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§ ut to Pariament. He had stated that before offering that territory .to public competition, they should -- have sub--. mitted the scheme to the House. He (Mr. Scott) was not aware that this had been the practice in the past, Mr. CAMERON wished to correct the hon. gentleman. "What he had stated was that, consider'pg the course which the party wih which the hon. gentlemm was now iden-- tificd had taken in demanding that the loca-- tion of a building which would not cost more than $20,000 or $30,000, should be sub mitted to Parliament, they should not have disposed of public property worth millions w itll'::ut the consert of Parliament. Mr. SCOTT said he was not aware that ventlemen on this side of the House com-- mented in any way upon the action taken by the late Adaminstration when they offer-- ed for sale the Muskoka territory. That wsas some fifteen months ago. That 'erritory -- contained probably the very Lest of our timber berths, inasmuch as they were more accessible to a market than any cther section, It was quite true that the vunlicensed portion of the Ottawa valley, up the Mattawa river, and on both sides of Lake Nipissing, was very valuable for its timber. But it had this disadvantage: that it gone-- raily took two years to get the timber gown to market, ln the Muskoka territory the iacilities were such that the timber was in-- variably brought out the first year. _ That territory was placed in the market by the late Government in November, 1871, Hse was not aware that any member of the then Oppesition condemned the course taken in of-- fering that teriitory for sale. It was quite trme that the Governmenat of the day was subject to a good deal of oriticism for offering for sale a territoy which was then in the occupation of settlers. thought--giving to settlers the right to s «hase the timber by paying the Crown dues. That regulation applied only to those who had been located. Unfortunitely a *very large number of people who had gone into the remote townships, and who did not get the newspapers,were not aware of the Order in Couxerl, and had not taken the trouble to locate, believing that the Government, as in times past, would recognize the right of the first settler. These settlers found subse-- «uently that their lands had been placed nnder {xccnce. His attention had been pain-- 'ully drawn to this state of afiairs, and it had led to very serious embarrassment in the admiristration of the affairs of the Crown Land Department, He might montivn one case, and ex uno dire omnres--from one learn all; a man had taken up 300 acres in one of the remots townships, had cleared more iban 60 acres,and mm;:; number otf imfrove- meonts in the wa{ of buildings, &e, He had tailed to locate himsel{f, and his timber was rold to Cook Brothers under the Order in Council, He had been on this farm some six or seven years, lie came down to Toronto snd remonstrated against the impropriety uf sellinz the timber on the land upon which he had been so long a resi-- dent, This was a case of very grievous ond cruel wrong, and he felt it would be the cuty of the department to revert from the Jumberman territory which had been so long a time occupied by the honest sottlor. That was only one instance of hardship arising from the Government having sold territory that was largely occupied by ssttlers. The e way in all cases was for the lumberman precede the settler,. . He gave employ-- ent to the settler and provided a market him. He knew there were soms farmers the N iiiuing country that got $30 a ton their hay. _ He could himself recollect time when the bay for the Upper Ottawa purchased in Gliengary, Ottaws, and z gections, and by the time it was taken the shanties it cost $50, $60, and even $100 it would be remembered that deputation »fter deputation came down from Muskoka and protested against the sale of territory cecupied by farmers, and under the pressure vuf public opinion the Governinent of that day withdrew from the position they first azsumed. 'They passed an Order in Council a few days bofore the sale, withdrawing from the sale all the lands located up to a certain day inlthat year-- some'duy in S}:.'pt?mbor, he i. _ It required, therefore, no argument nvince non. members thatthe lumber. , the moment he commenced his opera-- », was interested in inducing settlers to B in with him, He nover discovered that e was anything inimical in the position e lamberman and the settler coming to-- er and developing the great interests of country --the stropger man helping the ker. _ Ho knew it had beoun urged pét him:clf that bavieg been intimately ected with the lumher trade, not pecu: ily, but as an advocate, ho was not the er person to assume the administration igCrown Lands. Hon. gentlemen would Tefitmber tha." 10 was assailed in the news-- papers, and was charged with being the paid advocate of the lumbermen. _ It was alleged that he took the office for the purpose .of giving the lumbermen an advantage over the settier. His answer to that charge was to be found in a retro-- epect of the past year. He would ask the House to compare the results of the past year with previous years, and say wh.other be had in a single ijnstance taken the side of the strong against the weak. (Hear, hear.) His sympathies had always been with the rettler. 'Ibe lumbermen were wealthy, and quite able to take care of themselves; and when his report came down, as it would in a few Gays, ho believed is would show that he had sheitered the settler?, while at the same time be had served the interests of this coun-- try by realizing a larger revenue from the Crown lands than was ever realized in this Province. He had with him the report of the Commissioner for 1866, and having com-- pared it with cther years he found the largest revenue was obtained in tuat year, It should be remembered that at that iime the Crown Land Department embraccd the Crow», Comtaon and Grammar School Lands ofthe -- »vinces. It embraced the sliaes and the oruuance lands. _ From all these sourccs the reévenuc from both Pro-- vinces amounted, in 1866, to $1,358,760, He would zow read them, by way of compari-- sor,the amount received by the Crown Lands Department in 1871 and 1872. In 1871 the procceds of the Crown Lands were $180.000. and in '72, $193,0(0; Clergy lands, '71, $85,-- (C0, as against $121,000 in '72; Common School lands in '71, $77,000, and in '72, $80. (O; Grammar School lands in '71, $6,000, and in '72, $12,000. The totsl sum received in the land branch was, iu '71, $349,000, and in '72, £107,000,___The proceeds of _ the Woods a"" Forests -- branch were, in '71, ($550,000, and in '72, $1,101,436 _ ThaCQAOtal receipts for '71 were £869,000, and for '7? $1,416,000. This was exclusive of the notes that were held on account of half of the sales in October. On the morning of the sals, finding that th bar s were stringent, he agreed to take one-- half the purchase money in notes,. This would make the ftotsl receipts in '72, $1,©06,000, He might add that the number of patents issved in 72 was nearly one--third in excess of '71, and rearly double of 1870. Ho bad not made this increase out of the seitlers, as would be seen from the figures, the sale of Crown lands in '7l1 being 78,000 acres, realizing $180,000, and in '72, 113,623 acics, realizing $193,000, showing that the people paid less for their lands by a consider-- able sum in '7Z2 than in '71. Mr. WOOD --Where are these lands chi. fly situate1l, on Lake Superior ? Ir, 8COT1--No, The lands on Lake Supcrior are called miniog lands. -- These lavnds are all over the country. _ They were tow nskips« surveyed and returned to the de-- partment as Crown lands. _ Last year the inining lands of Lake Superior amounted to >30,000; this year they would amount to ©170,000, which he believed was in excess of all the land ever held on Lake Superior. He chserved that the press representing hon. gentlemen opposite called him to account for the reckless manner in which he had soid the mining lands on Lake Superior, . They might have commenced their criticisms rearer home, _ 'The Dominion Government, following the course adopted by the --late Government, haw offered their nminiag laads in the North west at $1 an acre. The Do' minion Government adopteod almost the ver; words of the statute passed by this Legisle-- ture in 1870, _ When tue Local Legislature tirst met there was a great deal of interest token in the mines on Lake Superior,. _ His hon. friend from NMisgara, who was then Commissioner, seemed to think that the only way was to hold on to the lands; at any rate, if any one did spend anything in developing them he must at least divide the profits with the Government. 1t he tailed he had to bear the whole expenses, but if he succeeded he must divide with the Government. _ The re-- sult was that not a single location was made on Lake Superior, -- But the pressure of pub-- lic opinion was so great that the follo wing year his hon, friend had to reverse his policy, but still be held on to the pine. _ Patentees could get the mining land at $! an zere, but they could not get the pine. That y d and thdca B iss ) B i d studices A t > rn tb n d ross was all ver'rv woeil had there beon any |ine to reserve, but unfortunately there was none. Some hon gentlemen had suggested to bim that it would be wiser to have a sur-- vey of the country made by mineralogists. He differed entirely from that view ; it would throw upon tke Government a very sericus respopsibility. They all knew thas veins were sometimes discovered which seened to prove hopeful at first, but after a large expenditure of money they would suddenly iive out, occasioning great loss. Suppose that a mineralogist employed by Govern-- 1# "C%