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(I 1,200 years, and it Was perfectly secret. t ir. Wood at thie Huge went into an. his. torieal review of voting by ballot. He was more than ever convinced that perfect lecrevy in voting mu in the interests, of the working cleeeee. Employers of labor could, under the present Act, intluenee unduly the votes of than dependent on them. He Hon. Mr. Hardy said that the subject was being considered by the Government. liF'v'EtiUF. SINCE UONFEDEItATroN. Mr. Cla/ke (Wellington) moved for an order oi he House for a return showing, in tubal n form, a statement of Provincial raven 'rom all sources for etch year since Confederation: to the close of 1839. tspoeily- ing anon-annual receipts under the various headings used in the public accounts of the Province. A similar statement of lPrc lucid expenditure during the some I period. Respecting the Village of Csunpbolliord -ur. Willoughby. SECREUY OF THE BA LLOT. Mr. Wood (Hastings) moved tho second readin of tho bill to providofor tho secrecy of the toilet " election- of members ol the Legi rive Assembly. He regretted that lo t ny were ignorant regarding the carry- in at of the Election Act. It tN a mu.- te of history that Greece had the hallo: Td contirm certain by-laws oi the Town " Peterboro'. and fur other purpooss--Mr. Mutton. Respecting the floating debt of the Town of Ayhuer-Mr. Dunes. Respecting the Ontario & Sault Ste. Marie Water, Light & Power Company, and "to Town of Sault Ste. Marie-Mr. Lyon. PRIVATE BILLS. The following priuto bills were rttd 5 second time and put down for the consider. ation of the Committee of the ll hole t-. Reapecting the First Presby tel-inn Church "yitathuIn--M_r. Crater, fl _ - RAILWAY AID CERTIFICATES. Mr. Balfour moved for an order of the House tor a rotmn showing the amount still to be paid on railway aid osrtiticatm, issued by the Province, with the dates when the name became due and pnynlvle. Also, showing the amounts of annuity cer- tificates issued by the Province, with the dates when they became due and pnythle. Also, an estfumw of the present value of the said railway "id certiiicattm and annuity certiticatcs respectively. Mr. Creighton, who was thus far leading the Oppoauion, gave his sanction to the passing of the order, tad it was pISIOd trceordingly. Mr. Creighton had no objection to the motion, but it did look on ii it was the intention to make the information a part of the campaign literature. The motion then passed. . - - n _ r _ -'--eiiV ---v "w"'"'"""'"""".". To correct it clerical error in the Act to make further provision respecting the Dis. tricts of Parry Sound and Muskoka-The. Attorney-General. MAISTHXASCE or BRIDGES. Mr. Willoughby asked if it is the inten- tion of the Government during the present session to introduce any legislation afford- ing relief to municipalities which have im. posed upon them the maintenance of bridges over one hundred feet in length, either by regarding such bridges, when within a certain (liltenee of county boundaries, as a county boundary bridge, or when not, by imposing on the county or counties of which the minor municipality may form a. part a proportionate amount of Inch cost and maintenance. To amend the law respecting the lease tad ale of settled 'risutera--Tlu, Attorney- General. To consolidate the debenture debt of the County of Mildlonox~Mn Rona (Middle- sex). Respecting official documents where re- s quired an '"iidesue.e-rT!te Attorney-General. _ Rénpecting the City of Belleville-Mr. Ostrom. Respecting the Hamilton Patriotic Vol-. amour Fand--Mr. Gibson (Hamilton). To incorporate the Town of North To- ronto--hir. Gilmour. The following bills were reud s third time 51:11 passed t--- _ --- " The Gi% to the onm' tioii'ot the "hates, and reaidencu of 'l,tlr,'. The returns ind been very decided agninlt this. It was vocally held that in these two respects the clergy would be put on the same basis an other people. Many clergyman themselves had voluntarily surrendered their privilege in this respect. This was she extent of the legislation. The Government did not feel jtotitied in going any further " the present time. THIRD READIXGS. After recess, Mr. Mownt, resuming hil addrcss on Mr. Wood'e bill respecting the secrecy of the ballot, aid that an unfair attack was being made on the system in ( vogue In Ontario. In every county where , the Ontario system prevailed the law wns is success. and the utmost secrecy was the rule. ' He read to the House the opinions of exni. i nent jurists in England regarding the work. ing oi the Ballot Act in that country. They all declared that, notwithstanding the pre- dictiom of its opponents, it was found to ,opernte admirably. Cases of fraud under l the Act were rare, there being no disposi- tion on the part of other: to discover how i voters out their ballots. For hi. own put, The Attorney-General on rising to reply was received with applause. He denied that hon. gentlemen opposite were true friends of the ballot, and would not allow Mr. Wood to go uncontradicted in saying that he (Mr. Mowm) admitted that the present system did not provide secrecy. The present system is as secret as any in the world. It Was Mr. Wood and his friends who threw suspicion on the secrecy. of the ballot. but there was not the slightest foundation for their statements. Out of the House members of the Conservative party and their organs charged wrongdoing against election ellicers, but they had not hitherto been able to substantiate these. There was no agitation in England for re- pealing the Ballot Act as now constituted. It gives the greatest satisfaction: to all par- tics, and has been in operation for eighteen years. It is the English system which is in force in Ontario. and experience shows that it hasworked to the satislaction of all classes. It is all very good to have complete secrecy in voting, but other things are necessary to provide against wrongdoing under the Ballot Act. It is necessary to provide for a scrutiny in contested elections and also to rectify cases of pcrsonation and bailot-stuttiuit. Mr. Wood's bill, which is an application of the Australian system, does not give any means for guarding against these evils. According to his bill a dishonest vote Would. if cast, be as good as an honest one. Under the present law bribery, personation and baliortstutfiug can be reached by the law, as it is right they should. Mr. WoodU bill would give adishoaest voter the right to personate with impunity. In a close constituencyadis- honest returning ellicer could turn the re- sults of an election to the advantage of his own party by stuliing the Gl1ot.bor. It was not true that there had been in Ontario cases of Vote discovery. Mr. Wood told the House that he had heard of such cases, but he had not been able to say that such cases came under his own attention. The truth was that the election officers carried out the law as the Act demanded; but if there Was not the secrecy desirable, the duty ot the House and the Opposition should be to surround it with more tstfeetive safeguards. This could surely be done without giving up the privileges of the present system. Absolute secrecy could not be obtained by the bill advocated by Mr. Wood. In fact, no system of voting would provide this if a returning officer were desirous of violating the law in that respect. The present system aims at pre- venting frauds, but the bill before the House would encourage ballot-stuffing and personation. The Attorney-General then referred to the discussion on the present law in the House when it Was passed. The leaders of the Opposition professed to believe in open voting, but they had not opposed the bill on the ground taken by Mr. Wood in his speech. it being six o'click the Speaker left the chair. Mr. Awray asked Mr. Wood if he had ever known of a case in which the returlh ing oiiicer violated his oath ol office, but the member for Hastings refused to be placed in the witness box. Mr. Wood, in support of his contention that the present Bullet Act does not pro- vide complete secrecy, instenced the case of an employer in Eastern Ontario who intimi. dated his men by maintaining that he would lind out how they islioulil vote. There should not he the slightest suspicion regard- ing the secrecy of voting, because men in dependent positions are easily influenced hy threats. In conclusion, Mr. Wood ex. pressed dissatisfaction with the bill intro- duced by the Attorney-General, amending the Bullot Act. lie did not think that taking two oaths would make a man more honest than the taking of one. system: of voting in Ontario. If the muni- cipal syetem were be beat, the Legislature should give it effect by abnlishlng that under which the Ontario elections are con- ducted. Experience has shown that very few cases come up when a scrutiny of votes is demanded, a. not which argued against the retaining of the present system. trrendiid be two 57'