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(nrormaee. Len. ~ONTARIO LEGISLATURE. | ' é s i | | FOURTH PARLIAMENT--SECOND SESSION. | l S t | ' TuEspay, Jan. 25. ' PETITIONS. | Mr. Blezard--Of the County Council of Peter | boro', praying that an Act may pass to relieve | }Lli!vlél of liabilities in respect of certain railway by-- | _Nr. (Gihson (Hamilton)--Of the Hamilton and' North--Western Railway Company, praying that | an Act may pass to authorize the issuc of bonds. _ | Mr. Crooks--Of John Barwick e( al., of Bland-- ; ford, Pmym;i)l.haj. the Act before the House rc-- : x_siy:;(;gob ng St, Paul's Church, Woodstock, may not ' Mr. TNear--Of the Niagara District Pomons Grango; Mr. Paxton, of the Fownship Council of "X})l'ld{.'_'l; Mr. Paiterson, of ;the Township Coun-- cil%of Vaughan; Mr. Baxter, of the:Township Council of North Cayuga; Mr. Robertson (Halton), of the township of Nelson; Mr. Wigie. of the Township Council of Anderson; Mr. Near, of | Elisha Graybell, and others, of Welland; Mr. | Nairn, of Jebial Matlatt, et ol., of Elgin, severally ; pmyuui' for free matkets. Mr.Waters--Of tye County County of Middlesex, | | praying for amemMnents to Municipal Actrespect-- ing culverts ; of the same,pray ing foramendments ' to the License Act respecting license fund. | Nr. Gibson (Huron}----Of J. J. Foster und others, | of Windsor; Mr. Laidlaw, of James Manueil and ; others, of Drayton; Mr. Gibson (HMamilton).of Ha-- | milton Temperance Reform Club. also of Roboert f Evans et ai., of Mamilton, severally praying for | amendments to the License Act respecting the | hours of closing hotel bars. j FIRST READINGS. I Mr, Mowat--A Bill to amend the Act respecting | the registration of co--partnerships of busihess | | iirms. | | -- Mr. McCraney--A Bill to amend the Muanicipal | Act respecting drainage, THE JUDICATURE BILL The ATTOIINEY--GENERAL moved the second | reading of the Bill to consolidate the Superior | Courts. Theobject of the Bill, as they know, was [ to simpiify th« administration of justice and to do | «y with the existing anomaly of the wide diifer-- | v . between courts of law and equity. The origin | of Caurts of Equity arose out of the necessity in England of finding some way of imitigzating the severity of the common law. The Judicature Act of _hnglvmd was introduced in 1873 and amend-- ed in 1875, and had given great satisfaction there. The valuo of that systein was attested by its suc-- cess in England. The changes eifected by that Bill were so imnortant that it had been called a legal "'l"'vnlutmu." It 1877 the system was intro-- duced into Ireland, and he failed to see any jusi grounds by which he could justify delay in intro-- | i ducing it into Ontario. Some thirty years ago the | State of New York adopted a code of this kind, ; l and although no human dovice could be perfect, ! yet no one thought of goiug back to the old syst--m, A consequence of the improved system in England | | was thrt snits were got ready so much earlier, and the judges were now able to get through with the | business. Here they would have no such diffi-- | culty. Me did not propose to go into the details of | the Act, as that would be best discussed in Com-- | mittee, 'The Act was considerably improved since its introduction last session. 'The most striking changes and improvements he would briefly enu-- . merate. 'The conduct of certain classes of | cases was rostricted in the Bill of last session to the Court of Chancery, whilst the ;. Bill as it now was gave an equad jurisdiction in all | cases to the Couris of Common Law. Another | feature introduced into the Bill provided for the l inspection of sheriff's and other oftfices of the Su-- | perior Courts. A change was also made which | related to the subject of appeals. Appeals were | made now when the sum involved in litigation | was not large. The Bill proposed to limit appeals ; to the Ontario Conrt of Appeal to the sium of $50) | in some cases, and $1,000 in others, and to the Su-- | preme Court of Canada to $2.000--this iatier be-- | ceause that was the limit in Lower Canada, The | Provinces had limited upimals to the Privy Conn-- : cil, and he saw no solid objection to their limitimi | appeals to the Supreme Court. As a genera thing it was best for suitore to be content with ; less appeal power. 'There were some typographi-- cal eirors in the Bill which he noticed, and to which he would again refer, Mr. MORRIS said this Bill was an adaptation of a plan which had been already adopted in Eng-- lund, and which had given safisfaction there. ' A prejudice existed in the minds of some people l against it, but he llmu;fht the sentiment of the country was in favour of the prinuciple of the Bill now under consideration, 'The gentlemen on his side of the House would ;five it careful attention, reserving to themselves the right of criticism and ; amendment. HMe was dubious as to their right to | limit appeal to the Supreme Court, and it was | tncertain how the Supreme Court would regard ) that alteration. * | The Bill was then read a second time. SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTsS. Mr. YOUNG moved for an address to the Lieut.-- Governor praying fora return of any correspon-- dence or' pakcrs. poi hitherto brought down, which may have passed between the Govern-- ments of Ontario, ol the Dominion, or of Quebec in relation to the fAnal settlement of the accounts of the late Province of Canada. Ho wished to have steps taken to bring that tedious affair to a close. He wanted the matter kntpr, before the country. He had understood that after the deocision of the Privy Counsil it would have been settled long ago. Ancther reason why they should have a selticment was that without one they could not I . _ come to a definite conclusion as io the Provincial | iinances. He had no doubt that the Treasurer had done all in his pewer to conclude a settlement. . But the matter required direct attention, as it was an urgent one. i Mr. WOOLD said that the hon, p?enl.[enlan stated , it was strange that accounts of thirteon years' | stammling should remain unsettled, but it was | known that arvitration had occurred between On-- | tario and Quebec on the subject. It was also a ;