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Premier Hardy Again Refutes False Charges. < _ _ o_z s % P ASSING THE ESTIM*S. Many Appropriations Passed With Little Criticism. & Adjala Will Remain in Simcoe County-- Mr. Churlton Chairman of the Public t Accounts Committee. o ) Legislative Chamber, March 9. | The House to--day made great pro-- gress with the estimates for the com-- ing year. The appropriations for the Crown Lands Department and for the maintenance of the asylums and pris-- ons of the Province were passed with but little criticism and no amendment. In no case was there an increase of any considerable amount over last year, and in more than one case reductions of some importance were suggested in | | the estimates. _ Upon the opening of the House Mr. Hardy called the atten-- tion of the House to a clipping in The | Mail and Empire to the effect that he ' ' had a number of relatives in the em-- ploy of the Ontario Government. He completely and categorically refuted the statements made, which, he said, he had contradicted during the last campaign. Mr. Charlton was this morning elected Chairman of the Pub-- lic Accounts Committee. AN OLD LIBEL REFUTED. Mr. Hardy rose to a question of privi-- lege. A paragraph which appeared in lThe Mail and Empire of Wednesday; last said : " The Ottawa Citizen has | given its readers the following very in-- teresting information : 'Hon. A. S. Hardy, who is Premier of the Province, has the following persons drawing sal-I aries from the Province's money box : l ' his father, Mr. Russell Hardy, a store-l : keeper in the London Asylum ; his son,' an official in the Crown Lands Depart--| ment ; his niece, an official in the| Orillia Asylum ; his cousin, an official in the Crown Lands Department ; his nephew, an official in the Education Departmert; another cousin, an official in the license branch ; his sister, an of-- ficial in the Hamilton Asylum ; his former partner, registrar of the Crown Lands Department.' Mr. Hardy ap-- pears to have taken special care to follow Sir Oliver's policy in this re-- a spect." Mr. Hardy said that this was an old story that was circulated of him last. year, but he had contradicted it and it had been contradicted in the public | press. The writer in The Mail and Em-- pire was not ignorant of the contradic-- tion nor of theifaet that most of what was said was D y untrue and l false. He had no father in the Lon--| don Asylum, &l'w keen dead