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I Hon. Mr. Harcourt, turntinuing, ex- , plained that there is ample time tor in- (tending .tenderers to equip themselves tor the work. 5 Mr. whither-That gentleman s-Iys [he would be compelled to largely in- gcrgase my plgnt. tras upon the work ot putting covers upon the statutes tor 1897 had, under the contract allowing extra. pay of three cents per section for all over 600 pages, so increased the amount paid the contractor that instead of get- ting 81.276 for the, work he received about $5,000. Them had been a fraud perpetrated upon the Province In this respect. Under the same clause the cost of the revised statutes would have been $75,000 instead of about 346.000. but the Attorney-General had insisted that the contract did not Include this work, and had made a new arrangement with respect to it by which the work was done for 835,000. The Government had, he admitted, done their duty In this matter. and the Government supporters :pplauded this candid admission of acts. Hon. Mr. Harcourt pointed out that the revised statutes are only issued Mr. Whitney pressed for an answer to his question whether or not an in- vetttitration has been going on. Hon. Mr. Harerourt--There is no in- vestigation at all. A Fraud Perpetrated. Mr. Matheson, while admitting that the present prices tor press work, tour: ing and stitching might be low, at-) tacked the Government tor having sci drawn the 'rrecitttauons that the ex-i Continuing, Mr. Harcourt denied that the Government is bound up in any Way to any person. and he assured his hon. friend that the statement was a fiction, containing not a particle of truth. (Cheers) There are yet, he re- minded the House, tour and a half months before the contract expires, and ample time to take the matter up and have mrecittcatlons prepared in the most advantageous manner, as has been done in the past. Every person in the Province who has the equipment to enafbie him to carry on the work will have an opportunity to tender and sud. denly acquire the wealth which his hon. 'friend thinks the last contractor has itbtretrrnultsted. (Laughter.) In conclus- _ ion he directed Mr. Whitney's attention to the statement ofthe gentleman in- terviewed by The Mail and Empire. " _r?putaMeurentieman, and commended it to Mr. Whitney's careful considera- tion. That gentleman was magnanim- ous enough to say that he would be glad to accept the contract at the same prices for three years. Was that the beet that gentleman could do , If it was. surely there could be no great bon- anza for the present. contractor. (Gov- ernment applause.) ranted that perhaps trade conditions kl; tered, and work can be done now much Cheaper than it could tutoen or twenty- tive years ago. The fact remains each one of the contracts made had been much more favorable than the preced- ing one. (Applause) The existing con- tract was 40 per cent. more favorable for composition than that of 1878, and the Government only paid one-quarter W113: they had paid before for press wo . An Unfounded Statement. Mr. Krlbs Wants Information. When the House was in Committee of Supply Mr. Kribs (South Waterloo) asked how the man of 860,000 for civil government was to he expended. _ Mr.. Harcou'rt said that if Mr. Krihs would pay a. little attention to the last copy of the public accounts he would see for himself. However, he admitted the fairness of the question. In 1807 the Province made an expenditure under the head of civil government ot $2 less than $'261,000, the amount asked for the your. The present amount asked tor was one-fourth of that, or trutneiont for three moh'tha' expenditure under this head. And because they asked for the amount it try no means followed that they would spend it. He assured his hon,. friend that not in ten years had they spent the last dollar ot the money the House authorized them to spend.' Mr. Harcourt referred to the growing; demands under that heading of ex-l penditure'and to new items. such as the Forestry Department. the Bureau of Mines. etc. He knew his hon. friend would not ask the Government to stand mm. to mark time. and as the Province - " the exuenasa of (Hull alums-n.- _ ,,,- .. -.... avlclll' merit would increase. ' Gir. Harcourt made a passing refer- ence to the potential resources ot the Province, which Mr. 'Whitney, who followed. said was not in dispute. He explained that MY. Kribs was not in the habit ot voting away sums of $60.- 000 in a few seconda and his desire for Information was natural. Mr. Whit. hey asserted that the Government was voting mtdftcient supply for the thst three months of 1899, which virtually made it unnecessary to can the House until next spring. :Mr. Kribs was quite indignant over Mr. Hmcourt's reply. He dismal-med any desire to have the Province mark time or stand still. " I only asked you What the item was for," said Mr. Krle. "and the next time I ask you a Queer- tion I want a civil answer." (Laugh- ter t Mr. McLaughlin (Stormont) all-nonm- ed that the Opposition intended watch- ing what was being done with the pen- ple's money. and Mr. Waurdell (North Wentworth) asked why. it in January Ins-t. estimates were passed for the pre- ter.) hon. gentlemen opposite to the [ant that the contraot now about to expire had only been awarded to Messrs. Warwick Bros. & Rutter after the tender had been reported on, not only by the om.. olals of the House and experts in To.. ronto, but also by the Queen's Printer at Ottawa, an other of the Conserva- the Government then in power there: all of whom reported that " was the lowest. The Government'ln awarding it, therefore, felt that they had ex- hausted every means in their power or, dete-rmlnlng which was the best ieiiil der. (CheersJ 1 The Attorney-General explained his reasons for ruling that the revised sta- tutes did not come within the com Eract. He 9130 called the attention of Once in ten years, and therefore were not Included in the. contract. There is a. large schedule ot work in the con- tract, he explained, and while some of It is done at a. loss there may be profit on other Stems. expense of civil troviiAii 103