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u " ammunition "tilts"- 'v."'"m""' . t'ii',tittittifl -th.e itémn' stated; t' the accounts a the late Praying oe 'l at]: from IM?. to 18%, An can? T to otthe ohantttrehe.cte'd in the ac- count .'tf"? retgttlt of. the accountants "rort 'ttd, the arbitrators' nward ot ttteAtttt 0' June, 1896, on theseverat . items referred to the board. 'arising oaths accountants' report.has been to . altérthe state of the Province of Can- ada account as it existed on the Int or Muir. 1873, from a dehj9amutee ot tite Mt 76, as it then stood. to a credit bai- ' ance estimated pt 3187.284. besides ",Gii-l mf. material gains in favor of the' ' Provinces of Ontario and Quebec on items, entering the account after the lat of July, 1873. These are the moat _ imtrortant, but by no means all of the _questiqns which the arbitrators have ' thus far had before them. . ' ASSETS AN D. LIABILITIES. I need -not dWell orttie.tsutfteet of our assets and liabilities, The schedules in the hands of hon, gentlemen fully ex- plain them, consisting " they do' of items with which we have been long. familiar.- _Vl'e have less, monev in- vested in drainage debentures' than we I had a year ago. The receipts exceeded the investments. The items of capital, consisting of trust and other funds, do not vary from last Year. I have-al- ready said that I might reduce the unascertained balance due the Domin- Ryn, which.in the schedule is fixed ati $2,000,000, by at least $'250,000, but in- l . asmuch as a ttmit settlement is, let us hope, not far distant, I will leave it x as stated last year, preferring always ; to understate rather than overstate my case. We had at the close of the year to our credit in the banks 3226.820. Our credit balance at the beginning ot the year was $437,580, and to the extent of the difference between these two sums we have during the year drawn upon our bank deposits. But we spent for public buildings alone in 1896 $208.- 000. so that we have in that way, not to speak of other ways. substantially increased our assets. During the life- time of this Parliament, say. the years 1894, 1895 and 1896. we have spent on public buildings $875,000. and to that, large extent we have added to our net". l manent assets. We have. it is true: less money on hand, but we have these i . valuable buildings. which we i/Yee?) tively needed, in its stead. We have largely Increased also. as T, have al- ready stated, our annual votes in aid to education, to agricul- ture. to hospitals and for the mainten- ance of our public institutions. We have as heretofore omitted from our statement of assets inter alia very val- .uable, properties, such as blocks of land in the heart of this city, all our public buildings, and the unpaid bal- ances on Crown lands. All these re- present a sum of money at least three times as much as the present value of all our future railway liability. We have no other liability, present or future. save the small sum of 333.990 given in the schedule. Our direct in- terest-bearinR investments, such as the drainage debentures we hold, our trust and other interest-bearing funds. witty our credit bank balance, am- ounted at the close of 1898 to 84.816322; Deductlng from this sum the $33,000 Just alluded to, We have the large surplus of more than $4,782,000. My es- timate, as hon. gentlemen will notice, . of the receipts of this year (1897) is $3,215,372. I am confident that the ac- tual receipt will exceed my estimate. Such has been invariably the case in the past. The actual receipt tor 1896 considerably exceeded the estimated receipt. I am safe in placing Crown lands at $900,000. and I have. good rea- son to believe that the actual receipt in all the other important sources of revenue will more than make good my expectation. My ett- timate of the expenditure of this year is $3,516.068. This is only an estimate. We wilt, as hon.senuemen well know. keep within this estimate. We spent last year, tor example. $80,000 less than the 'House v ted. We mak this Year larger ,'l','t"icv/l,'.' agriculture, tor educa- tion and for maintenance ot our pub- lic institutions. As the dependent In- sane in our care increase in number. so must the cost of maintenance, in- f crease. We feel called. upon." to ask tor several special votes, such as $8.000 famine "not in Inch. 840.000 for eoetasetKuttott " work We ttttder- at year that t' by the arbi us it we are to deal in " wise and ap- preciative way with the ttnanees of the Province. That our critics in this House and out of it are not can" In .their avowed desire to 'curtail _ - tunes I do not for a single moment tend. Nor do I wish to be unde even to suggest that they are unw Q ing loyally to :1th us in our ttrm vand unalteruble determination to pro. vide adequately apd 311 every possible OUR GOLD MINES. 7 Under the Ontario letters patent act 2.8 mining companies were incorporated during last year. Only " such com- panies were incorporated during the four. preceding years. Our production of gold bullion has increased rapidly. In 1893 it was 1,695 ounces, worth 532,- 960; in 1894 it was 2,022 ounces, worth 832.776; in 1895 it was 3,030 ounces, north $50,281, and in 1896 it was 7.164 ounces, worth 8121.848. The product has been increased fourfold in amount and value in four years. Until the fall of 1895 only one mill of ten stamps was treating gold ores in this. Province, Since then two mills of ten stamps each have been working regularly, and four others, with an aggregate of 45 stamps, at intervals, on ores of mines in pro- cess of development. A mill of twenty stamps at the Foley mine, Seine River. was expected to commence work last week, and during the present year there is a good prospect tor at least tive ad- ditional mills in the northwestern and northern parts of the Province being built and completed. with an aggre- gate. capacity of 95 stamps. Besides these, a mill tor treating retraetorrtrold ores by an entirely new process is nearly completed in Hastings County, which will have a capacity of " tons per day. the equivalent of a 40-stamp mill. I have been speaking only of mines in actual operation. Outside of these a great deal of development work has been done, which must soon lead to very important results. A POLICY OF ECONOMY. To maintain a constant and vigoro check over all our expenditures. 'iiiit and small. to avoid useless or waste i' outlay of every kind, is. we all contend. a most important matter. To main . the highest possible etrleienctin tai, department or the public service. a .. quately and promptly to meet present wants and judiciously to provide for future needs, is at the same time an equally important consideration. We have, therefore, a dual aim, a dual problem, so to speak. constantly before in rain of roads in mining unmet}: "Sr", li," A BRIGHT. OUTLOOK. ' " A word or two, Mr. Speaker. eta; Mi' eral character and I am dstmtd ; would seem. sir, and we all re; tilE' .. cause of it,,that' we are on the ' ", _ better times. that the"-'lo iod ot depression. Wid . severe, is about " ' " - that returning prosperity "' hand. I do not wish to ' stood even to suggest that ca V important events which liar-s 9' this Dominion last June of . k"kiiii led to this result.- That kl ment is to be heard much more fre- quently from hon. gentlemen opposite than from those who sit on the Steed; er's right. We on this side of the House do not believe that proapirth'rean b summoned and grasped by " .me waving of a legislative w" . not believe in shortcuts to the w nium through devices of le However this may be, sir, we all ' that ilu- steady and prudent de _ ment of our mineral resources WM, certainly prolong and hold a period'of prosperity should it come. We are no longer alone these days,, though such was largely the case in the past, in lwlivving that l ur mineral wealth is as varied and inexhaustible as it is 'iii) The work of development of the last year has attracted worldwide attentiertri to our mineral tlelds. Everyone reC0B- _ nizcs the fact that in the mines and" mineral deposits of England reside the main sources of its industrial POW An Englishman thinks that by ta.le stock of the mineral resources and til-, nual output and ratio of. increase; 7 the coal and iron raised in the kt _ he can best form a correct idea tf prohahle course and term ot itsrtrreat- ness as 'a commercial and industrial nation, His commercial rivals admit the truth of his reasoning, and place in the schedule of England's assets her coal and iron as very Important funds of national capital. _ tics in this 3 t can em l, Lil ex - l Lament _ under: are unw , n our ttrm'! ion to pro- l