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-.. w-.- vvlkll 51138.1; strides in all directions. During that period our population has Increased by '00,000 souls. Mreive more than doubted out territory by adding to it over 118.- 000 square miles, an arm. iarger than all Italy. larger' than Seite 2mm ytan twice"aa lane a: NM" "'- "' - v ,,, --.. nk'ulllllls lor 8 period a. leader who possesset t remarkable degree all the "a of highest 1tateymansht to 1896 our Province has ted 1satety and with Irv-par " A QUARTER CENTURY RECORD. In October, 1872, Sir Oliver assumed office. In that same year Mr. Glad- stone was First Minister in England. and. since that date England has had eight dtmtrent Governments and as many Premiers. Lord Lisgar was our 9oveinoriedrrda in 1872, and we have had in the interval tive Governors of Canada. via., Lord Dufferin. the Mar- guis of Lorne, the Marquis, of Lans- downe, Lord Stanley and Earl Aber- Been. When Sir Oliver first assumed otrice Sir William Rowland was our teietattsnaht-dGif.iiort During his long Premiership we have had in all six 1edtytdiiirGoVir;Ciil. From 1872 to 1896 the Province of Quebec has had mien Premiers, Nova Scotia six, ce Edward Island six, New Bruns- wick tive, Manitoba tive and British bin eleven. Sir Oliver was con- Premier of Ontario during succesaive Administrations of Gen.. rant. Hayes, Garfield, Arthur. n and Cleveland. Do not these ts of themselves illustrate most rclbly how torturing Mu. EB-..r_, I, a year. In the face ot l 'e ' titr.ures, hon. gentlemen l site will be compelled to admit! . we have earnestly Bought to keep vigilant watch over the expenditures _ Province. and that our ettorta au?, signally successful. I may at this point he al- lowed to say' a word or two concerning our late leader in this House, Sir Oliver Mowat. DOW ulster of Justice at Ottawa. Were 10 attempt, sir. to summarize the his- of the Province almost since Con- . edcmtion. his name would be found ritten in characters large and bright E its almost every page. What a con- . spicuous space he must continue to, 'hit in such a history for all time C0 come. and, what is better, it is as hon- onble as it is conspicuous. With What consummate tact he ever guided _ our deliberations in this chamber; how _ watchful he always was of the dignity ' of our proceedings. Earnest at alli times and exhaustive and forceful int debate, he never indulged in recrimin- l ltion. or for a moment even! y disregarded the amenities ofI t public life. His untlring indus-l was a constant source of re- e to much younger men. His at- . hie manners disarmed his oppony ants and endeared to him his friends. On all occasions judicial in manner,' exceptionally free from prejudice, ever! tolerant of the opinions of others, he eagerly grasoed at suggestions from all quarters, and to this one fact, I doubt not, we must in no small degree attri- bute his phenomenal success. But it Wu not of considerations such as these I intended to speak. I wish rather, very hurriedly of course, to Point to the growth and development I the Province in all directions under] his urn-nun..-n-. ., A was not of consideratlo them, I intended to spe rather, very hurriedly of point to the growth and or the Province in all dlre his exceptionally long an leadership. yen nmounted to 8194.815. as against $190,221 in ms. and 8182.612 in 1894. Irv to the present time we have given grants in aid to fourteen counties for their county Houses of Refuge, or In- dustrial Homes, amounting in all to 353,760. In leaving the question of our e dltures for the past year I wlsh Ir to remind hon. members that h we have neglected no public Ice, although we have increased our grants in various directions and En- 'urredyspecial and exceptional expendl- Our total expenditures in 1891 nted to $4,158,159; in 1892, $4,068,- in 1893, $3,907,145; in 1894, 83,842,505: 5, $3,758,595; in 1896, $3,703,379. represents a reduced annual ex- ture of $455,000 in five years, ki an "refuge - ot nearly tloo,: l that as yet in, 'ING DOWN THE FIGURES. im time to ttmis, we have suc- in steadily reducing our total expenditures year by year. _I as tts..rsaruii7%%' t the Tmnsvaal,.more ow fortunuCGiil iy, retajmng for g itkisFdCior" the 'pist six ,_ ---w.. ynualca' with great strides in During that perm}! our "r-,..---,, - Lord Llsgar 51-1; our in 1872, and we have II this Governors of ate this Province " for so long a possessed in such all the qualities. Bsmaqsmp t From and sagdéigdé Drpgres- g i In 1871 we had in Ontario ninetee cities and towns having a population o over 5,000: now we have 24. In th interval the framework of a new an larger Ontario, our promising North land, has been step by ste constructed. In 1872 all the settlemen north ot Barrie was scattered and th population sparse. Orlllla was the I a straggling village of 231 people. I is nowatown of considerable promise with a population exceeding 5,000. Yo look in vain in the census of 1871 to either Bracebridge or Gravenhurst while the country north ot these lo oalities was then a wilderness know only to the hunter and the lumber man. Neither Port Arthur nor For William had then a corporate exist once. Between them they now hav ( an enterprising and energetic popula tion of about 6,000. We now regard I Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Gore Bay, Manltowaning, North Bay. Little Cur-i (rent, Rat Portage. Thessalon. Hunts;-i t ville, not to speak of several others, as centres of much promise. When Bi Oliver, first took ottice they were al ot them for the most part unhear [ of and unknown. _ ' l SINCE CONFRD%'RATION. J Prior to Confederation we had oniy' 1.447 miles of railway in this Prov-i ince. We have. built. since Confedera- tion 5,095 miles. The total mileage constructed and in operation in th Province at the Dresent date is 054' miles. The Province has given very substantial th1ancial aid to ML" miles of road. amounting in th aggregate to $8,449,884, 'VVho can eve pretend to estimate the varied result of this large expenditure, direct am indirect, 'as regards the prosperity o the Province and the timely develop- .ment of its resources generally? In 1872 Ontario and Quebec together had only 2,716 postomees. Ontario alone has now 3.138. Last year in Ontari alone there were forwarded throng these omcea 73,650,000 letters. The num her ty Ontario and Quebec togethe in 1872 was only 25,500,000. The deposit in our banks during this period hav increased four times over. and the vor. ume of tire and life Insurance (I a. now speaking of all Canada) has been multiplied approximately threefold and t1verold respectively. In 1872 we had 4.490 Public Schools, 5,222 Public School teachers, and 433,256 scholars attendin them. In 1895 we had 5.660 Public Schools. 8,158 teachers, and 444.77. gqhoiars. or an incmngp n! , no "I'M-u . _ f "ic'"" '."rTsT"'T"r"'9, _ Nor must we tome mt a 'li/iii);.;';] we humane." tulI-GSNItlu'e no. In the courts to' securé and hold our own- itt this regard, and we all agree that our victory was mainly due to the astuteness. the legal "skill 'nd adroltness and the indomitable a"??? of Mr Oliver Mont. Arid we are only now be- ginning to appreciate the olmn menace value of the victory, in-' asmuch as the great wealth of the added territory is only now being par- tially disclosed. We were then contending, be it remembered, , not for useless barren wastes» such as the swamps of Vane zuela, hut for a vast nossession, th mineral wealth of which .alnne hid' fair to make it one of the richest mug choicest in the world., 'ty Al grants and assessments for, run in 1872 amounted to $1,i l in 1895 to 83,117,545, an in: ngarly a million and a hat OF OUR RIG 9.400 SCH