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, _ Fripay, March 7. ' * £ 9 The Speaker took the chair at 8 o'clock. y2 Mr, MOWAT said, in reply to Mr, Ferris, | " _ that no new commissions of.tho peace other t{m:i | supplemantary have @cen issued since he had | beon Premicr. _ Botween the 'dutvs 1'n'entlon'cd in | the question, Murch ist, 1883, and lZJmt,l bubél\x- | ary, 1884, for various counties, ot er, an wf united counties of Leeds and (:rCll\ll.(': some o them contain one name, others more than one. For instance ; there had been _ issued in Brant one, Carleton one, Eigin one, Frontenac two--in | all 51 commissions had been issued. Mr. MEREDITH-- All supportiers of the Gov-- ent. *'Afr. MOWAT--Well they ought to be. CcoUNTY COUNCIL REPRESENTATION. Mr. DRURY moved that a §elqct Committee -- _ _ be appointed (to consider the desirability of so amending the Musicipal Act that the numbe'r'of members in County Councils may be reduced. The Committee to havs power to send for persons and papers. -- In support of the motion he said the eountry has arrived at a stago where the scale ofrepresontation in County Conncils is too large. The number of members constituting the various County Councits in the Province has inevreased until it lhas become a p.ubl'.c burden, and in almost all the large counties there is a strong feeling in favour of reducing 'the repre= sentation in municipalities, Un the 22nd Janu-- ary, 1883, ho moved for returns showing the number of reeves and deputy--reeves in the : counties, together with the statemert of. the umount« paid as indemnity to meinbers. These returns include all the counties except Bruce. Haliburton, Lanark, Dundas, Stormont, and Gengarry, The returns give the number of O.nuncillors in the various Councils for the vears 1872 and 1881. In Carleton there were 18 members in 1872, and 24 members in 1882 ; Ki-- gin, 17 in 1872 and 25 in 1881 ; Grey, 35 and 38; Hastings, 20 and 31 ; Huron, 34 and 47; Leeds and Grenville, 28 and 35 ; Middiesex, 88 and 493 Norfolk, 16 -- and 21 ; Northumber-- land -- and -- Durham, 89 and 41 ; Ontarmo, 26 and 33 ; Simeoe, 41 and 50 ; Waterloo, 19 and 23 ; Wellington, 84 and 37 ; Y ork, 28 and 44. In the nino years it was found the numbers had in-- creaged from 780 to 986, omitting the counties abovo--imentioned, or an increase of 20 per cent. The cost for idemnity to members has increased in the samo time from $29,490 in 1872 to $42,-- 971 in 1881, or an increase of 40 per cent. The point he wished to maulke especially was this-- that from his expesience in municipal affairs he was struck with the fact these unumbers would not be stationary, but were subject to a certain increase from year to year. There is a strong inducement for villages to seek incorporation,and whenever they have sufliciont imnhabitants they apply for incorporation; and when a municipality has more than 500 ratepayers it is entitled to a deputy--rocve. There is roormm in this way for the nuimber of reprosentatives to increase to a very large proportion. It is possible for a county with 40 imunicipalities to imcrease its representation to 200. Tho only point for consideration was whother the time hadt come now to dovisea remedy or whether the question might be delayed,. -- Mis optzion was the time had come to discuss the matter. -- Mis motion was to have a committes of members composed of ex. perienced municipal men, not with a view of tiking effective action this year, but so as to be able to show the people that the House was taking action in the matter, He did not wish to say anything disparaging to County Councils, but his experionce was that the ordinary busi-- ness of County Councils was not of such a chars acter that it required the presence of such a large number of men. In the United States, bhe was informed, they had a system of county govern-- meunt transacted by comumissioners, five of whom transact tho -- business _of _ large _ counties, and that system was found to work well. Me cnn.tentlw,l that the duty of county councails was ratlier the raising of money, and that they really controlled very little expenditure, He had carefully examined the accounts of the county of Simcoe, and as had found that it had been $38,000. He now proposed to give the ex-- | penditure over which the councils had control, and in this he had included every single itein {:\'opcrly controllable by the councils, and _he ad found that, including printing, grants to | roads and bridges (a very important item), pay \ of the County Council, law charges, fuel--of this $38,000 tho County Council controlled only $13,000 or $14,000. | In one year they had levied §$24,450, and is cost $5,036 to do it; the preceding ear the Council levied $20,000 at a cost of '5.450. and in other years the cost had been run-- ning between $5,000 and $6,000 to control an oxl;umditurn of between $15,000 or £16,000, 7 Mr. MEREDITH --What does that $5,000 in-- clude ? Mr. DRURY--Indemmnity to members, the pay of a mossenger or two, He had, however, to adinit that S:umcoe had been rather pro-- nounced in the matter of _ expenditure, arisingz, -- as he thought, from the size ef the county and running about 140 miles between two points. _ He tound that the county of York, in 1881, expended $3,024; Hast-- + ings, $1,975 ; Huron, $1,750, and Grev, §$2,202, upon the county councils. _ it should be remem-- bered, as he had stated, that the larger portion of the expenditure was done without the interfer-- ence of tho county comncils at all. . 1t had been represonted that county councils were in the --