously look for it ; business men demand it with confidence ; and my own reputation forbids me to conceal it. I have con- sequently responded to a general, a universal desire in exposing the financial situation a^ it is. I must, nevertheless, add that, however disquieting it may be for the inhabitants of the Province, the situation is not so for our creditors. We have the means to pay our debts and shall pay them honestly. The present Q-overnment cannot repudiate, and do not wish to repudiate, any of ^sthe engagements contracted by its predecessors. Every legitimate claim will be paid, if the Legislature will give us the means. Mr. Speaker, I understand all the responsibility of the declarations I am now making, but I do not hesitate to assume it, because I am con- vinced of the truth of my statements. I do not want to lull public opin- ion or to deceive the House by dangling illusory hopes before its eyes. I state what my conscience dictates, and I promise to do what should be done, if we receive from the House and country the loyal assistance, the generous and patriotic support, upon which we have a right to rely in the achievment of so arduous and national a work. We ask for that assist- ance ; we hope for that support ; and, in the name of the Province which we represent, we appeal to all men of heart, without distinction of race, creed or party, and we beg of them to sink the divisions and the feuds of the past, in order to rally all the forces of the nation for a single and noble aim— the salvation of our common country. I , Legislature frankly and inately is in been better > extenuate »f putting a vinced that LOthing but ind it with [ have con- pcsing the be for the itors. "We tly. The ate, any of nate claim SUNDAY STATEMENTS, SHOWING THE Financial Situation of tlie Province of Quebec ON THE larations I I am con- iblic opin- ;8 eyes. I should be tance, the ely in the liat assist- ice which n of race, B feuds of ind noble 31st JANUARY, 1887. PI m Ml statement No. 1. STATEMENT OP ALL CASH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS BETWEEN 30th JunSp 1882^ and '30th June^ 1888. .^ § H8 A •*•> oc cw ri § ©f 00 00 TH ^ « § 1-9 ,4 •M o CO Fl o 0) ^ ■*^ 9). ^ d O) a >^ C8 Ph T3 d eS go •♦J .2^ O CJ « « ^ 3 o r-l »-H C8 «t- O 1 H -*l H OQ oo QO 3 © v 00 QO CO a> oot- t-eo t-eo PH to n 55 eS 95 o> n t~ CO T(< eo y^ a S § OQ P4 OQ ««• iS oco oco »no toe*? i-l<0 i-ieq >o CO 00 lO of m ^ 00 W 5 -• a •s IS 00 i«o to us «o 10 M M t-H 00 to C0C4 00 0> i-l I— t CO •^rt P-. eo •k M «t » e^oc'dfo (O o S^ Oi-t ooia S eoeo eo eo •"A ooo 00 >o 00 a s eo s 60 F-i *T3'T3 'tS I CO g s 3 ,-^ «§ •te i »4 3 I Q 5 >€ g a £ *l *^ 000 CO •S V "8 a O M fc-l I. !^" I ^ •r e ."g IS II e/ uw w uv 2 1-1 i-t I— ( I— I 1-1 K 38 Sg 00 I f * 6 d o O I 00 00 H9 O CO a> a 1-9 O CO so CI GO g QQ I- O 00 n •i *^ «5 00 00 ■9 e4 $ o 00 o I CO .■■i?'«- e4 OOU) oo "^Sg ■*oo IOff Ml «g a CD I I ^ 00 S33SS I I .1 00 00 1-9 aogoioe i-lStr-lO r- o t-© «« M »« •^ r>© •OOOA e n * eo ^u}5© 00 00 00 00 esfo^iQ ; o o o 1 etit 00 «o >Q0 x> QOcSw OOOO 00 .X JSt r-i rt rH i-H n 00 a o o o ^ 3 1 p -E ' 1 o CO 00 00 1-t =2 Cm o H C4 u e ? me 04 OS 3 o s 5? 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APPROXIMATE STATEMENT I OF LIABILITIES and ASSETS of the Province of Quebed, at 31st January, 1887, based upon official reports furnished by the different Departments, but not including a large amount of disputed claims against the Gov- ernment or amount due to the Province from the Municipal Loan Fund. \ APPBOXIMATE STATEMENT of liabilities and assets of the Proviuce of Quebec, ments, bat not including a large amount of disputed claims against the LIABILITIES. Funded Debt outstanding Temporary Loans and Deposits Outsundine Warrants at Slst January, 1887 Estimated deficienoj of revenue of current year 1886-87 to meet expenditure, not including payments to he made on Railway Bubflidies, Parliament BuUdrnm, Q. M. 0. & O. R'y, Gonstruo- tion claims and Quebec Court Houee Railway money subsidies authorized, but not yet earned Railway Land subsidies converted into money subsidies under 49-60 Vic, Gap. 77, and authorized by order m council prior to the Slst January, 1887, 3,800,600 acres at 70 cts. per acre First 36 cts. per acre payable as the work is done Paid on account of same to Slst January, 1887 $ cts. 2,660,360 00 1,330,175 00 246,H46 60 Railway Land subsidies which may be converted into money sub- sidies, 1,326,000 acres at 70 cts. per acre First 36 cts. per acre payable as the Vork is done. Estimated cost of completing Parliament Buildings : — Admitted claim for work done to 3l8t January. Estimated amount required to complete Contract for Statues on Parliament Buildings Estimated cost of CO' ;.leting Quebec Court House : — Admitted claims for work done to Slst January. Estimated amount required to complete Balance of Land and other Debts Q. M. O. & 0. R'y. Loss on Exchange Bank deposit Quebec Court House Bonds i'^V^. -> ^ i ,v 928,200 00 90,0U0 00 116,113 91 70,000 00 162,823 16 ■%* »■ $ cts. 18,166,013 33 729,227 67 16,196 78 370,812 00 659,732 26 1.084.328 50 464,100 00 205,113 91 26,000 00 222,823 16 64,070 00 27,000 00 200,000 00 22,143,447 66 . ^ rrtj ir~cMj u-> ^' "--^Xj o i/ w / (,■■ / 1 '• V lebeo, It the cts. l812 00 [732 26 ,328 60 ^ 'I ,100 00 >,113 91 ^000 00 2,823 15 i,070 00 7,000 00 9,000 00 3,447 66 H at Slat January, 1887, baaed upon official reports famished by the different Dopart- governraent or amouut due to the Province from the Municipal Loan Fund. ASSETS. Part of price of Q. M. 0. & 0. Railway deposited in Banks Part of price of Q. M. 0. & O. Railway invested in Quebec Court House Bonds Balance of Price of Q> M. O. & 0. Railway unpaid Capitalized Railway subsidies under Dominion Act'47 Vic. Cap. 8. Special deposit in La Banque Jacnuee-Cartier, payment of which has been refused on account of counter claim in u Honorable Thomas McOreevy Cash in Banks Cost of Jacques-Cartier school, Montreal, to be repaid from sale of property Advances to various parties Estimated amount due as intereHt on Common School Fund from Ontario City of Montreal, subscription to Hull bridge do contritution tjwurds lands expropriated between Hojhel iga and Dalhousie square $ cts. 400,000 00 200,000 00 7,000,000 00 Quebec Court House Tax under 46 Vic. 26 and 48 Vic, Cap. 15. Exetu qf LiabilUiet mtr Aiiela at Z\»t January, 1887 . 88,271 40 100,000 00 <$ cts. 7.600,000 00 2,394,000 00 100,000 00 11,473 00 138,348 00 188.271 40 60,000 00 72,188 02 200,000 00 10.764,280 64 11,389,167 11 22,143,447 65 Treasury Department, Quebec, 30th March, 188t. H. T. MAOHIN, Assistant Treasurer, P Q.