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34 taxation could be levied 't The stute-f ment had been made by hon. gentle- men at Mitchell that the expenditure has peg} igcreued $690,000 yearly., Col. warhead-3 -rnidiGifsie'r%" Quite that the report was incorrect, that the ggtement Ivt" that they had increased the expenditure by "90,000 during the lmlten years. Mi. Stratton said he was quoting from The Gldbe. whereat there was some laughter from the Opposition benches, but Mr. Stratton reminded hon. gentle- men opposite that they had been in- debted to no paper in the Province more than to The Globe tar its very fair and full reports of their meetings, and that taot had been admitted at Norwood. Hon. gentlemen. he continued, had not told the electors that the expenditure'. had been decreasing year by year. The attacks upon the Minister ot Education had. Mr. Stratton said. been undeserv- ed. and he pointed with pride to the splendid system of education. which is second to none, and under which the cost of text-books is less than under the regime of Dr. Ryerson. The new County Councils act had been a success and had brought about a reduction in the cost in the County of Pcterboro', and similar results could be produced in other counties. The conmlaints of hon. gentlemen opposite Cilni't rning the min- tng law had not been well founded. It could not be expected that a mining law prepared and brought down at one session would be acceptable to all the people of the Province and he without detect. But it was a good law and had been productive of increased activity and aroused greater hopefulness in the mining industry. The criticisms by the Opposition of the Engledue deal were shown to be unfounded, and the advan- tages to the Province of the devclop- ment ot the resources of the Province were shown. With respect to the tim- ber question hon. gentlemen opposite wanted the Government to deal with a question of vast importance and extent, and involving millions of dollars' worth of property. without due consideration. and had not given the Government credit for having passed the order in Council requiring lumbermen to pur- chase their supplies in Canada and em- ploy Canadian workmen. Neither had they given the Attorney-General crcdit for the action he had taken when Com- missioner of Crown Lands in amending the regulations with the object of pre- serving our resources and protecting Canadian workmen. In conclusion he reminded hon. gen- tlemen opposite that although they mlght wish rt. the electors would not forget their record in the past. During the last two or three general elections their action had been strange and pe- culiar. and their changes of base of op- eration had " commercial side to it. They had expected by changing their bone that they might pooslbly reach the Government side of the House. They had created the "Marmi0n" agitation in an endeavor to stir up religious pre- Judice. At the next election hon. gen- tlemen had the "Ross Bible" agitation ; then the hon. gentlemen allied them- selves with the P.P.A. This might be denied try hon. gentlemen, but the lead- er of the Opposition took advantage of that cry, and when it raged around him he acid not a. word to calm the Changing Their Policy. storm and to show his sympathywith the minority of the Province. On the other hand, he joined in that cry and endeavored to obtain the benefit of vic- tory from the meanest cry that was ever used In an election. He challeng- ed hon. gentlemen to be consistent. If the opposition to the Ross Bible was founded upon truth why did they not raise that cry now 't If the schools were too friendly to the Catholics be- fore, then they are too friendly now and they should be fighting along these lines now, for truth is eternal. Hon. gentlemen opposite. many of them, could, if they would speak, tell of the advantage they received from the P.P.A. movement in the last elec- tion. but they were dumb as oysters now. Mr. Stratton, who had been frequent- 'y applauded. upon resuming his seat received congratulations from his friends on the Government side of the House upon having made a capital Speech. in which public questions were reviewed with great ability. Dr. Meacham. Dr. Meacham took the floor after re- cess. Discussing the reasons advanc- ed by the Government for calling the session two months before the regular time, he said that this course would give the Government three months to go about the country making state- ments for which there would be no op- 1 portunity of bringing them to account- before the election. It the charges-of l the Conservatives had been incorrect in [some respects, the assertions of the Lf,":,':,:,:,",:!:."',?, would he far wilder than anything that had been heard it they had three months for campaigning Dummies during the interval between the session and the election. Dr. Mea- cham expressed the belief that no one would be foolish enough to say that the reSources of the Province were about exhausted. This remark must have been confined to the timber re- sources. No on" profvcswd to believe that the subsidy from the Dominion Government would decline----- Mr. Hardy-No one but your leader. Dr. Mencham--But when you read lthe speeches of the Treasurers of the Province you see that it actually has '.'ecreasrd since this Government has been in power. Dr. M: acham proceed- ed to demonstrate that the Govern- ment. being unable to meet their cur- rent expenses: out of ordinary revenue, had pushed the sale of the timber re- sources to such an extent that a de- creased income from this source was ' inevitable. He characterized the statement of the Premier that the :'olicy of the Opposition meant direct taxation as the acme of rashness. He condemned the Government for hav- ing so long delayed the project of re- forestry. Had the scheme been under- taken 25 years ago " might have been of some material advantage to the Pro- vince. Dr. Meacham would not under- take to say that the Michigan lumber- men were received in secret, but he dare not say it was not a secret meet- ing. He challenged the statement of the Premier on the platform that out or 25 years of power the Liberal Gov- ernment had had n surplus in nineteen years. He asserted that there had .'ocen eight years of surpluses and